Ervin’s Web Site Informs
by December 24, 2001 12:00 am 67 views
We apparently caught the Web site for Ervin & Co. CPAs P.A. right in the middle of a major upgrade. The “home” hyperlink at www.ervincpa.com explains as much, and when we got the firm’s site designer on the phone he tried to get us to wait a few weeks before completing the review.
We sympathize, but the Business Journal’s Web reviews are done similar to our food reviews in that they reflect a one-day snippet done without prior notification. Obviously, day-to-day changes are not reflected and the best way to sample food or Internet content is to check it out yourself. Our goal is simply to help business leaders see what other companies are doing so they can better plan their own strategy.
That said, even with the ongoing construction, Ervin’s site ain’t half bad. It’s a nice informational site that can use some sprucing up, but overall it packs a powerful punch of accounting tips and support software. We anticipate a sharper-looking version is in the works during this upgrade, and we look forward to revisiting it for a future review.
One aesthetic point in particular is that the financial newsletter portion of the site is designed nothing like the rest of www.ervincpa.com. The newsletter portion is actually more slick and appealing, and we hope that the makeover takes that into account.
We definitely liked the physical directions to Ervin’s offices. And potential customers can log on to the site and download Ervin’s own version of Tax Notebook software just in time for April 15. It even contains financial calculators and a handy tax-time schedule of important filing dates.
We learned from the site that Ervin can tackle a variety of accounting needs from auditing to valuations, and found the list of the firm’s commercial clients to be a local “who’s who.”
We’re told a more comprehensive version debuted in 1998, but the firm’s new online strategy is to downsize and let www.ervincpa.com serve as a “bottom line” advertisement that encourages surfers to contact the company itself.
We have a few ideas on how to help that happen. For starters, in addition to the e-mail address of each staffer, a phone number should also be included. We’d also like to see more of the site’s links updated and the neat “tip of the day” button moved to the top of the home page.