Location, location, location.... It has always been the key to success. The meaning of location, however, has changed drastically in the last decade. From a corner shop on main street and first page listing in the phone book directory to the first page on Google. Securing that valuable, indispensable listing does not come easy. Money and connections are completely irrelevant. Only your own efforts can get your site listed higher with the search engines. When I say only your efforts, I mean it. Long gone are the days when one can buy fake backlinks, post a few computer generated articles and achieve that much-needed search engine exposure. Without real content, real backlinks and real people genuinely interested in what you have to offer, securing that precious real estate on the first page of the search engines may never come to reality for you.
Competition is fierce, especially in the insurance agency business. You are not the only one wanting a better website exposure. Your competition is not just the next door agency; it is also all of the carriers you represent. In most cases, they sell directly to the end user and want that same exposure as you do. Their search terms are almost identical to yours, and their weekly advertising budget equals your 10-year revenue goal. Recently, Google and Overstock have entered the insurance agency business. Are you prepared to compete?
But not all is lost. One thing those large conglomerates do not have is your determination and entrepreneurial spirit. With some effort and consistency on your part, you can achieve better exposure for your website. Here are some proven methods to follow:
- Website content. Make sure your content is relevant to your audience. As an insurance agent, think of the lines of business you sell. Think of the types of people that will be buying your product. For instance, if you are selling commercial auto / trucking insurance. Then provide helpful and relevant trucking related content. Look up the rules truckers must obey, look at problems they face, think about ways to help the newcomers into the trucking business. With such relevant information, people will not only want to visit your site, but they will remain longer on your pages and may even share the content with their friends.
- Design a mobile friendly elegant website. If you do not have the budget for a professional designer, then buy a ready made template.
- Allow social media sharing. Place buttons on your blog or even on your site pages that will allow visitors to like and share your content.
- Think of your keywords. Make sure those keywords are present on your site. Not only in the content, but also on the page title tags and meta descriptions.
- Add images to your site and name them using your keywords. Your images should be called: Truck_insurnace_in_Chicago not HTSIC1212_12188HIVSJ.jpg
- Make sure you do not have duplicate content. Not only that you should never copy and paste content from other websites, but even the content on your pages should not be repetitive. Meta descriptions and the title tags for each page should be different.
- Write something about yourself. Write a blog. People are naturally curious. They want to be involved in other peoples' personal story. Give them something to talk about. Write in more intimate terms about your business, the difficulties and successes in your agency.
- Provide a reason for your insureds to come often to your website. The more visitors your site receives, the more relevant it will be to the search engines. Once you sell a policy to a client, make sure there is a reason for them to visit your site. For instance, you can let your insureds issue their own certificates or print their own ID Cards. Place a button on your site which takes them to that self-serve portal. The
www.NowCerts.com agency management system provides such self-serve insured portal.
- Be consistent. Your site needs consistent maintenance. Make sure the content is updated often. Create a Google Analytics account and check it's performance daily. Create a Google Webmaster Tools account and check on it often.
- Make sure your website is SEO friendly. Find an online SEO performance checking site. Look at the report such tool produces for your site and follow the instructions on how to improve the performance.
- Become active on social media. Create a Facebook account for your insurance agency. Google Plus, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumbler, Youtube, Vimeo are sites where your agency should have presence.
- Ask your insureds to follow your page on social media. Ask them to share your posts.
- Make sure you post content which is relevant to your audience as well as useful and engaging. Keep in mind, the key goal of your social media campaign should be to spark enough interest in your audience to click and visit your website.
- Ask your insureds to create a link from their websites to yours. Return the favor by creating a link back to their site.
- Don't be afraid to be bold with your posts on social media. People are intrigued and engaged by bold, decisive statements.
The list of suggestions on how to improve your website SEO performance is endless. There will always be room for improvement. The challenges facing today's insurance agency have substantially escalated in the last few years. From ever more difficult access to markets, through the low loyalty levels with today's consumer society to the battle for the 10 precious spots on Google's first page. Hopefully with the above few tips we can be of assistance to the hard working insurance agents using our agency management system.
As a token of appreciation, we offer a few free services to all of our subscribers:
- Free website design
- Free SEO performance report and guide on how to improve exposure
- Free social media accounts creation and custom design
- Free newsletter marketing design
