Methodology – a blog on insurance agent websites, web design, and marketing

Entries categorized as ‘Google’

Semantic Content – Does “ins” substitute for “insurance” in SEO?

October 2, 2009 · 1 Comment

Search engines are smart. In organic search, Google, Bing, and others are able to identify semantic relationships between keywords. In other words, search engines know that “football” and “NFL” are related to “ESPN”. SEO experts call this “latent semantic content”. This isn’t new, but it’s worth being aware of.

You can get a peek into how search engines relate keywords by adding a “~” in front of a search. The bolded words are related. Do a search for “~apple“, for example, and the second result is Microsoft. Other PC makers like Sony and Gateway also show up.

Likewise, a search for ~ins shows State Farm and Allstate in the results. What can you infer from this? Yes, search engines do consider “ins” to be a potential substitute (or at least a related) keyword for “insurance”.

So what does this mean for you as an insurance agent? If you’re targeting phrases like “insurance”, content on “care”, “coverage”, and even “ins” will help you rank. This is helpful when you’re creating content and want to make sure it’s keyword rich but don’t want to sound like an SEO robot.

Categories: Google · SEO

Go Local

September 21, 2009 · Leave a Comment

We’ve talked before about the benefits of getting your insurance agency’s website listed on Google Local. It turns out Google’s not the only search engine that’s going local. Yahoo, Bing, and Ask are in on it too, and it turns out some of them have some pretty great local search options. So if you’re looking for more ways to get people to your insurance website (and we know you are), go local!

To make life easy for you, here are a few links to local sites where you can make sure your insurance agency is listed:

Categories: Google · Links · Traffic

Add Your Agency to Google Local

July 31, 2009 · 2 Comments

Looking for a fast way to show up high in relevant Google searches? Want to bring some local traffic to your website? Make sure your agency is listed properly in Google Local.

Google shows regional results at the top of their results pages. Because the search results are limited to a specific location, most of the competition you normally come across trying to rank in search engine results are automatically wiped out.

Here’s an example of what shows up when I search for “health insurance agent seattle”:

seattlelocal

You can see that local results show up at the very top on a map.

Make sure you’re added to Google Local and that the information they have is correct. To claim your Google Local business listing, do the following steps:

  1. Sign into the Google Local Business Center. If you don’t have a Google Account, you’ll need to create one.
  2. Click on “Add a New Business”
  3. Fill out the form for your agency. Be sure to include your website and a description with keywords that people will use to search for you.
  4. After you click “Next”, Google will see if it already has you in its database. If it does, click on “Claim Listing” next to the right listing. Otherwise, click on “Add Listing”.
  5. You can now put in more details. Make sure you include a category (“health insurance”, etc.), a picture or logo, links to any videos you have on YouTube, and list the types of insurance you sell in additional details.
  6. Finally, Google will validate the information by either calling you or sending you a postcard.
  7. Click on “Finish” and you’re done!

Once your listing goes live, you’ll want to get some reviews. Positive reviews will help people that find you on Google Local know that you’re the right person to call. Make it a habit to follow up with happy customers and ask them to post a positive review.

Categories: Google · Links · Traffic