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
So inbound links are a critical part of marketing your insurance agent website. If you’ve launched your site recently, you’re probably wondering where to start.
To give you a leg-up in generating inbound links, we’re going to maintain this post as a list of sources for inbound links. Most are free and don’t require a reciprocal link.
Come back often as we’ll be updating it regularly.
Insurance Agent Directories
Local Websites
Have more link suggestions? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add it to the list.
Categories: Links · SEO · Traffic
A site, especially a new insurance agent website, needs quality, relevant links for two simple reasons.
- They help customers find you on the web via other websites and/or blogs.
- The more links you have, the higher search engines rate your web pages.
One of the most important factors determining how search engines rank your web pages is the number of relevant, quality websites and blogs that link to your site. Search engines like inbound links for three reasons:
- Inbound links help search engines identify the nature of your business. Doing things like making sure you are listed in online business directories (even online phone books) and associations will help potential customers find your insurance site.
- Inbound link points to your insurance website and help search engines find your web pages. Since search engines have billions of web pages to index you need to give them as many opportunities as possible to find and revisit your website.
- Search engines treat inbound links as favorable references for your website. If other website and blog owners think your website is worth linking to, then search engines assume you must be offering useful information. Think of it as a popularity contest — the more links the better!
Remember, you shouldn’t just depend on search engines because it can take several months or longer for the search engines to index and favorably assess your insurance website.
Categories: Links · SEO · Traffic
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”:
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:
- Sign into the Google Local Business Center. If you don’t have a Google Account, you’ll need to create one.
- Click on “Add a New Business”
- 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.
- 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”.
- 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.
- Finally, Google will validate the information by either calling you or sending you a postcard.
- 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
For a website to have value people need to be able to find it. However, showing up and optimizing your site for search engines takes time. Many factors come into play for a site to be indexed, and it may take 4 to 24 weeks for a site to start showing up in Google’s index. If you give it time, it will appear and you will get traffic to your site.
Here are some hints to help improve your site’s search ranking and traffic:
- Give your site a domain. Putting your site at its own domain gives it a unique identity. This helps people remember and find your site. You can set up a domain for your AgentMethods site on the account tab.
- Get people to link to your site. Search engines look at links from other sites as “votes of confidence”. Start by contacting people you do business with and asking them to link to your site.
- Update your page titles to include words you think people will use when searching for you. You can edit the title of your site by changing ‘site name’ on the personalize tab. Also, you can edit the title of each page by editing a page in the manage content tab. When thinking about search words be specific to the type of insurance and the location people are searching.
- Add content to your site. Our library is a great place to start, but consider editing the pages or adding content of your own. Search engines rank new and unique content higher, so by creating content, you’ll improve your search engine ranking.
- Promote your site. Put it on your business cards, letter head, direct mail, and email signature. People will look at it and share it. A professional, working site helps establish trust with your prospects, making them more likely to buy from you.
Your insurance agent website is an invaluable tool for the long-term. The longer you have it, the more it will help you. Many agents are making a LOT of money off of their web sites, but it didn’t happen overnight. Take the time to invest in your site and you will see it pay off over time.
Categories: Insurance Agent Websites · Links · SEO · Traffic
