Why You Should Propel Your Business Forward with a Fresh New  Insurance Agency Website

by Taber Streur

With as many as 3 out of 4 consumers going to the internet first to research a product or service, it is more critical than ever for you to be there with a professional insurance agency website for them to review.Insurance Agency Websites Reasons

Insurance agency marketing has changed dramatically in the past 4-6 years. Primarily because of consumers usage of the internet for not only business transactions, but for social and educational purposes as well.

Insurance agents need to take control of their insurance agency marketing by taking advantage of search. If you don’t, you’re missing out on consumers who are searching for your products not only today, but every day. The beauty of having a great website is that it will work for you 24 hours a day, even when your business is not open.

A website serves many functions for your insurance agency:

  1. First impressions: Your website is your agencies new business card for ¾ consumers. If your website is out of date, does not function well, has errors or just plain doesn’t look good, this is what your business card says about your brand. Impress consumers with a functional, appealing website and you’ll close more new business.
  2. Minimize service work: Your website can house an area for payments and renewals with links to your carriers. By allowing customer’s access directly to your carriers through your website, you can free up your time for more important work like prospecting or writing new business.
  3. Attracts prospective customers through organic search: Successful search engine optimization for your insurance agency means more new business. Period. If you rank highly in the search engines with good SEO practices, you’re going to write more new business. If you’re not showing up in search results, consider investing in some SEO. Monthly packages are the best route versus paying to rank in top 3 or 5. By having SEO that builds over time, you’ll build a wall against your competitors too.
  4. Improves referral conversion: When someone refers me to another business locally, my first action is to go to the internet and pull up their website. Do I like what I see? If I don’t, even with a strong referral, I may take my business elsewhere. 2 out of 3 consumers say
    that they would rather purchase from a company they have never heard of who has a nice website, than from a company they’ve heard of that has an outdated site.
  5. Improve cross-sell:  When someone gets to your website for auto insurance, but then they see commercial auto as well as homeowners and umbrella insurance coverage is available to them, you increase your chances of getting that customer’s other business. Many agents tell me they could do a better job with cross-selling. Let your website do some of the lifting.
  6. Credibility: In today’s age, if a consumer can’t find your phone number or address via the internet, specifically a website with your name on it, it can seem shady and consumers will likely move onto the next.
  7. Cost effective: Compared to many other things you’ve invested marketing dollars in, a website can be a cost effective option. Many companies will offer you a domain, website hosting, email hosting and a professional website for as little as $149 a month. Compared to other marketing opportunities, this is a win any way you look at it.
  8. Market multiple products: Commercial auto, health insurance, motorcycle insurance, auto insurance all in one place! This makes your website an incredible value for marketing.
  9. Website is easier than a phone number: When you get referrals, someone would far more likely remember your name or a URL than a phone number or physical address.
  10. Accurately track: Websites are incredibly easy to track. Not only can you track how many visitors got to your website, but you can track what brought them to your site such as a keyword or referral from another site.

The benefits to having a professional, updated insurance agency website are obvious. If you’re looking to improve your new business a website should be your first step. But remember, simply having a website may not be enough. Invest in a website that is aesthetically pleasing to your visitors, is easily navigable and displays all of your products clearly. With a little work, you can improve new business and offer your existing customers the ability to service their own policies through your website. Be sure to come back and read our other blog post on search engine optimization (SEO) and local search for insurance agencies.

Tosten Marketing offers insurance agencies an affordable solution to marketing their insurance agency online. If you’d like a new website, we offer insurance agency website packages starting at just $149 a month. This gets you up to a 30 page, completely optimized website, website hosting and email hosting for up to 5 people at your location.