Part of being a successful insurance agent in today’s day in age is having a solid presence online. At this point, it’s not just beneficial, it’s become a necessity. For agents, everything you do online should be centered around your own personal website. Personal websites serve as a hub, fostering all of your products, services, and positive customer experiences. With an effective site, you’ll be able to more easily connect with consumers, show off your expertise, and grow your network of insurance industry peers. While you can always have a web design expert create, and periodically update your website, it’s important that you understand the ins and outs of what makes a site stand out among the competition. Before you begin thinking about things like your website’s content and design layout, it’s crucial that you have an idea of the overall purpose of a professional website.
What’s the Point of Having a Website?
While the specific details of your website are extremely important, we first need to make sure that you comprehend what a well put together site can do for you and your business. Here are some of the main benefits:
24/7 Accessibility
While you may work a traditional 9 to 5 schedule, consumers interested in insurance do not. Some of the most qualified insurance candidates will do research and send out messages to agents on the weekends or even in the middle of the night. With a personal website in place, there’s no need to worry about missing out on these future clients. Your site will serve as a place for individuals to learn more about your services, and find your contact information no matter what time of day it is. With that said, offering this website that’s accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, will help you to engage with more people and close more sales.
Lead Generation
If managed properly, your site can also serve as a center for lead generation, leading you to people in need of your services. The key to generating leads this way, is to have effective marketing strategies and advertisements in place on other websites, social media platforms and search engines that all lead back to your personal site. If an interested consumer sees an ad that you’ve place online and then ends up on your site, they will be greeted with a lead form and contact information making it easy for them to get in touch with you.
Provides Social Proof and Expertise
Another great benefit of having your own website is that you can showcase things like achievements, your expertise, and satisfied clients. Think about what makes you good at your job, and try to summarize it in an organized way for visitors to see. Additionally, you should put information about your educational and professional background to ingrain a sense of confidence in the consumers, knowing that you’re qualified. Lastly, you should always include client testimonials and reviews. This will serve as social proof that you’ve helped people in need, and strive to help others going forward.
Client Efficiency
Your website should also help make the lives of your current clients easier. Having features such as a client portal, where they can login to access information such as their policy detail will save them the hassle of having to call or email you. This will also save you time, allowing you to focus on pressing duties such as working new leads. With that said, you should also have a space on your site if the client would prefer to speak to you. Something like a contact form is usually sufficient. By streamlining your customer interactions, clients will feel properly taken care of and never neglected.
9 Tips for Creating Your Personal Website
Now with a full understanding of what a personal website can do for you, it’s time to get down to business. While it’s always beneficial to do your own research and talk to design experts, the following tips are a great starting point to get your website off the ground:
1. Pick a Simple Domain
One of the first steps in crafting your website is to settle on a domain name. This will serve as the overall identity of you and your online business. When thinking about what name you’re going to use, keep in mind that it should be simple, and memorable. One example that you could utilize is including your name or company name, and the word insurance. The simpler you make it, the more likely someone will be able to remember it off the top of their head.
2.Focus on the User Experience
Above just about everything else, your website needs to be user-friendly. A website that is visually appealing and easy-to-navigate can make a huge difference in whether someone follows up for more information or not. Try to make the website layout simple and organized. This means having navigation menus in place that work properly. People shouldn’t have to search around to find what they are looking for. Additionally, the color scheme should look professional and should be in coordination with your brand. Lastly, be sure to include your company’s logo throughout the site to foster brand awareness.
3.Write Effective Copy
The copy on your website should be easy to understand and informative. When explaining your products and services include in layman’s terms how they can help the average consumer. Focus on using language that speaks to interested consumers, making sure to address common needs. Additionally, if you have price points or anything else that sets you apart from the competition, make sure to highlight it.
4.Optimize for Mobile
It’s vitally important to make sure that your website converts properly to mobile devices, no matter what the screen size is. With more and more people using smartphones and tablets to search for insurance, this is a must-do in the modern era.
Another job of your website is to encourage users to take the next step whatever that may be. Include buttons that stick out on the page for actions like getting a quote, scheduling an appointment or anything else of that nature. On the same note, your contact information should be easy to find.
In some cases people might not be ready to click your call-to-action button, but they do want to learn more about you. For this purpose it is a good idea to include visible links to your professional social media pages such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter. A popular design choice is to have the logo of the platform as a clickable link. This way people will easily be able to recognize the social media site.
6.Don’t Forget an “About Me” Page
Every professional website should include an “About Me” page that informs users about your background, letting them get to know you on a more personal level. Include education and work experience, info about your personal life, and what got you interested in becoming an agent. An “About Me” section is also a great place to put your professional mission statement.
7.Keep SEO in Mind
Optimizing your website with a proper SEO strategy will help bring more traffic to your website by ranking you higher in the organic search results. Within your advertisements, and website (main content headings, meta descriptions, and tags), include relevant keywords that consumers looking for insurance would likely search. If you’re having trouble, try using keyword planning tools online to see the most common search queries.
8.Implement Security and Compliance Measures
In the insurance world, you deal with a lot of sensitive client information. To make sure that their information or any transactions are secure and private, you need to use an SSL certificate. This will ensure that any transmission of data between your website and the users is safe. You also must include in fine print some sort of privacy policy, so that visitors clearly understand how their data is being handled. Additionally, it’s important that you research and comply with any industry or ethical guidelines. When disclosing information to users, be as transparent as possible and avoid using misleading language when possible. You should also look into any regulations in place relating to spam such as unsolicited communication.
9.Analyze Results and Make Frequent Updates
In order to see how effective your website is, invest in online tools or software to monitor the number of people regularly visiting your site, the most popular pages, and the bounce rate. Having this information at hand will allow you to accurately assess what’s doing well and what could be improved upon.
Final Thoughts
Having a personal website for current clients and interested consumers to interact with is crucial for insurance agents in the world we currently live in. Serving as the center of your online presence, your site will benefit you by generating leads, offering 24/7 support, and making communication with your clients easier. While there are many specific aspects to keep in mind when creating a website, the most important things are that it is easy to navigate, provides helpful information for your target market, and offers contact information. Probably the best tip when it comes to building a site is to think about the customer experience.
Ask yourself, when I’m shopping online, what components make a website stand out to me? Then apply those details to your website. In an era where more and more people are using the internet to search for insurance quotes and policies, having a website for your business remains a necessity for agents of all types. If you are interested in growing your business and client pool, Benepath is here to help you with our one of a kind lead generation services. For 15 years we’ve specialized in offering data leads and inbound phone calls to help agents make the most of their time.
All of our leads are exclusive and produced in real-time, ensuring quality and the highest intent. We currently offer leads in the following verticals: individual health, group health, Medicare, life and commercial insurance. If you want to learn more about our services or want to purchase our exclusive insurance leads, fill out a form or give us a call at 888-684-3121.
