Going back 30 or so years, insurance agents had to rely on traditional media and word-of-mouth to draw in consumers. With the rise of digital technology, there is now a plethora of advertising tools at our disposal. Paid search, social media, and email are just a few examples of this. Another technique that is vital for insurance agents and agencies is SEO (search engine optimization). SEO is a simple way to positively impact your business by increasing the organic users that find your brand. While SEO is universally known as an important marketing tactic, it is still commonly overlooked. In turn, we’ve developed an insurance agent’s guide to SEO to help convey the best strategies to put it to use. By equipping you with this knowledge, you’ll effectively elevate your online visibility, and ultimately reach more consumers in need.
What is SEO?
Before getting into the specific ways to use SEO to your advantage, you should understand what it is. Simply put, SEO is how search engines like Google assess and rank your website. For example, when you search Google for plumbers, the order that the organic search results (non-paid advertisements) are ranked is due to SEO. When assessing websites, search engines look at user experience, quality of content, keyword optimization, and backlinks. By becoming educated on these principles and mastering them, more people will reach your site organically. Additionally, search engines use and periodically update their algorithms. Algorithms are essentially used to provide users with the utmost relevant information when searching the web. With that said, in addition to studying the strategies we lay out, you should pay attention to algorithm updates regularly.
Keyword Optimization
When it comes to SEO keyword research and optimization is the most important aspect. Before putting keywords in place, you must identify the right keywords for your business. While all insurance agents will use keywords like “insurance coverage,” it helps to get as specific as possible. To do this, think about what makes your business unique and the niche that you’ve carved out for yourself. To make your life easier, there are a number of useful keyword tools available online. These tools help you identify the best keywords for your business, including the ones that aren’t as commonly tapped into. Some of these tools include SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, Moz, Ahrefs and more. They can help you uncover the highest value keywords by assessing what users are searching for regularly.
Once you’ve made a list of the keywords you want to use, it’s time to integrate them throughout your website. It’s crucial that you weave them into your site’s content, headers, meta descriptions and image tags. By doing this, and updating the keywords regularly, you will eventually notice an increase in user interactions. Remember that you should use both keywords that are both competitive and relevant. This will give you the best chance at drawing in traffic that is highly aligned with your brand.
Content is King
While the importance of keywords can’t be overstated, creating quality content is equally valuable. When search engines evaluate content, they look to see that your content adds value to a user’s experience. The goal is to get people to contact you for your services, plain and simple. With that said, your site should also serve as an informational hub. This means including detailed information about products, relevant tips, industry trends and more. By doing so, search engines will rank you higher in their system.
When it comes to creating content, you must diversify the content you’re publishing, and post new content regularly. Some examples of quality content include insurance-related blogs and articles, informational videos, infographics and other interactive elements. As far as content ideas go, you can explore insurance tips, frequently asked questions, trends or anything else thought to be relevant. At the end of the day just make sure that the content addresses the needs of your target audience.
Website Optimization
Your personal website is the biggest reflection of your brand. Especially for insurance agents, optimizing with the user experience in mind, is crucial for SEO success. Here are some key factors when it comes to making website optimizations:
- Mobile-Friendly Interface: In the modern-era so many people use smartphones and tablets to look up information online. With that said, it’s imperative that your website displays properly across all devices. Most search engines, especially Google, prioritizes this within their search rankings.
- Fast Page Load Speed: In general, the faster your pages load, the higher your site will rank in terms of SEO. Utilizing browser caching, compressing images, and getting rid of unnecessary plugins can all help your site run smoother. If need be, work with an IT specialist to ensure the best results in terms of load speed.
- Ease of Navigation: When designing your site’s layout, a key factor should be making it easy for users to navigate. Doing so will reduce the website’s bounce rate and will encourage users to explore multiple pages. It also makes the user’s experience better in general. All of these things combined help contribute to a higher SEO ranking.
- Compelling Call-to-Action: Every page on your site should have a call-to-action (CTA) that is both straightforward and compelling. No matter what wording you decide on, it should be relevant to the purpose of that page. Strong CTAs will ultimately increase
engagement and help generate more leads.
Incorporate Strong Backlinks
Implementing a backlink strategy is also a key component of SEO. Backlinks, also known as inbound links are links from other websites that go to your personal website. For example, if you’ve established a blog separate from your main site, you could include links within the articles that link to the personal site. Search engines think about backlinks as a vote of credibility for the site being linked to. With that said, with backlinks, quality is the name of the game, not quantity. It’s important that each link is highly relevant.
Another idea for backlinks is partnering with other people in the industry. These relationships can foster opportunities to link collaborative content, interviews and more, all of which can be valuable in the creation of backlinks. Additionally, when creating your personal website, include information that others would want to link out to. For example, including interesting videos and infographics would encourage outside sources to include links to. Lastly, just like keywords, you should regularly monitor your backlinks. Use similar tools such as SEMrush, Moz and more to avoid spammy backlinks. Backlinks appearing as spam could eventually harm your overall SEO score.
Use Social Media to Your Advantage
While your personal website is most important, social media can also help your SEO rank. Create profiles on relevant social media sites, and post consistently. This helps increase your brand’s visibility and credibility in the long-run. For insurance, the best platforms are Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and even TikTok. What’s most important is the quality of the content and the regularity of your posts. With that said, develop a posting schedule and stick to it! Additionally, it’s vital that you interact with users. This includes likes, shares, comments, and messages. When responding to other users make sure you do it in a timely manner. Search engines take all of these factors into account when assessing your social presence.
As far as content ideas go, the method is similar to that of your personal website. Include a diverse mix of post types and make sure the content is always relevant to your target audience. Videos, images, infographics, and live streams all serve as valuable content. On top of everything make sure that your posts are interesting and intriguing. Let’s be honest — insurance usually comes off as a dull and boring topic. If your posts are also dull and boring, people won’t likely want to engage.
Consider Optimizing for Voice Search
While not as common, voice searches such as the use of Siri or Alexa are becoming increasingly popular. Keeping this in mind, optimizing for voice search is another element helping you go above and beyond when it comes to SEO. Optimizing for voice search should be thought about similarly to keywords. Identify commonly used phrases related to your target market. The difference from keywords is that voice search queries are more natural sounding than text. They are also longer. In addition to using online tools to help you, just think about how people talk conversationally. Furthermore, try to make your website’s content align with common voice search phrases. One great way to do this is by incorporating an FAQ page, with answers that address questions that users might ask via voice. While this aspect of SEO isn’t as relevant as the others, voice search is bound to evolve more over time. By optimizing for it effectively now, you will be setting yourself up for success going forward.
Closing Thoughts
Becoming an SEO expert takes patience, commitment and a calculated approach. It’s a lot of work upfront, but as you get used to the regular updates, it will simply become a normal part of your week. Through keyword research, quality content creation, website and voice optimization and a commitment to social media, your online visibility and client base will soar. Nonetheless, the results will heavily outweigh the time commitment. In addition to adopting the practices we’ve laid out, it’s vital to keep up with algorithms and search-related trends. By doing so, and continuously refining your strategies, you’ll stay ahead of the curve and make a lasting impact on your business.
Even with the best SEO techniques in place, you may still be lacking quality leads. Fortunately, Benepath is here to help! For over 15 years we’ve specialized in insurance lead generation, helping connect agents like you with highly interested consumers. Every lead we deal with is guaranteed to be exclusive, produced in real-time and vetted for intent. We offer both data leads and inbound phone calls in the following verticals: individual U65 health, group health, and commercial insurance. If you want to take the next step towards more clients and a better return on investment, fill out a form or call us at 888-684-3121.
