From construction bonds to renters insurance to general liability, there are many ways to specialize in the insurance industry. But there is one thing every insurance agent and broker has in common: a desire to grow your business. In today’s modern world, your insurance website is one of the most useful tools you have to bring in new leads and convert more prospects into clients.
An increase in traffic to your agency’s website means you bring in more leads, which ultimately means more sales.
Perhaps you’ve been wondering why traffic to your site seems to have slowed, why there’s been a drop in your rankings, or how you can drive traffic to your newly launched website. If so, you’re not alone.
We’ve compiled a list of the top five reasons why your insurance website has no traffic.
Old-Fashioned Website
Your website is the face of your agency. Does it communicate to viewers your level of professionalism while demonstrating your agency’s position as an authority in your specialized niche?
A site that is rich with useful information and looks professional, tells potential leads that you are a resource to be trusted. Adversely, a website with an outdated aesthetic that is poorly designed and/ or has outdated functionality will lead them to make assumptions about your agency’s level of professionalism.
Modern insurance websites should look just that; modern. With a contemporary design and an easily navigable user experience, you can position your agency as an authority and generate the leads that keep you successful.
Have a look at your website, imagining you are a first time visitor and a potential lead. How does it look to you?
- Does your site have a clear layout?
- Is user experience at the forefront of the design?
- Is the color layout appealing?
- Does your site have clear and easy to use navigation?
- Is the font easy to read?
- Finally, does it look dated?
If your site is in need of an update or an all around redesign, now is the time to take that step and you will start seeing an increase in your traffic.
Mobile-Friendly Fail
You get out your phone, search for a business, and click the link to their site. Imagine that what opens on your screen is hard to read, has links that are too close together, flash videos that won’t play, or photos that are overblown, pushing the whole site layout out of whack.
Do you start scrolling or do you click the X in frustration?
Remember, your potential leads have the same expectations for their mobile user experience as you do. If it isn’t functional, they won’t scroll… or call.
Most consumers are using their phones when they need to choose an agent or have questions about coverage, so if you don’t have a site that is optimized for mobile you don’t get the client.
Failing to optimize your site for mobile not only leads to a loss of potential clients, it leads to a loss in search engine results, as well. Search engines give priority to websites that are designed according to their recommendations, and at the top of that list right now is mobile optimization.
It’s simple: if your site isn’t optimized for a mobile-friendly user experience, your content won’t show up when your existing customers and potential leads are searching for it. And that means you’re losing business.
Your Website Isn’t Secure
Protecting visitors to your website is a must, as is protecting their personal data.
You do this by adding a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate to your website. This security measure matters to your potential leads. Recent research indicates that up to 85% of website users in the United States said they would not stay on a site that isn’t secure.
This step is not only important to consumers, it is also important to search engines.
Having an SSL protected site gives your business a slight edge in the SEO game, pushing you above competition that may have a site with SEO equal to your’s in every other way.
Protecting your site with an SSL certificate can not only get people searching for your business to your site, it can help keep them there.
Your Website Isn’t Optimized for Local Search
Most independent insurance agencies are looking for very specific clients: their neighbors. Optimizing your website for local search can help.
Here’s how you can be sure you’re website is turning up in local searches:
- Set up a Google My Business account.
- Add your business to secondary directories and search sites.
- Claim and optimize your social profiles.
- Optimize your existing site to include the local market you service: include your geographic area in page titles, page descriptions, and contact page.
- Ask current clients for reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp and more.
- Publish local content that is a relevant, useful resource for potential leads in your neighborhood.
Important Note: Be sure that your business name, address, and phone number are represented identically across all directories, search sites, and social profiles.
You’ve Allowed Your Content to Get Stale
Google loves fresh content. If you want to get to the top of the Search Engine Results Page, fresh content will help.
Focusing on new content is great, but don’t forget about freshening up existing content if you want to see your rankings improve.
Updating a post that’s been sitting on the shelf for awhile will give it new life, renewing its relevance for readers who are seeing it for the first time.
Tips for Updating Older Content:
- Don’t change the URL
- Only MINOR changes to the post title are acceptable
- Outdated information should be removed
- Outdated statistics and data need to be updated with current facts and figures
- Replace or remove old links, as needed
- Add links to new internal content, where appropriate
- Update the Call-to-Action (CTA)
- Promote your newly updated content just as you would a new post
Increasing your rankings + improving the content you’re providing to potential and existing clients = win-win.
Now that you’ve identified what might be slowing down your agencies web traffic, be sure to initiate the changes necessary to bring your site traffic back up to speed. If you want to put your website to work for you bringing in new online visitors and potential new clients, avoiding these traffic-slowing pitfalls is essential.