When a surge of online aggregators entered the auto insurance space last year, industry analysts were loath to predict the immediate decay of the independent agent. However, there have been whispers throughout the sector about the potential expansion of online sales into traditionally more complicated insurance lines, such as homeowners or commercial.
This eventuality – if it is an eventuality – may be limited and in the far distant future, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that technology should be an increasingly important concern for independent agents.
Most agencies now have an online presence, but optimizing that presence is just as important to remaining relevant to both carriers and clients. And since search engine optimization (SEO) best practices are changing all the time, it’s important to keep ahead of the curve.
Insurance Technologies Corporation (
ITC), a provider of marketing, rating and management software and services to the insurance industry, shared the following trends in SEO that will dominate 2016.
The importance of mobile searches
As the number of smart devices rises, more people are conducting their searches on mobile. Because of this, mobile-optimized websites will be more important to a business than traditional, desktop sites. As such, ITC recommends having insurance agency websites optimized for mobile.
“Rich” answers rule the day on insurance
“Insurance can be pretty specific, right? Especially if your agency deals with unknown or less-used policies,” writes ITC’s Josh Bowe. “That’s where increasing the frequency of rich answers on your insurance agency website can help.”
“Rich” answers are direct, specific responses to search enquiries. Having answers to these specific questions, such as “what is the difference between general liability and professional liability?” will direct more traffic to your site.
Multimedia content is vital
While content is still important, Google is giving favor to multimedia including video, photos and podcasts. Social content, too, is important as the search engine has begun showing news articles from Facebook and Twitter in search results.
Additionally, almost every developer – Apple, Microsoft and Google – is offering voice search. According to ITC, that means the emphasis in 2016 will once again be on long-tail keywords.
Local, local, local
As always, Google gives preference local search results, so ratings and reviews are essential.
“Make sure you give every client the best experience possible. Monitor your reputation online, and reply to every Google My Business and Yelp review. Even the bad ones,” advises ITC’s John Dessommes. “Showcase your events by adding them to your insurance website. You can also promote them on social media. Don’t let events or any marketing opportunities go to waste.”
Insurance agencies should stay plugged into these and other trends throughout the year in order to leverage the increasing importance of online searches and consumer reviews.
