Why you need to optimize your website’s images

Selecting the images can often be the last priority for an insurance agency’s website. Here’s why that’s all wrong

Marketing

By Joe Rosengarten

When designing your insurance agency’s website – or commissioning someone else to do the job – you have so many decisions to make. What layout would best communicate your agency’s image and best appeal to your clients and targets? What’s the most appropriate colour scheme? How many calls to action should you include and where should you place them?

There’s so much to consider, and sometimes the images used become an afterthought, which is a common and costly mistake. Here are a few important nuggets of information about why the images you choose for your insurance agency website are so important.

Boost Your SEO

“Once upon a time, images offered little to no value to search engine optimization (SEO), but the role of high-quality images on your website in SEO has changed,” says Tino Izuora, Design and Media Specialist at ITC.

“Now, there is a connection between images and organic rankings. That means using relevant, high-quality images can increase your online visibility. How? Optimize your images for SEO. For example, you always want to use alt tags and image title tags to describe your image. Alt tags are read by search engine bots and are yet another way to help your website rank at the top.”

Stay Relevant
Image doesn’t just relate to resolution rate, but also relevance. Make sure that your imagery is actually related to your website’s content.

“Do a quick check to see if the images on your insurance website actually fit. For example, do you have images of cars on open roads if your insurance agency offers auto coverage?” Izuora says. “This might seem simple enough. It’s almost common sense. But, I’ve seen insurance websites with images based on personal preference instead of relevancy.”

Boost Engagement
The images on your home page or landing page are your visitor’s first impressions of your online presence. They play a crucial role in creating your brand and have a significant impact on how your clients and prospective clients feel about you.

“We are visual creatures, especially online. Relevant images encourage visitors to click through your website, wanting to learn more,” Izuora says. “High quality images increase the amount of time users spend browsing your insurance website.  This in turn lowers your bounce rate and boost engagement.”

Related stories:
4 reasons why mobile matters for your insurance agency
4 ideas for your insurance website this fall
 

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