We normally think of SEO as something that trendy stores or start-ups would do to get some initial traction to their website. Few would expect SEO to be of any use to insurance companies. The truth is the complete opposite. Insurance businesses are not heavily advertised, which is why alternative strategies including SEO can be very useful. Even law firms like Fisher &Talwar can use SEO to educate the public about legal issues. If you are an online insurance company, SEO can become your primary marketing strategy to make up for low visibility in the offline world.
Why insurance companies need SEO
Insurance is an intensely competitive industry with several players competing for the same set of customers. The way you market your plans and services helps to position your company in a more attractive light compared to the rest. But what is the use of a website if your potential policy holders cannot find you online. This is where SEO comes in. by helping your website become more discoverable on the Web, SEO helps to increase online traffic to your website through search engines and other sites. It is then up to you to convert your visitors into customers by engaging them.
How SEO helps your insurance business
One of the ways in which SEO can benefit you is that people are generally less educated about insurance policies, terms and rates. The easiest way for them to learn about how insurance works and how to get a policy is to go online. This gives you an excellent opportunity to meet your customers online and bring them to your website. SEO lets you use keywords to optimise your content for easy discoverability on the Net. You need to know what terms your future customers are using online. Terms such as ‘insurance policy’ or ‘how to get insurance policy’, etc. are some examples you can use as SEO keywords.
But remember, SEO is not a substitute for good marketing and research. SEO will only work for your insurance company if you know very clearly who your customers are and what they need. This will help you determine whether you need to use ‘car insurance in xxx’ or ‘home insurance in xxx’ for your website. Understand which parts of an insurance policy are the most confusing for your customers. They are more likely to search for those terms online compared to easier terms. So, include terms such as ‘what is uninsured motorist coverage’ or ‘meaning of personal injury protection’ and so on.
Creating a successful SEO strategy for insurance
A successful SEO strategy is based on good content. The information you provide on your web pages and in your blog posts should be informative and should address the common information needs of your customers. Remember, SEO will simply bring customers to your website. Your content will make them stay and make a purchase. To learn what your customers are searching for online, use Google Adwords or any other free keyword tool. You’ll find out exactly what customers in specific regions are entering on their Google search bar. Read through the comments on your social media pages to understand the common queries of your customers.
Another good strategy is to study the websites of your competitors, especially the successful ones. It will show you why customers visit rival websites and what these websites offer in the way of information and convenience.
When you create SEO for your insurance website, remember to use a moderate approach. SEO can be enhanced with the use of rich content. Use pictures, charts and tables, but do so sparingly. Optimise the tags and metatags for any image files to make SEO more effective by increasing the chances of your images or charts showing up in an image search.