Having an online presence has never been more crucial than it is today. Consumers, including those shopping for insurance, almost universally begin their journey online. 74% of insurance consumers start by researching online, even though only 25% end up purchasing insurance online, according to J.D. Power. In this guide, you will find how a website that reaches your target customer base and online audience can grow your agency faster than you thought possible.  

Building a Website

Once you decide to get a website for your agency, how to create one is the big question you’ll have to answer. While you can always build your website if you feel confident and are technologically savvy, most agents choose to have someone else build their site. Your website is another version of your office, just located on the internet instead of in a physical building. With that in mind, most agents take one of three routes to website building.

Build it yourself. As mentioned above, building your website is not an easy task. While it’s possible to create a simple website on your own, most agents time is better spent on networking and helping their customers rather than working on a website.

Hire an outside company. There are many web design companies out there at varying levels of cost and support for your website. Hiring an outside company will give you a great product, but chances are you’ll pay more and not end up with a company that specializes in the insurance industry.

Become an All Access member. Our All Access members get a unique agency website and hosting included in their membership from brightfire, the leading expert in creating and maintaining insurance agency websites. Additionally, they offer add-ons like paid search ad management, review monitoring, local listings, and more. And best of all, the cost is included in your bolt access membership.

Maximizing Your Website

Your website serves as the digital version of your office. You can’t sell insurance if people don’t come to your office or are unable to see how you can meet their insurance needs. Your website needs a few things to ensure that your visitors engage with your agency, either online or by giving you a call.

Contact information. While initial research is often online, most insurance shoppers want to talk to their agent before making a purchase. Having your phone number and other contact information readily available invites customers to reach out while making their insurance decisions.

Be the insurance expert. Do you deal primarily with personal or commercial lines customers? Is there an industry or line of business in which you specialize? Your website is your opportunity to showcase your knowledge, expertise, and insurance offerings to customers.

Online quoting. Most customers prefer to at least begin the quote process online before deciding on whether to work with an agent. We offer an integrated quote function that you can plug directly into your website for fast and easy online quoting.

Optimize your website. At first blush, this may seem like a difficult thing to do, but all you need to do is make sure your website clearly states who your customers are, what lines your agency covers, what products you offer.

Local Digital Marketing

The most vital piece of online marketing is to keep your agency information up to date. Just by having correct, current information about your agency, you’ll engender trust from not only customers but also with Google and other online search engines. Almost half, 46%, of online searches are looking for local businesses, and of those searches, 88% call or visit a within 24 hours. Knowing how to leverage online searches is one of the most efficient ways to grow your agency.

Google My Business. Your Google My Business profile is an essential piece of online information. It not only gives your customers information about your business, including location, phone number, hours of operation, but is also the main component Google uses when showing local business information.

Ask for online reviews. Ask your customers to give your business an online review. Online reviews are one of the most trusted sources for shoppers. Online consumers trust reviews as much as in-person recommendations. Don’t be afraid to ask for a review; they are one of the most effective ways to build trust.

Email, Automation, and Tracking

Email is a great way to stay in touch and communicate with your customers. And emailing can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. Sending out the occasional update or newsletter to your clients is a great way to stay connected. Many email service providers offer ways to create customer segments based on products or other information about them. Automating your emails to go to customers that are approaching referral dates can save you time and keep your customers informed on when their policies are up for renewal.

Keep track of your website performance as best you can. Installing Google Analytics and keeping track of your email performance are great places to start. Google Analytics is a free and easy platform to monitor website performance that can be customized to track actions on your site like visitors clicking your phone number or emailing you. All email services offer statistics about email performance, including how many people open your emails, if there were any inaccurate email addresses, and more.

Other Digital Marketing Tools

There’s no shortage of ways to market your agency online. While your website is the key to digital marketing, there are other avenues, such as paid ads, social media, guest blog posts, and more. However, without an optimized website, none of these are going to be productive. Focus on the crucial aspects of digital marketing to set yourself up for success.