Competition from High Traffic Web Sites

[mikeincolumbuso]

It sounds like a lot of agents are having some success generating leads from their own web sites. I want to start my own web site for final expense sales, but I don't want to do phone sales and I am wondering if how I can compete with these sites that sell leads to agents. And if they have so many bogus leads, why would my experience with bogus leads be any different. Bottom line, how viable is it to expect a decent amount of leads and sales with my own site?

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I'd search this board for Aaron Kassover's videos - he breaks it down step by step.

 

[pbbaseball]

It's incredibly rare that I get bogus leads from my website. The bogus ones for lead companies come from affiliate marketing, and "win an ipod" campaigns....

if you know html, it should be pretty easy to set it up. not sure what it would cost to have someone else get it up for you, but i'm sure it ain't cheap

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

It's incredibly rare that I get bogus leads from my website.

then this begs the question. about many leads do you generate a month?

 

[pbbaseball]

then this begs the question. about many leads do you generate a month?

not many, 10-20 a month.... most call, and don't fill out the contact form. from my google analytics, I don't see that many click the contact form and "bounce", most that actually click to it seem to stay there 2-3 mins filling out the few questions that I require.... again, most call. i made my crappy site on my own, haven't built a web page since 1994, but those few leads are better than nothing!

 

[BlockO]

pbbaseball,
" not sure what it would cost to have someone else get it up for you, but i'm sure it ain't cheap" .... I had a girlfriend like that once.

seriously, I like your site, and don't think it looks "crappy" at all. It looks nice and you have it set up pretty well. the only thing I would suggest is creating individual quote forms (one for auto, one for life, one for health, etc.) if possible. That way, you can ask questions more specific to that type of insurance and would then be able to call someone back with prices already available.

I still have a "contact us" form very similar to your "request a quote" form, but it doesn't seem to do me any good compared to what the quote forms do (which would explain why you get more calls than quote requests). also, some of your quote request links go straight to email. It may work better for you, but I never had any success with email (all I got was spam). I think if you would spend a few hours creating quote forms for each line you sell, it would really pay dividends for you.

 

[pbbaseball]

pbbaseball,
" not sure what it would cost to have someone else get it up for you, but i'm sure it ain't cheap" .... I had a girlfriend like that once.

seriously, I like your site, and don't think it looks "crappy" at all. It looks nice and you have it set up pretty well. the only thing I would suggest is creating individual quote forms (one for auto, one for life, one for health, etc.) if possible. That way, you can ask questions more specific to that type of insurance and would then be able to call someone back with prices already available.

I still have a "contact us" form very similar to your "request a quote" form, but it doesn't seem to do me any good compared to what the quote forms do (which would explain why you get more calls than quote requests). also, some of your quote request links go straight to email. It may work better for you, but I never had any success with email (all I got was spam). I think if you would spend a few hours creating quote forms for each line you sell, it would really pay dividends for you.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions! I'll definitely get to work on that. Have looked at other sites a lot trying to get ideas, but haven't asked others what have worked.

Would you suggest putting the quote forms right at the top of most pages under the header? Guess I need to do some research..

 

[BlockO]

I don't know the ideal exact place to put quote forms. But from what I've read on here.... put it in a place where no one can miss it!.. and it doesn't hurt to enlarge the letters and post a quote link at both the top and bottom.

 

[somarco]

Most people landing on a site want a quote. Don't confuse them with facts, just a quote.

Gotta make it prominent and easy to use if you are simply wanting tire kickers.

I get my share. The ones that amaze me are those, like the lady last night, that found my site, ran a quote, then 3 minutes later (literally) were applying for coverage.

Turns out she has probably been down this road before. Looking at her app there is no way she will get health insurance.

A friend uses the term BOB for quote buttons.

Big Orange Button.

Something prominent.

Even thought I graduated from UT not sure I want orange on my site but am considering his suggestion.

If you are using a form rather than instant quote, it needs to be prominent and easy to complete. The more steps, and more information you want the less likely you are to get tire kickers.

Some agents don't care if they attract serious buyers or not. They just want the basics so they can contact them.

Not my style but that's what makes the world go around.

The other item I think every site should have is a search box. I have been told this is not always a good idea because if someone does a search and comes up empty they will move on to another site.

True, but I use the data collected from searches to refine and improve my site.

If someone is looking for something that is on the site but they had to use a search box it probably wasn't as easy to find as I thought.

OTOH if they are looking for something other than recipes for marijuana brownies I might want to add a few pages if the topic is relevant.

 

[pbbaseball]

lots of other good points... going button searching!