First Post! I Need Help with Local Online Marketing

[Clermont Insurance]

Hello,

This is my first post in the forum. I was trying to find out some good ways to build more business online. I am not sure which way to go in this regard. SEO, Pay Per Click, Social Media? Anyone who can point me in the right direction with some successful tips would be much appreciated.

 

[djs]

What's your budget and what's your timeline?
Pay per click is quick to launch, can have as many click throughs as you want. It can get expensive, especially if you try to compete against things like NetQuote, InsureMe, Geico, Progressive, etc.

SEO is expensive, takes time, requires a plan. Ultimately can be a good benefit. A well executed pay per click campaign can actually be less money.

Social media is probably tough for auto insurance. I've never tried this, don't know enough about it, could work, takes a commitment though.

If you are looking for local advertising / marketing, online can be difficult. Not impossible, but not the panacea that a lot of people think it is.

Something to think about, you need a proactive market campaign, not so much a passive or reactive campaign. What I mean is a pay per click or SEO enables the few people that are in your area that are shopping for insurance to find you. You will go broke servicing these 3 people every month.

On the other hand, a direct mail piece that entices people to look at your website for a free comparison quote may get you more traffic at a lower per click rate. It may not be as targeted though, so it takes some experimenting to get it right. In this case, you are encouraging people to visit your site, rather than hoping they find you by accident, becoming a lot more proactive.

Geico, Progressive, esurance all run TV commercials to be proactive. They all also send direct mail. They do HUGE pay per click campaigns. They chase it all.

You may have a few million less to spend then they do (not sure, depends on your budget), so you need to find something that will drive traffic to you. I'd skip the TV commercials.

Dan

 

[techsavy]

I'll suggest using geo targeted keywords for SEO and PPC. You can also submit to local listings and local business directories.

 

[Mark]

Google has a thing where you can add your business to the local section of google. I will have to find it, but it helps.

 

[VacantHomeIns]

SEO is a great way to start. if you operate in a local area, tackling local search terms (such as vacant home insurance anaheim california) should be easy. I'd definitely hire an SEO specialist vs doing it yourself. If you don't know what you are doing, you can actually harm your websites chances of rankings.

Also, local PPC search terms should be affordable enough for a new business without much disposable income to try. Check google's geo targeting capabilities.

 

[xpirtdesign]

well if you need help with SEO you can visit www.xpirtdesign.com they have alot of helpful information that you can use because we give information that you can try yourself but like someone said you can harm your website if you do not do it correctly. We are SEO specialist so check out our site.
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Also if you need more information you can just contact us with the number on the site. We have helped people just like you with their websites.

 

[autoinsurance1]

Hi guys i am happy to see you all here.

 

[JoeyRock58]

They are both great if you know anything about websites seo can be free just get on some seo/sem forums and read. sem is great but if you don't know what you are doing it can spend alot and not get anything back.

 

[somarco]

This forum is great. Take some time to read through and you will learn a lot.
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