SEO for Insurance Websites

[STIBROKER]

you just made sam's day......

Excellent advice Sam. Thanks.

 

[GeoffRizer]

ok, and 3 years late...

 

[insuranceadman]

Google Places is great. The only problem is that it is fickle. You could be number one on Monday and gone for a month for really no reason. Or the stats just drop off, or a competitor complains and causes problems, or the photos stop working, or you get 2 or 3 duplicate listings that take months to clear up. You really have to know what you are doing with Google Places and you have to have a detailed well thought out keyword list. Do the keywords pull up places pages? do people actually search that term? Does the term have to include a city name so that a map is pulled up? does it have to include the word "in" or "near"? With the new places/organic mashup do your website keywords play nice with your places keywords? If you have more than one location are they each getting citations from the site? In other words - in competitive markets Google Places requires a pro. Then you have to figure out how much quality traffic it will really bring and figure out a budget that will likely turn a positive ROI - only use someone that can prove results and that is ethical and won't also take the agent down the street.

 

[aheff]

Follow up Question for a new website. I've been told that brand new websites are very hard to get on the first page, even with SEO. Would you agree? Would you start SEO right away, or wait it out several months? Thanks.

 

[ksigmtsu]

Follow up Question for a new website. I've been told that brand new websites are very hard to get on the first page, even with SEO. Would you agree? Would you start SEO right away, or wait it out several months? Thanks.

If you do the seo work, you can get there in 6 months for most keywords.

If you do nothing, you won't ever be there for any keyword that produces traffic.

 

[insuranceadman]

start right away! The longer you wait the longer it takes. Google Places can show up fast depending on competition and how many citations your phone number has. Type the phone number in Google in quotes. If other businesses are associated with that number on Google Places, don't use that number. Right away get listed in all the directory sites. Also work on on page and off page SEO from the get go.

 

[Landersinsuranc]

I did a google places listing thing with Progressive. It was $50 for the year and they submitted it to Localeze and Universal Business Listing but it has been about two or three months and I am still on page 5??? What can you do to boost your ranking??? what are the best keywords to target for your city???
Also, I submitted my business to Bing about 6 months ago and it still says it is processing. Any idea how to get approved?

 

[insuranceadman]

Landers: It is hard to give advice unless I know your google places page. Are you in ID? If so you are "B" on places for "auto insurance" in your area. It's just a low population area and maybe you aren't getting the traffic you thought you would? As for bing they should mail you a postcard... most people throw it out on accident. Have them send another one and comb through the junk mail for 2-3 weeks. For best keywords use google keyword tool. Usually brand scabbing is even better than "auto insurance". Depends on what you are trying to sell. The truth about internet hype and small agencies: The internet will only bring you a little bit of new business - you have to impress those people so much that they talk about you. That way even though you put a lot of time and money into getting one internet customer you have to turn it into two from a referral.

 

[mynarky]

I'm in the process of setting up a website-geared to Medicare. For the next many months, I will be relying on two items to drive some traffic- Google ads and Google Places. Once website is slightly established, will try the SEO route. Just hoping for the website to be a (small) piece of my prospecting.
Ads- Cost about $2-$4 PC
Places- Seems like a great way to get high up on 1st page.
Thoughts?

Places is only the first page if you're in a very specific geography, you likely won't get much traffic off of the listing. As far as using ppc to market an insurance product, it's because almost a lost cause. The PPC price has been driven so high.

 

[MEEVLAA]

I don't agree with everything in this post, but you do make some very
good points. I'm very interested in this topic and I myself do a lot of
research as well. Either way it was a well thought out and nice read so I figured I would leave you a comment.
Feel free to check out my website sometime and let me know what you think......