Websites and Marketing

[MN Guy]

Hello Everyone

I'm thinking about investing in a website to help market myself and my agency. I have a lot of questions, but will try to limit them

1. Is paying 499 to build your website that gives you I beleive 60 pages a good deal, and then paying a monthly charge of 40 bucks per month for hosting, website updates and website licency fee?

2. Once I get this built I've heard the sky is the limit to pay to bring traffic to you site, and you should be able to convert 20 to 30% to sales. The cost to bring this traffic to your website will cost around 500 to 800 dollars per month. Do these numbes sound right?

What are some of you agents out there doing to get traffic to your website. I'm very new to this online marketng, so if I'm going to do this, I want to do it the right way the first time.

I'v heard that 80% of people looking for insurance go to the web first to do there research, which makes total sense as I do the same.

Are you paying a online marketing company to bring you traffic, and if you are, is 100% of your marketing dollars going twords this?

I currently hold a P & C and Life license

Thanks for your help

Monty

 

[F150]

60 pages on a website? WTF
only converting 20% of people that come to your website, AWFUL, but depends on what your offering

 

[kstein]

IMO you will die a slow painful death if you plan on generating traffic via ppc. As a new player without much content, you pay through the nose for keywords or placement. Then you have a tweak your site to optimize conversions. I would also double check your seo/website person and make sure they check out. That industry has exploded lately with everyone touting their services for a monthly fee.

I've had a website for 2 years that cost about $3,000 counting everything and I try to update the blog and content consistently with relevant keywords. It hasn't been a grand slam, but I have generated 80 or so sales from it in 2 years so I've been pleased.

Just make sure your design person is legit and know that slow and steady wins this race. Also have other marketing efforts going on at the same time. I'm in the medicare space.

 

[Infuego]

I highly doubt any legitimate pro is going to "build" the website for $500. Who provides the content? (60 pages is a lot) And what does $500-$800/ month get you?

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Try to avoid that $40 monthly recurring fee and the canned content. Better to slowly add your own content instead of a bunch of stuff everybody has.

Good luck.

Steve

Steve Mason Insurance Agency - We Tend The Net For Your Goals

 

[MN Guy]

Thanks for the great input. The web site people I've been considering in a company called Bright Fire. I would imagine they have the basic templates of the site built and they just duplicate it with a new client and customize it to the clients liking. I am not marketing them what so ever, I'm just very new and if I'm going to do this, I want to do it the right way the very first time, so I'm just doing a ton of research right now.

For people wondering, my business consist of 80% life with a majority of that being final expense, but I'm starting to work on some very large estate planning cases.

F150- you were saying a 20% closing ratio is terrible, what do you feel should be a realistic close ration for people coming to your website, I honestly don't know.

kstein- those 80 sales, what type of sales were they, life.. health.. P & C?

I've also heard it cost a lot more to advertise for life lead vs P & C or medicare. Is there any truth to this?

Also another question i have is if you feel it's reasonable to think after having your website up for about a real, do you feel you can make a living with just your website generating all your leads, or you will still need to do additional marketing to suplement it?

Thanks for all your thoughts

Mont.

 

[kstein]

Mainly health, medicare supplement dental etc. You will find niches of what people are looking for and you need to focus it on that. For FE I get random calls on occasion from our website and it is typically for people with health issues. In that situation, I would have GI companies and rates and create a landing page that touts your opportunity to find coverage for high risk clients.

 

[Robbie]

Hey Monty, my name is Robbie and I have been studying internet marketing for the past 3 years. I just passed my P&C yesterday and will enter the insurance industry applying many internet marketing models. I have made this thread specifically to give you some insight and let you make an informed decision when trying to generate leads online.

Lets get started…

The first thing you need to understand is that SEO is the method by which you rank for keywords that your target market is searching for on google, bing, yahoo or any other search engine. The idea is that you rank for keywords that pertain to your industry (in your case, pnc insurance) so you have a chance to convert those visitors into buyers. Content such as articles, blog posts, infographics and videos are used to target those keywords. SEO is then responsible for making your content appear on the first page of the search engines.

Here is what the typical SEO flow looks like:​

Audience types keyword in google → Google displays your content on 1st page because its relevant to the search → Audience clicks on your content → Audience is now converted to a visitor and its the job of your website to capture that visitor and turn them into a lead.

Consider this before deploying SEO

SEO is a long term strategy. Depending on how many people are competing for the search parameter (keyword) it can weeks, months, or even years to attain 1st page visibility.
Keywords usually consist of people searching for either information or products. Your target audience may be looking for “how to get cheap car insurance” (information) or “buy minneapolis homeowners insurance” (product).

Scenario 1 “how to get cheap insurance” - Lets pretend that after $1000’s spent and months of waiting, your marketing agency is able to successfully rank you for this keywords. Ask yourself, would you be able to effectively serve that audience? The “how to get cheap car insurance” content will provide the tips, tricks and hacks that your audience may be looking for, but how do we effectively convert them to a prospect if your insurance writing abilities are limited to your state? Someone from Los Angeles, Chicago or New York is just as likely to enter “how to get cheap car insurance” and youve spent tons of money and time catering to an audience you may not be able to serve. Chances are that as a P&C writer, your ideal market is local.

Scenario 2 “buy minneapolis homeowners insurance” - Well if our first keyword served a broad audience, what would happen if we catered to those closer to home? At first glance, this keyword has everything a local insurance agent desires - buying intent, local audience, and the product is at your disposal to sell. However, the internet and information age that we live in today has created a HUGE demand instant gratification. Odds are that someone a visitor from this keyword wants a quote now because they are shopping for the best price. You are going to have to train your employees to react to these leads immediately or be ready to pay a web developer to provide an online quoting system that spits out a quote immediately. If your business thrives on relationship building and by having people walk in to your office, this may not be the best strategy to deploy. The only way to win business in this scenario is by competing in a price war.

So whats a small business owner to do?

Before deploying any sort of internet marketing strategy, its important to define your goals. Sure, we all want more sales, but there are several steps that lead up to a sale, whether online or offline. Take a look at your business and determine what you would like to enhance. What is working in your business now that you would like to amplify through means of the internet?

Are you looking to increase exposure and awareness? Do you want to let your local market know that you exist? If so, you may want to look into Google Places which allows your business to be listed on Google when a user types in “insurance in minneapolis” as opposed to ranking your content.

Are you wanting to generate leads online? Do you want to use the internet as a vehicle to provide value to your local market which can turn into leads and eventually customers? If so, then you may want to look at setting up a social media campaign that targets your local market. Provide value upfront and ask for the sale later.

If you are eager to get something going but lack the know-how, let me know and I will put together some free training that outlines a do-it-yourself solution. I hope that my first post to this forum was valuable to you Monty or anyone else currently in the dark about internet marketing.

 

[Dan3211980]

Hey Monty, my name is Robbie and I have been studying internet marketing for the past 3 years. I just passed my P&C yesterday and will enter the insurance industry applying many internet marketing models. I have made this thread specifically to give you some insight and let you make an informed decision when trying to generate leads online.

Lets get started…

The first thing you need to understand is that SEO is the method by which you rank for keywords that your target market is searching for on google, bing, yahoo or any other search engine. The idea is that you rank for keywords that pertain to your industry (in your case, pnc insurance) so you have a chance to convert those visitors into buyers. Content such as articles, blog posts, infographics and videos are used to target those keywords. SEO is then responsible for making your content appear on the first page of the search engines.

Here is what the typical SEO flow looks like:

Audience types keyword in google -> Google displays your content on 1st page because its relevant to the search -> Audience clicks on your content -> Audience is now converted to a visitor and its the job of your website to capture that visitor and turn them into a lead.

Consider this before deploying SEO

SEO is a long term strategy. Depending on how many people are competing for the search parameter (keyword) it can weeks, months, or even years to attain 1st page visibility.
Keywords usually consist of people searching for either information or products. Your target audience may be looking for “how to get cheap car insurance” (information) or “buy minneapolis homeowners insurance” (product).

Scenario 1 “how to get cheap insurance” - Lets pretend that after $1000’s spent and months of waiting, your marketing agency is able to successfully rank you for this keywords. Ask yourself, would you be able to effectively serve that audience? The “how to get cheap car insurance” content will provide the tips, tricks and hacks that your audience may be looking for, but how do we effectively convert them to a prospect if your insurance writing abilities are limited to your state? Someone from Los Angeles, Chicago or New York is just as likely to enter “how to get cheap car insurance” and youve spent tons of money and time catering to an audience you may not be able to serve. Chances are that as a P&C writer, your ideal market is local.

Scenario 2 “buy minneapolis homeowners insurance” - Well if our first keyword served a broad audience, what would happen if we catered to those closer to home? At first glance, this keyword has everything a local insurance agent desires - buying intent, local audience, and the product is at your disposal to sell. However, the internet and information age that we live in today has created a HUGE demand instant gratification. Odds are that someone a visitor from this keyword wants a quote now because they are shopping for the best price. You are going to have to train your employees to react to these leads immediately or be ready to pay a web developer to provide an online quoting system that spits out a quote immediately. If your business thrives on relationship building and by having people walk in to your office, this may not be the best strategy to deploy. The only way to win business in this scenario is by competing in a price war.

So whats a small business owner to do?

Before deploying any sort of internet marketing strategy, its important to define your goals. Sure, we all want more sales, but there are several steps that lead up to a sale, whether online or offline. Take a look at your business and determine what you would like to enhance. What is working in your business now that you would like to amplify through means of the internet?

Are you looking to increase exposure and awareness? Do you want to let your local market know that you exist? If so, you may want to look into Google Places which allows your business to be listed on Google when a user types in “insurance in minneapolis” as opposed to ranking your content.

Are you wanting to generate leads online? Do you want to use the internet as a vehicle to provide value to your local market which can turn into leads and eventually customers? If so, then you may want to look at setting up a social media campaign that targets your local market. Provide value upfront and ask for the sale later.

If you are eager to get something going but lack the know-how, let me know and I will put together some free training that outlines a do-it-yourself solution. I hope that my first post to this forum was valuable to you Monty or anyone else currently in the dark about internet marketing.

I myself am new to the website marketing game. Thanks for the information. I found it beneficial!

 

[AdrenalineMP]

Robbie,

Great first post. Thanks for laying out some of the key points in SEO and marketing via the web.

MN Guy - Lot's of good info above. Bottom line is "Build it and they will come" does not work on the internet. Definitely need to look at your marketing plan and see where you want to go with the website. Then, once you have it built and online, you need to market it so folks know you are out there. It will take time before it is producing significant leads.

You can do it 'on the cheap' if you have the time to build your own site and fill it with your own content. There are also companies out there that specialize in insurance related site design. Some are reasonably priced, some not so reasonable. If you are tied in with an IMO/BGA they may have a source for you as well.

Good luck with it.