Promote Your Insurance Agency Website

• 13Mar

  Whiteboard Friday – How to Get Awesome Links

  Insurance Agency Websites, Local Search, Online Directory, SEO, Search Engine Registration, Search Engines No Comments

  Our friends over at SEOmoz posted a great video today on how to get “Awesome Links” on your website. These awesome links are the same type of links that we talk about here for Insurance Agencies.  I think the most “Awesome” links an Insurance Agent can get on their web site are links from their insurance companies they represent. They also mention getting links from Yahoo Local (Create a directory) and from the Librarians’ Internet Index.

  Their Video:
  SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday – How to Get Awesome Links from Scott Willoughby on Vimeo.

  Tags: Insurance Agency Web Site, links, SEO

• 11Mar

  What to do when your agency gets a bad review?

  Local Search, SEO, Search Engines 1 Comment

  A couple weeks ago I was informed by one of my customers that they received a bad review on Yahoo Local and have no idea why. To make matters worse this insurance agent had not idea who the person was. I quickly pulled up their local listing on Yahoo Local to take a look.

  This is the first time I was introduced to Yahoo internet user “Rocanne” (Link will take you to their profile on Yahoo)

  Well, come to find out Rocanne has had insurance through many many agencies throughout the United States. From California to Georgia to Nevada and Illinois. I haven’t counted yet, but it looks like Rocanne has been allover the country. Avid mover? Multi-policy-over-insured-overzealous-crazy-insured-person? Or just a plain liar. I do not know who Rocanne is or where Rocanne is located. Chances are Rocanne works for or owns a Search Engine Optimization Company (SEO) The type of search engine optimization company that gives legitimate SEO companies bad names.

  My theory about Rocanne:

  Rocanne gets a customer in ABC Town, pulls up the local listing for “Insurance ABC Town” and finds any agency who has a better listing then her customer. Rocanne then writes bad reviews on all of the insurance companies hoping to decrease their page rank. All so her customer can rise to the top. Pretty sketchy…

  With my information against Rocanne put to the side I reported Rocanne to Yahoo’s abuse (There is a link next to each review that reads “Report Abuse”) I entered my email address and a brief description detailing that there is no way that Rocanne is or has ever been a customer of all of these insurance agencies and that she is probably just writing bad reviews for competing insurance agencies of her own customers.

  I then crossed my finger, closed my laptop and called it a day. Being my first time tattling on someone online I wasn’t sure how Yahoo would handle my complaint. Would it take them months to get to it? Would they even listen to me?

  Within 24 hours (On a Sunday of all days) Yahoo had sent me an email that Rocanne’s comment was a violation and had been removed. Go Yahoo! It took Yahoo less than a day to review my complaint and remove Rocanne’s false review.

  Unfortunately, Yahoo only removed the one comment that I submitted as abuse. (There are still about 22 more false claims out there)

  Removing false reviews is pretty simple.

  Here are some screenshots from my encounter with Rocanne:

  Rocanne’s Profile On Yahoo!

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  

  Tags: bad review, local review

• 27Oct

  Search Result Layouts

  AdWords, Local Search, Paid Search, Search Engines No Comments

  Before you start purchasing website advertising, it is important to understand how search engines are laid out. In this post I’m going to talk about Google, Yahoo and MSN Live. In my examples below, I used the search term “Insurance, Portland, OR”

  View the search results for each:

  Google
  Yahoo
  MSN Live

  The following screenshots (Click on any image to enlarge) detail how each search engine displays their search results and paid search.

  Organic Search – This area is reserved for normal searches, your insurance agency website will display here depending on how your site matches up with the search term and how well your site is optimized.

  Paid Search – The paid search area is reserved for websites who have signed up for an advertising program. It will cost money to have your site added to these sections. The top “banner” section will cost more than the right “column” section.

  Local Search - Local search, all three major search engines display local search information. Interestingly, the local search section is located above the organic search area on each site. This really goes to show how IMPORTANT it is that your insurance agency is listed locally. Information on local search: Google, Yahoo and MSN Live.

  Google:

  

  Yahoo:

  

  MSN Live:

  

  Tags: Search Engines, search results

• 29Sep

  This could happen to you…

  Local Search, Search Engines 1 Comment

  First off, I’d like to thank the insurance agents and everyone else who have emailed me with questions and comments. I’m trying to get back to everyone individually. You can also post comments here on the blog.

  I’m sure by now you have noticed a theme with the blog. I have heavily talked about the importance of local search engines. Today’s post is a real life example of what could happen to your local listing if you don’t take action.  (I’m not trying to scare you, but this example could just as easily happen to you)

  This morning I had my every two year CPR renewal class. In true form I logged onto Google Maps typed in the company name where I was taking my class so I knew where I where to go.

  I was able to locate the name of the company by searching for “First Line First Aid, Spokane Valley” I found the local listing for First Line First Aid however, there was a problem, the map had the listing not only in the wrong place but in a different city 35 miles away from where I was suppose to go…

  Fortunately I was able to notice that the map location was incorrect before I left the house. This made me think about a couple things. Google has added a new feature where users can “correct” the pin placement on the map. Was this a mistake or a case of a less than ethical competitor moving the location on the map?

  How can you prevent this from happening to your local listing on Google?

  First off, claim your business with Google so nobody can modify it.

  Secondly, double check the location of you agency on all major search engines that have maps.

  Google Maps

  Mapquest

  Yahoo Maps

  MSN Live

  I went back and corrected the listing so the pin is in the correct location. I took a screenshot of the misplacement on the map:

  

  Click on image to enlarge

  Tags: google maps, Local Search

• 24Sep

  How to get your customers to write a review about your insurance agency

  Local Search, SEO, Search Engines, Worth Trying 1 Comment

  Last week I talked about the importance of customer reviews on major search engines. This week I will be talking about ways you can increase the amount of positive feedback your insurance agency has online. Everyday your agency is receiving phone calls, emails, walk-ins ranging from quote requests, change requests, typical insurance questions and more. These are all opportunities to write a policy, up sell a policy or just maintain good relations with your clients. When a customer gives your agency or staff a complement, ask them if they mind posting a comment about your agency on one of the search engines. Generally most of the customers will either have an MSN, Yahoo or Google account already so adding a comment should be very simple for them.

  Don’t expect them to do too much work…

  Have a template email ready to send them. In your email thank them for their complement and include links to where they can write a review about your agency.

  Sample Email: (Feel free to copy or modify this email for your own use)

  Dear Joe Smith,

  Thank you very much for your kind words earlier today. We greatly appreciate it and strive to do our best to satisfy our clients. If you don’t mind can you please post a comment about us on one of the major search engines; Google, Yahoo or MSN? Doing so will only talk a few moments and will greatly help us out.

  You can access any our online listings by using the links below.

  Google (Insert link to your local listing on Google here)

  Yahoo (Insert link to your local listing on Yahoo here)

  MSN (Insert link to your local listing on MSN here)

  Once again, thank you very much. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

  Your agency name,
  Your agency website address
  Your email.

  Once you have that email template ready to use forward it to your staff and inform them about the benefit of sending the email to your customers. Some agencies will even have contests for the person who gets the most reviews posted. A $20 Starbucks gift card can be very persuasive…

  Now that you have the template email ready, send the email to your friends and family and have your staff do the same. This is a very good way to kick start your local listings reviews.

  Tags: Customer Reviews, Local Search

• 15Sep

  Customer testimonials; write a review

  Insurance Agency Websites, Local Search, SEO, Search Engines, Worth Trying 1 Comment

  Everyone knows how beneficial word of mouth advertising can be for your insurance agency. It is no surprise that potential customers will go to Google or another search engine and research a company or a product before making a buying decision. What is the best way to take advantage of customer reviews? Some agencies have a testimonial page on their website. Having a testimonials page on your site is a good practice and the amount of effort required to add the testimonials is very little. I talked a few weeks ago about claiming your business with Google. If you have not done this; stop reading this post and claim your business. 

  Google, Yahoo and MSN Live all have local search functionality. All of them also have an area where they allow users to write reviews about a company. Customer reviews can easily put your insurance agency website above the competition all of which can be done easily and for free. In my example to day, I’m going to use one of my favorite pizza restaurants; David’s Pizza located in Spokane Washington. 

  David’s has customer reviews on all three major search engines:  

  Google: 

  

  Yahoo: 

   

  

  MSN Live: 

   

  

  (Click on any of the images above to view the actual listing) 

  What does a pizza restaurant have to do with insurance? Search engines don’t care if you are a pizza restaurant or an insurance agency. They all have a local search area for local businesses within these listings there is an area where business owners can upload photos, post hours and update contact information. The more information Google has about your insurance agency the better. 

  User reviews work the same way. If you have 10 of your best customers, friends and family write positive reviews about your agency on the three major search engines your insurance agency website value and position will increase. 

  Try to think like a search engine. 

  Your local listing has ten reviews and your competitor across the street has zero reviews who do you think the search engines will give more credit to? When a customer writes a review Google knows who they are (You are required to login first) they also know other reviews they have made and can score each user’s reviews based off of the quality of reviews they have made. The more reviews the better. 

  What about bad reviews? 

  Don’t think it has happened before. Upset customers, someone accidentally selecting one star instead of five stars, competitors giving bad reviews to make their own company look better… Since you have already followed my instructions for claiming your business on Google, Yahoo & MSN Live; you also have the ability to agree, disagree or mitigate your comments.

  I cannot stress enough how beneficial this can be for promoting your insurance agency website. 

  Next week: How to get more reviews about your agency website. 

  Tags: Insurance Websites, Search Engines, User Reviews

• 25Aug

  Adding your Insurance Agency Web Site to Search Engines

  Insurance Agency Websites, Local Search, Online Directory, SEO, Search Engines 1 Comment

  Over the past 4 weeks I have talked about search engines and why it is important to take the time and make sure your insurance website is submitted to all of the major search engines & directories. Google, Yahoo, MSN Live & DMOZ.

  Those are not the only search engines out there, there are others; they may not be as popular as Google or Yahoo but they do have web users searching on them. So how important is it to submit your insurance website to the major search engines? Extremely! Take a look at the list below and see how many search engines (This is only a partial list) scan Google, Yahoo or DMOZ for their own search results.

  Google	www.google.com	http://www.google.com/local/add/lookup?hl=en-US&gl=US
  Yahoo	www.yahoo.com	http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php
  MSN	www.live.com	http://maps.live.com/localsearch/YPDefault.aspx
  DMOZ	www.dmoz.org	http://www.dmoz.org/add.html
  AltaVista	www.altavista.com	(Powered by Yahoo) http://www.altavista.com/addurl/default
  Ask.com	www.ask.com	Uses DMOZ
  AllTheWeb	www.alltheweb.com	(Powered by Yahoo)
  AOL	www.aol.com	(Powered by Google)
  Netscape	www.netscape.com	(Powered by Google)
  Excite	www.excite.com	(Scans major search engines)
  Lycos	www.lycos.com	Not available
  WebCrawler	www.webcrawler.com	(Scans major search engines)
  Dogpile	www.dogpile.com	(Scans major search engines)
  Mamma	www.mamma.com	(Scans major search engines)
  Gigablast	www.giggablast.com	Submit site

  Tags: altavista, aol, ask.com, excite, Google, Insurance Website, MSN, Search Engine, Search Engines, Yahoo

• 18Aug

  DMOZ & and your insurance agency website

  Insurance Agency Websites, Local Search, Online Directory, Search Engine Registration, Search Engines No Comments

  Over the last couple of weeks we have discussed more traditional types of search engines;
  Google, Yahoo & MSN Live. This week we are going to talk about a not so traditional buy still very powerful online directory called DMOZ.

  DMOZ (Owned by Netscape which is owned by AOL) is more of an online directory than a search engine. DMOZ is indexed by real people and not computer robots. Making the search results much more reliable.

  The Open Directory Project is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors. Source.

  DMOZ has its benefits and it has its disadvantages. Since each site is reviewed by an editor (living, breathing human being) the quality of the search index is better than any other search engine.

  The biggest disadvantage that I have noticed is it takes a long time (anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of months) to get a site added to their search index and sometimes your site submissions will be rejected for no apparent reason. I have also seen sites rejected due to poor website layout or invalid categorization.

  Nonetheless, DMOZ can be a powerful search tool that separates your insurance agency website from the competition.

  Have your insurance web site added to: http://www.dmoz.org/add.html

  Tags: DMOZ, Insurance Website, Online Directory, Search Engine, Search Engine Registration

• 11Aug

  Local Search – MSN (Live.com)

  Insurance Agency Websites, Local Search, Search Engine Registration, Search Engines No Comments

  Just like Google and Yahoo, Microsoft has a live search where you can go and claim your business and enter in your own information.

  To claim your business through Microsoft’s Live Search go to: http://maps.live.com/localsearch/YPDefault.aspx

  Enter (search for) your insurance agency name and city.

  Once you find your insurance agency name in the search results: (If you are unable to locate your insurance agency web site in the search results than you will need to submit your domain to MSN Live Search first.)

  Select your agency from the list. (While you are there be sure to give yourself 5 stars!)

  On the bottom right of the page under the map there is a link that reads: “Business owners edit listing” (The link may also read: “Change your business listing”)

  Select that link and follow the instructions to update your information.

  See also:

  Google Local Search
  Yahoo Local Search

  Next week: DMOZ

  Tags: Insurance Websites, Live Search, Local Search, MSN, Search Engine Registration, Search Engines

• 04Aug

  Local Search – Yahoo Local

  Insurance Agency Websites, Local Search, Search Engine Registration, Search Engines No Comments

  Much like Google Local, Yahoo also has a very impressive and important local search. Signing up for Yahoo Local search is simple.

  Go to: http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php and complete the necessary information. It is important to complete the information to the best of your ability, use descriptive words that include your location or a major metropolitan area near your agency.

  See also:

  Google Local Search
  Local Search – MSN (Live.com)

  Next week: MSN Live local search

  Tags: Insurance Agency Websites, Local Search, Search Engine Registration, Yahoo

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