Implementing a robust local SEO strategy is something that all insurance agencies should consider. If your agency is not using local SEO to drive local searches to your website in 2023, it’s time to rethink your marketing strategy.
Local searches account for nearly one trillion Google queries annually and 50% of people looking for products will only buy something from a company with a four-star rating or higher. Google will also rank your website higher on the first page based on your agency’s proximity to searchers and your physical address, among other factors.
Marketers are increasingly shifting towards local SEO as one of their main goals to increase interest and revenue. Local SEO should be part of your effort to elevate your agency in the local and national marketplaces. When implemented correctly, local SEO provides the following benefits:
Beating the Competition
No matter the size of your insurance agency, you will always benefit from being visible to a local audience. Furthermore, you can make your online reach appear larger than it is by using local SEO to market to specific locations. Doing this is a great way to beat the competition, especially if their only focus is national locations.
Catering to a local audience demonstrates to potential customers that you care about them and can provide for their unique insurance needs.
Tip: Complete your business listing on Google using their Google Business Profile platform. Creating an extensive Google listing is the first step in making local SEO work for you. You can list all your business information, including areas you cover, contact details, information about the products and services that you offer, and more.
High Conversion Rate
When your business information is readily available online, your agency will have a better chance at ranking on Google’s first page when someone in your area searches for local insurance agencies. Combine this with good reviews, and you get a much higher chance of improving your insurance agency’s conversion rate.
Tip: Use local keywords to improve your ranking even further. For example, if you’re located in North Carolina, you may want to include “North Carolina car insurance” or “home insurance in North Carolina” on your insurance agency’s website content.
Increased Engagement
When people can find your business online, they will contact you to get more information. More than half of people who search for local companies online call to find out about pricing and availability.
Before calling, people may also visit your website to learn more about your products. More website visits mean you get more chances to turn leads into paying customers.
Tip: List your good reviews on your website. When engagement increases, you want the people clicking through to your website to find good reasons to do business with your agency. Good reviews are the ultimate motivator, so the more you include on your website, the better.
As for Google reviews, don’t ignore bad reviews when you get them! Instead, work to resolve the issue and make sure that you respond to the complaint publicly.
Effective Backlinks
Local SEO also allows you to include link-building into your marketing strategy. Acquiring links from other reputable websites helps drive traffic to your website and boosts your agency’s visibility during local Google searches.
Backlinks and local citations are one of the main factors Google uses to determine your page rank. So, along with proximity and good reviews, your backlinks will dictate where your business listing lands on Google’s first page.
Another way to build strong backlinks is to create brand profiles on a few social media platforms. You can include a link to your website on all your social media accounts and add clickable social media icons to your site. Some of the most popular social media apps in the insurance industry are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
Conclusion
Incorporating local SEO strategies into your marketing plan is just another way that your agency can begin catering to Google’s SEO algorithms. The bots that power the algorithms look for businesses that exude trust, authority, and relevance.
If you put in the effort to master local SEO and manage to make the algorithms play in your favor, you can leverage your website and Google Business Profile to enhance your sales strategy.
Local SEO is not a one-time effort either. Your strategy will need regular fine-tuning to keep up with Google’s ever-changing algorithms. But once you get the hang of it, you will convert more customers and outperform your competitors.