Recently, we had to perform a search engine optimization analysis
for a new insurance client. In doing so, we came across a competing
agency’s website that originally went online in 1998. The website was
ranked number one and probably will stay that way for a long while.

Eleven years…

The Internet has been used commercially since the early nineties and
began trickling into homes around the world in 1992 (although it
originally went live in 1969 as a U.S. Department of Defense project
called ARPANET).

Six years after Internet services like AOL started making their
irritating dial tone noises on computers everywhere, this one insurance
agency purchased a valuable domain name and had a website created.

Today that agency has eleven years of links to its website. Some of
those links are as old as the website itself. The result of this eleven
year old investment is a page one ranking for their state’s related
insurance terms; and, an eleven year online insurance marketing advantage.

It’s important to note, had this agency set up their website and
paid no attention to search engine optimization, they would not be
ranked where they are today; so age isn’t everything. But, here is
something to think about… if you were competing against this agency in
their region, they would have an eleven year advantage over you.

Don’t be the last insurance agency or company to engage in online
insurance marketing. Having a website isn’t good enough; you need an
insurance search engine marketing plan to get your website found and
positioned highly in the search engines. Every day you wait, your
competing insurance agencies and companies are getting handed an
advantage.

To learn more about insurance marketing, insurance search engine optimization, insurance web design, or insurance agency marketing, visit ReadytoQuote.com or call 1.800.504.8593.

Posted: June 22nd, 2009 under Insurance Marketing.
Comments: none

Insurance Marketing and Online Website Editors

Over the last few weeks, we have provided useful information about
how writing articles is a valuable way to build links to your insurance
website. Truly, there is no better or more ethical way to build links
to your insurance website.

The other side of search engine optimization, however, deals with
your actual website. Items such as the platform your website is built
on, or your hosting environment, may effect your online insurance
marketing and search engine optimization.

The biggest hindering factor in search engine marketing is a website
that uses a content management system that is not SEO friendly. Are you
unsure if you use a content management system? If you are able to login
online and make changes to your website content, then you are using a
content management system.

Not all content management systems are bad. In fact, many of them
have built-in, search engine friendly URL’s and other tools needed to
market your website successfully.

The two most important elements of a solid content management system
are the ability to add custom page titles on every page (as opposed to
having one universal page title), and search engine friendly URL’s.

An example of a non-search engine friendly URL is this: yourdomain.com/index.asp?=2029_id_29,0,20,13

All of those commas and characters at the end make it difficult for Google’s search engine bot to crawl your website.

A search engine friendly URL for a page on your website pertaining
to health insurance (for example) would be this:
yourdomain.com/health-insurance.

Notice how that URL structure is descriptive of the content within that page and uses the keyphrases.

To learn more about insurance marketing, insurance search engine optimization, insurance web design, or insurance agency marketing, visit ReadytoQuote.com or call 1.800.504.8593.