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There are several essential elements to creating a strong and user-friendly insurance agency website that communicates your brand identity and value.
Your insurance agency website serves as the public “face” of your business. With this in mind, to instill trust in your brand and to cultivate positive and long-term customer relationships, your website must have functionality that allows customers achieve your goals to your site quickly and easily.
First, keep in mind that there are five main reasons why consumers will visit your agency’s website:
To learn more about your agency (are they asking: do they want to do business with you? Do your capabilities match their needs?) To contact an expert/learn more about insurance coverage To get a quote To submit a claim To pay your bill
Your agency website should make all of these things easy. With that in mind, let’s dive deeper into the must-have features for your insurance agency website.
Tom Henell
How to make a powerful first impression
The first experience most new customers will have with your online agency is when they click your link through a Google search (we’ll also explain how you can improve your chances of ranking well in searches website). Once they do, you only have one chance for your digital store to do one eliminatory first impression.
The first thing visitors should see is a simplified and easy-to-use menu bar, your agency logo and a strong image that reflects the tone of your brand.
The design of your agency’s home page directly indicates the breadth and depth of your agency’s products and services, according to Jason Walker, president of Agency Revolution, which provides websites and marketing automation for agencies of insurance
The personality and product mix of each insurance agency website, he notes, is unique. Because every insurance agency is different, your site is a direct reflection of your staff, your customers, and the community you serve.
Your site should tell a story that emphasizes your agency’s expertise and illustrates your strengths. It should clearly list your product offerings; the decision to go with a simplified home page or a list of all the insurance products you sell is determined by your own preference.
For example, if your agency offers a somewhat limited number of coverage products, it’s a good idea to list them all on your home page. If the product list is more extensive, you may consider a different approach.
The navigation bar (or “navigation” bar as it’s sometimes called) at the top of your agency’s website should clearly state what insurance products you sell. Your main navigation bar could contain text as simple as “Products/About Us/Contact Us” and when a visitor’s cursor hovers over “Products”, sub-navigation options will appear showing “Personal Lines” , “Commercial Lines” and “Employee Benefits” if applicable.
Below the “Lines of Business” sub-navigation, a list of all types of insurance products related to the company you sell may appear.
“It’s up to the agency how they want to be perceived,” Walker says. If you specialize in certain lines of coverage, he adds, you’ll want to emphasize that as part of your agency’s story.
What happens on the home page of the insurance agency website
Your story, however, should be told succinctly. Walker notes that it’s best to stick to the “3-second rule,” which states that you only have a few seconds to communicate your brand to the site visitor and encourage them to take direct action.
This is a process that starts with keeping your agency’s site navigation simple and intuitive. Make it clear to the customer what you want them to do. What action do you want them to take?
Remember the reasons mentioned above why people will visit your online agency. Your home page should be a centralized hub that connects the customer to the carrier or other third party service centers so they can easily obtain documents such as proof of insurance, pay their premium or file a claim.
Your lead capture form should be included or linked directly from the home page. The form must include the type of coverage the visitor is interested in, their name, phone number and email address. Keep in mind that the more information you request on the customer engagement form, the less likely it is that it will be completed.
“You need to create spaces for an action to take place,” says Walker. On your agency’s website, he recommends balancing the opportunity to request a quote through embedded third-party rating solutions with the ability to offer consumers a more open and less data-intensive way to capture information. “Sometimes saying, ‘Tell me about yourself and we’ll get back to you,’ yields more intelligence than asking customers to provide metrics with a formal data entry approach. Give your agency the ability to control this dialogue.”
Consider including contact information (including phone numbers and email addresses) for all of your producers, as well as the best times to reach someone in person.
Including a chat module on your homepage will allow the consumer to interact with your business in the same way that they work with AI on other consumer websites. During business hours, the chat should connect to CSRs or agents to allow for quick response. When you’re not on duty, this “always on” module for your customers includes tools that can guide the customer up to 40% of the way.
Interactive graphics on the home page of your agency website can also encourage more time on site. For example, featured images of a house, car, and other visuals can be linked to other pages detailing the types of coverage your agency offers.
Does your agency operate with multiple insurance company partners? If so, list them on your home page and include their logos. Show customers that you are a trusted advisor who can provide them with a variety of options from multiple insurers.
If you are a member of a agency network or aggregator, you might want to include the group logo on your home page. (Membership in some agency groups even makes this practice mandatory.)
Why the “About Us” page is important
Showcase your company culture on your agency website to create a personal connection with clients. On your “About Us” page, include a video or interview with your agency’s leaders. This “story” should be more about your customer than about you. The goal here is to communicate that your agency is a group of smart, experienced, and real people who understand your clients’ problems and can diligently solve them.
“Convey the fact that you are an independent agent to their community and that you have a strong team that can handle their needs,” says Walker.
Agency owners can sometimes struggle to tell their own story in a way that focuses on the clients they serve. Conveying what your business is about in a short bio can be daunting, but the Agency Revolution leader offers several key questions to ask yourself during this process.
“What is the ‘title’ of your agency?” he asks “What are the non-negotiable factors that make you stand out as a business? Be real with yourself and give your 30 second pitch. ‘What are my core values as a company? What is my level of social awareness?’ Look to convey all this.”
Including localized images on your site is a must, as it speaks to your relationship with the community in which you are based. “Don’t use a photo of New York City if you’re near Omaha,” he says.
Additional tips for images on your site: “Avoid the color red,” adds Walker. “It reads like a warning sign.”
I have created my agency website. Now, how do I promote it?
Focusing on search engine optimization (SEO) will help your insurance agency website appear more prominently in local web searches and get more visitors. The same type of work is done by other businesses, such as restaurants, to maximize their Google rankings.
People often do web searches to find something they need, such as an electrician, rather than a company name. If someone types “auto insurance” and your zip code into a web search, does your agency’s name come up first? If not, you are already one step behind the competition.
Does your agency do charity work or have a connection with an educational institution? If so, ask the other party if they can link you. Backlinks, as these links are known, help improve your agency’s website’s search authority with Google. Credible links help you get better visibility in online search results. “Even a link like that means the world to an independent insurance agency,” says Walker.
Another effective way to increase your agency’s website SEO is positive Google reviews from your clients. Google reviews are key to where you appear in search results, and you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for reviews from satisfied customers. Make it a practice to include in your email signature a link to where people can leave comments; the impact can literally raise your agency’s profile.
Customers don’t always want to let you post their photo with a review, but when they agree, do so, especially if that person is a well-known or well-known figure in your community. By doing so, you can strengthen your agency’s credibility.
An investment that pays dividends
Do your due diligence when selecting an experienced partner to build your insurance agency website. There are certain investments in any business that must be made, and in the digital age, this is one of them.
There are a variety of cost-effective options available, and hiring a professional to do the heavy lifting for you can help you continue to maximize your selling time. Don’t hire a friend or family member to take over the job on the cheap – in the long run, the money you save will be lost in lost income opportunities.
One of the benefits of joining an aggregator or agency network is that some (but not all) have resources dedicated to building you a top-notch web portal. If you are considering leveraging the resources of an agency network, consider the expense of a new website versus what you would pay for membership. The math could go very well in your favor.
Finally, as you create the website for your independent insurance agency, consider your own experience with the consumer websites you interact with when doing any type of online business. Creating an experience that is not only painless, but enjoyable will keep clients coming back and help secure your agency’s future.
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