6 Reasons Why Your Agency Needs Its Own Website

As a marketer, you need to reach customers when, where, and how they want to be reached. That means having a strong presence on the web. This is especially true with the acceleration of e-commerce in the pandemic era. It's not to say that your web presence ought to replace your presence in-person and over the phone (or by video chat). Your web presence should, however, highly complement those more traditional forms of contact.

The foundation of your agency’s web presence is your website. You should invest in your website just as you invest in other effective forms of marketing and customer relationship management.

A website is an investment worth making

1. A website provides a critical “first impression” to many insurance shoppers.
   Think about the first impression you want customers to have when visiting your office: a convenient location, easy-to-see signage, friendly faces and professional demeanors, a comfortable and uncluttered waiting room, on-time appointments, and so on. All these experiences add up to help customers feel confident about your agency.

   Your website provides a first impression in the digital realm. It should be easy to find—not only via search but with a memorable URL. Its design should have a professional feel and be optimized for both laptop and mobile screens (mobile optimization is critical, by the way, as approximately two-thirds of searches now happen on mobile devices). It should promote trust using secure socket layer (SSL) technology. And it should make it easy for customers to get the information they need. A professional website is part of an overall professional experience with your agency. It helps customers have that confidence they need to do business with you.

2. A website can improve your showing in Google My Business results.
   Google My Business (GMB) is a powerful tool to connect customers to your agency. No, you don’t actually need a website to use GMB. But having one can enhance the experience customers have when they find your GMB listing, as it gives them a link to follow to learn more about your agency. That may often be what’s needed to get them to contact you for a quote.

   Having a well-crafted website may also help improve your positioning in local search results. According to Google, “prominence” is one of the factors used when determining where to rank a company. They state: “Prominence is … based on information that Google has about a business, from across the web, like links, articles, and directories…. Your position in web results is also a factor, so search engine optimization (SEO) best practices apply.”

3. A website can help differentiate your agency from the competition.
   Your website allows you to explain what makes your agency different from the others in town. You can list basics like what lines you offer, what services you provide, and what carriers you represent (and why you represent them). You can also create content that reflects your agency’s values and tells your story while providing helpful information based on the questions your own customers ask.

4. A website can help your agency be available at all hours.
   Not everyone reaches out to your agency between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. Having a website with a contact form, including opportunities for customers to request quotes and policy service, allows your agency to expand its availability beyond standard business hours. Of course, you’ll want to be sure you have a process in place to make sure these requests are answered promptly when the office does re-open.

5. A website puts you in the driver’s seat of your agency’s digital presence.
   It may be tempting to rely on social platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn when it comes to establishing an online presence for your agency. After all, these sites are relatively easy to use and have billions of users.

   Resist that temptation.

   Yes, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media sites are tools that can help promote your agency online. However, they shouldn’t be your primary platform. These sites have rules as to who within those billions can see your content, and those rules don’t always favor business owners. The content you post doesn’t provide much of a boost for your agency’s search engine results. And a website—something you’ve invested in—is simply more credible in the minds of most shoppers than a “free” social media page.

   As global content marketing expert Joe Pulizzi often states, “Don’t build your content house on rented land.” Instead, rely on your website—which you own and control—to be at the core of all your online activities.

6. It may be easier than you think to get a professional, well-managed website.
   As stated above, your agency’s website is an investment worth making. As with a welcoming storefront, comfortable interior spaces, and customer-focused employees, it’s an investment that helps your agency appeal to more insurance customers.

   The great news is that as a Progressive agent, you have access to professional web design and management services from our preferred vendor, Lift Local. Working from scratch or your existing site, they can build a high-quality, custom website with site content designed to drive customer leads.

DIY or Vendor – What to Consider for Building and Maintaining an Agency Website

This infographic illustrates some interesting facts about what web shoppers look at when making a purchase and also, some mistakes designers say are common on small business websites.