How to Write a Great Blog Post

Last week I talked about finding the time to blog. Now that you've found the time, let's continue talking about blogging with how to write a great blog post.

The first step is to decide what to write about. This is an easy step if you follow my suggestion from last week to keep a list of possible topics to blog about. Determining the subject of your next blog post can easily take up much of the time you allow yourself to write. Save yourself that time so that it can be spent actually writing. Here are some quick ideas on where to look for content for your blog:

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How to Find Time to Blog

We hear it all the time: I'm too busy to blog. If you're serious about your digital agency marketing and competing online, how can you not find the time to blog?

Blogging has so many great benefits for your website and your agency. It helps with SEO, brands you as an insurance expert and gives readers a look inside what makes your agency special and different from your competition.

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Tips for Jump-Starting Your Website

Most of the time, success of a website is focused on Search Engine Optimization efforts. There’s plenty of tips and tricks for SEO that are constantly changing and being updated. But every once in a while, you should feel free to switch gears and just focus on having a website. Consider it your responsibility to the loyal visitor who has found your site by way of a search engine. Here’s a few tips to remember have absolutely nothing to do with SEO.

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Earning Backlinks vs. Building Them

The goal of any SEO strategy is to get your website noticed. One of the more important aspects of most SEO strategies is developing backlinks. Backlinks are links on other websites that link back to your site. These links tell the search engines, “Hey, this site has some good info, and I link to it!” Most search engines use this to determine how popular a website is on the Internet. Let us first look at why search engines use this as a primary metric in determining where your website shows within the organic search results.

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Easy List of How to Fully Benefit from Your Website

1. Site Title & Description
   This is what search engines read and display, so make it concise, but descriptive. (For example, ‘Auto, Home, Life Insurance – Dallas, Plano, Richardson TX’ for the title and ‘Example Insurance Agency specializes in auto, home and life insurance in Dallas, Plano, Richardson and the surrounding areas of Texas.’ for the description ) Limit your title to 65 characters and description to 150 characters. Search engines will not index characters beyond this limit. Use this Javascript Kit webpage to count your characters.

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Where to Look for Great Content Ideas for Your Blog

We talk a lot about blogging here on the ITC Marketing Blog. For good reason as it plays an important role in adding fresh content to your website, which search engines love, and promoting your agency and your knowledge as an insurance expert, which your clients appreciate.

Blogging can easily become a daunting task. Especially if you struggle with what to write about. There are several places to look for ideas on what to blog about. But the best place to look are your customers.

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5 Tips to Turn Your Insurance Website Into a Favorite Online Destination

What makes your website great? If you don’t know, you have some work to do. Consumers have an incredible amount of choices for where to research and buy their insurance policies online. You need to give them a reason to visit you over all those other websites. Your website needs to be the place people love to go for insurance information.

But how do you do that? We’ve got five ways you can turn your website into a favorite insurance destination.

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7 Tips for Marketing an Insurance Agency Online on a Limited Budget

There are many reasons to focus on online marketing. For one, consumers are relying more and more on the Internet and use it to get the majority of information about products and services before they buy, including insurance. It’s easier to monitor your online marketing campaigns and determine their success.

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Blogging Consistently

Here's another presentation in  our Masters of Marketing webinar. This presentation discusses tips for blogging consistently, using a content calendar, so that you can develop customer loyalty and satisfy the need for fresh and relevant content on your website. If you would like to join us every fourth Thursday of the month at 12:00 p.m. CST when we discuss marketing tips, you can register here.

Masters of Marketing: Blogging Consistently

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After You Blog

Even though we stress the importance of blogging, it's still important to remember that your work is not over once you click 'Publish'.

This lovely infogrpahic checklist will come in handy to remember a few key tips like Optimizing Your Post, Using Your Social Networks to Spread the Word, or Adding Your Blog Post to a Newsletter.

In reality, the only people who know your blog post exists could be you and any subscribers you might have. So be sure you spend enough time spreading the good news!

source: divvyhq.com

Masters of Marketing: Website Content

Here's another presentation in  our Masters of Marketing webinar. This presentation discusses content on your website, how to do it, when to do it and why you should add content. If you would like to join us every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. Central when we discuss marketing tips, you can register here.

Masters of Marketing: Website Content

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Masters of Marketing: Effective Blogging

Here's the presentation from yesterday's Masters of Marketing webinar on Effective Blogging. If you would like to join us every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. Central when we discuss marketing tips, you can register here.

Masters of Marketing: Effective Blogging

View more presentations from Darmini Kara.

Grow Your Business and Have Fun

...with a Blog!

In case we haven't made blogging sound fun, important, exciting, crucial, and easy enough with our previous posts,here's a short list of the top 5 reasons you should be blogging. It benefits not only you, but your business as well.

5. A Blog exercises your mind. Personally, I can't go a day without doing a puzzle. Your brain should develop more and more with each day to remain healthy. Thinking of new and innovative ideas to present will provide that development. It not only keeps your brain healthy, but it encourages others to come back to you & your business for what I like to call 'intellectual stimulation.' How can you pass that up?!

4. A Blog lets you speak to the masses. Part of growing your business is finding a way to communicate with future clients. People you would have had no way of reaching out to will have the opportunity to reach out to you instead. Most business owners and executives can forget about how simple and satisfying it is to spark communication. Make sure you provide that spark!

3. A Blog invites communication. Remember that 'intellectual stimulation' I mentioned? Well, it makes people think. And when people think, a blog is the perfect place to verbalize those thoughts. Whether they're agreeing, disagreeing, questioning, or simply contemplating the ideas you've presented them with, they're probably spreading your message. And all publicity is good publicity. Right?

2. A Blog is worth the trouble. It's easy! Nothing can grow without nourishment. Water, air, food, sunlight; think of a blog as the nourishment to your business' website. In this day and age, those who put their ideas out there for the world to see have been rewarded. Greatly. Give and you shall receive.

1. A Blog can be fun. A blog is fun. Don't be afraid to share some humor and not be so serious all the time. It might be the most fun you have at work all day.

So blog away. Take inspiration from Nike:
Yesterday you said tomorrow.
Just do it!

What to Blog About?

Create a content calendar.

In the world of business, families, school, and so many other things, people have adapted to calendars; on their phone, at their desk, on their computer, even through sticky notes on their car windshield. Calendars seem to make things easier. Less stressful. Less intimidating.

So when faced with the impossible task of blogging, some people will run scared and not even try. And some will start off strong, only to waver after 2 or 3 weeks. We know you’re busy. We know you’ve got better things to do besides stopping to put your genius into words. But blogging can be your escape. Like the working mother who has to schedule dinner and a bath into her life just so she doesn’t forget to take care of herself. Schedule blogging into your life, and give it the importance it deserves.

You have a website because you want people to visit. You care about the design of your website because you want people to stay. And Insurance Website Builder gives you an easy-to-use blog because we want people and search engines to come back.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again—Content is King. Blogging is the easiest way to satisfy this straightforward desire for fresh content. But it must be done in accordance with SEO efforts. And it must be done consistently. Here is where a calendar comes in.

Create a list of events that will give you an excuse to write something. Date these events and pick the ones you deem most fitting for you to target. Decide what type of content you can produce for each of these events. Don’t worry about keeping your ideas 100% business related, that’s what news events are for along the way.

Like I said, we know you’re busy. So to help you start brainstorming, here’s a handy (& long) list of events to get your gears turning:

Your Products

• New product launches
• Product upgrades / relaunches
• Announcements about big new clients

Your Business

• Anniversary of the company
• Company conferences
• Other events / meetups
• Publication of non-commercial content (new Whitepapers, etc)
• Announcing new job openings
• Announcing new hires / senior personnel changes
• Mergers and acquisitions

Industry News and Events

• Annual Reports
• Industry Awards
• Industry Conferences (esp. those you will attend or speak at)
• Industry Exhibitions (esp. those you will attend or exhibit at)
• Industry / Partner Events

Niche Events & Celebrations

• Niche occasions (eg: new driving laws, new insurance guidelines)
• Widely recognized events (eg: ‘National BBQ Month’)
• Events just made up for PR (eg: ‘National Pool Party Week’)

Politics & Community

• Local / regional / national election cycles
• New laws / bills
• Opening / closing of political seasons
• Annual budget announcement

Holidays (Federal & Unofficial)

• Christmas
• New Year
• Easter
• Independence Day
• Mardi Gras
• Diwali
• Ramadan
• Hanukkah
• Valentine’s Day
• Halloween
• Mother’s / Father’s Day
• April Fool’s Day
• Friday 13th
• Feburary 29th
• Pi Day
• St Patrick’s Day
• Chinese New Year

Seasonal / Calendar Events

• First day of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring
• Summer Vacation / Back to School
• The Equinoxes and Solstices
• Start & end of daylight savings time
• Tax Season

Historical Celebrated / Well-Remembered Events

• Look for 10th/25th/100th anniversaries
• Tragedies (natural disasters, plane crashes)

Once-in-a-Lifetime Events

• Halley’s Comet
• The last NASA shuttle launch
• Royal Wedding / Coronation
• Solar eclipse
• Turn of a century

War & Conflict

• VE / VJ Day
• Remembrance Day
• Independence Days
• Famous battles (Bosworth, Hastings, Normandy Landings, Dunkirk, Stalingrad)
• Terrorism memorials (7th of July, 11th of September)
• Internal conflict (eg: Bloody Sunday, various Civil Wars)

Annual Sports Events

• NFL Playoffs & The Superbowl
• NBA Playoffs
• March Madness

Non-Annual Sporting Events

• Ryder Cup
• Olympics
• Soccer World Cup

Calendar courtesy of distilled.net

4 Tips to Improve Your Blog Traffic

Do you have a blog? Is it driving traffic to your website?

When done right blogging can generate great website traffic and leads. Many blogs are not done well because they don't think like the consumer.

What the consumer wants is answers to her questions. That is why people increasingly use the Internet for research. To be successful, your blog needs to answer these questions.

Here are four tips to improve your traffic and take your blog to the next level.

1. Do the comparison for them

When we're researching a purchase, we like to compare companies, products, services, etc so we know that the purchase decision we make is the right one for us. For example, you could write a blog post about the difference between full coverage and liability auto insurance. Be factual, unbiased and honest. Talk about the pros and cons of each. Doing so will result in your readers beginning to see you as an expert they can trust.

2. Give them the best

Have you ever searched the question "What is the best way to ____?" Chances are that your prospects and customers are using the word "best" in their searches, so you need to be using it in your content. For example, you could write about 10 Qualities of the Best Home Coverage or The Best Way to Prevent Accidents.

3.  Talk about problems

When consumers are deciding between two or more products to purchase, they turn to the Internet to determine the truth and get an expert opinion. Likely, they will search for something along the lines of "problems with liability auto insurance." Write blog posts addressing the problems, and your posts will begin to show in search results when people search using those phrases.

4. Share news

Posting breaking news as it happens can impact your agency's reputation as an expert and thought leader, which increases the opportunity for getting new business. These posts can bring in a good amount of traffic and attention to your blog. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to break news to your prospects and customers.

What would you add to this list?

5 Top Tips for Blog Titles

We all know how important blogging is. It helps users engage with your agency and makes it easier for search engines to find your website. The problem is, everybody is blogging, and you need something to make your blog posts stand out. The easiest, simplest, most important thing to do is to have catchy, attention-grabbing, click-worthy titles. And here’s how:

1. Curiosity - Make your title easy to figure out what the post will be about, yet still keep the reader wanting more. 
1. Ask questions - "Do you know the difference between home insurance and flood insurance?"
2. Add an oddity - "What insurance coverages do Superheroes have?"
3. Present the opposite - "There is no such thing as Cheap Insurance"
4. Introduce controversy - "Pay for Cheap auto coverage, or Save your Family"
2. Give an advantage - Show the reader that by reading your blog post, they will somehow benefit. Examples include:
1. How to ...
2. 8 Ways to ...
3.  Learn about ...
3. Evoke an emotional response - Readers may not always choose to read something based solely on how it makes them feel, but it could subconsciously influence them. These are better suited to social media posts. Use words like:
1. awesome
2. free
3. amazing
4. crazy
5. epic
6. stupidly
7. You get the gist 
4. Appearance - The supposed ideal length of a blog title should seven words long. Introduce some alliteration or rhyme to make it look and sound pleasing. Not as important as points 1 to 3 above, but still worth thinking about.
5. Set Expectations - There's nothing worse than clicking on a blog post and reading content that is completely unrelated to the title, or doesn't give what reader expects. Don't mislead your readers by posting catchy, but ultimately empty title.

So there you have it. Remember, try to write a title that you yourself would find interesting as a consumer. And just have fun with it!

Do you have any tips or examples of titles that received good feedback?

22 Ideas for Compelling Content When You've Got Writer's Block

Everyone gets writer's block at some point. So how do you write blog posts when you don't know what to write? Here's a great infographic with 22 ideas to break out of that writer's block and create compelling content.

#4 is my favorite: Interview someone.

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

Today is the Day

Most content is shared on Wednesday mornings.

This infographic from AddThis displays just how 1.2 billion users
have found a way to share 10 million ideas. Effectively.

The next idea someone shares should be yours.

New Features for Insurance Website Builder

We've added new features to IWB.

Complete integration with our new product: AgencyBuzz

• You configure AgencyBuzz within IWB here: http://www.insurancewebsitebuilder.com/Admin/agencybuzz.aspx
• Whenever the site is configured with AgencyBuzz, any submissions will also be auto inserted into AgencyBuzz from the website. The user has the ability to configure whether they want the submissions entered for Quotes, Service Requests or Newsletters.
• Normal newsletter screen on IWB : http://www.sampleinsurancewebsite.com/newsletter.aspx
• Newsletter screen when integrated with AgencyBuzz : http://www.freedemowebsite.com/newsletter.aspx

QR Codes on the employee directory for easy downloads of Contact Information

• http://www.sampleinsurancewebsite.com/contact/Patricia_Morris.aspx

Blog Comments have been enabled and can be moderated

• http://www.sampleinsurancewebsite.com/blog/Basic_Blog_Post.aspx

IWB now has a mobile version that includes the following features at no cost to the agent and is available on all plans. (If you don’t have a mobile device then you can still view a sample of it here: http://www.sampleinsurancewebsite.com/m/)

• Automatic Mobile Device Detection
• Quote Forms
• Manage My Policy Forms
• Report a Claim Form (all forms are mobile friendly forms)
• Line of Business Pages
• About Us Page
• Locations
• Click to Map (using the built in mapping app of the device)
• Employees
• Click to Call
• Click to E-mail
• Click to Download vCard (not supported by iPhone)
• Contact Us Page
• Blog
• FAQs
• Important Links
• Important Files
• View Full Site
• Privacy Policy
• Integration with Submission Manager and AgencyBuzz
• Mobile Sitemap (the same as the Google Sitemap but designed for mobile)
• A VERY good looking interface

We hope you enjoy all your new features!

Contact us at 1-800-383-3482 for more information about these exciting new features.

To Blog or Not to Blog

A blog, originally called a "web log", is a chronological online journal.  In a business setting, blogs are best used to provide valuable information to consumers on subjects relevant to the product being offered.  For instance, an auto insurance agent could use a blog to offer safety tips to drivers, what to do in the event of an accident, and so on.

By providing information that is directly relevant to your agency's services and products, you are providing keywords to search engines that potential customers search for when shopping for your services.  In addition, keeping fresh content on your website is one of the most effective ways to increase your page ranking with search engines.

How to Start a Blog
Blogs are another way to brand your agency.  Therefore, to receive the most benefit from a blog, it should be integrated within your website.  The blog should have the same domain name and the same look and feel as your current website.

There are several blog products available.  There are very elaborate blog software packages available, however, initially you may want to sign up for a free blog through a service such as Word Press or Google. While your abilities will be limited with a free blog service, they are a cost-effective way to get your feet wet.

Our Gold plan members that subscribe to our Insurance Website Builder package enjoy built-in blogging capabilities with enhanced features on their websites. 

What to Blog About?
The subjects available to an insurance agent are endless.  Take a moment and think about all of the questions you are asked on a daily basis.

• Is anyone covered to drive my vehicle?
• Do I have a grace period?
• What can I do to lower my premium?
• Replacement Cost vs Actual Cash Value
• Does Homeowner's Insurance Cover Flood?

You are answering these questions consistently.  Now all that is required is to sit down and write out those answers.

Advertise Your Blog
Let people know you have a blog.  Tell your customers, your companies, casual contacts, etc.  Advertising your blog can be as easy as including a link in your email signature, a note in letters sent to customers, or mentioning it in your on-hold message.  Also, using social media venues, such as Facebook and Twitter, to advertise your blog and blog posts is a very effective way to increase traffic to your website.

Initially creating a blog can appear to be an overwhelming and time consuming task, but it doesn't have to be.  Share the responsibility among your staff.  What better way is there to learn then to have to prepare to teach?  Assign each staff member a topic and give them time to research the topic.  There will be staff that are reluctant because they lack confidence in their writing abilities.  Writing is perfected with practice and blogging is the perfect opportunity to practice those skills.

Having an blog for your agency offers a list of benefits - increases your website traffic, develops loyalty and trust with customers and prospects, and expands your knowledge as you and your staff research topics.  The time you invest on your blog will offer great returns.

Additional Resources:

• How to optimize your blog 
• How Facebook boosts Rankings 
• Setting up Twitter on your Website
• Top Blogging Tips by the Best Bloggers