Looking Back at Insurance Website Builder in 2012

One of the advantages of using the Insurance Website Builder online marketing system is the fact that our users receive new features and upgrades automatically. This is done in the background without requiring agents to modify or re-upload their website files to their hosts. In addition to the introduction of new features, Insurance Website Builder automatically updates the sitemap.xml file that notifies the search engines. With this automatic update, we normally see that Insurance Website Builder websites are re-indexed almost daily by the search bots.
So let us take a look at what we have added in 2012. 

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How to Blog: Step by Step

Let’s go through creating the perfect blog entry.

• Step 1: The easiest, simplest, most important thing to do is to have catchy, attention-grabbing, click-worthy titles. Make your title easy enough to figure out what the blog post will be about. Show the reader that they will somehow benefit by reading your blog. Use words to evoke an emotional response, like awesome, crazy, stupid, free. 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 an ultimately empty title.
  
• Step 2: Writing your own, original content is highly advantageous. Your present your own opinions, as well as satisfying Google’s duplicate content rules, that is you’re not adding duplicate content. However if you don’t have time to write an original post, then you can take articles from other sources, like Trusted Choice, Insurance Journal, local newspapers, community newspapers. Just remember to cite the source at the end.
• Step 3: Add Anchor text to your post. Anchor text is the link label or link title that is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. For example link the words Dallas auto insurance, instead of Click here or www.ABCAgency.com. You can link to other lines of business pages, quote forms, customers service forms, other blog entries and other websites. Make sure your blogs are not always entirely self-serving. Providing information rich content, rather than sales-heavy content will result in more visitors returning to the site.
• 
  Step 4: Add pictures to your post. This helps to make your entries more interesting, as well giving your audience a clue as to what your blog will be about. If you take pictures from other websites, don’t forget to cite the source at the bottom.
• Step 5: Guide your reader, they’ve stuck with you by reading the whole post, so tell them what to do once they’ve finished. Fill in a quote form, join our newsletter, subscribe to our blog feed, like us on Facebook, prepare a disaster kit.
• Step 6: Get your readers to interact with you by asking questions. All blogging platforms allow reader comments, so get some feedback from by asking for comments, or say something controversial to get a reaction.
• Step 7: Don’t forget to tell people about your latest blog. You can do this by sharing the link on Facebook and Twitter, you can send out an email out with all the posts on a certain topic to show your expertise in that area. You could even submit your post to sites like Technorati.com or a social bookmarking site like Stumbleupon.com or Delicious.com.

Now get blogging!

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?

Keeping It Fresh

One of the biggest challenges for today’s websites is keeping Google happy and interested. It’s not that it’s difficult. It’s simply time-consuming (when done correctly) and overwhelming if you don’t have a strategy setup to guide you.

As the saying goes, ‘Content is King,’ and it’s fresh content that keeps visitors engaged, because really, who wants to read about your Christmas Contest in March? Unfortunately, more than half of business owners fail to update their site even once a month. To put it in perspective:

– Sites that update their content  5 times a month receive 300% more traffic
– Businesses that utilize social media marketing receive 400% more site hits

Source

4 Easy Types of Content to Make Google Happy

Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging and the other various social media sites attract millions of people every single day. News articles, helpful tips, or special events posted on Facebook, or even a 140-character tweet about new products on Twitter all have search engine optimization advantages. Since social media content is essentially the epitome of fresh & relevant content, it is the most likely to be picked up by Google.

Press Releases

By definition, a press release is the announcement of something new. This makes it another type of content that search engines favor. Press releases can target your SEO keywords, improve your brand-association, and in the end, be posted to your social media accounts. Benefits like that should never be ignored.

User Generated Content

As an insurance agent, your business can rely heavily on the comments and reviews of your customers. This can be a double-edged sword, but the rewards definitely outweigh the risks. Invite people to comment on your blogs or your Facebook wall. Direct them to reviews on your Google business listing. Many consumers rely on the experiences and evaluations of others to determine the quality and value of your services. Search engines take into account how people interact with your site, so to gain new visitors, be sure those returning visitors are making their satisfaction known. Most importantly, you can also combine these efforts with your social media platform.

Marketing Automation Content

Lastly, this overlooked, yet important tool is essential to your website’s overall optimization and relevance. If you have helpful information that’s industry specific and appeals to your audience, post it on your site! Use it to gain more information about your visitors. With this focused content, people will not only want to gain access, but the content itself will help build relevancy for your target keywords. An example of this is to offer free reports for download off of your site in exchange for a Name & E-mail address. It’s a win-win-win for all parties involved. Consumers gain free information, Businesses gain leads, and search engines gain helpful data.

Source

Gain access to even more tips, help, guidance, and strategy for your Insurance Website today!

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.

Why Anchor Text is Important

What is Anchor Text?
Anchor text is the part of the hyperlink that seen by a visitor on a website (the clickable text).  For this example, the html code will be www.website.com and the anchor text will look like anchor text.

So this html code:

<a href="http://www.website.com">anchor text</a>

Will be seen as anchor text.

What Anchor Text Does

Google and other search engines count each link as a vote for the linked to website by the linked from site. Looking at all components of a link from a website will provide better insight about the vote being cast. Google basically uses anchor text as a vote for a webpage, but what is the vote for? Anchor text represent the actual vote. You’re saying that you’re voting for the site because the site embodies (what you put in your anchor text).

Are you using anchor text on your website and blog? Our SEO team at Insurance Website Builder can help you optimize your insurance websites as well as your blog section. Call us today at 1-800-383-3482 for more information.