This is Part 3 of our series on marketing insurance websites. If you haven't already read Part 2, you can find it here.
Marketing Insurance Websites 3 - Where does website traffic come from?
Last week we talked about the mythical insurance agent that launched an insurance website and magically saw people flock to her website while she sipped a cocktail on the beach. We know that doesn’t really happen - people don’t just somehow arrive on your site any more than prospects accidentally dial your phone.
I know what you’re thinking: “Google. Google is going to bring people to my insurance site. That’s how.”
Well yes, they will, but it’s still not going to happen accidentally. After all, why is Google going to bring someone to your site for a search instead of one of the thousands of other insurance agent websites, or carrier sites, or informational sites, or lead broker lead gen sites?
Traffic comes to you in three ways - we’ll call it the “Three B’s”. Buy, Borrow, and Build. Let’s look at them.
Buy - This is exactly what it sounds like: you pay money to get traffic to your site. Generally, this comes in the form of online advertising on search engines and social media, but it might also be sponsoring content, paying for an email blast that links to your site, or or paying to get listed in a directory.
The great thing about buying traffic is that you can turn it on today. That means that with a little budget and know-how, you can start getting people to your site - and new leads from your site - right away. The bad news is that… well… it costs money. And if you don’t know what you are doing, it will cost a lot of money without much result.
Borrow - If you can get another website that already has traffic to send some of it your way, you are borrowing their traffic. You might be able to write a guest post on their blog, get listed as a partner or recommended resource, or get mentioned in an email.
The holy grail of borrowing is where you have something on your site so awesome that others just share it because they know their audience will like it. But usually, you need to do some leg work reaching out to site owners and explaining why it’s a good idea for them to send their precious traffic your way. And no matter what, to borrow effectively you are going to need to build some great content on your website.
Build - When your site becomes a unique and valuable resource, other sites will begin to link to it naturally, search engines will rank it, and your visitors will share it. This is the ultimate goal, but it takes a long time and a lot of work.
Once you have built your own traffic stream, you control your destiny. These Leads are free. While they might only be a trickle, the visitors that come this way and contact you are going to be some of the best prospects you will ever see. Why? Because you’ve used the web to earn their trust and build a relationship before you ever talk to them.
So where do you start?
Buy if you have the budget. We generally recommend budgeting at least $1000/month. But proceed with caution - it’s easy to spend your entire budget on the wrong things and end up $1000 poorer with nothing to show for it. If you want leads right now and can afford to advertise, give us a call and we will talk you through it.
If you don’t have the budget but need leads quickly, borrow. With a little bit of hustle, you can often get a few other sites to send some traffic your way. It’s going to take a little time and creativity, and the leads might not be as targeted or qualified as the other strategies, but you can start to see results in weeks.
Building traffic takes months. The returns on your effort are fantastic, but this is the strategy for the long haul. There are no short cuts here. Starting next week, I’m going to start getting much more tactical giving you a few - or even one - activity to do each week. Invest the work and you’ll see the results.
Ready to get going?
Up next: a simple piece of content to add to your site that will stand you out from the crowd.