The insurance industry is tough. No matter where you live, it seems like there’s a broker or a provider on every corner. Then there’s also the modern ability to source insurance online. That means that you have to do everything you can to stand out in a crowd. For many in the industry, part of that is search engine optimization (SEO). If you aren’t appearing on the first page of search engine rankings, then you are no doubt losing out on potential customers. It is critical that when someone searches for insurance service in your geographic area, your website shows up near the top of the rankings.
If you haven’t considered SEO, or you’d like to improve your performance, then it’s time to get to work. You can hire an insurance SEO agency to help you, but it’s important that you understand the concepts and strategies that lead to success. One of the best things you can do is set goals. Not just any goals, but ones that fall within the SMART framework of Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. SEO can be overwhelming when you first start out. There’s a lot to know and a lot to do. By setting SMART goals, you will take steps towards that top spot in search engine rankings that you’ve been coveting.
Specific SEO Goals
Setting specific goals for your SEO is crucial for your strategy. You don’t want to approach things without a clear path forward. It can also help you deal with any feelings of being overwhelmed. By being specific in what you are trying to achieve with each part of your strategy, it will give you something to focus on and keep things manageable.
Take for example your keywords. If you are an insurance company located in Seattle, then you could have a goal to rank on the first page for searches of certain keywords. Those keywords could be “auto insurance in Seattle,” or “home insurance providers in Seattle.” By narrowing down your focus to only specific keywords and locations, you will start attracting customers sooner. Once you’ve started ranking for those keywords, you can branch out with other ones as you further develop your SEO. This will keep your content focused and allow you to better track the work you are doing.
Measurable SEO Goals
This brings us to the next plank in the SMART goals platform. Every goal you have should be measurable in some way. If not, then how would you know if you’ve achieved them? If you can measure your goals, then you can obtain tangible data and insight that will allow you to make data-driven decisions. You can adjust when appropriate, stay the course when necessary, and have the proof you need to know what’s working and what isn’t.
For example, your insurance company could set a goal to increase your organic traffic from local search by 20% within the next six months. As you develop your SEO to achieve that goal, you can use analytics tools to measure the impact of those strategies. You can monitor your website traffic from local searches and assess whether you are meeting your target. Measurable goals give you benchmarks and will help your insurance company accurately gauge your success in capturing local search traffic.
Achievable SEO Goals
You should have big dreams when it comes to your business. However, when it comes to developing your SEO strategy, your goals should be achievable based on where you are in the moment. A goal of “rank #1 for all keywords within a month” isn’t realistic. Therefore, you shouldn’t consider it. All of your goals must be achievable based on the company’s resources and capabilities. By setting such goals, you will ensure that they are within reach and can be accomplished. Setting unrealistic goals is only setting yourself up for disappointment.
For example, if an insurance company has limited marketing resources, an achievable goal could be to create and optimize Google My Business listings for each branch location within a specific timeframe. By doing so, the company ensures that potential customers searching for insurance services in those areas can find accurate and up-to-date information about the company. Achievable goals prevent companies from setting unrealistic expectations and enable them to allocate resources effectively. Otherwise, it would just be a string of disappointments as you flounder on reaching your goals.
Relevant SEO Goals
Setting relevant goals means aligning them with your company’s overall business objectives and target audience. There’s no point in setting a goal that doesn’t move the needle in terms of SEO or any other aspect of the business. For example, a relevant goal could be to increase the conversion rate of local website visitors by 15% through targeted landing pages or optimized call-to-action buttons. This goal focuses on attracting local customers and converting them into insurance policyholders, which directly aligns with the company’s core objective of generating business. Relevant goals ensure that the efforts put into local SEO are directly tied to the company’s bottom line and contribute to its overall success. They will also prevent you from pursuing tasks and spending time working on things that won’t grow your business in the long run.
Time-bound SEO Goals
Time-bound goals provide a sense of urgency and accountability. They have specific deadlines or timeframes, enabling insurance companies to stay focused, measure progress over time, and make necessary adjustments to their SEO strategies. For example, a time-bound goal could be to improve the average local search ranking position by three spots within three months. This deadline-driven approach ensures that the company is consistently working towards improving its local search visibility and tracks the impact of its SEO efforts over a defined period. Time-bound goals keep the company on track and provide a sense of urgency to achieve the desired outcomes. You may end up not meeting that deadline, but that’s okay. You can adjust the deadlines you set for your goals as you gain more experience with them.
Examples of SMART Local SEO Goals for the Insurance Industry:
Goal: Increase organic traffic from local searches by 25% within six months in the target geographic area
The specific goal might be to target search traffic in specific locations. The example previously used was “auto insurance in Seattle.” You can then Measure the increase in your organic traffic from local searches. It’s achievable because you have the resources to do so, and you’ve allocated them to your local SEO strategies, including on-page content and acquiring quality local backlinks. This is relevant to your business, since you want to attract leads for your insurance services. It is time-bound because you’ve set a deadline of six months, but you can make adjustments based on your progress.
Goal: Optimize Google My Business listings for all branch locations within two months.
The specific goal could be to get all of your Google My Business listings for each provider to have accurate and up-to-date information. This is easy to measure because when all of your listings are up-to-date, you’ve achieved that goal. Luckily it doesn’t require a lot of resources for this goal, so it’s definitely achievable. You can add relevant photos, and gather positive reviews to enhance your listings. This will provide customers with accurate information about your company and its services. While this is a relatively simple task, attaching a deadline to it will help ensure that it doesn’t get left at the bottom of your to-do list, as “easy” tasks sometimes do.
Goal: Rank within the top three search results for local insurance keywords in the target area within 3 months.
If your target area is Seattle, then your keywords and contect should reflect that. Your specific goal could be “home insurance providers in Seattle” along with a content production goal. You can track your position on the various rankings before you start, and monitor the progress as you go. If you aren’t moving up, then you might need to change tactics. If you allocate resources towards producing optimized content and finding backlinks, then it is an achievable goal. With more visibility from search engine rankings, you will bring more potential customers to your website, where they might purchase your services. You can set a deadline of three months, however, if there is particularly fierce competition, since they will be developing their own SEO strategies, it may take longer. It could also take a shorter time. The key is that your SEO efforts will be ongoing, and your improvements will build upon themselves.
By setting SMART local SEO goals, insurance companies can enhance their online visibility within specific geographic areas. Achieving these goals will attract local customers in need of insurance services by improving search rankings, driving organic traffic, and optimizing Google My Business listings. The ultimate result is an increase in brand awareness, the attraction of qualified leads, and the conversion of those leads into loyal policyholders. A robust online presence in local search results not only contributes to the overall success of the insurance company but also establishes it as a trusted and reliable choice for local customers seeking insurance services.
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