SEO for small, independent insurance agencies -- is it possible?
-
I work with a lot of small, independent insurance agencies and have found through keyword research that most people search for insurance by state (e.g. pennsylvania auto insurance) or simple by product (e.g. auto insurance). Only if an agency is located in a densely populated city like San Francisco do I see people searching for insurance by city. As you can probably guess, these keywords are extremely competitive. Big companies like Geico and Progressive tend to take over page one for these searches.
So, if I'm trying to optimize a website for an insurance agency in Quakertown, PA, for example, a small town with very few monthly searches (zero according to Google's keyword tool), how should I focus my on-page SEO efforts? Should I focus on "state + insurance," "city + insurance," or a combination of both? Or am I approaching this all wrong?
Thank you in advance for your help. I'm feeling really stumped and would appreciate any fresh perspective.
-
I think everyone else has been talking about it a bit but I think you're on the right track with Local. You can't win "auto insurance" in Quakertown but you can absolutely be the A) Local listing if you increase your citations. Try Whitespark, see what's out there?
Bob J... is C) for quakertown PA auto insurance with a DA 10, PA 23. Not exactly impossible to beat. Organic results, yes you'll struggle because the big agencies have it setup right - unless you're working for one of their partners, you'll find it rough going.
Looking at your keywords in Adwords Tool, the only one with even "Medium" competiion is "insurance company" - by adding company the search gets SO large that even big competitors don't monopolize it. If you're ranking locally, adding "company" to at least some searches may help you as well.
Your best bet otherwise may be long tail keywords. Don't forget county searches. Bucks County insurance, etc. Auto, car, vehicle, home, house, homebuyers, renters, whatever - just do an Ubersuggest search and see what you're not using for important keywords, as well.
But I agree, it's going to be probably 95% local, 5% everything else.
-
Thanks, EGOL. This is an approach I have been using, so I'm relieved to have it verified by another professional. I've been focusing on claiming listings, keeping them consistent, and linking back to the website. Hopefully, this will benefit my clients in the long run.
-
Exactly -- take advantage of all the tools at your disposal. In this case, local results will be displayed more often than not. In a nutshell, you need to be setting up Google+ Local pages for the businesses you are working with rather than clinging onto the hope of competing with the big dogs for organic search position.
-
You want to get listed in the local results.
When I search for "auto insurance" and change my location to quakertown pa I see the map with push pins showing me offices for....
Aaron Landis, Bob Wimer, R&R, Reise, Jime Wiley
I would put my work into getting on the map.
-
I'm not experienced in the insurance industry, but I think your suspicions are correct in that you will have problems competing with the big players in the industry.
One question for you: Does a search for something like 'Quakertown PA auto insurance' bring up local results (map) or just standard results?
I would put my focus on the city level. Try to build links and local citations. Also, focus on what sets you apart from the big agencies. Perhaps there are people searching for 'locally owned insurance companies in Quakertown.'
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Recommended basic credible SEO on youtube
Hello, I'm teaching a friend SEO and she wants very basic SEO videos on Youtube. I looked for some but there was a lot of incorrect information that some people were giving out. Does any experienced SEOs know of credible, basic SEO videos that the SEOs that make them don't give out backward information. Good quality videos. I will keep looking, but please, if anyone has some gems send them my way. Thanks. Bob
Keyword Research | | BobGW1 -
Selecting Key words for my SEO strategy
Hey team! I fell like this could sound very silly but... How can I find out which would be the best new keywords to focus my SEO effots on? How do I know which keywords I should be trying to rank for? Thank you!
Keyword Research | | StoryScout1 -
Google Product Listing Ads and SEO
Would using the same product descriptions that are on an e-commerce website for it PLA campaign count as duplicate content? Ideally, would we want to alter the product description?
Keyword Research | | S.S.N0 -
Does "Using a dash in keyword name" affect SEO?
I sell machinery branded Co-matic. Most people search Comatic so I was wondering if I should change my keywords from Co-matic to Comatic. Would the change have a significant impact on SEO? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | kysizzle60 -
Can I Trace The Keywords From a PPC & SEO Campaign That Brought The individual To My Site Without Using a Call Tracking Service?
Hi All I was wondering if it is possible to trace the individual keywords/key-phrases that someone has used to get them to my pages/site and if they came in from PPC or SEO, preferably without having to use a call tracking service, code under number, or multi-telephone line system? Regards Nic
Keyword Research | | KDWeb0 -
Is it possible for the Keyword Difficulty Report to show more than the top 10?
I'd like have that report show me the top 20 or 30 results -- currently I can only get it to display the top 10. Is this possible?
Keyword Research | | usanarepmanagement0 -
Best way to seo optimize before and afgter photos in plastic surgery website
I publish before and after photos of plastic surgery procedures-breast implnats tiummy tuck etc. I use word press. What are best keywords, category labels and tags to get best ranking in before and after photo posts
Keyword Research | | wianno1680 -
Local SEO: By city, by multiple cities, or by region?
My client is a kitchen remodeling company in Sterling, Virginia and is trying to rank well in local results. I am struggling with keyword selection mostly because I am still learning about local SEO. The city the company is located is Sterling, however their business comes from several other close by cities like Reston, Herndon, and Fairfax (Nobody lives in Sterling so they don't care too much about owning that in search engines). Is the right strategy: 1. Choosing one city and focusing on that (kitchen remodeling in reston, VA) 2. Optimizing for multiple cities (kitchen remodeling, reston, herndon, fairfax...) 3. Optimizing for an entire region (kitchen remodeling, northern virginia) I know it's hard to answer this with little information but gut reactions would be appreciated. I am a new SEOmoz member so excuse me if this question is too specific for this forum. I'm still getting a feel for the community. Thanks! Sean
Keyword Research | | KevinBloom0