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With 73% of insurance consumers using the internet
to research auto insurance last year, increasing your ability to be found online
is a critical component to compete in today’s environment.* One of the primary
drivers to increase your online visibility is to increase your ranking with the
search engines, such as Google and Yahoo. A heavily weighed factor used by
search engines to determine your placement on a search results page is the
number of external websites that refer back to your site. These links from other
websites to yours are called backlinks or are also referred to as inbound
links.
Just as you receive credibility when someone refers
business to your agency, your website receives credibility with the search
engines when an external website refers to it. Backlinks improve your rankings
on search engines and also entice visitors to come to your website.
5 Tips
to Get Free Referrals (backlinks) to Your Website
Forum
Posting
There are several forums online where consumers post their insurance-related
questions. These forums offer a great opportunity for insurance agents to get
online exposure by posting answers to their questions. More importantly though,
many of these forums allow you to include a link back to your website in the
signature line included with your answer. A great example of such a forum is ampminsure.org.
Article
Marketing
Submitting short insurance-related articles to sites, such as Ezine Articles, is
another very effective way to get quality backlinks. To join EZine is free,
however, they do uphold strict guidelines that prevent people from spamming
their sites with sales ads. Keep the article informative and educational to show
that you are an expert in your field. For example, write a short article on why
it is important to carry renters insurance or outline the criteria involved in
determining a rate for auto insurance. When submitting the article, be sure to
include your link as part of your signature.
Social
Networking Sites
Including an informative blog on your website meets another demand of search
engines by keeping your website full of fresh and relevant content. Insurance
related blog posts will be chalked full of keywords that your prospects search
for when looking for insurance. To get the maximum benefit of your website blog
posts, use social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn to refer your
followers back to your blog. Social media sites are a great way to develop a
loyal following as well as get quality backlinks.
Industry
Association Backlinks
Industry associations are typically a great place to network and share ideas
with other colleagues. Contact your industry association and ask if they accept
short articles or blog posts from members. Again, always be sure to include
your website address in your signature.
Company
Backlinks
Company backlinks is probably the easiest to obtain. Most companies include a
“Find an Agent” section on their website. Check these sections and make sure
they are listing your website next to your agency name.
How to Track Your Website's Backlinks (and your competitors!)
There are several free backlink checking websites, such as https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com
or http://www.domain-pop.com.
These free tools give you the ability to see firsthand if your project to
achieve more backlinks is working. They also offer a great competitor analysis
tool to see who is linking to your competitors' sites. Visit your competitor's
backlinks to see if you can obtain a listing with those sites as well.
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