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I see many Insurance Agency website that asks the user to input information to receive a quote. Unless you have a completely automated insurance carrier like Esurance, I think this is a huge mistake. My experience tells me very few people request quotes online, instead the purpose of a good agency website will:

1. Tell the visitors who you are. I see too many agencies not even put anything about themselves on their website, not a word about who owns it, what their experience and accomplishments are. I would personally never buy insurance without knowing a little more about who the personnel, let alone the ownership of the Agency.

2. Have your license information and a link to your Agency’s DOI file on the state’s website, this will add some credibility.

3. Tell the visitors what products you offer and write about your products, when people are on website, they want to learn more about not only what products you offer, but about the products and services themselves

4. A place for existing clients to either get more information or communicate with you. This should be a resource center to advise the client on exactly what needs to be done in the event of a claim, changes they want to make to their policy and other relevant information on the most common policy services issues.
Leaving a good impression is key instead of a being loud and sale oriented, at least if you are target quality clients.

Most consumers these days are purchasing their insurance from the internet. Most of the traditional agencies that haven't switched out are burning out. The point of the automation that you are talking about is to understand who your consumer is. They need to understand to whom their product is being sold and who is looking for their product.

TheInsuranceGuy wrote:Most consumers these days are purchasing their insurance from the internet. Most of the traditional agencies that haven't switched out are burning out. The point of the automation that you are talking about is to understand who your consumer is. They need to understand to whom their product is being sold and who is looking for their product.

I don't think you statement above is factual, unless you are talking about a certain segment of the industry. Even right now, most auto policies are purchased from Agents and Brokers, the agency distribution system shows no signs of going away. Perhaps you mean people are researching online before the make an initial purchase of coverage?

In my experience, once people find something online they like an easy way of getting things done. It doesn't hurt to give the option of submitting quote information on your site. It's the easiest way to get a lead, and I find more and more policies are being initiated online.

Good points! I think an agency website should be informative too. It should not be all about marketing. Readers must be able to get helpful resources in the website. Of course, you also need to make sure you include an online quote tool that WORKS.

Having a website for your business or agency is really important. Now that a lot of people are using internet to search for a stuff they want to buy or to look for, it is really necessary for your business to be visible at least for your brand names in most search engines. It is better if you are visible or ranked in top pages of Google, Yahoo or Bing with terms that are related to your products. For example, skinny jeans, hermes bags, nike sports shoes, etc.

Many consumers view websites like a business license. If you don't have a website, you're not a real business or you must be a scam. Even if your website is informational only, I believe it's necessary to have one.

I have personally seen more and more activity coming from our agencys website. Pretend you are a savy consumer, and want to research agents in your town. Goto google and try typing "car insurance (your city and state here)" and see what comes up. Google now shows local results on a map when you do this. If you agency isn't coming up in the top 5, you won't be seen by most consumers researching online. About once a week, we will have someone complete a quote request with all of the information we need to do a completely underwritten quote, including their SS# (encrypted by the form vendor we use). When I get one of those requests, I can push it 3 of our top carriers and try to have 3 quotes back to them via email within 30 minutes, and then follow-up with a call to discuss the next day if no response. Response time is key.

Nowadays, it's really important to have a company website. Most consumers prefer quick and easy access to the information they require. Most of them are too busy to drop by the company's office that's why putting data at their fingertips would be helpful