http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter?hl=en-US&gl=GB

This means that if a user searches for a local business in Google, you will tend to see a map appear first with up to 10 businesses on it. Having listings in the Local Business Centre means your business could appear on the map.

Here is an example using “Insurance Thanet”

As you will see the first set of results returned use a map and have listings next to them. This is the integration of Google Local into their search results. You will also note that all of the paid advertising around this local search term is being bought by insurance aggregator websites so they see the power of local search but they can’t take real advantage of it other than by paying for advertising. If an aggregator is paying for this traffic then it is obviously worthwhile. The bottom line is you need to make sure your site appears in local listings.

You can also do a similar thing by adding your business to both Bing and Yahoo.

You can find out more details on how to do this by using the links here:

Bing (https://ssl.bing.com/listings/BusinessSearch.aspx)
Yahoo (http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php)

Post from: Insurance Marketing , Article Marketing, Link Building and Content Management for Insurance Brokers

Write 2 or 3 ads and only post one per week to the following list.

www.google.com/base
www.gumtree.com
www.adzooks.com
www.craigslist.org
www.vivastreet.co.uk

Make sure you select the right location for your ad to appear.

If you want to rank for a local search term such as “Insurance Kent” or “Mortgages Rochester” then make sure these words are in the title of the advert and within the main text of the ad too.

We tend to find that thee work we at the long terms as they are less competitive.  Going after words such as Car Insurance or Home Insurance  is not going to drive you any traffic but “Car Insurance Broker Kent” will drive you a little.  The beauty is that being a more specific search term means the likelihood of conversion can be higher.

Post from: Insurance Marketing , Article Marketing, Link Building and Content Management for Insurance Brokers

It is a Low Cost Option
Affiliate Marketing is relatively low cost to start if you already have e-commerce store. Some Shopping Carts will already have affiliate programmes built in or as upgrades. This software will then manage all sales tracking, affiliate sign ups and much, much more….

Low Risk Option
Depending on what your commission payment model is, Affiliate Marketing removes the risk in paid offline advertising as you are only paying the affiliate when the sales has been made.

Acquire a Large Multi-Skilled Sales Force
If you join a large affiliate network to use as your affiliate management programme, you will have access to a ready made army of affiliates. Some of these networks have over 100,000 affiliates. Imagine these all working to promote your products. In fact, imagine 5% working for you!

I have mentioned that these people are also skilled. Affiliate marketers are some of the smartest people around and know all the best ways to promote a product online. They will also have diverse skills, some will have huge lists to mail offers too, others will be Pay-Per-Click (PPC) experts, others SEO experts. An affiliate programme allows you to tap into that market.

Free Branding Exercise
Having your banners, text links, product logos etc all over these affiliate sites, you are getting your business some great free exposure and this should not be overlooked. While you should benefit from this do not exploit your affiliates. Do not add direct urls or phone numbers to your banners. This will cause lots of affiliates to leave your programme and also give you a bad name in the industry.

Can develop your Product and Services into International Sales
Your affiliate programme can truly turn your local business into an international sales machine very quickly. Larger affiliate networks have affiliates around the world and not just English speaking parts. An affiliate programme will also be able to soft launch your product into Asia, or into Europe.

Post from: Insurance Marketing , Article Marketing, Link Building and Content Management for Insurance Brokers

A Company Blog

A blog is a great way to quickly and easily get your message out there or to respond to key trends in the marketplace. Using a Blog platform can allow anyone to post content from within your organisation. Best of all, the most popular blogging platforms are free to use. We always recommend WordPress as it is heavily supported by a host of developers and programmers. Using a blog can also allow you to automate some of your other social marketing activities such as sharing your knowledge on the major social sites such as Ecademy, Linkedin, and Facebook.

A Forum

A forum on your site allows your visitors to pose questions, interact and share their experiences. It maybe that the forum is only open to clients but a forum can add real value to your site and keep people coming back again and again. You can use a forum as a support section on your site.

A Newsletter

Sending out monthly or weekly content to your clients is a great way to keep them informed and educated. Not only about your business and products but also about how they can be saving money or investing. The focus here is on two things. One to educate your clients and secondly to get them back to your site to complete a new business enquiry form.

More Content

Adding more content is a great way to attract back clients and be a magnet for new visitors. The fresher and more you update your website, the more likely the major search engines will revisit and therefore will give you more opportunity to attract business. Ideas for new site content includes: Guides, Articles, News, FAQs, Interviews and more…

Online Tools
With the Internet, has come the love of online tools. People love online calculators and quote engines and the like. In fact, it seems to be that in the finance and insurance world, it is a given that visitors expect to see such tools.

Tools such as savings calculators and mortgage affordability calculators are get tools to educate site visitors on what they can afford or at the very least give them a ballpark figure which you can use to work with once they get in touch. We have a  free range of Calculators tyo ucan add to your sites which are available here: http://www.speedieconsulting.co.uk/wp-calculators

Summary

The 5 elements above are all low costs options that can either be bought in or developed in house. Each element can work in isolation or in combination but each has a proven track record online for driving more traffic to a website. Maybe under the current economic climate, companies should focus more on developing their existing websites and enhancing these as a marketing budget cost rather than spending the more expensive advertising options.

Post from: Insurance Marketing , Article Marketing, Link Building and Content Management for Insurance Brokers