NEWSROOM

For brokers and agencies selling health insurance products in local markets, securing a strong online presence is crucial for business. Mastering local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) should be an indispensable part of your marketing strategy. In this article, we will look at what local SEO is and provide some tips that insurance agencies and brokers can leverage to dominate the local search market.

What is LOCAL SEO?

Local SEO is a specific application of SEO that focuses on enhancing a business's online visibility in geographically specific search engine results. It's a strategy that helps local businesses improve their online presence by increasing their rankings in local search results and reach their local audience more effectively. An example of a local search scenario for insurance brokers would be a client searching for “health insurance brokers near me or ‘your city name’”. This is a high value keyword search query that by mastering local SEO your agency would rank high on and therefore benefit from the resulting search traffic organically. Since the organic search results do not have an associated cost per click, your business would benefit from local search rankings by receiving free traffic.



Local SEO is about making sure your business is not just visible online, but visible to people in your local area who are most likely to become customers.

Dominating your local search market is the digital marketing equivalent of the old school town crier in the bustling marketplace. It's your online megaphone that announces your business to local consumers, making sure you're seen and heard in just the right places.

Here are seven tactics insurance agencies and brokers can leverage to dominate your local SEO market.

1. Optimize Your “Google My Business” Profile:

Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool provided by Google that allows businesses to manage their online presence. You want to make sure your profile is complete and accurate, including your business name, address, phone number, and business hours. Regularly update your GMB profile with new photos and posts to engage potential customers. Take advantage of any agency events or gatherings to showcase your company culture. A robust GMB profile helps give credibility to your agency and can instantly increase trust with new and prospective clients.

2. Claim Your Local Listings:

Claiming your business on local directories can boost your visibility in local search results. Work to ensure your business information (location, areas of service, agency name, hours of operation, etc.) is consistent across all platforms. Respond to any more recent reviews (whether good or bad) on your business that may be online. This engagement can show prospective clients that you are in sync with the market and attentive to client needs regardless of their nature. Popular national directories include Yelp, Yellow Pages, and TripAdvisor. You should monitor your digital footprint to see if there are any local business directories where your agency may be mentioned as well to monitor, claim, and manage those.

3. Use Relevant Local Keywords:

This is perhaps the most important tactic of them all. Incorporate keywords that are relevant to your location into your website content whenever relevant. This can include the name of your city, neighborhood, or other local identifiers. Including local keywords in your website content helps search engines understand where your business is located and who your target audience is. Go the extra mile by also creating a blog on your website discussing topics and trends that are relevant in your local market. A blog post highlighting the top hospitals or medical networks in your area is a great way to gain health care-related relevance for your website and simultaneously include exposure for locally relevant keywords. Commit to a regular cadence of locally relevant content on your blog to sustain local SEO ranking momentum. 

4. Encourage Customer Reviews:

Positive reviews can significantly improve your local search rankings since for the many search queries that contain local related search intent Google will display business listings that include star rankings. Data has shown that Google Business star rankings positively impact search engine rankings and click through.   Encourage your customers to leave reviews on your GMB profile and respond to them in a timely and professional manner. One tip is to create a process where you encourage customers to leave reviews after favorable client experiences like enrollment meetings or once a new health plan is enrolled and underwritten. This is a creative way to encourage positive review momentum.

5. Leverage Local Link Building:

Link building is the process of attracting backlinks from other websites to your site’s content. Link building has long been said to be the currency of search engines as each backlink you generate to your website acts as like a vote of confidence for search engine ranking algorithms. The more relevant and higher quality backlinks you acquire that point to your website help establish credibility and trust within search engine algorithm ranking criteria. Local specific link building is a fantastic way to help improve your local SEO ranking. This can involve partnering with local influencers, sponsoring local events, or joining local business associations where in each case the local website is likely to share a link back to your agency for their site visitors. Establishing a local geo specific backlink presence can go a long way to helping you dominate the local keyword search market.

6. Create Localized Content:

Creating content that is relevant to your local audience can help you rank higher in local search results This can include blog posts about local events, local industry news, or other topics of interest to your local customers. In the health insurance space think of producing content that will resonate with your geo local area. A post on the top hospitals or medical networks in your market, or a post highlighting reasons why businesses near you are gravitating toward certain ancillary products are two examples how to create localized content that is specific to your local area and hype relevant for prospective clients.

7. Engage in Community Activities:

Involve your agency or brokerage in local community events or sponsorships. This not only boosts your company’s visibility but also adds a fun, interactive element to your business persona. Participate in local festivals, charity runs, or community gatherings. This will not only give you content for your website and social media but also show search engines (and your customers) that you are actively engaged in your local community.

These strategies can help you dominate local SEO and attract more customers to your agency. Remember, local SEO is not a one-time effort but requires ongoing maintenance and optimization.