As an independent insurance agency, you’ll know one of the best ways to make an impact online is to be visible. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the formula that needs to be included in an insurance agency marketing plan, small or large, to leave their print online. There are several ways to go about SEO: doing keyword research, loading your site with informative and relevant insurance content, paying for backlinks, or even leveraging the domain authority of a larger, more credible site.
But how do search engines, like Google, Yahoo!, or Bing, know whether your site is credible and relevant to the consumer’s search?
Meet Site Crawlers
For every public page, Google and similar search engines use a software—typically referred to as a Site Crawler—to take inventory of keywords, search relevance, and even links to return information to their servers and, ultimately, determine where your site would best rank online. Site Crawlers do three different, yet distinct things: crawl, index, and rank.
Crawling is the process of reviewing and analyzing content, following links, and looking over code for each URL of your site, including metadata and alt descriptions.
Indexing is the process of storing and organizing this content. When a page is indexed, the site is stored in a massive database as a credible and relevant source, meaning it has a greater likelihood of appearing in relevant search results.
Ranking is the order by which search results will appear, so if a consumer searches “bakery insurance” and your site has been indexed as relevant to that user, you’re more likely to appear on the first page of the search engine results page (SERP) when a shopper is searching for insurance online.
Why Hasn’t My Site Been Crawled?
There are several reasons a Site Crawler may not have made it to your website. If the site is new, it may take some time for the Site Crawler to make its rounds. If your site is void of external links (links to your site from other sites) or is too hard for the Site Crawler to navigate, you may miss out on the SEO boost that comes with it. Google and other search engines might also ping sites for gimmicky tactics, like changing article titles to preserve SEO ranking when the content of the article is not relevant (you might know this better as click bait) or working in high-ranking keywords that are not reflected on the rest of your site.
How Can I Make Sure My Insurance Agency Site Is Being Crawled?
Site Crawlers look for webpage freshness, so be sure to update your site regularly and add relevant content consistently to drive your SEO ranking. It is also helpful to include links wherever possible and ensure your insurance agency site is linked to by a larger site to better help the Site Crawler determine your online standing.
With every Advantage subscription from Advantage Profile SEO on up comes the daily opportunity to have your agency profile crawled and indexed by Site Crawlers. By adding information to your Advantage profile, you raise your profile’s SEO ranking, and with your agency site attached as a link, you raise your agency site’s ranking as well. An Advantage Profile houses all the information a Site Crawler needs to know about your agency, like business hours, lines of business, mission statements, reviews, and more to help you rank higher on search engines.
Be crawled, indexed, and seen by the millions of users that flood into TrustedChoice.com looking for independent insurance agents just like you every day. You can see all our Advantage subscription options or read through each tier one by one in our Advantage profiles overview to determine what is the best fit for your agency.
Don’t get skipped by Site Crawlers—boost your online status and become an Advantage agency today!
