Google My Business for Insurance Agencies

Imagine this scenario: you want to hire a marketing professional to help you share your agency with the world, but you don’t know any. What would you do to solve the issue? You could ask people around you, but most likely you would type “best insurance marketing professionals” or something similar into Google. If a group administrator is in need of a health insurance broker, what do you think they would do to find one? Knowing that 46% of all Google searches have a local intent, getting your business online is a must. And one of the best tools to help you grow your presence online is Google My Business. In this week’s post, we share the benefits of setting up Google My Business for insurance agencies.

What Is Google My Business for Insurance Agencies?

Google My Business is a free tool operated by Google. It provides business owners with the control to manage how their business appears in the search results. When searching on Google for a specific business, you might have noticed the profile that pops up on the right side of the screen. For example, if you type the name of your favorite restaurant into Google and they have Google My Business set up, you will be able to see a description, address, hours, menu, phone number, and reviews from different platforms.

The process to sign up and verify your insurance agency in Google My Business is straightforward. You will only need a Google Account to log in and follow the steps the wizard presents you with. After, you will need to verify your business by entering the code Google sends you in the mail. It’s that simple. Google My Business is a great tool to bring in customers through search, but there is more than one benefit to it.

1. Show Up in Google Maps Searches

Google translates the information provided in Google My Business profiles into Maps, allowing users to check the location and distance. Let’s think about the restaurant scenario again. If you decide to go out and look for a restaurant, you will probably narrow down the options by location. Likewise, most smartphone owners use Google Maps to locate businesses nearby. Proximity to the location is one of the most important factors to take into consideration.

When group administrators decide to look for a health insurance broker and type it into Google, Google Maps will quickly populate all the businesses around them and will mark them with red pins, as you can see in the image below. Each red pin is a local business that meets the search criteria.

If you develop your Google My Business listing and complete all the verification steps, your agency will pop up for local searches as well. This is a great benefit for your insurance agency since it will allow employers to see how close you are to their location and it will increase the likelihood of them visiting your office or giving you a call.

2. Show Up In Google’s Local 3-Pack

Google’s Local 3-Pack refers to the feature shown on the Search Engine Result Page (SERP) that is shaped like a map with three business listings below. When a user types a query, such as “insurance brokers in Ohio”, Google can display places related to that specific query, if relevant. If “ACA compliance guideline” is the search term, showing a map won’t be relevant.

Getting into the 3-pack is not easy, your SEO needs to be on point. However, by setting up your Google My Business profile, you will greatly increase the odds of making it into the local pack. Google’s Local 3-Pack will give you an advantage over your competitors because it shows up before the organic results, which will boost your visibility.

In addition, if you appear in the pack, your business information will be displayed. As you can see in the images below, when a user searches for “health insurance broker NYC” and “health insurance broker California” the results are different, corroborating the importance of local SEO.

3. Boost Customers Trust with Google My Business for Insurance Agencies

One of the biggest concerns for modern customers is trust in the digital world. If there is no trust, the purchase won’t happen. Through your marketing strategies, your job is to show prospective clients they can trust in you, and with Google My Business there are two ways you will be doing just that.

Show Your Location

One of the easiest ways to start working towards building trust is to show your prospects that your business has an actual location. Users all over the world trust Google, therefore, whenever your insurance agency pops up in a local search on Google maps, your prospects will be more likely to trust your brand. Google’s process to accept a business profile, with multiple verification steps, will give your agency more trust since Google ensures users that the information they are providing is right.

Ratings and Reviews

The last time you had to purchase a product or service, did you pick the one with the highest ratings or the lowest? 93% of consumers read reviews to determine if a local business is good or not and 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review. Ratings and reviews are powerful factors that influence a customer’s purchase decision. Google My Business allows your clients to review your insurance agency and leave feedback for other HR professionals to see. By doing so, your prospective clients know they can trust you since they are reading honest evaluations. You’ll also get a star rating system next to your business on Google that will help you differentiate yourself from the competitors nearby.

4. Increase Traffic and Sales

Keeping high-quality traffic running through your website is important to maintain your business’ health. Traffic has its ups and downs throughout the year, but you can minimize the impact with a Google My Business profile. Website clicks from Google My Business grew 29% between Q4 2017 and Q4 2018. Most likely, you’ll be able to boost your numbers by just listing your agency in Google.

64% of customers have used Google My Business to find contact details for a local business. Google My Business will help you attract traffic to your website and convert more leads. The more developed your business profile is, supplying accurate information through quality and consistent updates, the higher you will rank on search and Maps results. If you rank higher, the traffic to your website will increase.

Final Thoughts About Google My Business for Insurance Agencies

Google keeps evolving and making the Search Engine Results Page more robust. Now, we can find paid advertising and answer boxes before the organic results. Google My Business is a tool you can take advantage of to navigate these changes and stand out when an HR professional looks for a health insurance broker. In addition, Google My Business will help you understand your customers better by providing analytics on how visible your brand is and how users are engaging with it. By implementing Google My Business for insurance agencies, you will increase your website’s traffic and edge out your competitors.