Three Reasons Your Insurance Blog Underperforms

Imagine a 2013 supercharged red Ferrari – it’s fast, sporty and capable of taking your driving experience to the next level. Now imagine that same Ferrari parked in the garage without any gas. And one more thing – the passenger door is fused shut, so it’s difficult to take anyone along for a ride.

Believe it or not, your blog – yes, the blog in which you’ve invested a lot of time, budget and energy – may be just as effective as the parked Ferrari without any gas … if you’re guilty of these three fatal mistakes.

1. No promotion. If you don’t promote your insurance blog in social media venues such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and LinkedIn groups, it’s no different than keeping your sports car in the garage. Very few prospects will ever experience it. In addition to promoting each article, it’s important to promote subscriptions to your blog. Start by asking every employee to subscribe. Then spread the word to your prospects and customers. Add a link at the bottom of your corporate email signature – “Subscribe to the Insurance Marketers’ Blog.”  Place subscription boxes on every page of your website. Cross-reference your blog in other communications such as your newsletter and offer reprint opportunities to related companies’ publications. Whatever you do, get the word out and don’t leave your blog parked in the garage!
2. No search engine optimization.  Many people forget that one of the primary reasons to host an insurance blog is to enhance a website’s overall search engine optimization. And a blog without SEO, is like a car without fuel. It simply can’t perform to its full potential. Every blog article should target one keyword. For example, this article targets the keyword phrase, “insurance blog.” That phrase is in the headline and repeated (although not too many times) throughout the copy. When I publish this blog, I incrementally improve my chance of ranking for the term “insurance blog” and I add another page to my website’s Internet footprint. By optimizing my blog, I improve the odds of being found online – which supplements the readership generated by my blog promotional efforts. One more thing – make sure your insurance blog uses original articles. If you buy articles from a newsletter site where they’re already posted online and on other company’s websites, you’ll get no SEO credit from the search engines.  The bottom line: To be effective, your insurance blog must be fueled by original, keyword-rich content.
3. No call to action. Because insurance blog articles tend to be short (600 words or less), they don’t cover everything that could be said about a given subject. Therefore, good blog articles provide readers with an entrée into the subject and then an easy way to learn more by downloading a free report. A blog article without a call to action is like a Ferrari with a permanently closed passenger door. It’s dead-end information that leaves prospects yearning for more. Worse yet, it leaves your website without a lead conversion. So, at the end of every blog article, make sure to include a call to action. Make it easy for prospects to step into your passenger seat and enjoy the informational ride.