4 Simple Ways to Increase your Online Presence

Do the words Twitter, Facebook and Blogging make you nervous? Have you thought about increasing your online presence to capture a new market but aren’t sure where to start? Staying up-to-date with the latest trends in technology when marketing and selling insurance may seem overwhelming and intimidating, but agents know it’s necessary to grow.

Success in today’s online market absolutely depends on your entire Web presence, not just your website. Spreading your online presence as wide as possible helps you reach millions of potential clients you may not be able to reach otherwise. Below are four simple ways beginners can increase their web presence without breaking the bank or their back.

1. Create a Website

Websites don’t have to be expensive and elaborate, they just have to be visible to consumers, provide useful information and generate leads by allowing visitors to contact you for free offers or more information.

There are several option available when creating a website. For the more tech savvy agents, you can build your own (Top 10 Do-It-Yourself Website Builders) and for those who’d rather leave it to the experts, you can check out the below links to get started:

• Insurance Web Designs
• Insurance Broker Webmasters
• Free Insurance Agent Websites

Some companies even offer supplemental marketing material to help draw prospects to a website such as Insurance Help Centers, a company that specializes in lead generating website customization.

2. Use SEO to Increase your Website Ranking

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization,  is the process of adding keywords or phrases throughout your website to help search engine spiders properly rank your webpage in a Google search result. In other words, when someone searches for “Financial Advisors” the webpage results will be ordered by relevance of how well the title, description and keywords of the website match the users web search query.

Still confused? Google offers an extremely helpful and easy to follow Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide as well as basic information about a Google Search and how to increase your webpage rankings.

When using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool, agents are able to insert their webpage URL and Google will create a list of keyword ideas for you to use when adding or modifying content to your web pages.

Once you’ve created and optimized your website you want as many people to visit it as possible!

3. Start a Blog

Blogging is a great way to establish yourself as an expert while increasing your online presence at the same time. Also, by commenting on blogs written by others, it’s a great way to gain practice as well as increase your visibility by linking back to your website, blog or other social media profiles.

Setting up a blog is the easy part (Best Blogging Host Software) , it’s figuring out what to write about that can be the challenging (10 Business Blogging Best Practices).

Once you’ve started your own blog, you can drive people to it by promoting it on your website as well as social media profiles. Don’t have a social media profile? Keep reading to learn how to set one up in minutes!

4. Join Social Networking Sites

Social networking is one of the most powerful social media strategies you can implement. These sites are free and allow you to create a personal profile page to post information about you and your business, invite people to join your network, join groups with people interested in the same topic, blast messages and events, and drive people to your website or blog.

Getting Started

First, determine which social media outlet is best for you. Find out what platforms your prospects use most. Don’t be afraid to create a profile at different sites just so you can browse and check out how it works, who uses it and what other people are posting. Also, don’t underestimate your teenager or grandchild’s ability to help you set up a profile – believe me, they’ll have a full profile created with pictures posted in seconds flat!

For step-by-step instruction on how to set up a profile for various social media sites, click the links below:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• MySpace
• LinkedIn

Throughout my experience as a marketer, I’ve gathered several resources that were extremely helpful when getting started in the social media world.

Social Media Beginner Guides

• Facebook for Beginners
• Social Media Marketing Beginners Guide
• How to Effectively Use Twitter to Build Business Relationships

For additional sales and marketing tips exclusive to insurance agents, visit the new TWG Capital Agent Acceleration Center or follow the TWG Capital Blog.