Google offers great tools for insurance agency marketers, most of which are free. Some of these are well known, while others may surprise growers and marketing agencies. These tools are easy to find on Google (just Google), although I did include a couple of links to help you get started. The Google tools below are not ranked in any particular order. With that said, I believe that all insurance agencies and brokers should have Google Analytics loaded on their site, even for those who use platforms like HubSpot.
Google Webmaster Tools offers a wealth of tools for insurance marketers. One recent tool that I would suggest all agencies and brokers use is Google’s mobile device compatibility test. This tool is very easy to use and determines if your insurance agency’s website is mobile friendly or if improvements are needed even if your website passes the mobile device compatibility test. For agencies that don’t pass the test, carpe diem, get down to work on a mobile responsive website ASAP. For those who pass but receive a list of issues, the test will help them better optimize their websites. My top 10 list is below, there are many other tools available:
1. Google analytics: An essential website traffic and analytics tool for any agency.
2. Google AdWords: Great tool for basic keyword analysis.
3. Google docs: Simple, free, and relatively easy-to-use cloud-based document exchange platform.
Four. Google statistics: Surveys, trends and other information tools.
5. Google My Business (Google Places): For small agencies, especially those that sell within their community, Google My Business is a good place to be.
6. Google alerts: Keep track of your agency, market, or any topic of interest with this simple and easy-to-use tool.
7. Google Webmaster Tools: This is a bundle of valuable technical tools, such as HTML Enhancements and Explore Like Google. There are two webmaster tools that agency marketers should find very helpful and may be unfamiliar to most agents. They are listed below as # 8 and # 9.
8. Google mobile device compatibility test: Is your insurance agency’s website mobile-friendly? How does it look on an Android? Are there any mobile device issues with the site? Use this free tool and find out.
9. Google page speed statistics: All websites can improve their loading speed, from compression to encoding. This quick tool will generate multiple suggestions to optimize your website speed.
10. Google+ page for business: It’s free, fairly easy to create, owned by Google, and your Google My Business listing will link to this page.
I’d be reluctant if you didn’t mention Google’s premier insurance agency marketing tool: YouTube. YouTube, owned by Google since November 2006, offers agencies a superior platform for sharing recorded webinars, executive reports, videos, and whiteboard videos.
Insurance agents and brokers who lack the time, tools, or staff to achieve their marketing goals may consider outsourcing their initiatives to a competent insurance agency marketing company.
