If you haven’t updated your website recently, it may be time to take a closer look. You need to evaluate whether your site is doing its job effectively. Is it helping you attract new customers and serving the needs of your current customers?
When to Redesign Your Insurance Website
Below are five considerations.
1: Technical Red Flags
Look at how long it takes your website to load pages. Anything more than three seconds is too slow.
What about your bounce rate? (That’s the percentage of website visitors who navigate away from your site after viewing just one page.) Is it more than 70%? Generally, a bounce rate of 40% or lower is considered good. Anything above 55% is considered high. HubSpot says the average bounce rate for most websites is in the 26-70% range. The average bounce rate for a B2B site is 56%. An average for a business to consumer (B2C) site is 45%. Rates do vary by page type. Blog posts have a higher bounce of around 65%. While ecommerce pages average 33%.
Is your site mobile friendly? If not, it should be. More and more people are using mobile devices to access websites. If your site is not optimized to work via mobile, you risk web visitors going elsewhere for a better experience. Don’t forget, too, that Google uses mobile data to determine its search rankings. That means having a mobile-friendly site is more important than ever.
Are you or your users experiencing more security warnings? That is definitely a bad sign.
Do you have outdated plugins on your site? That, too, will undermine your site’s success.
2: Lacking Visual Appeal
In addition to outdated plugins, other things that can make your site outdated are design trends from three or more years ago, lower-quality or pixelated images, cluttered layouts, and the presence of Flash elements.
You may not know you cannot simply update your Flash player as a solution, since Adobe has ended support for Flash. You need to completely replace Flash with more contemporary web technology. These can include HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript, which ensure your website functions properly and works across all browsers. Talk with some tech and design pros to get feedback on what’s needed to update your site and what potential costs you’re likely to incur. Functionality is key, but visual appear is important, too.
3: Business Evolution
If you’ve rebranded, added services or products, or shifted your market focus, all of those should be reflected in your current site. If they are not, it’s time for a website redesign. The market is constantly evolving, and it’s important that your website stay up to date.
If you’ve added new carriers or any of your existing partners have added new products and services, it’s essential that you let your prospects and customers know. If you’re a partner with the Word & Brown General Agency, don’t overlook your ability to broaden your services to clients to include Disability Income Insurance from a roster of carriers and Workers’ Compensation though Word & Brown’s partnership with CompNet Insurance Solutions. There’s no P+C license required. Clients will appreciate being able to get more coverage through a single source: you. Ask your Word & Brown rep for details.
If your site doesn’t offer information about all of the products and services that prospects and clients can get through you or your agency, you’re leaving potential revenue on the table. That opens the door to your competitors. Put the spotlight back on yourself by updating your website.
4: User Experience Issues
Now let’s talk about user experience. Does your site make it easy for prospects and clients to find what they want? Is your site navigation easy to follow? Are contact and other forms readily locatable? Or are they buried deep in your site?
What about broken links or 404 errors? When was the last time you thoroughly checked your site to ensure all links are working (especially those sending visitors to another page on your site or to pages outside your site)?
Does your site have good traffic, but a lower-than-desired conversion rate? That’s a sign that your website’s design, content, and call-to-action are not effectively leading to your desired outcomes.
5: Competitor Sites
When was the last time you looked at your competitors’ websites? Maybe you’re falling short because your competitors’ sites are more modern and user-friendly. Perhaps your site lacks features commonly available elsewhere. Are you using any analytics that could help you compare your site to others? What, if any, feedback have you received from prospects and customers about your site? Has anyone mentioned a competitor’s site – and how your site compares?
Industry standards are evolving. Are you keeping up? Again, you may need to engage others to help you analyze possible weaknesses – and recommend improvements for the future.
Don’t Be Intimidated
No matter how good your site, there are likely changes to your website that will help you attract more visitors, provide more information about products and services, and drive increased referrals and revenue for your agency. The sooner you act, the sooner you will see improvements.
As we’ve mentioned before, partnering with the right General Agent can help you and your clients. Word & Brown has been working with brokers for nearly 40 years. We offer a broad product and service portfolio; statewide support in California and Nevada; industry-leading tech; value-adds to keep your customers coming back; and an unparalleled commitment to service from a team dedicated to your success.
Contact your Word & Brown rep today to learn more. Or, if you’re not already working with us, call 800-869-6989 or register online to get started.
