Most insurance writers tackle projects that involve crafting unique website or blog content for a variety of different geographic locations. Having geo-targeted content helps insurance agencies and companies engage website visitors, increase relevance for PPC campaigns, and achieve better organic search engine rankings.
Meanwhile, when clients ask for articles about homeowners insurance in every state of the country, they want 50 different unique articles and not 50 copies of one article. Meanwhile, typical policies are similar everywhere. Done in alphabetical order, many insurance writers stumble by the time they get to Alaska (Alabama comes first). Tackling a project like this requires a plan and a system.
The System: Unique Insurance Content for Everybody
So, for example, how do you make homeowners insurance in Texas distinct from homeowners insurance in California? The trick is to incorporate some local flavor, hopefully in the first paragraph. This is a suggested outline you could consider:
- For your introduction, you could get inspiration from recent news stories or government statistics about common natural hazards in your targeted area.
- The second paragraph usually includes a call to action. According to a report from Slate, the number of website readers rapidly declines after the third paragraph, and it keeps declining further down the page. Most insurance clients want their sales message included early.
- Try to include a bullet list of relevant statistics by about the third paragraph. Interesting local facts draw the eye down the page and they help make your articles distinct and useful.
- From there, it’s simple to address particular local concerns, common local risks that a typical policy may or may not cover, and conclude with a final call to action.
- For state-targeted articles, repeat that at least 49 more times. You might even need to compose more than 50 articles because some companies want to include DC and Puerto Rico.
Why Work So Hard on Unique Articles for the Same Insurance Policies?
Adding local flavor to each geo-targeted article takes time, research, and planning. However the effort can produce SEM-friendly and SEO-friendly authoritative content that establishes credibility and doesn’t disappoint website visitors who followed a link that promised local and relevant information.
This is a lot different than typical fill-in-the-blanks, Mad Libs content that is worse than valueless because it robs websites of any credibility with consumers who take the time to read. While Internet users are notoriously impatient, according to the Slate report, at least half of the readers who don’t back out by the first paragraph will keep reading.
Marilyn K is a professional writer who feels as if she has traveled to every state several times via her geo-targeted writing projects, but she actually rarely leaves Texas. She has experience as a life and health insurance agent and as a general insurance writer for large agencies and companies.
