Best practices while designing and developing an insurance website

1. Best Practices
Insurance Websites

2. Best Practices
Insurance Websites
Executive Summary
Customers today are willing to buy simple policies online (Automotive, Travel) & use the
Internet for almost all their research & buying decisions for other, complex products. It is up to
Insurers to recognize these trends immediately & redesign their websites & online processes to
present buyers with scenarios/needs they are most likely to encounter in real life & then
present products around these. Insurers also need to have offline channels firmly enmeshed
with their online push.
Here are some proven best practices for Insurance
websites:
Online Processes
Supporting the research process
Online insurance statistics indicate that most prospects research several products before
buying insurance products. Insurers need to ensure that their sites are not just information
rich but also offer ‘differentiating’ content that makes their products stand out from others.
Understanding the buyer’s lifecycle
Life insurance products are usually not as aligned towards online sales as auto insurance.
Ensuring that your channels are enabled – the Web acts as a lead generation channel for
Life Insurance and eCommerce for Auto Insurance will help drive maximum ROI.
Making buyers act
To enable higher conversions, Insurance sites must facilitate customer action. Every user has
a goal-the design of an insurance site has to speak to these goals. Calls to action with
every piece of vital information & clear, need based navigation are just some practices that
reduce the number of clicks needed to make a customer act & significantly increase
conversion rates. The Metlife, US website is a prime example of this practice.
Helping your buyers
The call center is always a resort. However, if your site provides complete information to
help make a choice, you are helping your cause considerably. Live chats with sales agents
could be a very good option to avoid people reaching for the phone as practiced
successfully by Norwich Union, UK. Coverage information related to policies should also
be available.
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3. Best Practices
Insurance Websites
Making it easy for buyers
If I am in the process of buying a policy, then I should have the option to ‘save’ my details
once I have finished. Even if I need to stop midway, I should be able to return & complete
the process from the point I left. In either instance, I should get an email from the Insurer with
all details. This practice drives high usability & again enhances conversion online as Tesco,
UK has experienced.
Use offline modes to strengthen online
For those users who may be researching online but are not yet mature enough to buy on the
Web, offline modes can greatly complement your site. For instance, if I am applying online
but want to complete the process offline, the site should make it easy for me by giving me
an application tracker which I can use to finish the process offline. This practice has been
used to good effect by several insurers, notably Lloyd’s TSB Insurance.
Closing the loop
Some products generate leads online but are sold offline. Ensuring that processes and
technologies are connected so that leads are generated, acted on by Sales teams and
tracked by your Customer Relationship Management applications will provide maximum
ROI. It is critical to achieve end-to-end tracking of leads - from acquisition to conversion.
Cross-selling & Rewarding Customer loyalty
Acting on customer behavior
Some smart back end work can enable Insurers to cash in on online customer behavior.
Throwing up related products & calculators on the basis of what a customer is doing on
your site can open up new avenues for engagement & cross sell. Further, Insurers can also
enable their call center sales agents with online customer intelligence for relevant targeting.
Good examples are those of Ineas, which offers its customers a calculator that lets them
understand the risks they face, and Direct Line, which lets customers opt in for additional
products like legal insurance cover on the final page of quotations.
Policy Renewals & Discounts
Every policy renewal communication online should have very simple & quick call to action
for customers to do the needful. This is a key aspect of online insurance that enjoys
maximum usage from customers & has plenty of room for cross/up sell as well. Moreover,
offering discounts to customers who have multiple policies goes a long way in improving
relationships using the Web.
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4. Best Practices
Insurance Websites
Customer Service is critical
Online Policy Management
Making changes to their own policies should be a ‘must have’ for Insurance customers.
Insurers must allow for changes in address, contact numbers, additions to policy coverage,
etc. online with a view to driving higher usability & Web loyalty. Importantly, this also
shrinks offline customer servicing costs. Direct Assurance has been implementing this to
good effect.
Tracking of Claims
While it may still be up for debate, online claims tracking is a practice that can separate a
good Insurance site from a leading one. Those insurers who are allowing for claim
applications & tracking online have recorded significant rise in site usage (Direct Line) apart
from the benefits of lesser dependence on providing more expensive call center services for
claims.
Dynamic Content drives traffic & engagement
Like any site that sells products that meet different goals/needs of end customers, Insurance
websites built on Web Content Management (WCM) systems have some distinct advantages.
Enabling cross/up sell
It is all about the right content & message being put to the right buyer. A good WCM
presents the right marketing message, an associated calculator or the relevant product
dynamically to end users thereby increasing the probability of engagement, cross/up sell.
More traffic means more customers
With advanced Search Engine optimization controls embedded within good WCMs today,
a good Insurance website will almost always benefit from higher traffic which is the first
step towards acquiring more customers.
Localize, localize, localize
Among other things, a good WCM offers automated site localization features that are key
to leveraging the Web for increased business. Most leading insurers today are catering to
markets all over the world & speaking to customers in the languages they understand is half
the battle won.
Sharp Search enhances usability
A good Insurer will invariably need a powerful search mechanism for potential buyers
researching online. Enterprise Search tools built into WCMs sift the wheat from chaff &
reduce the time taken to get to desired information by providing a variety of pre-cognitive
results.
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5. Best Practices
Insurance Websites
About eDynamic
Established in 1999, eDynamic is a Global Web Solutions Firm. We are a one stop shop for
Web solutions offering a wide range of services including Web and Enterprise Content
Management, Portals, Web Design/User Experience, Online Marketing, Custom Application
Development, Business Intelligence and Managed Services. We blend strategy, technology
and creativity to deliver integrated, fully customized business solutions, and partner with our
clients for cornerstone strategies and critical Web initiatives.
eDynamic’s Insurance Expertise includes
Web Strategy & Consulting
Web Design and User Experience
Web & Enterprise Content Management
Portals and Collaboration
Web and Application Development
Business Intelligence
Online Marketing
CRM
eCommerce
For more information on eDynamic’s expertise in Insurance, refer to the link below:
www.edynamic.net/home/Industries/Insurance.aspx
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New York, USA, 153 W 27th Street, Suite 503, New York, NY 10001
Phone: +1-646-291-6435 Fax: +1-888-828-0747 Toll Free: 1-877-EDYNAMIC
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