1. 13 Unlucky
(But Common) Mistakes on
Insurance Agency Websites
And How to Fix Them

2. Mistakes happen.
But they don’t have to.

3. Mistake #1
Narrow Websites
Less really is more. But don’t
go too far.
Modern Average Website
Width: 1000 pixels
Narrow websites will give potential clients the impression
that you don’t pay much attention to your website.

4. The Quick Fix
Widen Your Website to give yourself more room

5. Mistake #2
Messy Color Schemes
Color is important.
A bad color scheme is a bad
first impression.
Colors that are too similar to
each other will be hard to read.

6. The Quick Fix
Focus on Your Branding
Match your website colors to your logo.
Use lighter and darker shades of
one color in your logo.
Use any additional colors as
“highlight” colors to make your call to
actions stand out.
Other Modern Trends:
“Bright Sites”
Many websites can help you
give good color scheme ideas.

7. Mistake #3
No Contact Information
Phone numbers and address
not easily found on your
website.
How do you let your clients
know how to contact you?

8. The Quick Fix
Add your office’s physical
address and phone
number(s) on the bottom
of your website
Bonus:
Phone number in top right

9. Mistake #4
Empty Website
A website is not a virtual
business card.
How do you want your
customers to interact with
your website?

10. The Quick Fix
Features & Functions
Make your website usable.
• Add Quote Forms
• Let people manage their
policy
• Add claims and payment
information
The more interactive the
website, the more automated
your process can be.

11. Mistake #5
Complicated and
Cluttered
Don’t go overboard on
features.
Easier for your call to actions
to get lost.
User un-friendly websites
cause frustration.

12. The Quick Fix
Rely on your navigation menu
Avoid too many clicks to get where the client wants to go

13. Mistake #6
No Lines of Business
How will your clients know
what you can do for them?
If they do not see what they
are looking for, a client may
leave your website.

14. The Quick Fix
Promote Your Biggest Lines of Business
Reserve a prominent section of your website to show off 3-5 lines of
business that you offer. Avoid putting too many or it will get crowded.
They can be lines you do the most business in already or lines you are
wanting to drive more traffic towards.

15. Mistake #7
No Quote Forms
“Want it now” mentality
Less interactive the website, less chance for a sale

16. The Quick Fix
Add at least 1 Quote Form
It’s all about process:
•
•
Clients fills out quote form
• Receive lead
Add client to prospect mailing list
• Contact client
Get the customer involved in the
process from the start – higher
chance for a sale
Bonus:
Use an online rater like
Turborater or EZLynx

17. Mistake #8
Overly Long Quote
Forms
Longer forms are good for current
customers being directed to the
website by an agent.
For potential clients, longer forms
can be intimidating and have less
chance of being submitted.

18. The Quick Fix
Use Shorter Forms
Shorter forms that
capture just the most
basic information tend
to be completed more
often.
Easier to fill out and not
as intimidating.
Gives you reason to contact customer and establish a personal
relationship during quoting process.

19. Mistake #9
No Way to Pay Online
Don’t make it hard for
clients to pay their bill
online.
Adding payment links can
also decrease chance of
letting a policy lapse.

20. The Quick Fix
Add Links to Company Payment Pages
Makes your website more necessary for your current clients and helps
with retention.

21. Mistake #10
No Claims Information
Claims are already a stressful process.
Having to track down easy to post
information will hurt your relationship with
your client.

22. The Quick Fix
Add Your Carriers’
Claims Information
Whether it’s a phone number,
a link to another website, or
adding your own claim form
– post it on your website
somewhere easy to find.

23. Mistake #11
Using Too Much Flash
Flash slideshows are large files and
will cause your website to load slower.
Flash created files will also not work
on tablets or mobile phones. More
websites are moving away from Flash
because of this.
Too much animation can confuse a
client and hurts the eye.

24. The Quick Fix
Use HTML5
HTML5 works in much the same way as Flash, without slowing down
your website or not working on certain devices.
This is becoming a modern
industry standard.

25. Mistake #12
Intro/Splash Pages
Falls under the “user un-friendly”
category by adding another step
between the client and the
substance of your website.
Splash pages now hurt your
search engine rankings, because
they do not include text content.

26. The Quick Fix
Ditch the Splash Page
It’s unnecessary and can annoy
your clients.
Focus that energy on making
your home page stand out.
If need be, create a landing
page instead.

27. Mistake #13
Auto-Play Videos/Music
Fastest way to get a customer to click away from your website
Automatically playing music and video used to be popular, but now is
viewed as outdated and an annoyance.

28. The Quick Fix
Don’t Automatically Play the
Music or Video
Giving the customer the choice to
watch the video by adding a
play button.
Videos are wonderful and efficient
ways to capture you clients
interest.
But don’t force them into it.

29. Lessons to Learn
1. Make your site easy for any client to use
2. Make them useful, get your clients
involved with the process
3. Keep your website design up to date with
current trends

30. Want to Learn Even More?
ITC is holding the first
ITC Agent Conference
on April 15 & 16
www.agentconference.org