Blogging. For some of us we can’t wait to express ourselves in written form and create the most luscious insurance blog the world has ever seen. For others it’s more like let’s put the covers over our head and find some data to clean up, cold calls to make or rate increase calls to do. Anything but blog! If it’s not 100% your thing but you have to do it, we have created ways to make blogging count and maybe make it less of a chore on you!
Your Insurance Blog Headline
Really think of this as your topic. Right now you blog haters are thinking, “No one will ever read the stinking blog so what difference does it make.” Well we say that’s stinking thinking and if you don’t like your blog, neither will the world. You have permission to have fun with your topic and headline. Here are some examples:
Terrible Topic: Common Teen Driving Mistakes
Better Topic: Top Ways to Get Your Kids to Make Curfew (Hint: Make them Pay for the Insurance)
Terrible Topic: Cyber Liability and Why You Need It
Better Topic: Where Are They Now? Small Business Cyber Crimes and the True Cost
Terrible Topic: Insuring Your Lambo
Better Topic: Top 10 Luxury Car Features and How Much it Costs to Insure Them
Because insurance makes the world go around, everything can be related to insurance. You have have to think of something you find cool or interesting and turn it into a blog that backs its way into insurance. Flip the script, you’re right. NO ONE wants to read about insurance but they will read about the things they insure.
Internet readers have an 8 second span of attention so you need a headline that grabs them and gets them hooked. The ideal blog title length is 60 characters, and between 8-12 words. We also find that when you use [ ] you get a 38% better performance rate.
Keywords & Meta Data
This is where we can all get overwhelmed. It feels like there is a right and wrong keyword to pick or you feel like you need a CIC type class in SEO. You don’t. You are way overthinking it. Picking your keyword is like picking a great nail polish cover. This too shall pass. Find the right one for this blog and as you keep blogging you will find other keywords. You can use Google’s Keyword Planner as a place to start.
Next, get your SERP on (Search Engine Results Page). This is where you tell the search engine what is cash money about your blog! Make it 155 characters for the best results. But your goal is to tell a reader quickly what they would gain by clicking on your result to read more. Think of this as the “They Ask, You Answer” principle. Take all of your top questions that you hear from clients and turn them into blogs. What people ask, they search online and you want your answer to rein supreme.
Featured Image
This is the image that sits above the blog post and draws in our micro attention spans to a visual representation of what you will experience. You should make sure you can read it and also it should fit your brand guide!!!! If you don’t know what a brand guide is, have no fear you can check them out here. Next up, be sure to not use licensed photos. Many people have been burned by the Getty Images $800 letters. Instead we recommend unsplash.com for beautiful and hip images that are FREE.
Let’s Get to the Writing Part
Now that you have tackled all the details it’s time to actually write something. Yup, we have a topic, spiffy image, and some SEO magic we hope will work so now on to writing.
Introduction
All great masterpieces of blogs need a great intro. This is where you set the stage for the juicy insurance information you are about to bestow on our reader. Make it something that hooks people in and convinces them to keep on reading. Draw in questions and enlighten your reader to your insurance prowess.
Sub-Headers
So that you can break up your amazing content, sub-headers are used to keep the reader engaged and moving right along. We need mini pit stops along reading so we can scan to our favorite topic or just take a quick minute to digest. You want the sub-headers to be with with H2 tags or smaller. Not sure what an H2 tag is? We have you covered.
Body of the Blog
Brace yourself for some stats that may turn you off of blogging, but please stay with us on this journey. According to our partners at Hubspot:
- The ideal blog post is 2100 words and takes 7 minutes to read
- The top 10 Google Results are between 2032-2416
So for those of you right now that feel like this:
Don’t! I used to be the queen of the 650 word blog. But what I found by following a longer format was that my blogs became more meaningful and I had the opportunity to fully express my thoughts and points as well as give examples. The mindset alone of the 650 word blog is quick, down and dirty. You can certainly sprinkle those blogs in but to really bring out the meat you need to make your blogs something that people have tangible take-aways from.
One way to beef up your blog posts pretty easily is to use your Google. Yes, Google is filled with stats you can use to beef up your blog posts. People love a good statistic. It lends credibility and some interest to your posts.
Load Up the Images and GiFs
People lose interest so easily today so a nice meme, gift or image throughout the blog helps people stay with it. You can use Giphy.com for gifs or go wild and create your very own to add in. Keep it interesting. Here is a news flash. It’s OK for people to smile and laugh in an insurance blog. In fact I think it’s encouraged.
Conclusion
Your conclusion is your time to wrap it up with a big red bow. A good way to conclude your blog post is by including a summary of your main posts. Where possible include some additional resources they may enjoy if they just can’t get enough of your content. Give them more, don’t leave them hanging.
Call to Action
This is you are at the end the place where you can motivate someone to learn more. The whole reason we are here, right? So many insurance agencies miss the calls to action on their blogs. Here are some common ways to create a call to action:
- Advice
- Offer for Exclusive Content
- Link to Another Post
- Link to get a quote or contact
Your calls to action should be visual (see ours below!) to grab someone’s attention and make it stick!
Conclusion
Blogging is as bad as you make it. I know sitting still and typing about insurance isn’t for everyone. If you really aren’t a writer then vlog and hop on video. A good marketing person can turn that into a blog for you. One way or another you need to embrace the idea that content generation must be a common strategy that you adopt!
