.

Whatever marketing techniques you use to get prospects to visit your website, there's going to be a cost. So if they arrive and don’t engage with your proposition, then it’s a huge waste - never mind the loss of business.

To be productive and effective, your website needs to work like a highly experienced broker: it needs to be concise, organised, effective, relevant and professional - so run through this checklist to see if improvements need to be made.

Your checklist

Check that you're focused on, and relevant to, your primary target audience

1. Are you talking to the right people?
2. Do the visuals/images on the home page engage with these potential customers (or drive them away)?

The three primary messages that you need to get across immediately (and concisely)

1. What you want them to know
2. Why they should believe you
3. What you want them to do now
   
   

Two additional tools to include on the homepage (so as to capture the contact details of those who don't call you immediately)

1. A 'lead magnet' to capture their contact details.
2. A 'get your free quotation here' toolkit.

Other checks to make on your homepage

1. Is all the most important information 'above-the-fold'?
2. Is it immediately clear what lines of insurance you cover?
3. Is there a believable ‘urgency tactic’ you can use? An offer with limited time? Try to give a good reason for people to get in touch today.
4. Colours - are you using the best combination?
5. Are referrals actively encouraged on your website?
6. Is your website navigation intuitive?
7. Does your website load quickly?
8. Is your website mobile optimised?
9. Is white space used throughout the site to make it easy to scan?

Google ranking and SEO checks

1. What have you done to boost your Google ranking?
2. If relevant, see this particular focus on local search engine optimisation.

Analytics

How will you know that the changes to your website are making a substantial difference?

In conclusion, creating your website is only half the job. And if you sit back and expect it to transform your business, then you’ll be sorely disappointed. However if you take these simple steps and continue to nurture it, you should soon reap the rewards.