Is it Time to Evaluate Your Website’s Performance?

Posted on September 3rd, 2021 by nms
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Insurance agencies rely on websites to connect with customers and to share critical information. One of the keys to getting the most from your agency’s website is performance of the site itself. Insurance web design professionals know that site performance influences search engine rankings. A site’s performance also has a profound effect on user experiences. Do you know if your site is performing as intended? In this guide, we will explore the features that help an insurance website’s performance, helping you to boost online visibility and sales.

What is Website Performance?

Insurance business owners know that company websites are an extension of their brand, helping to bring in customers and to boost engagement. Those websites have to perform to achieve the desired outcome. The term “website performance” encompasses a broad range of characteristics. In general, this term refers to a given website’s ability to display and function efficiently. Performance factors include:

  • Page loading speed
  • Site speed
  • Correct display across computing devices (desktop and mobile)
  • App functionality
  • Underlying code (CSS, JavaScript, HTML)
  • Server/hosting

Why is website performance so important? There are two primary reasons. First, a site’s ability to load quickly and display correctly has a direct effect on user perception; fast sites that function as intended all but ensure a positive user experience, while slow-loading pages and broken features tend to drive visitors away. Second, search engines like Google evaluate website performance when ranking sites. If your site does not load quickly or display correctly, you are likely to suffer from poor rankings and less robust online visibility.

Leveraging Analytic Tools to Evaluate Performance

Website owners and insurance web design professionals have access to a wide range of tools with which to analyze a given website’s performance. One of the most useful is provided by Google itself. Google Analytics helps to monitor traffic, bounce rates, and other key metrics. This tool also reveals trends over time, helping web developers to pinpoint what works and what does not. By monitoring performance data, insurance businesses have the ability to tweak sites to achieve the desired results.

Google Analytics is not the only tool insurance businesses can use to keep tabs on website performance. There are literally hundreds of such tools, including those provided by website hosting companies. Monitoring and analyzing performance data can help you get the most from your insurance website.

Forms and Ecommerce Considerations

Today’s websites are more that information portals for insurance customers. The modern insurance website features a host of applications and tools with which to make purchases, sign up for newsletters, file claims, and update policies. Typically, a website will use an online form for users to fill with details. If your insurance web design incorporates forms, it is critical that these forms be tested for their performance. The form must be easy to complete, easy to submit, and responsive to the common questions and concerns of website visitors. A great form is a user experience booster, giving your insurance customers the confidence that your site responds to their unique needs.

For sites with ecommerce features, every aspect of the purchasing journey must be tested rigorously for performance and functionality. Any break in the journey may result in a lost sale, potentially pushing your customers toward your competition. Online shopping carts that do not work as intended can strongly influence the bounce rate, or the rate at which a customer navigates to another site. A high bounce rate can ultimately harm search engine ranking, not to mention lost sales opportunities.

Nailing Page and Site Speed

What do most website visitors do if they attempt to visit a site and it loads slowly? They navigate elsewhere. This raises the bounce rate and can harm your business prospects. Having your site load quickly – within two seconds or less, according to insurance web design experts — satisfies users with a better overall experience, encouraging them to stay on the site for longer and making them more likely to take another action such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.

Page speed tests are part of the Google environment. The company’s Page Speed Insights tool lets businesses find out what needs to be fixed to maximize page and site loading speeds. Common page/site speed errors include:

  • Excessively large images or graphical elements
  • Poorly-designed or broken coding
  • Excessive use of applets or plugins
  • Inadequate server/hosting capacity

Your agency’s website should have all images and graphical elements optimized for fast loading. The code should be analyzed to eliminate errors and to ensure a streamlined loading and display process. If your host is not up to the task of rendering your site quickly, moving to another service provider can help you regain lost speed. Your customers will thank you. Insurance web design is a set of interrelated parts; by analyzing and monitoring your website’s performance, you position your site to give visitors the positive experience they need to make purchasing decisions.

About Agency Tsunami

Agency Tsunami is the digital marketing division of Neilson Marketing Services, who has provided the insurance distribution sector with innovative marketing and communication solutions for over twenty-five years. With our Agency Tsunami program, we have implemented an integrated marketing strategy that includes optimized, professional websites supported by high-quality SEO and Social Media for hundreds of insurance retailers and wholesalers. Our goal is to help your insurance business perform and generate new opportunities. Give us a call at (800) 736-9741 to learn more about how we can do that for you.

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