Top 7 Insurance Website Design Tips For 2007
What design strategies really work on the web? What grabs a visitor’s attention and shuttles them to your opt-in form to become a lead?
Now you can find out. Our award-winning designers share their best tips for creating a website that persuades insurance shoppers to do what you want.
- Image Choice.
Some images work on the web. Others really, really don’t.
 What’s out: Stale, overused and outdated images. If it looks like something you've seen before, think twice about using it. Watch out for dark, moody pictures that look like they’ve been kicking around the web since the ‘90s. And close-up shots of people shaking hands? Definitely out. Oh, and those perspective shots of people looking up at the camera on a white background? Ditto.
 What’s in: Light, bright images. Your subjects should be contemporary, friendly, average-looking people. The human eye is more attracted to images of other people than to animals or objects. The result: your prospects are more likely to relate to your images, feel comfortable, and direct their attention to your nearby call to action.
One last note on images: conversion statistics prove that, if at all possible, having an image looking directly at your call to action can increase conversion. The eye will tend to follow where the eyes of the people in the photo are looking. It’s like what happens when you see two people on the street looking up at something, the natural urge is to look up too.
- Eye-Catching Layout.
You need the right images, sure. But you also need to put them in the right place.
 What’s out: Calls to action buried at the bottom of the page. Or even worse, visitors with small screens are forced to scroll to find it. No one should EVER have to work to become your lead. The center and left hand side of the page are also not the most effective places for your offer.
What’s in: Eye-tracking studies show that the right side of a webpage is the hotspot for your visitors’ eyeballs. That means you need to put your call to action — like “Get Quotes Now” — on the right, and “above the fold”. Above the fold refers to the top half of a webpage. Anything you want visitors to notice right away should be placed there.
And if you’ve got a 1-800 number, display it boldly in the very top right of the page, above the header. The phone number increases confidence by expressing, yes, you are a real live company, and you’re really available to take customer calls. One successful health insurance site also uses local numbers in addition to the 800 number, to give the feeling that they are local.
- Better Backgrounds.
 Web designers are paying more attention to the “background” of their web pages... and getting better results.
What’s out: Sharp, square corners. Text and images that float on white backgrounds. This combo screams “our site was just slapped together” to visitors.
 What’s in: Our designers have tested insurance sites with rounded corners, light-colored backgrounds and drop shadows. They’ve found that by using graphics like this to add “texture,” the site is better at focusing the eye and has a more permanent feel. Making these changes helped one of our sites jump 4.5% in conversion.
- Simple Fonts.
 There are hundreds of fonts to choose from. But very few are effective on the web… or easy on the eyes.
What’s out: Novelty fonts (please, don’t use “whimsical” fonts like Comic Sans. They’re hard to read. And they’re not professional). Teensy weensy, headache-inducing type. Pale gray text. “Reverse type” (white letters with a black or dark background).
 What’s in: The fonts of choice for Norvax designers are sans serif. You many know them as Verdana, Trebuchet or Arial.
These screen-friendly fonts have simpler shapes that make your copy more readable. And your visitors are typically familiar with them already.
As far as font size goes, don’t make your readers squint — ever. (The only exceptions to this are necessary footnotes.) Fonts should never dip below 10-pixels. The researchers at Marketing Sherpa even suggest keeping your text at a healthy 12-pixels. Verdana is good at 12 or 13 pixels. As for the color of your text, the old tried and true black won’t steer you wrong.
- Professional Logo.
A logo signals you’re a serious business with roots.
 What’s out: Most insurance websites are missing completely in this area. They’ve got either no logo, or a bargain-basement one.
 What’s in: Attractive, professionally-designed logos put your website in the same league as your toughest competitors. Fortunately, getting your own logo isn’t difficult.
Expect to pay up to a couple hundred dollars for stock logos customized for your agency, more for true custom work. A clean, unique logo is a worthy investment that can also be used on your business cards, letterhead and stationery. If you can spare the cash now, your logo can be used in your marketing for years.
The designers at Norvax can customize a logo for your agency from the selections in our Logo Bank for as little as $150. Our designers can also create a custom designed logo that can be implemented onto both your website and company stationary.
Our designers have also found adding the Better Business Bureau online logo to pages inspires confidence in the user. If you are not authorized to use the logo, apply for permission.
- Keep Forms Short And Sweet.
The researchers at Marketing Sherpa report that 94% of prospects take one look at the average online registration form and bail. Immediately. That means you have a HUGE opportunity to improve your conversion rates by making a few tweaks to your contact and “get a quote” forms.
 What’s out: Super long forms that ask WAY too many questions. It’s tempting to try for a lot of information up front — you want to make it easier to qualify or quote leads before you call. Problem is that the longer and more complicated the form, the more prospects will drop off. For every extra step you add, you can expect a related dip in your conversion.
 What’s in: Short, sleek forms. We’ve seen it proven time and time again: the shorter the form, the more people take the plunge and convert. We’ve slimmed down all our quote forms to a short two pages — some of the shortest, and highest converting, in the industry. Agents still get enough info to run a fast quote, and drop off is reduced to 78.5% on some sites.
- The Right Homepage Content.
 Your homepage is often the first thing your visitors see… don’t turn them off with the wrong content.
What’s out: Content-jammed homepages that force the visitor to scroll. Too much text is overwhelming, and competes for attention with your call to action.
 What’s in: Keep homepage content concise and relevant to your offer. Allow those interested in learning more to navigate to additional content with linked pages. We’ve found short testimonials increase homepage conversion.
Now you’ve got some practical tips for designing a killer website that converts. Don’t let them lie around in your “to do” pile. Call up your website programmer or company, or fire up the computer. Start now and kick off 2007 with a lead generating machine powering your marketing arsenal.
| Members of the Award-winning Norvax Design Team |
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Oswaldo Medina |
Patrick Cummings |
 Jeremiah Desmarais and his team have won 3 awards in 2006 for their marketing initiatives that touch Norvax' client base and carrier relationships on a daily basis. He is author of several white papers including the applauded ‘Selling Insurance Online: Identifying 9 Top Trends for 2006’, and has been a contributor to the Agent’s Sales Journal, Health Insurance Underwriter as well as a guest speaker at various carrier events and workshops. He is a member of the Society of Industry Leaders. He welcomes feedback at jdesmarais@norvax.com.
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