Advice - Potential SEO Client

13 replies
I'm meeting with an Auto Claims adjuster for SEO services tomorrow.

However, while doing research in the Google Keyword tool, I'm not finding any local search volume for the following terms:

Auto Claims (city)
Insurance Adjuster (city)
Auto Insurance Claims (city)

And a few others...

My question is... what do I do?

Should we just shoot for the generic insurance keywords instead of trying to get "claims" or "adjuster" keywords?

Any advice would be appreciated...thank you!

Kim
#advice #client #potential #seo
  • Profile picture of the author John Williamson
    Try shortening the phrases and including the city and let the G keyword tool suggest phrases. And try the word 'car' instead of 'auto'.
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  • Profile picture of the author Trapped
    Originally Posted by MsMotivation1 View Post

    Should we just shoot for the generic insurance keywords instead of trying to get "claims" or "adjuster" keywords?
    If you want a "one time client" then yeah "shoot". Otherwise analize the keywords for your client, see where the potential is, and work on that. As John mentioned, don't use only auto, use as well car or vehicle etc..analyze the keywords again and start working from there.
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    • Profile picture of the author jr1228
      Originally Posted by Trapped View Post

      If you want a "one time client" then yeah "shoot". Otherwise analize the keywords for your client, see where the potential is, and work on that. As John mentioned, don't use only auto, use as well car or vehicle etc..analyze the keywords again and start working from there.
      I suppose this is a terribly naive-sounding question, but are there actually companies out there that charge to rank on Google Places for keywords that get little to no traffic? I guess the question shouldn't be "are there," but "are there a lot"?
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      • Profile picture of the author Morgan Westerman
        If you have no search volume you may not be able to help your
        client. Consider only taking clients you're sure you can get
        results for, otherwise they'll cancel and be further convinced
        that SEO = snakeoil.

        Consider additional search terms without the word auto:
        claims adjuster
        claims appraiser
        claims examiner
        claims investigator

        Also consider long-tail keywords:
        how to get more money from a car accident
        car accident insurance settlement agreement
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  • Profile picture of the author MsMotivation1
    OK... thanks for the good suggestions.

    John:
    Yes, I did try "car" in the place of "auto" in some of my searches... I tried a LOT of different terms. I think the problem is that people don't really search for claims adjusters - they usually go through their insurance company - although they have the option of finding their own.

    Trapped:
    The reason I said "shoot for general auto insurance terms" is because he could still get good prospects from some of those terms since they both deal with the auto insurance industry.

    Jessica:
    Good question... I hope there aren't companies out there doing that - I don't want to be one of them, which is what prompted this thread. The last thing I want is an angry client. LOL

    Morgan:
    Yes, that's what I was thinking... I'm not going to take it if there are no profitable keyword terms. I tried some of the longtail, but they're not getting any volume either... not LOCALLY at least.

    I probably need Market Samurai or some type of software to drill down into the local longtail keywords huh?

    Thanks for your feedback and I'll keep researching to see what I can come up with!
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  • Profile picture of the author vndnbrgj
    I typed "Claims Adjuster" into Google's Keyword Tool, and got keywords that have lots of search volume.
    For example: (these are local results)
    Insurance claims-135,000
    Public adjusters -9,900
    Public adjuster -14,800
    Insurance adjuster -40,500
    Claims adjusting -5,400
    Claim adjusters -33,100
    Insurance claims adjuster -4,400
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    • Profile picture of the author MsMotivation1
      When you typed these in, did you put in a city name?

      What I'm saying is... I'm not getting any volume when these search terms are entered along with the city name (that's what I mean by "local")


      Originally Posted by vndnbrgj View Post

      I typed "Claims Adjuster" into Google's Keyword Tool, and got keywords that have lots of search volume.
      For example: (these are local results)
      Insurance claims-135,000
      Public adjusters -9,900
      Public adjuster -14,800
      Insurance adjuster -40,500
      Claims adjusting -5,400
      Claim adjusters -33,100
      Insurance claims adjuster -4,400
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      • Profile picture of the author Morgan Westerman
        Originally Posted by MsMotivation1 View Post

        When you typed these in, did you put in a city name?

        What I'm saying is... I'm not getting any volume when these search terms are entered along with the city name (that's what I mean by "local")

        you're correct msmotivation...
        i believe vndnbrgj's "local results" in the google adwords keyword tool are the results for the country. to get the numbers you're looking for and will help your client you would need to type in what the searcher would type in, and that probably would include the city / metro area name.

        another option would be to offer your client help with Google Places optimization. local results for Google Places will most often show up for the searcher whether or not the city name is entered in the search query. There are many WSO's and other helpful threads here on GP.
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        • Profile picture of the author MsMotivation1
          Originally Posted by jsherloc View Post

          Along the same lines as vndnbrgj is saying, put those generic (no geo modifier) keywords through some other Google tools as well. I like using Google Trends and Insights (not sure if they are one in the same now, haven't used in a bit). Then you can throw the generic terms through Google Wonderwheel and see if you get anymore.

          Then there are independent sites like: lsikeywords.com and keywordfinder.org etc...

          Unless your client is located in a very rural area with a very low population, your client should see some targeted traffic if you are targeting all those generic keywords you come up with and adding your specific geographic context to them onpage and offpage.

          Saying all that though, it is very true he might NOT receive any significant local GOOD traffic/new clients. To me though, some people might be searching those terms to compare services/prices and what not if they aren't going through their own insurance at the very least looking for more education on the process (there's your lead gen). With multiple high rankings for the basic generic keywords accompanied by your geo modifier, he should pull in something in my opinion. Not sure how much he makes off the process, are they salary, etc?

          Maybe give this one a test run. Lower your fee or give him a trial or something. Even if you did all the work and got ranking and found the client didn't want it or that the local traffic is simply not enough to justify an adequate monthly fee, you could always throw some Adsense and/or CPA stuff on there and let it earn for another month or so then flip it....insurance terms tend to make A LOT per click in my experience, so you don't need many clicks to make a few bucks a day.

          Hope that helps a bit,

          - Jim
          Thanks, Jim... very good info!

          Originally Posted by Headfirst View Post

          How does your client currently get their customers? What are listed under in the yellow pages? How does someone go about finding a claims adjuster? What problem are they looking to have solved?

          Not every business can be served by local SEO. Sometimes you need to use other tactics to find them business. Do you only provide SEO or a full marketing service?
          I'm not sure yet what they are doing but will find out tomorrow when we meet (well, in a few hours I should say LOL)

          Originally Posted by Morgan Westerman View Post

          you're correct msmotivation...
          i believe vndnbrgj's "local results" in the google adwords keyword tool are the results for the country. to get the numbers you're looking for and will help your client you would need to type in what the searcher would type in, and that probably would include the city / metro area name.

          another option would be to offer your client help with Google Places optimization. local results for Google Places will most often show up for the searcher whether or not the city name is entered in the search query. There are many WSO's and other helpful threads here on GP.
          Thanks, Morgan!
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  • Profile picture of the author jsherloc
    Along the same lines as vndnbrgj is saying, put those generic (no geo modifier) keywords through some other Google tools as well. I like using Google Trends and Insights (not sure if they are one in the same now, haven't used in a bit). Then you can throw the generic terms through Google Wonderwheel and see if you get anymore.

    Then there are independent sites like: lsikeywords.com and keywordfinder.org etc...

    Unless your client is located in a very rural area with a very low population, your client should see some targeted traffic if you are targeting all those generic keywords you come up with and adding your specific geographic context to them onpage and offpage.

    Saying all that though, it is very true he might NOT receive any significant local GOOD traffic/new clients. To me though, some people might be searching those terms to compare services/prices and what not if they aren't going through their own insurance at the very least looking for more education on the process (there's your lead gen). With multiple high rankings for the basic generic keywords accompanied by your geo modifier, he should pull in something in my opinion. Not sure how much he makes off the process, are they salary, etc?

    Maybe give this one a test run. Lower your fee or give him a trial or something. Even if you did all the work and got ranking and found the client didn't want it or that the local traffic is simply not enough to justify an adequate monthly fee, you could always throw some Adsense and/or CPA stuff on there and let it earn for another month or so then flip it....insurance terms tend to make A LOT per click in my experience, so you don't need many clicks to make a few bucks a day.

    Hope that helps a bit,

    - Jim
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  • Profile picture of the author Headfirst
    Originally Posted by MsMotivation1 View Post

    I'm meeting with an Auto Claims adjuster for SEO services tomorrow.

    However, while doing research in the Google Keyword tool, I'm not finding any local search volume for the following terms:

    Auto Claims (city)
    Insurance Adjuster (city)
    Auto Insurance Claims (city)

    And a few others...

    My question is... what do I do?
    How does your client currently get their customers? What are listed under in the yellow pages? How does someone go about finding a claims adjuster? What problem are they looking to have solved?

    Not every business can be served by local SEO. Sometimes you need to use other tactics to find them business. Do you only provide SEO or a full marketing service?
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  • Profile picture of the author Morgan Westerman
    MsMotivation1 how'd it go?
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    • Profile picture of the author MsMotivation1
      Hey Morgan... it went well.

      I forced myself to think outside the box a little bit more and we are going to go for keyword terms that people use after getting into a car accident and go for some of that traffic.

      This would be things like:
      car accident (city)
      auto accident attorney (city)
      rental car (city)

      He agreed that the public doesn't really search for insurance claims adjusters online because they don't really know they have that option - and go straight through their insurance companies.

      So this is what we came up with... we are supposed to meet again next week to close the deal once I complete the keyword research.

      What do you think about this?


      Originally Posted by Morgan Westerman View Post

      MsMotivation1 how'd it go?
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