Agent Website Reference Guide - DISTRICT 65 HUB · 2019-01-24 · distinctive, localized content to your website. Consider displaying your most important content in Content Spotlights

Agent Website

Reference Guide

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Need help? Yext’s available to support you. Please call (844) 569-5723 or email [email protected].

Proprietary & Confidential—December 2016

Table of Contents

Yext Support Agent Website Local Search

Introduction Agent Website at a Glance Insurance Products Offered Additional Content

Getting Started Setting Up the Website Complete Basic Onboarding Tasks Customize Your Content

Basic Onboarding Tasks

Personal Biography Update Your Main Description Add Years of Experience Include Additional Info Include Final Details

Content Spotlight Yext Recommendations Pre-Approved Content Custom Content Migrated Content Updating Your Content Spotlight Section

How to Use the Location Manager Cover Photo Bios Approvals

Content Approval Process When Does My Content Have to Go Through Approvals? Branding and Compliance Tips The Approvals Section Checking Your Approval Status Making Changes to Requested Edits

Tips for Writing Great Content What to Include on the Agent Website

White Glove Website Support Features Registering for a Support Session

Yext FAQ

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Agent Website Guide

Yext Support

Yext is dedicated to helping Farmers® agents build an online presence. The Yext Farmers Support team is available to help solve any Farmers agent website problems you encounter. As a reminder, this service is available to you at no additional cost — Yext support is included in the 2017 Performance Marketing Package.

Yext Farmers Support Contact

Phone: (844) 569-5723

Email: [email protected]

Agent Website

Yext can help you optimize your Farmers agent website and master the Yext Dashboard — from updating information on your website to developing content. If there’s an issue Yext cannot solve, it will direct you to a Farmers support team.

Local Search

Yext Listings can help you to optimize your local online presence. It can help you manage your Google My Business listing and help make your online presence consistent where people search for you.

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Introduction

As new prospects increasingly rely on internet searches to aid in their purchase decisions, your agency’s digital presence is now more important than ever. To help you build your digital presence, Farmers® continues to improve available website capabilities that can strengthen your digital storefront.

This guide is a key resource for leveraging your Farmers agent website. From getting started to customizing your content, you’ll find everything you need to help you set up your website, optimize your content for search engine visibility, and improve customer experience.

Agent Website at a Glance

Storefront BasicsThree of the most important elements of your Farmers agent website are Hours of Operation, Profile Picture and Cover Photo. Ensure that these are accurate and current to improve customer experience.

Cover Photo

Profile Photo

Hours of Operation

Personal Biography

Personal BiographyThe sections of your Personal Biography can include personalized, localized information to help distinguish your agency from the competition.

Agent Website Guide

Insurance Products Offered

Each product includes a summary and a “Get a Quote” call to action (where applicable). Your Agent ID follows the user throughout the online quoting process, and ties you to leads originating from your website.

Content Spotlights

You can customize each of the 6 areas in this section. Simply fill in information about local events, local businesses, or community organizations you support. In addition, you can choose to use pre-approved content spotlights or write your own unique content.

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Additional Content

Towards the bottom of the website, you can include details about your staff, update the photo gallery, and more.

Agent Website Guide

Getting Started

In May 2016, Farmers® launched new agent websites to help you improve your online presence. These new websites include major enhancements, such as more opportunities to customize your site and built-in search engine optimization.

All agent websites were launched with default content to include basic information about your agency. To differentiate your content from other agents’ and improve the performance of the website, agents can complete the following tasks:

Setting Up the WebsiteSign Into the Yext Dashboard

• Log into the Agency Marketing portal.

• Click on the Yext logo under Account Management to access your agent website.

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Complete Basic Onboarding Tasks

The first time you log into the Yext Dashboard, you will be prompted to confirm your Agent Profile Picture and set your Hours of Operation.

Agent Website Guide

Customize Your Content

Fill out your Personal Biography

• On the Overview page, go to the Update Your About Me Section to begin personalizing the website.

For detailed instructions, go to page 13

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Customize Your Content

Update your Content Spotlight

• On the Overview page, go to the Update your Content Spotlight Section.

The rest of this guide provides specific information to help you get the most out of your Farmers agent website.

Agent Website Guide

Basic Onboarding Tasks

When you first log into the Yext Dashboard, you will be prompted to complete two tasks to update your agency’s information:

• Confirm your Agent Profile Picture

• Add your agency’s Hours of Operation

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Changing Your Agent Profile Picture

You can upload your brand-compliant agent photo through the Agency Marketing portal. If you already have a current, brand-compliant agent photo, it will appear in the task, and you can simply click Continue.

• Go to the Agency Marketing portal.

• From the Agency Marketing top menu, navigate to Administration > Manage Agent Profile.

• Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Update Profile.

Agent Website Guide

• Click Select to browse your computer and choose a photo that meets the photo guidelines.

• Once your photo has been uploaded, click Submit for Approval.

• Photos will be reviewed for compliance, then approved or returned with comments. Within a few days of submittal, you will receive an email from [email protected] with the status of your profile. If you receive a “Changes Required” email, read the Reviewer Comments in the body of the email before resubmitting.

– You can also check the status of your profile at any time at the top right of the Agent Profile page.

For more information on agent photo requirements, see the “How to Upload Agent Photo” article in the Yext Help Center. If you have any further questions about uploading your agent photo or the approval process, you can contact Agency Marketing Support at 800-913-1016.

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Personal Biography

Your Personal Biography is made up of three elements: About Me/Main Description, short form content (Years of Experience, Educational Background, etc.) and Hearsay Profile links. This section has four steps, each of which offers you a chance to share more personal information. This information will display below your Agent Profile Picture and Cover Photo on your agent website.

Sync your social media profiles with your Hearsay account — links will auto-populate in the Connect section. (Your Hearsay account must be activated for the links to populate.)

Agent Website Guide

Adding personal content doesn’t just make the website more unique — it also gives consumers insight into who you are and may help them connect with you on a more personal level.

Step 1: Update Your Main Description

• This step provides you with a pre-approved biography that explains where you’re located and what types of insurance you offer.

• If you choose not to use the pre-approved biography, you can write your own. This biography is limited to 500 characters, so focus on including the most important information.

To edit and complete your Personal Biography, simply click Get Started to the right of the step you’d like to edit.

When you click Get Started for a task, you will visit a separate page. Once you’re finished with a particular task, click Complete in the bottom-right corner.

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Step 2: Add Years of Experience

• This field asks you to enter the number of years you have been a Farmers agent.

• On the website, this number will display how many years you’ve been appointed with Farmers, so please don’t include years not appointed with Farmers.

Step 3: Include Additional Info

• This section lets you share personal details. You can choose one of three options to share:

– Educational Background

– Awards & Honors

– Insurance Certifications

• The first two options will prompt you to fill in a small text box with the corresponding information.

• The Insurance Certifications option will be imported from the Farmers database, so you won’t be able to edit it directly from this field. However, selecting this option will ensure that your certifications appear on the website as they are listed in the Farmers database.

Agent Website Guide

Step 4: Include Final Details

• This section lets you share information about one of two important topics: Local Areas You Serve, or any Military Experience you have.

• Local Areas You Serve should be listed simply and specifically. Avoid using general areas (e.g., “Northern New York”) and opt for names of actual cities and towns (e.g., “Buffalo”).

• The Military Service section, much like the Years of Experience section, will auto-format your information, so use the example given in this field to determine how to phrase your Years, Branch, Rank, and Location of Service.

NOTE: Though not included in the About Me section, any additional languages spoken at your agency will also appear in this area. Contact Agency Services at 877-411-1344 to ensure that all languages spoken at your agency are represented in the Farmers database, as the website will pull this information from there.

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To help you stand out from other agencies in your area, Content Spotlights give you the opportunity to showcase unique, custom agency content on your website. There are six customizable Content Spotlights in this section. In other words, there are six different possibilities for you to add distinctive, localized content to your website.

Consider displaying your most important content in Content Spotlights 1 and 2, since these are more visible to potential visitors and search engines.

NOTE: When looking at your website, the first two Content Spotlights are shown open while the remaining four are collapsed. Click on the plus (+) to expand collapsed sections.

When you log into the Yext Dashboard, go to the Update Your Content Spotlight Section to begin.

Content Spotlights

Agent Website Guide

There are four content options that you can add in this section. The options are listed below:

Yext Recommendations

A Yext-recommended content option will be the first option in Content Spotlights 1 through 4.

• In Content Spotlight 1, you can add local events you are hosting or attending.

• In Content Spotlight 2, you can add information about local businesses you support.

• In Content Spotlight 3, you can add a corresponding photo and information regarding community organizations you are involved in.

• In Content Spotlight 4, you can add a list of five of your hobbies and activities.

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Pre-approved Content

For each Content Spotlight, there is an option to select pre-approved content, which is brand-compliant content that has already been approved by Farmers. When you choose this option, you can select photos associated with pre-approved text from the Asset Library, which is where the pre-approved photos are found.

After selecting a photo and clicking Add, you will be able to see your photo next to its associated text before you continue to the next step.

Agent Website Guide

Custom Content

This option allows you to add your own photos and text to a Content Spotlight section. You can choose to focus on specific products, an award your agency has received, personal interests, or more. Keep in mind that this content must go through the content approval process.

To be approved, text content must be

• Straightforward and easy to understand

• Written in the first person and active voice

• Focused on the customer

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Migrated Content

Migrated content is content that was saved from your old website and can be added to the new website. Selecting the option to Import Your Existing Content, and then clicking Add Content will enable you to see the information that was migrated over.

NOTE: Only Premier Websites with previously created custom content have this option.

Agent Website Guide

Updating Your Content Spotlight Section

On the Overview page, go to the Update Your Content Spotlight Section to begin.

Recommended Content

Migrated Content

Pre-approved or Custom Content

Click +Add ContentAdd Photo

Click + Add Content

Select desired Content

Edit Event Title

Click Add

Click Add

Click Complete

Click Complete

Click Complete

Select from Asset Library

UploadNew Photo

Select a file

Click to add caption

Click to add clickthrough URL

Click Desired Content

Add date, time, type of event, address, URL, more photos

Click + Add Event to add an

additional event or click Complete

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How to Use the Location Manager

While the Overview page is the most important page when you’re getting started, once you reach 100% on the Location Completeness meter, any future changes you want to make will be done in the Location Manager. This is where you can edit, add, or delete your website content.

Within the Location Manager, you will find fields with the information you have already provided. To edit any field, simply click the pencil icon that appears to the right. This will open up the edit field. Make sure to click Request Edit to submit for approval.

Agent Website Guide

Additional Hours Information and Cover Photo Fields

Additional Hours InformationWithin the Location Manager, you can add specific details to be featured beneath your business hours. This might include weekend hours or special circumstances, (e.g. “By Appointment Only on Weekends”). You can also include your holiday hours directly beneath this field.

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Additional Hours Information and Cover Photo Fields

Cover PhotoTo change the large photo that appears at the top of your agent website, you can locate the Cover Photo field at the bottom of the Location Manager.

• Click the pencil icon to the right of the photo.

• Click the trashcan icon to the right of the photo.

• Click Add Photo to access a pre-approved library of cover photos.

• You can upload your own photo by clicking Upload Photo on the top left.

– Make sure your photo is 1200 x 295.

– Photos will not be approved if they are distorted, stretched, or have a digital version of a Farmers Insurance® logo.

Agent Website Guide

Content Spotlight

When changing the information in a Content Spotlight section, it’s important to note that there are two fields that need to be updated per section: the “Content Spotlight” and the corresponding field and number.

• “Content Spotlight 1-6”: These sections tell the website where to pull information from to have it appear on the website. They will say

– the recommended topic from Yext (e.g., Events),

– “Pre-approved”, or

– “Migrated”

Whatever is listed in these fields is the corresponding field the website will be displaying.

• If Content Spotlight 1 says “Pre-approved,” it will pull information from the field titled “Pre-approved or Custom Content 1.”

• The “Content Spotlight #” fields must match the field where the information you’d like to provide is located.

RED: In this example, the agent has chosen to use Migrated content in Content Spotlight 1. The agent will now need to “Click to add” content in Migrated Content 1 in order to add it to their website.

BLUE: If the agent decides instead to add Pre-Approved content in Content Spotlight 1, the agent will now need to “Click to add” content in Pre-Approved or Custom Content 1.

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BiosWithin the Bios section, you can include details about the people who work for you. Highlight their title, name, education, a short description and a photo.

Note: Staff descriptions will not be visible on the website, but will be visible on local listings that support this feature.

At the top of the Location Manager, there is a blue bar with 3 tabs: Bios, Events and Approvals. In these sections, you can highlight even more information about your agency.

Agent Website Guide

EventsThe Events section gives you the opportunity to highlight local events you are sponsoring or attending. If you choose “Events” for Content Spotlight 1, this is where you can continue to add events as they arrive. If you didn’t choose to highlight events on the agent website, you can still use this section to add events to be featured on the local listing websites that support events.

ApprovalsWhenever you add information via your Overview page or the Location Manager, it goes through our approval queue to check for brand compliance. Here is where you can see the status of each of your submissions (approved, rejected, or commented upon). See the Content Approval Process Section (page 29) for more details.

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Content Approval Process

Who Reviews My Content?

All content will be reviewed by the Yext Farmers Support Team. Depending on the nature of the content, additional review by Farmers may be required.

Branding and Compliance Tips

The purpose of the review process is to help agents with unique content for the agent website that also follows brand guidelines. Here are some tips that will help:

• Cover photos may not include digital images of a Farmers Insurance® logo. We recommend adding a picture of your office, or one of our pre-approved options.

• All written content should be written from your perspective, contain accurate information, and be presented in a straightforward manner that focuses on the customer.

• Avoid any offensive language.

When Does My Content Have to Go Through Review?

Whenever you submit content — through the Overview page or through the Location Manager — the content will automatically transfer to the Content Approval Queue for Yext to review. That includes:

• Edits made to pre-approved content

• Agent-created Custom Content

• Any suggested edits in the Location Manager

Agent Website Guide

The Approvals Section

To check the status of a submission or to change content before it gets reviewed, simply click Approvals on the blue navigation bar in the Location Manager.

Checking Your Submission Status

On the left of the Approvals page, you can check the current status of your submission.

• Requested: Recently submitted content still pending review

• Approved: Content that has been approved

• Rejected: Content that has been rejected

Occasionally, a Yext Advisor may comment on your content to let you know what revision is needed for the content to be approved. You can respond to the comment by clicking on the applicable link within the dashboard. Once there, you will see a text box on the right of the page where you can view the comment and provide a response.

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Making Changes to Submitted Content

If you would like to make changes to content that is already in the review queue, simply click on the submission in question. You’ll see two versions — one of the content before the submitted changes, and one with those changes. To make further edits, simply click on the submitted content. That will open the editor where you can make changes. Once done, simply click Request Edit to save your changes.

Making Changes to Submitted Content in the Location Manager

Any changes made to content that is pending review in the Location Manager will cancel the existing edit on that field and replace it with the new edit.

Agent Website Guide

Tips for Writing Great Content

Tips on What to Include on the Agent Website

To help optimize your website, add unique local information. The more specific the content on your website is, the more your website will stand out. Through the Yext Dashboard, you can easily add the following information to your website:

• Your educational background

• The neighborhoods you serve

• Upcoming local events

• Local businesses you support

• Community organizations you are involved in

• Your hobbies and activities

You can also add your own content on any topic you want. Feel free to use the Content Spotlight fields to upload custom content on unique topics that will resonate with your community.

Adding the content and information described above helps improve local search optimization. Here’s why:

Custom Information — When your website contains unique content, search engines take notice.

Local Content — Including information on your website about local businesses and activities shows search engines that you are active and supports website authenticity.

Dynamic Content — With Yext, you can always add or change information. Things like upcoming events and new photos can help show search engines that you are attentive to your website. Websites that show dynamic content and are updated regularly are more attractive to search engines.

The Yext Dashboard provides plenty of opportunities for you to optimize your agent website. Consider taking advantage of these opportunities — they’ll help search engines prioritize your information.

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White Glove Website Support

Website Report Cards • Get monthly Website Report Cards with

performance insights and suggested enhancements

• To access your Website Report Card, find the FAQ/Resources on the Overview page and click View Your Website Report Card

Real-time Optimization Support Sessions

• Have a personalized, one-on-one support session with a Yext Advisor

• Use your Website Report Card to help guide website customization and content creation

Online Skills Workshops • Attend a series of online webinars designed

to help you improve the content on your website

• Topics include

– Learn ways to create unique content that can improve your online search visibility

– Learn how to help increase online user engagement

– Personalize your online presence with photos and images

Access to this Agent Website Reference Guide

• This guide comes in two formats: hard copy and in downloadable digital format

The Farmers® agent website is a key part of your agency’s online presence. The better the agent website tells your agency’s story, the more likely you are to reach your target audience and engage customers and prospects.

White Glove Website Support will help you tell your agency’s story and optimize local search — and ultimately help increase engagement with your agent website.

Features

As a subscriber to the 2017 Performance Marketing Package, you have access to all White Glove Website Support features, including:

Agent Website Guide

How do I register for a White Glove Website Support session?

White Glove Website Support is included in the 2017 Performance Marketing Package. Sign up for a White Glove Website Support session at yext.com/whiteglove or call Yext Farmers Support at 844-569-5723.

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Why did Farmers® team up with Yext?

Farmers has teamed up with Yext to create better, faster, and more customizable agent websites.

With Yext technology, you can easily update information about your agency that customers search for online — like phone number, hours of operation, and services offered — and help optimize your online presence.

What is the Yext Location Cloud?

The Yext Location Cloud lets you manage and control the data about your agency that customers seek and search engines prioritize — all from a single, cloud-based platform.

You can submit edits to your information any time you want. Once approved, your updates will be pushed out across the web in real time.

Yext FAQ’s

What are Yext Pages?

With Yext Pages, you have your own agent website designed to help increase your online visibility and provide a great customer experience.

When people visit your agent website, they’ll see your biography, photo, phone number, hours of operation, insurance options, and more.

What are Yext Listings?

When it comes to finding a local insurance agent, regardless of which app, map, search engine, or directory customers use, it is important that that they see correct, complete, and compelling information about your agency at every turn.

With Yext Listings, you get new opportunities to help drive traffic from Google, Apple Maps, Bing, and 100+ other third-party maps, apps, search engines, and directories that consumers use when they’re ready to buy.

yext.com | One Madison Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10010

Documents

Agent Website Reference Guide - DISTRICT 65 HUB · 2019-01-24 · distinctive, localized content to your website. Consider displaying your most important content in Content Spotlights