To help independent agents with online marketing

Web.com, a provider of online marketing for small businesses, has sealed an agreement with Progressive Insurance to provide the latter’s independent insurance agents with access to a suite of online marketing business solutions.

As per the agreement, Progressive agents will enjoy a discount on Web.com’s professional website design and online marketing package, which includes a designed website with a domain address, listings on search engines and directories. Web.com also provides a real-time scorecard to measure results and to access website analytics, an agent RSS ‘news feed’, and customized real-time agent quoting functionality.

Matt Marko, marketing process manager for Progressive’s agency business, said: The Internet has emerged as one of the first places consumers turn to for researching insurance purchasing decisions. In order to take advantage of this change in consumer behavior, our agents need the ability to be easily found by potential customers online. For this reason, we chose to work with the leader in that space, Web.com. With 73 percent of auto insurance customers shopping online and 67 percent eventually buying from an agent, we need to make sure our agents have every available means of providing their customers with the high quality, competitively priced products and services that have made Progressive the largest insurance company in the independent agent channel.

David Brown, CEO of Web.com, commented: Each Progressive agent is essentially an independent small business competing for mindshare in their local communities. As such, they need to stand out and be found online by consumers looking to fulfill their insurance needs. Web.com’s core competency is in helping small businesses succeed by creating a strong online presence in an affordable and efficient manner. We look forward to helping Progressive agents grow their businesses by leveraging our online marketing solutions.