Insurance Search Seasonality: Mid-Year Check-In

As discussed back in January, the search volume for insurance, as with all industries, ebbs and flows throughout the year. There is an element of seasonality that you must keep into account when you are analyzing your website data and determining the success of your inbound marketing strategies.

Insurance search volume typically follows the same type of progression throughout the year. It ramps up toward the beginning of the year, has peaks and dips throughout the middle of the year, and then steadily declines through the end of the year.

While it’s important to check on your data year over year, rather than month to month, let’s take a look at how 2014 is shaping up for insurance search so far.

What Does Insurance Search Look Like Mid-Year?

As expected, insurance search certainly did pick up after December, its lowest point in 2013. However, January 2014 came in at the lowest January in the past six years for insurance search volume. March proved to be a great month for insurance search volume. This is due in large part to the surge in search volume surrounding “health insurance” specifically:

The surge in health insurance search, and subsequently, insurance search in general, can be attributed to the deadline to sign up for health plans under the Affordable Care Act. March 2014 was the highest March for overall insurance search volume in four years. We suspect that as government health plans continue, October and March will continue to surge in search volume as enrollment periods begin and end.

While March was a good month for insurance search, the next three months were mediocre compared to years past. June 2014 came in at the lowest June for search in the past six years.

What Will the Rest of 2014 Look Like?

While we already know July 2014 came in higher than 2013, it’s not certain if August and September will do the same. More than likely, August will have the possibility of outperforming years past, but insurance search volume is certainly expected to start its decline come September or October. Overall, 2013 proved to be a lower year than 2012. Depending on how October shapes up with health insurance search, there is a possibility that 2014 could outperform 2013.

As always, it’s important to continue with your inbound marketing efforts throughout the end of the year. While the end of the year typically brings a decline in agency sales, and in insurance search volume, take that time to cultivate some great content for your blog and social media accounts. At the end of the year, take a look at how your website faired in 2014 versus 2013, and even in years past, to determine any changes you want to make in your strategy moving forward.