SEO strategy breakdown for ‘insurance’

How to rank on page one for one of the most competitive keywords on Google, “Insurance”

When targeting a keyword in SEO, it’s essential to analyse the SEO strategy of the top ranking website. This way we can determine exactly what is needed to take their number one position.

Insurance is among the most competitive and highly searched keywords you’ll find in SEO. Car insurance has 673k searches per month and travel insurance has 550k searches per month.

Compare the Market are clearly the leaders in this space and a household name in the UK’s price comparison sector. Their dominance across the insurance sector on Google showcases a sophisticated SEO strategy that sets them apart from their competitors.

In this breakdown, we’ll explore the key elements of Compare the Market’s SEO approach, uncovering how they maintain their leadership in such a competitive space. Whether you’re in insurance or another competitive niche, there’s much to learn from their winning strategies.

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The brand

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Current SEO performance

Compare the Market boasts an outstanding SEO performance, securing its position as a dominant player in the highly competitive insurance market.

Estimated Traffic

• Estimated Monthly Traffic: 5.9 million visits
  • This significant traffic figure underscores Compare the Market’s authority and visibility across a wide range of high-value keywords.
• Traffic Value: Estimated at $24.5 million
  • This represents the cost of acquiring their organic traffic via paid ads, highlighting the immense value of their organic presence.

Brand vs Non-Brand Traffic

• Brand Traffic: 34.4% (9,850 keywords)
  • Strong brand recognition drives a significant portion of their traffic, supported by a search volume of 1.5 million for the keyword “compare the market.”
• Non-Brand Traffic: 65.6% (308,520 keywords)
  • The majority of traffic comes from non-branded keywords, highlighting the effectiveness of their SEO in capturing high-intent, generic searches like “car insurance” and “travel insurance.”

Keyword Performance

Total Organic Keywords Ranking: 295,363

This extensive keyword coverage reflects Compare the Market’s dominance across a wide variety of search terms, from insurance to broader comparison queries.

Notable High-Performing Keywords

Compare the Market secures the #1 position for numerous high-traffic, high-intent keywords, including:

• “Car insurance”: 673,000 monthly searches
• “Travel insurance”: 550,000 monthly searches
• “Broadband deals”: 201,000 monthly searches
• “Loans”: 135,000 monthly searches
• “Insurance”: 90,500 monthly searches

These rankings are nothing short of exceptional in such a competitive space. It highlights their ability to dominate both industry-specific and more general comparison-related keywords.

Underperforming Keywords

While Compare the Market performs exceptionally well overall, nobodies perfect. A quick analysis of their keywords highlight quite a few areas for potential growth:

• “Loans for bad credit”: Ranked 14th (90,500 monthly searches)
• “Best ISA rates”: Ranked 11th (90,500 monthly searches)
• “Car insurance compare”: Ranked 16th (60,500 monthly searches)
• “Mobile phone deals”: Ranked 16th (60,500 monthly searches)

These keywords, while secondary to their main verticals, represent opportunities to drive even more high-value traffic to their website.

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Website assessment

The website is well-structured, user-friendly, and visually aligns with Compare the Market’s brand identity.

The landing page for car insurance is extremely in-depth and contains almost 5,000 words.

Despite this, it is clean and designed to drive conversions, with prominent call-to-action (CTA) buttons and clear, straightforward language. The minimalist design ensures the focus remains on the essential information, making it easy for users to find what they’re looking for without distraction.

Above the Fold

The page opens with a prominent hero section featuring a clear headline: “Compare Car Insurance Quotes and You Could Save up to £461.” This headline directly appeals to users’ intent to save money, which is one of the primary motivators for insurance comparison searches.

A large, centrally placed CTA button, “Start a Quote,” encourages users to start the comparison process immediately. The high-contrast CTA is well-positioned and immediately visible, designed to drive conversions.

Trust Signals and Social Proof

Beneath the hero section, multiple trust signals are displayed, including recognisable partner logos (insurance providers) and an “As seen on TV” badge. These elements lend credibility and reinforce Compare the Market’s authority in the industry.

Customer testimonials are included, adding social proof and increasing the trustworthiness of the service. This aligns with the needs of users who want assurance that they’re using a reputable comparison tool.

Explanation of Benefits and Process

The page includes a section explaining the benefits of using Compare the Market for car insurance, such as potential savings, ease of use, and the extensive provider network. By highlighting these benefits, the page aims to reassure users and position Compare the Market as a superior option for finding the best deals.

A step-by-step breakdown of the comparison process is also provided, which simplifies the experience for users. This makes the service seem accessible, transparent, and easy to use, addressing potential concerns around complexity.

FAQ Section

The frequently asked questions (FAQ) section covers common queries about car insurance and the comparison process. This helps address user concerns directly on the page, potentially reducing bounce rates by providing users with the information they need without requiring them to navigate away.

The FAQ content is beneficial for SEO, as it provides helpful content and includes natural language variations of keywords that users might search for (e.g., “how does car insurance work?”). This structure supports search intent by answering immediate questions that prospective users might have.

Content Depth and Information-Rich Sections

The page includes well-organised sections with information on specific aspects of car insurance, such as how insurance costs are calculated, what affects rates, and tips for saving on premiums. This in-depth content helps Compare the Market capture a broad range of informational keywords, increasing relevance and SEO performance.

There’s a table providing a comparison of car insurance features across different providers, which appeals to users seeking a clear breakdown of options and adds practical value.

Additional CTAs and Supporting Content

Multiple CTAs are strategically placed throughout the page, encouraging users to get a quote at various points. This approach keeps conversion opportunities within easy reach as users scroll down.

Supporting content includes links to related insurance products and topics, allowing users to explore other options within the Compare the Market ecosystem. These internal links encourage users to stay on the site longer, which can positively impact engagement metrics and SEO.

Footer and Navigation

The footer includes links to additional resources, privacy policies, and terms, which ensures compliance and transparency. Including these elements builds trust and provides users with easy access to more information about the company’s policies and services.

On-Page SEO

Keyword Targeting

The landing page is optimised for the primary keyword, “car insurance,” with this term featured prominently in the hero section and throughout the content. Additional relevant keywords, like “compare car insurance” and “cheap car insurance quotes,” are used naturally in the body text, FAQs, and subheadings. The keyword ‘car insurance’ is mentioned 104 times, which is a 2.14% density. The word ‘insurance’ is mentioned 156 times, a 3.21% density.

Content Quality and Relevance

The page provides detailed, high-quality content that is both informative and transactional. It balances educational information on car insurance with a clear path to conversion, ensuring that it meets the needs of users who are ready to buy as well as those still researching options.

Content-rich sections, like the FAQs and breakdown of car insurance factors, capture long-tail and informational keywords. This not only improves the page’s relevance for search engines but also enhances the user experience by pre-emptively addressing common questions.

Internal Linking Strategy

The page includes links to related insurance products and other comparison services, encouraging users to explore other areas of the website. This internal linking structure supports SEO by distributing page authority across the site and keeping users engaged longer.

Potential Areas for Improvement

• Enhanced Visual Engagement: While the page is functionally effective, adding more visual elements, such as infographics or interactive tools, could make the content more engaging and digestible for users.
• Personalised CTAs: Introducing personalised or dynamic CTAs, such as a calculator or interactive savings tool, could further increase user engagement and conversion rates.
• More Localised Content: Although the page ranks well for broad terms, adding location-specific car insurance insights (e.g., region-based insurance statistics or costs) could help capture additional local search traffic.

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SEO comparison

Seeing as I’m analysing Compare the Market, I’ve decided to do an ‘SEO Compare’ and compare key metrics with those of their top competitors. Comparing SEO metrics is a great way to see why websites are ranking in the positions they are.

So, let’s take a look!

Competitors

For searches such as insurance, car insurance, travel insurance etc. it’s usually the same five websites appearing in the top five of results:

Compare the Market

Compare the Market is a UK-based price comparison website, helping consumers find and compare deals on insurance, utilities, financial products, and more, aiming to simplify decision-making and save money. It’s mascot, the meerkat Aleksandr Orlov has made the brand a household name in the UK

https://www.comparethemarket.com

Money Supermarket

MoneySuperMarket is one of the UK’s leading price comparison websites, specialising in helping consumers find the best deals on a wide range of financial products, including insurance, credit cards, loans, mortgages, and household bills. Its memorable marketing campaigns and commitment to empowering consumers have solidified its position as a household name in the UK comparison market.

https://www.moneysupermarket.com

Go Compare

GoCompare is a UK-based price comparison website renowned for its memorable advertising campaigns featuring the iconic opera-singing character, Gio Compario. Founded in 2006, GoCompare helps consumers compare a wide range of financial products, including car insurance, home insurance, energy tariffs, and broadband services.

https://www.gocompare.com

Admiral

Admiral Insurance is a well-established UK-based insurance provider, best known for its competitive car insurance offerings. Founded in 1993, Admiral has grown to become one of the UK’s leading insurers, expanding its services to include home insurance, travel insurance, pet insurance, and more. Unlike price comparison sites, Admiral is a direct provider, offering its own range of policies tailored to different customer needs.

https://www.admiral.com

Aviva

Aviva is one of the UK’s largest and oldest insurance companies, with roots dating back to 1696. Known for its comprehensive range of insurance products, Aviva offers car, home, life, health, and travel insurance, as well as pension and investment services. As both an insurer and financial services provider, Aviva is distinguished by its focus on long-term security and customer support, serving millions of policyholders across the UK and internationally.

https://www.aviva.co.uk

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Content relevance

Content relevance is a fundamental factor in SEO, directly impacting how well a website ranks for target keywords. For highly competitive industries like insurance, ensuring that content aligns closely with user intent is crucial.

Relevant content helps search engines understand a website’s purpose and expertise, making it more likely to appear for the right search queries.

As you can see in the table above, Money Supermarket has the most content, but Compare the Market has more pages than anyone with the keyword ‘Insurance’ in the title. In fact, 38.05% of their website contains the keyword in the title, and this is a huge relevance signal to Google.

It’s almost text book how the websites are ordered from the most mentions of the keyword down to the least, reflecting their Google ranking positions for that keyword.

Conducting the same search again, but for the keyword ‘car insurance’ provides similar results. Compare the Market are in first and have the most mentions of car insurance in their page titles.

If we were looking at content relevance alone, it’s a no brainer, the website with the most relevant content wins. However, it’s of course more complicated than that.

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Off-page SEO and link building

Backlinks are a major component of SEO, especially in highly competitive spaces. Backlinks serve as endorsements from other websites that signal trust and authority to search engines. High-quality backlinks from reputable sites indicate that a website is valuable and credible, increasing its chances of ranking higher for competitive keywords.

As we can see from the table, Money Supermarket has the most referring domains, but has a lower Authority Score than Compare the Market.

Google famously uses PageRank to determine the quality of links, but this has been hidden from view since 2013. Other software providers have their own metrics designed to replicate PageRank, such as Majestic, Moz and SEMRush.

SEMRush uses Authority Score, which focuses on the number and quality of referring domains, giving more weight to links from authoritative, high-ranking sites. It also considers the volume of organic search traffic and the site’s ability to rank for relevant, competitive keywords.

It’s quite a reliable metric for assessing the quality of backlinks, and as we can see in the table, Compare the Market has the highest quality links.

Money Supermarket has more content and more links than Compare the Market, but have a lower quality score and less relevance. This could explain why they are losing out in the Google ranking positions.

Seeing as Compare the Market has such a high Authority Score, it would be worth looking at where they are gaining their links.

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Compare the Market backlink analysis

Understanding where competitors gain links is a huge part of developing an SEO strategy. By analysing a site’s backlink profile, we can uncover the quality and relevance of its links, identify potential link-building strategies, and pinpoint areas for improvement.

Types of Links Gained

News Coverage & Media Mentions

• Major news outlets including The Guardian, BBC, Forbes, Independent, Daily Mail
• Coverage spans multiple topics:
• Insurance industry news
• Market research findings
• Company announcements
• Product launches
• Consumer studies and surveys

Content Marketing & Research

1. Studies & Surveys:

• Environmental research (greenest cities)
• Consumer behaviour studies
• Market research (vehicle costs, broadband prices)
• Lifestyle surveys (dating, retirement)
• Pet ownership studies (Pet Rich List)

1. Guides & Educational Content:

• Car insurance guides
• Energy saving tips
• Home insurance advice
• Travel insurance information
• Student finance resources

Directory & Business Listings

• Business directories
• Company profiles
• Industry listings
• Wikipedia entries
• Corporate databases (Crunchbase)

Partner & Affiliate Links

• Cinema chains (Vue, Cineworld)
• Comparison sites
• Financial services
• Insurance providers
• Educational institutions

Brand Campaign Links

• Meerkat Movies promotions
• Meerkat Meals initiatives
• Compare the Meerkat campaign
• Brand partnerships
• Marketing initiatives

Academic & Educational

• University resources
• Research papers
• Educational institutions
• Student guidance
• Academic studies

This link profile is about as diverse as it gets. They’ve covered every possible base on how you can gain links and executed it perfectly. It helps to have a multi-million pound budget, but it still requires extensive SEO knowledge and ability to devise strategies that gain links across such a brad spectrum.

Link Quality Analysis

High Authority Sources

• National newspapers
• Major media outlets
• Government websites
• Educational institutions
• Industry publications

Medium Authority Sources

• Regional news sites
• Industry blogs
• Business directories
• Partner websites
• Specialist publications

Lower Authority Sources

• Personal blogs
• Small business websites
• Directory listings
• Forum posts
• Social bookmarking sites

Content Themes

1. Financial Services

• Insurance products
• Banking services
• Mortgage information
• Personal finance
• Money saving

1. Lifestyle & Consumer

• Travel advice
• Home ownership
• Vehicle ownership
• Environmental issues
• Technology trends

1. Research & Data

• Market studies
• Consumer surveys
• Industry analysis
• Trend reports
• Statistical data

Notable Observations

1. Content Marketing

• Strong focus on original research
• Regular publication of industry studies
• Diverse content topics
• Mix of educational and commercial content
• Multi-channel distribution

1. Link Building Approach

• Heavy emphasis on data-driven content
• Strategic media partnerships
• Educational resource development
• Brand campaign integration
• Consumer-focused studies

1. Industry Position

• Established as thought leader
• Trusted data source
• Consumer advocate
• Market research provider
• Industry authority

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Areas of improvement

With such a remarkable SEO profile, it’s difficult to determine what Compare the Market can improve on.

There are underperforming keywords with substantial search volume that they’re missing out on. They’re in slightly different niches, so it may not be as easy as it looks to secure top ranking positions:

• “Loans for bad credit”: Ranked 14th (90,500 monthly searches)
• “Best ISA rates”: Ranked 11th (90,500 monthly searches)
• “Mobile phone deals”: Ranked 16th (60,500 monthly searches)

However, they should definitely be ranking higher than 16th position for the keyword “Car insurance compare”, which has 60,500 monthly searches.

The only other advice I would have, is to ensure they stay focused on future trends in SEO, because it’s a fast changing industry. The introduction of AI has changed things dramatically, and Compare the Market are well placed to make good use of this new technology. Maybe an AI version of Aleksandr Orlov that users can download to their phone?

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