The Latest News From Melon Local

Stay in the know with the latest news in digital marketing, best practices and updates from Melon Local.

4 Questions to Ask Before Granting GBP Access

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is one of the most valuable digital assets your business owns. It’s often the first thing potential customers see when they search for your business, making it a key driver of organic calls, website visits and foot traffic. In fact, a fully optimized GBP gets

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Person taking a team photo with a smartphone to demonstrate Google Business Profile photo best practices

Photo Best Practices for Google Business Profile

A picture can really be worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to the photos you choose to upload on your Google Business Profile (GBP). Well, at least according to the search engine, businesses that add photos to their GBPs receive 42 percent more requests for directions on Google Maps and 35 percent more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t. Although images don’t directly influence your

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Melon Local paid search specialist working on Google Ads campaign optimization and performance strategy

10 Strategies for Higher Performing Google Ads

In the fiercely competitive digital insurance marketing space, the secret to making your Google ads stand out isn’t just a hefty budget — it’s through strategic planning and understanding the search engine’s Quality and Optimization Score system. Let’s dive into how Google measures the quality and optimization of an ad and some strategies you can incorporate into your paid search campaigns. How Google’s Quality & Optimization Score System Works Think

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Man wearing a virtual reality headset beside the headline ‘Which Is Better? Gemini vs. ChatGPT’ on an AI comparison blog graphic

Gemini vs. ChatGPT: Which AI Program is Better?

The tech world witnessed an “artificial intelligence (AI) spring” in 2023 with the rise of OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4. Amid this wave of innovative language models, Google’s Gemini AI launched as a formidable contender to ChatGPT, sparking a debate on which AI titan holds the crown in the digital marketing space. Leveraging cutting-edge technology is key to staying ahead for insurance agents, raising the question: Will ChatGPT or Gemini reign

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Community event attendee wearing a Melon Local jersey, representing local engagement and community involvement for building backlinks

6 Ways to Leverage Community Involvement for Backlinks

In the competitive world of insurance, fostering connections within your community goes beyond handshakes or sponsoring local sports teams. Picture transforming these personal, face-to-face interactions into powerful tools that enhance your online visibility through strategic backlinks. Let’s take a dive into how active participation in your community can open doors to numerous backlinking opportunities and potentially level up your Google ranking! Why Do Backlinks Matter? Think of backlinks — hyperlinks

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Inc. Regionals Rocky Mountain 2024 graphic recognizing Melon Local's ranking among the region's fastest-growing companies

Inc. Ranks Melon Local at No. 5 in Rocky Mountain Regionals

Melon Local is proud to announce we were ranked No. 5 on Inc. Magazine’s fourth annual Regionals: Rocky Mountain list for the fastest-growing privately owned businesses in the region.This is among 72 other regional companies from Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. “It’s incredibly rewarding and a bit surreal to see our team’s effort and innovation recognized by Inc. Regionals,” said Melon Local CEO and Co-founder Whitney Green-Olson. “From our

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Portrait of insurance agent Michael Popwell featured in Melon Local's Interview with an Agent series

Interview with an Agent: Michael Popwell

Before opening his own agency in 2020, Michael Popwell honed his skills for six years under the mentorship of an experienced agent. One pivotal lesson he absorbed was the critical role of digital marketing in the modern business landscape. As he prepared to launch his insurance office in Suwannee, GA, Michael recognized that a well-crafted marketing strategy was essential for standing out in the competitive environment of the Atlanta metro

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Melon Local team member using artificial intelligence and marketing software dashboards to analyze digital marketing performance

How Melon Local Leverages Artificial Intelligence

If you’ve sat through a sales demo with an insurance marketing agency in the past year, you might have listened to them touting the extra edge they have through utilizing artificial intelligence (AI). With the global AI insurance market on track to hit nearly $46 billion by 2031, AI will become just as necessary to our industry as any other technology. But here’s the thing: while many agencies are just

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5 Things I Love About Melon Local from Joey EadesPortrait of insurance agent Joey Eades featured in Melon Local's 5 Things I Love About Melon Local interview series

5 Things I Love About Melon Local – Feat. Joey Eades

Joey Eades began his professional journey as an insurance team member in West Virginia in 2013, where he discovered his true passion for forging connections and a desire to open his own agency. In August 2017, his dream came to fruition when he was presented with the chance to establish himself as an agent in the quaint town of Appomattox, VA — an opportunity he has cherished every day since.

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Whitney Green-Olson, Chief Executive Officer, seated beside a fireplace during a Melon Local Fireside Chat interview.

Fireside Chat with Whitney Green-Olson, CEO

We already know the bar was set high, but it’s safe to say last year was truly One in a Melon. Our journey through 2023 was marked by phenomenal growth and accolades that underscored our commitment to excellence: Our community of agents grew to nearly 2,000 agencies, a milestone that speaks volumes about the trust and confidence in our services. We managed a whopping $20 million in client ad spend,

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Latest Blog Posts

Melon Local team members reviewing customer feedback and online reviews to help improve an insurance agency's visibility

5 Ways to Use Reviews to Increase Your Insurance Agency’s Visibility

Congrats, someone gave your insurance agency a five-star review on Google — now what?  In this digital age, harnessing the power of your customers’ testimonials can be a game-changer in spreading awareness about your brand.  So, don’t let your customers’ feedback sit idle! Let’s take a look at how you can use positive feedback to boost your insurance agency’s online visibility! 1. Responding to Online Reviews First and foremost, staying

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Portrait of insurance agent Ava Stewart featured in Melon Local's 5 Things I Love About Melon Local interview series

5 Things I Love About Melon Local: Feat. Ava Stewart

As a teen, while working under her father, Ava Stewart saw firsthand the difference a good insurance agent can make in people’s lives. After working in the corporate world for several years, she returned to her father’s agency so she could have a more direct impact on her community. She eventually followed in his footsteps and opened her own insurance agency in Miramar, FL. Being of Jamaican descent, Ava especially

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Illustration highlighting California on a map of the western United States to represent changes and challenges in California's insurance market

California’s Insurance Market – What’s Really Going On?

California’s top insurance provider sent shockwaves through the insurance world when they announced they would no longer accept new lines of business for home and commercial policies in California, effective May 27, 2023. State Farm cited “historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure, and a challenging reinsurance market” as motivating factors for its decision to pull out of the state, according to a company press release. 

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Portrait of insurance agent Meredith Baldridge featured in Melon Local's 5 Things I Love About Melon Local interview series

5 Things I Love About Melon Local: Feat. Meredith Baldridge

North Carolina insurance agent Meredith Baldridge has served her community of Brevard, NC for the past 20 years. Initially starting her career as an insurance claims representative, her agency now oversees the coverage needs of over 5,500 households. After being misled by other digital marketing companies promising more than they could deliver, she eventually found Melon Local in 2021 and has only seen her agency grow since establishing her fruitful

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Two business professionals shaking hands to represent strategic partnerships and networking opportunities for insurance agents

Smart Business Partnerships for Insurance Agents

As an insurance agent, it can take a village — or rather, community — to boost your visibility. Wherever you’re located, you should always partner with other types of businesses and industries to increase your leads and customer base. By forming strategic alliances with related businesses, you’re more likely to gain access to prospective clients you may never before have reached. Let’s take a look at some potential partnerships that

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Melon Local team members participating in activities that support employee wellness and mental health awareness

Melon Local Supports Mental Health Awareness Month

Melon Local is proud to recognize Mental Health Awareness Month this May. According to a recent study, about 1 in 5 adults experience at least one type of mental health illness each year. As a Nevada Top Workplace honoree, we understand the importance of creating a workspace that empowers our team members and facilitates growth and emotional wellness. In case you need some ideas on ways to make your workspace

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Melon Local team members celebrating the company's recognition as a 2023 Nevada Top Workplaces award winner

Melon Local Named a Nevada Top Workplaces 2023 Winner

We are proud to announce Melon Local was recognized by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Business Press as a Nevada Top Workplaces 2023 honoree. “When we built this company and culture during the beginning of COVID, we knew it would be a challenge to find people, much less the people we wanted to embody this company,” said Melon Local CEO and Co-founder Whitney Green. “We wanted to make

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Melon Local team members discussing remarketing strategies to help insurance agents reconnect with previous website visitors and leads

5 Remarketing Strategies for Insurance Agents

Increasing traffic to your website may be top-of-mind for your insurance marketing strategy, but what about those potential customers who don’t engage with you past the first click? Instead of letting those fresh leads spoil, try incorporating ad remarketing into your strategy. Also known as ad retargeting, remarketing targets people who have already interacted online with your agency but never converted from lead to customer. Whether it’s visiting your website,

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Whitney Green-Olson, CEO of Melon Local, speaking on stage during the AHA conference

AHA & Melon Local Host Successful Conference

In case you missed it, Melon Local helped rock the house as the official Title Sponsor of this year’s Agents Hosting Agent Conference V! We were happy to join around 900 insurance agents from all over the country in sunny Anaheim, CA from April 19-21 for three incredible days of workshops from some of the nation’s highest-performing agents. Being a leading voice in the insurance marketing world, we brought 16

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