The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Australians to stay at home and businesses to go digital, resulting in increased traffic to insurance websites, according to traffic intelligence company SimilarWeb.
According to SimilarWeb's latest report, insurance sites saw a 17% growth in traffic during the pandemic last year. Budget Direct dominated the insurance market in Australia, with 47% year-on-year (YoY) growth in traffic. Woolworths followed with a 44% increase in traffic, mainly due to its pet insurance product.
HBF, the only health insurance provider that made it in the top 10 list, took third place with 41% growth. Meanwhile, Compare the market (Price comparison Website) showed impressive YoY growth.
Search engines were the key traffic driver for the insurance sector, generating 55% of all traffic to insurance websites. Keyword analysis showed that the most popular search terms were motorcycle insurance (+120%), professional indemnity insurance (+97%), pet insurance (+46%), and home insurance (+39%).
By contrast, the number of travel and new vehicle purchases declined, with searches for travel insurance dropping by 91% and Green Slip/CTP by 45% year-on-year.
“As consumers adapted to the new ‘locked in’ lifestyle, brands that focused on strong digital-led acquisition strategies were able to capitalise on the shift in behaviour and secure exponential growth,” said Emmanuel Heymann, SimilarWeb vice president for Australia and New Zealand.
“We've seen the pandemic change online consumer behaviour entirely – it forced even the most traditional businesses to go online,” he continued. “As a business, when you first go online, it can seem like a jungle. Our data helps organisations contextualise and understand their market, the players, and the trends driving the category.”
