Imagine consulting your business insurance agent prior to building a website?  If done properly, your website could yield business for years and years to come.  However, have you ever considered how your website affects your business insurance rates?  This blog post should shed a little light on the best insurance practices for small business websites.

Focus on Your Primary Money Maker

The first thing any business owner should do is focus on the product that yields them the high potential for profit.  Odd are, if you’re a plumber, you want a website designed to get you more plumbing business.  The same holds true for other businesses like electricians, painters, and many others.  Unfortunately, because  small businesses want to ensure they get as many money making opportunities as possible, many entrepreneurs break this rule.

Instead of focusing a primary business service or trade, many startups and small business owners will list every possible  thing they know they can do on their website.  Most do this in hopes of someone stumbling across their site and saying, “Hey!  This guy does roofing, electrical, and carpentry! Maybe I can get them to do all my work!”

From a small business perspective, this is understandable.  From a commercial insurance underwriter’s perspective, these means more exposure to losses.  In cases like this, adding every possible exposure to your website will actually increase your business insurance premiums.  Think of it this way.  Which of the following risks should get the lower rates:  The plumber that does plumbing only; or  the plumber that does plumbing, electrical work, and A/C work.

If you said the plumber who only lists plumbing should get the lower rates, then you’re correct.  In business insurance, the underwriting department is limited to the amount of information he can get.  Therefore, commercial underwriters now ask for a company’s website to determine if there’s anything (ELSE) they should worry about covering.  In the case of the plumber, more is not necessarily better.

Remember Social Media

On top of looking at a company’s website, business insurance underwriters will also look for a company’s social media accounts and profile on places like Google+, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  Today, additional information gained from these new sources play a large role in commercial underwriting for business insurance policies of all sizes.  As a result, not only should you pay close attention to your website or blog’s content, you should also pay attention to your social media accounts as well.  Your online resume could ultimately cost you money if you make a mistake.

So remember, if you’re in the market to build a new website for your business, be sure to consult with a business insurance agent that understands what commercial underwriting departments look for.  Remember , your insurance agent can be an advocate for helping your business focus profitable and ahead of your competition.