Yesterday, TrustedChoice.com—the nation's largest digital marketing platform for independent agents, brokers, and insurance companies—launched Market Finder, another resource for Big “I" members and a new tool that independent agents can use to connect with carriers, managing general agents (MGAs) and wholesalers for specialty and niche markets.

Market Finder allows agents to simply enter the state and line of business or industry they need coverage before being connected to TrustedChoice.com insurance company partners with an appetite to write the business.

The Market Finder solution is geared specifically for agents and insurance companies. The new page contains a host of resources specifically created for the independent agent channel, including articles and podcasts, agent stories, and enhanced help desk.

“We've been bringing tens of thousands of insurance shoppers to agents for a long time. Now we're closing the loop—connecting agencies right to companies that both specialize in and are ready to write the new business," said Chip Bacciocco, CEO of TrustedChoice.com. “Agents often strive to find the right markets for their clients' needs. They may be dealing with difficult-to-place insurance, something they only write occasionally, or common insurance products where they're seeking more options. Market Finder solves for all of these scenarios."

TrustedChoice.com's new site strengthens the partnership among independent agents, carriers, MGAs and wholesalers by providing a single place for them to access key information and tools dedicated to the independent agency distribution system. It's designed to provide greater efficiency and ease of use for agencies to grow their businesses and learn more about insurance company specialization and appetites.

Continuing the theme of making life easier for independent agents, TrustedChoice.com recently partnered with Semsee, a leading small commercial quoting platform for independent agents, to provide commercial quoting on its heavily trafficked consumer website.

TrustedChoice.com also recently added five additional insurance companies to provide a robust mix of personal, commercial and life insurance products, including business owner policies, umbrella, life insurance and annuities, homeowners, ATV and more.

And to increase independent agent visibility, TrustedChoice.com completed its first year of the All-States SEO Partners Program, which added over 1,140 insurance content pages leading to the ranking of more than 170,000 insurance keywords and terms on Google. TrustedChoice.com, the nation's largest digital marketing platform for independent agents, brokers, and insurance companies, partnered with Trusted Choice® and 51 Big “I" state associations—all states plus Washington, DC—to create specific geo-targeted content to drive online consumer traffic to Big “I" members.

Content developed was focused on home, auto and business insurance throughout the U.S. Information is geo-targeted so that consumers and business owners receive specific content tailored to their regions and insurance needs.

In the last 12 months, the All-States SEO Partners Program has driven nearly three million customer shopping sessions, more than 1,590,000 agent recommendations, and 69,000 referrals. It has also resulted in more than 50,000 Claim-It leads that are passed to agents based on consumers' interest in particular lines of business.

AnneMarie McPherson is IA news editor.