Updating NerdWallet’s Insurance Reviews Template

Client: NerdWallet

Role: UX researcher and content designer

Collaboration: 1 UX researcher, 1 editor, 1 writer

Timeframe: 3 months

Research method: Survey and preference test via UsabilityHub

While working as a content strategist on the auto insurance team at NerdWallet, a personal finance company dedicated to helping people make smarter financial decisions, I was tasked with updating the auto insurance reviews template. The goal was to increase traffic by improving overall user experience and SEO.

To help improve the user experience, I wanted to understand what drivers were most important to users when shopping for auto insurance and understand user preference with how auto insurance rate tables were displayed.

How I Contributed

• Collaborated with UX researcher to prepare survey and preference test on UsabilityHub and synthesize UX research results.

• Conducted and analyzed the results of six SEO tests.

• Shared out findings with team and made recommendations for next steps

• Updated the auto insurance reviews template based on the UX research and SEO test results, including adding in rates information, EAT (expertise, authority, trust) signals and comparison tables.

UX Research: Survey Ranking

Method: Survey ranking via UsabilityHub.

Participants: 48

Participant requirements:

• Currently or have recently shopped for auto insurance

• US based

• At least some college

• Full time, self employed

• 18-65 yrs old

Question asked:

Imagine that you are currently looking for new auto insurance. Please rank which factors are most important to you when considering what auto insurance to choose, with the top being the most important, and the bottom being least important.

UX Research Survey Results

Drivers that were most important (ranked at top half):

• Cost (rates).

• Coverage available.

• Discounts available.

• Ratings & reviews.

• Customer service.

UX Research: Preference Test

Method: Preference test via UsabilityHub.

Participants: 48

Participant requirements:

• Currently or have recently shopped for auto insurance

• US based

• At least some college

• Full time, self employed

• 18-65 yrs old

Questions asked:

• Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the information presented in the rate table(s) for understanding auto insurance costs applicable to your situation?

• Please describe what makes you satisfied or dissatisfied with how the table(s) in this example are displaying the information. What makes it more or less easy to understand?

• Next, please select which one of the layouts you PREFER THE MOST when shopping for auto insurance. Then answer a brief follow-up question to explain your response.

• Please describe what makes OPTION A your preferred choice when shopping for auto insurance. What, if anything, makes this information easier to understand than the other options?

UX Research Preference Test Results

Users most often preferred the “High” rate table design option citing it provided the most amount of detail and liked the ability to make comparisons, but were not as satisfied with it being easy to understand due to the more information presented.

Previous UX Research on Other Verticals

Earlier UX research has been done on the reviews template used by the credit card, banking and personal loans verticals. I also took this research into account when making content design changes to the auto insurance reviews templates. High-level findings included:

What users liked

• Product details: pros and cons, ease of use, quick facts.

• Overall star rating.

• Comparisons that show what sets insurers apart.

What users didn’t like

• Content that’s not skimmable. 

• Comparisons that don’t show differences.

• Content that’s not directly related to the product being reviewed.

SEO Tests

I conducted six SEO tests on auto insurance reviews from May 2022 to July 2022 with an auto insurance content writer. Tests included adding:

• Contact information to FAQs

• “At a glance” tables that explain coverage types 

• Tables that compare three insurers on key points

• Rates tables

• Section with the heading “Is X a good insurer?”

• “Best for” content

SEO Test Results

Mixed results for the “best for” content and rates tables above.

Content Design Changes

Based on the UX research and SEO findings, I made the following changes to the auto insurance templates and suggested the other verticals apply similar updates to their templates:

• Cut down our learn content on reviews. UX research indicated that users wanted to see information about the specific insurer, and not general auto insurance content. Instead, I added a brief paragraph and linked out to the learn content for those users that did want to learn more.

• Added “where x stands out” and “where x falls short.” This section was a favorite with users on othe rvertical reviews because it gave users a brief but detailed overview of the pros and cons for each insurer. These sections also help to signal our expertise to readers as insurance authorities.

• Added contact information to our FAQs section. This was an easy way to give users more context if they wanted to reach out to the insurer directly.

• Added comparison tables to our most trafficked reviews. I also worked with engineering to develop a more user-friendly version of these tables (see screenshot below).

• Created at a glance tables for high-priority reviews. Since these tables took more effort to create, I focused on adding these to the most important pages.

• Added rates to reviews that receive the most traffic. Although the SEO tests were mixed, the UX research was a strong indicator that users were searching for this content. Our competitive research also saw rates as a stand-out element on other company insurer reviews. However, I kept a close eye on these reviews to make sure rank and traffic didn’t drop due to this addition.

Comparison tables

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