Vector image of an website called awesome design

Why You Need an Awesome Real Estate Website

Vector image of an website called awesome designThere’s a prevailing view that a real estate web site is only for image and listing ads, or that website leads are not as good as walk-in or ad phone calls, and while this is true for many agents/brokers it doesn’t have to be. Real estate web site leads are only as good or as bad as the site and content that gathered them. The right content, plus offerings to capture visitor contact information, will generate prospects and commissions.

A great many real estate agents set up a web site because they perceive it to be required by their listing clients and a necessary evil of being a listing agent. It is true that seller prospects expect a web presence from the brokerage and/or the agent. If your only goal for your site is to appease these listing prospects, then it’s not a problem. However, if you decide that your time and efforts in site design and maintenance should do more for your business, it’s quite possible to make that happen.

Though there aren’t any figures to bear out an exact percentage, it’s probable that 70+% of all the real estate web sites out there are ineffective at actually bringing active buyer and seller clients to the business. That’s unfortunate considering the time, effort and money many real estate agents and brokers put into web site design and maintenance.

What’s really a shame is that the corrective action necessary to make your web site a commission generator can be quite inexpensive and bring monetary rewards in a reasonable period of time.

Rise above the noise

In years past, prospective home buyers were forced to house hunt through real estate agents, or by driving through a neighbourhood and picking out for-sale signs.

However, real estate shopping has changed drastically thanks to the Web, letting buyers find the home of their dreams with just the click of the mouse. But buyers don’t have to sift through the listings offered on realestate.com.au or domain.com.au anymore to find a home; not when there is a wealth of other online resources available on the Web, such as real estate agents’ own websites.

In addition, property information and photos aren’t going to help a buyer make an adequate decision. Buyers should be able to see a property on an interactive map, view floorplans, videos, and have access to features that assist them in their decision, such as listing comparisons, market appraisals, financial calculators, buy and sell pathways, and drip-email campaigns.

Thanks to Web 2.0 technologies, first-time and experienced home buyers now have these capabilities at their fingertips.

Give potential buyers what they really want

Real estate professionals who’ve been in the business for a while are usually on firm ground when they draft ad copy for their business or their listings. Newspaper, homes magazine, TV and radio advertising hasn’t changed a lot over the years. But, when it comes to real estate web sites, all bets are off. Too many agents and brokers take their advertising experience in the other media and place the same type of material on their web sites. Sorry, but it will never work. That’s because the Internet site visitor is expecting something quite different when they visit a web site.

The first-time visitor to a real estate web site is generally interested in only a couple of things. Both buyers and sellers want to search all the local listings, though for different reasons. Then buyers want area info and sellers want to know about the listing process.

What types of real estate web site content do most visitors want when they visit?

By a huge margin, they want to search area listings. But also:

  • Local news related to the real estate market is desired.
  • They want subdivision and listing-specific area information.
  • Statistics and market demographic information is popular.
  • Local tourism, weather, entertainment and attractions content is a plus.

Concentrate on a longer-term strategy of site design that will place large amounts of your area real estate information, or content, on the site in ways that make it easy for the visitor to locate and use.

The future is in your hands

As the newer agents enter the business, and their use of the Web and social networks grows, the old-style marketers will gradually be leaving. So, while “what you work is what works” is true, there will still be a gradual but steady decline in print and direct mail, giving way to handheld business marketing technology.

Progressively, “the Web” will be thought of in terms of tablet and mobile devices. Your real estate business should go wherever there are potential buyers, and as the real estate marketing “arms race” shifts gears, it will be those who don’t move forward with technology that lose out on leads and ultimately commissions.

The Web is a truly amazing marketing resource, and is definitely taking market share from all of the traditional marketing media. It’s less expensive, and can generate a lot of lead activity if done properly. But, it’s still about working the leads, and it’s more difficult, as they start out more anonymous and much earlier in the buying or selling cycle.

Those who have switched most of their efforts swear that the Web is the greatest real estate marketing tool in history.

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