If you’re a real estate agent today, you need a website. Not a company website with your name mentioned somewhere, but your very own website. Without it, your marketing efforts are restricted to trying to tell your value story to prospects one at a time, as you meet them.
That could be difficult, since over 80% of all buyers search on the Internet before they ever contact an agent. That’s why your website needs to clearly show that it is yours, and present the value you bring to the relationship when you sign a buyer agency agreement or list a home.
That part is important – if the website merely says “I’m here, use me,” it will do you no more good than your name listed on a company site.
Once you have a website, the question becomes one of driving traffic to it. Simple search engine optimization isn’t enough when you’re competing with mega-sites like Realtor.com and all the directory sites. They have so many links from authority sites that trying to catch up would be a full-time profession.
So what can you do? Tweet, for one thing. Use Facebook and LinkedIn, and Active Rain. These sites are all viewed by consumers, and all offer you the opportunity to invite prospects to your site to take advantage of a special report or join a conversation on your personal blog. Mouse House Tours also offers a mini-site for agents and individual web sites with virtual tours for each of your listings.
In addition, you can post your listings on sites like Craigslist, with a link back to the (hopefully) extensive virtual tour you’ve created on your site.
Finally, you can promote your website via your e-mail address and your business cards.
Becoming a top agent in your marketplace requires active marketing in a variety of ways, but the first step after having your business cards printed is to create a quality website, complete with a sales message that shows visitors why you are the agent to choose.
Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter who specializes in writing for real estate and related industries.
She’ll help you with one letter, or an entire marketing plan. For Real Estate agents and brokers who are ready to get full value from their websites, she’ll be happy to put together an entire package – from the web copy to the lead generation packages that make an agent’s phone ring.
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