Website Tips for Realtors!

Many people have asked me, "Do I really need a website?" The answer is ABSOLUTELY! Especially in the Real Estate industry. NAR statistics state that approximately 85% of all buyers start their home search online.

A key question to ask yourself is "What do you want to achieve with your website?" Some of the potential answers are: customer service, lead generation, informational, etc. How are you going to promote your website? Some common ways are: your signature line in your emails, your letterhead, your newsletter, and any postcards you mail.

As a Real Estate Professional, you need to hire someone who clearly understands Real Estate to build your site. There are several companys who specialize in building sites for Realtors. Z57.com, TopProducer.com, and AgentImage.com are a few. You can build a "template" site, semi-custom, or completely custom depending on how much you want to spend.

The best Realtor websites have the following items:

1. Search capability--no one will visit if they can't search for homes, after all isn't that what they are looking for in the first place?
2. Mortgage calculator--you don't want them to leave your site to find a calculator to determine what their payments would be
3. List of your services--you can compare your services to other company's services
4. Area links and resources--by having area information available, you are setting yourself up as a neighborhood resource
5. Your area of expertise--state your "niche". What do you specialize in?
6. Meta Tags--these keywords get your website into the top of the search engines. You may consider hiring someone to do this for you. It is a time consuming process and one that is best handled by someone who does this for a living!
7. Design--if your website doesn't look great, prospective clients won't stay on your site. Look at some other agent sites and determine what you like and don't like. Use some creativity.
8. Navigation--enable your clients to get around your site quickly and easily. Don't use a lot of links that take you outside your site.
9. Easy contact forms--don't make visitors provide too much information to get connected to you. Name and email are usually enough.
10. Less flash--flash animation should be kept to a minimum, it can detract from your content
11. Content-rich--give visitors what they are looking for. Provide articles, research, links, mortgage information. This way, visitors don't have to go anywhere else to get information.
12. Statistics & research--visitors are always looking for statistics regarding everything from market trends to sales information.
13. Photography--use photos that are vibrant, colorful, and relevant to your content. Be aware of copyright infringement.
14. A welcoming feel--you want visitors to be attracted to your site. Don't be high pressure, be personal.
15. Regular updates!--update content at least once per month. People need to know you are in business.

Ask your clients and friends what they think of your website...and then listen to the feedback. It will help you build a site that is purposeful and useful.

The best advice is to hire a professional to make you stand out from the rest, and to advertise your site every chance you get. Your website is an extension of you...make it special! On that note, visit my website www.JLAssists.com and let me know what YOU think.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ----Thomas Edison