Real Estate Agent Sites that deliver results!
Web 411
Questions you should ask before you start.
By Craig Moore
VP of Sales, AgentExcel
With so many “Real Estate Web Design” sites out there, finding the right company to entrust your future is enough to make anyone head for the hills. What you should be looking for in a web marketing firm is a collaborative partnership. To be successful in choosing a marketing partner you need to fully understand your needs. It is sometimes best for us to take a few steps back and break things down on a real basic level. Let’s start with some important questions you should be asking yourself if you are someone who is just getting into the real estate game or if you are an established professional.
- Do you have a website?
- What is your marketing plan to drive traffic to your site?
- What is your Brand?
- How will you track your ROI (Return on Investment)?
These are four very general questions, but the answers to each of them plays an essential part in understanding what’s required to succeed in 2009 and beyond. As 2009 is a difficult year for many in the real estate business it is more important than ever to carefully plan your marketing budget.
Question 1: Do you have a real estate website?
Let’s start with the obvious. If you don’t have a website, get one. Not today, not tomorrow, but NOW. You have to be online to have visibility. Over 90% of home purchases start on the web and that number will continue to climb every year. This means that if you your real estate website isn’t aren’t appearing in the search results, you are totally closing your doors to a majority of your potential new clients. Even if you can only get a basic site, that’s at least a start. So look into your options, see what other beginners are starting out with (the search results themselves can be a great resource in determining how your competition is representing themselves). Look for web design companies that cater to your specific needs and offer results. Remember that a good website can be your best tool to quickly generate new business.
Question 2: What is your marketing plan to drive traffic to your site?
It is important to keep this in mind: having a website, no matter how cool it is, doesn’t mean people are going to find it. Plan to spend the majority of your real estate advertising dollars with a SEO company to ensure that your site ranks near the top of your area (approx. $100/Mo). Additionally, you must continue to promote your site in all of your advertisments.