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Saturday, May 11, 2024

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    As promised, here’s part two of our walk-through on how to find a real estate website builder that builds websites that convert…

    Do their websites convert?

    Remember: “… simple designs have higher conversion rates.” 

    And, again, the home page should be the simplest of all. 

    We know how tempting it is for agents to tell visitors right off the bat that they’re the best agents on the planet and why. 

    But leave that for the About page. Consider using your best, short testimonial instead.

    Understand what’s important to your visitors and jettison the rest, again, at least on the site’s homepage. You can’t convert visitors who leave the second they land on your site.

    So, what’s important to them? Here are the no-brainers:

    • Buyers are looking for an agent, listings, and knowledge about the buying and mortgage process.
    • Sellers are looking for an agent and knowledge about the selling process. They, too, may be looking at listings to find their next home.

    They want to find this information easily, so don’t make them guess where it is on your site.

    Do they have the ability to attract organic search engine traffic?

    So, how do you turn your website into an even bigger lead-generating monster? Start by performing small changes to several pages on your site.

    Localize blog posts as much as possible. It only takes minutes to add local search terms. Here’s an example from a recent post about appraisal problems in hot markets:

    Fiery real estate markets such as what we’re experiencing are a dream come true for sellers unless prices are rising so fast that the market can’t keep up.

    Stick the name of your market in that post to boost its SEO value.

    Fiery real estate markets such as what we’re experiencing here in Vallejo …

    For even more value, link the name of the city to its page on your site. These types of links are called “internal linking” and each of your blog posts should contain at least one. 

    “… using the right internal linking strategy can boost your SEO.” Learn more about internal linking and how you can use it to boost your site’s visibility in organic searches at Yoast.com.

    Then, work on your neighborhood pages by adding local photos.

    Right about now you’re wondering “What happened to help me find the right real estate website builder?” 

    Regardless of the real estate website company you choose, your site will need to be localized. 

    Does the website builder get you through the entire process?

    Compare vendors on whether or not they offer the “goodies” to help make your workday easier:

    • Template-based pages that make adding and deleting information a snap
    • Help to build landing pages
    • CRM integration that will help you convert website visitors into leads
    • A slew of apps to help with everything from lead capture and management to boosting SEO and increasing website traffic.

    The best real estate agent website maximizes an agent’s brand and optimizes his or her online activities with one simple goal in mind: To help you get more leads, sell more houses, and improve your professional and personal brand.

    When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

    1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazin

    Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct, response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts and engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you. Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

    2. The Free 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Planner

    The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

    3. The Free Online Real Estate Business Plan

    The Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closings, and so on are needed to reach your financial goals.   – Click Here

    4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

    Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

      The three most important pages on a real estate agent’s website:

      • Home page
      • Testimonial page
      • Agent (and team) bios

      You can add an IDX page to that list if you’re a buyers’ agent. 

      Today, however, we’re going to take a look at agent bios and the do’s and don’ts when writing yours.

      The importance of your agent bio
      Personal Brochure, see more here.

      “Your bio page is where you can build rapport with your potential customers if done right—something that can be difficult if you’re not face-to-face with them,” according to Daryl Johnson, founder of Frontier Marketing.

      And doubly difficult if the two of you are total strangers. 

      The purpose of your bio is to connect with you not as a salesperson but as a human being. It’s a tall order but critical if you hope to earn their trust enough to pick up the phone and call you.

      If writing your bio is easy, you’re doing it wrong

      Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes agents make when composing their bios is to use other agent bios as a template of sorts.

      If what you hope for is to appear like every other agent in town, use that strategy. 

      If not, the initial steps to writing your bio should include:
      • Knowing your audience 
      • Knowing yourself 

      Research performed by crm.com.au found that websites that stand “… out from the crowd in favorable ways used tactics that helped them appear authentic and transparent.

      Those tactics included:

      • Using real photographs, not stock
      • Offering various ways to get in touch with you
      • Storytelling
      • Showcasing testimonials from previous clients

      “People favor companies that showcase themselves as being customer-focused, human, and easy to understand,” they concluded. And, we might add, they do so without being overtly salesy.

      Most of all, an agent’s bio should help the reader feel like they’ve gotten to know you better and should give them a clearer understanding of how you attend to your client’s needs.

      PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

      1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

      Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

      Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here


      2. The Free 12-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

      The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

      3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

      The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes but is also a business-building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

      4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

      The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

      5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

      This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

      Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

      6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

      Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

        Finding the time in a busy schedule to sit at a keyboard and pound out blog posts isn’t an easy task. If you’re looking for leads, however, building organic search traffic for your website is an integral part of a well-rounded lead-gen strategy.

        The best way to build this traffic is by blogging and promoting the posts, consistently.

        The best real estate agent blogs offer something for everyone. Yes, this includes buyers and sellers, but also those readers interested in home décor, gardening, DIY projects, and more. 

        Let’s go fishing for topic ideas.

        Internet sources you may not have thought about

        Answering common real estate consumer questions is a good place to start when making a list of blog topics. You know the basics, such as “Should I sell my home before buying another?,” “What renovations should I make before selling?” and “What credit score do I need to buy a home?”

        Sure, these are common questions and, yes, they should be answered. But there are so many other topics that real estate consumers may find interesting.

        The Farm, Animals I Series is shown above. To see more, Click Here.

        Check out the Porchlight section at Zillow.com. They haven’t updated the section in about two years but there are so many posts there you’ll have no trouble finding evergreen stuff to help inspire you:

        • Interviewing Real Estate Agents: Best Questions to Ask Listing Agents
        • How to Reduce the Stress of Selling a Home
        • What Is Escrow?
        • How much is a down payment for a house?

        You’ll find more ways to get your creative juices flowing at Redfin.com:

        • How to Avoid a Delayed Closing
        • How Much Does it Cost to Stage a House?
        • How to Calculate the Square Footage of a House
        • 4 Low-Cost Remodels That Increase Home Value

        Find additional topic ideas at magazine.realtor, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate, and realtor.com.

        Online shopping for blog topics

        Love it or hate it, Amazon.com seems to offer something for every shopper. Including you. But what you’ll be looking for won’t cost you a penny.

        When seeking consumers’ pain points so that you can help solve them, you can’t go wrong with Amazon’s best-selling products list.

        For instance, right now, the second-best-selling product in the Home and Kitchen category is liquid ant bait. How about a blog post for the homeowners in your CRM on how to get rid of ants?

        Get hyper-local

        Even real estate buyers and sellers enjoy local content. It’s also one of the best ways to build organic traffic.

        If your city boasts a regional magazine, head straight to its website to mine for topic ideas. For example, Austin, Texas is home to Austin Monthly magazine. Here’s a sample of some articles that would make excellent hyper-local blog fodder:

        • 15 Free Things to Do in Austin this April
        • Austin’s Top Doctors for Kids 2022
        • Five Essential Gardening Shops in Austin

        Hyper-local blog posts, most of all, make you appear to be connected to and knowledgeable about the community you serve.

        Ok, you’ve found some topic ideas. You’ve written and published your blog posts. Don’t skip the last step: push those posts out on social media, linking back to your website.

        PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

        1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

        Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine, with rich, full-color content, and a sharp, professional esthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts, combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

        Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here


        2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

        The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

        3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

        The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

        4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

        The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

        5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

        This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

        Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

        6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

        Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

          Once upon a time, the word “value,” in the real estate industry meant only one thing: how much a property is worth.

          Today, it also applies to marketing your services. Your “value proposition” tells the world why they should hire you instead of the agent down the street. It’s what you offer potential clients that few others do.

          “Unfortunately, many businesses either bury their value proposition in buzzwords or trite, meaningless slogans or don’t bother highlighting it on their site and in their marketing campaigns – or they don’t figure out what it is at all!” according to Dan Shewan at wordstream.com.

          We think it’s safe to say that most agents want to succeed and some mimic their fellow agents in the hopes of making that success a reality.

          Thus, real estate blog posts end up full of duplicate messaging (“Now is the Best Time to Sell!), overused slogans (“Everything I Touch Turns to Sold!”), and websites are devoid of a value proposition or with one every other agent offers.

          Let’s talk about the latter—your website.

          Figure out what real estate consumers think is valuable

          To figure out your value proposition, you need to understand your target client, especially his or her pain points. Your value proposition should quickly explain how your service solves the biggest problem.

          Another way to come up with a value proposition is to determine how the benefits of using you as their agent differ from what other agents offer. Do you offer free staging to your listing clients? Discounted commission?

          I see that look on your face, but a discounted commission to a listing client is quite valuable, as is free staging or free handyperson service to help get the home ready for the market.

          In fact, your entire website should answer a visitors’ needs, from the site loading quickly to fuss-free navigation.

          The NAR’s “Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends” report compiles an annual list of what homebuyers find the most valuable on real estate agents’ websites. Here are the top 5:

          • Photos of homes for sale and neighborhoods
          • Detailed information about homes for sale
          • Floor plans
          • Virtual tours (not video; those came out near the bottom of the list)
          • Real estate agent contact information

          Your MLS listings will hopefully fulfill the first two wishes. Do you offer floor plans to listing clients? Buyers want them. What about 3-D tours or virtual walk-throughs?

          Finally, and it may seem quite basic, but ensure that your contact phone number is at the top of every page on your website.

          Stay in Touch With Your Sphere, Effortlessly, With a Holiday Campaign.

          They’re Currently on SALE 10% OFF the First Month – FOR 3 MORE DAYS!

          Holiday Scheduled Campaign (shown above). Learn more, HERE

          TO LAUNCH A HOLIDAY CAMPAIGN:

          Hit “CLICK HERE”, below, to schedule your campaign (from a desktop or laptop computer).

          And, remember, YOU DON’T PAY for each mailing until it actually goes out (cancel or change each mailing up until the night before it goes out).

          Launch a Holiday Scheduled Campaign now, CLICK HERE!

          Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you with your success.

          PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

          1. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

          The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. –Click Here

          2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

          The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

          3. Become a Neighborhood Brand

          Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a NEW 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically every month to an exclusive carrier route (membership includes your own online Homes & Life Agent Magazine). Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

          4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

          This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Real-Estate-Mailing-List-Guide2-3-D-999x1024.jpg

          The Real Estate Mailing List Guide outlines the top tools for generating targeted prospecting lists including Baby Boomers, Empty Nesters, Investors, Lifestyle Interests, High-Income Renters, Move-Up Markets, and more. The Guide also defines done-for-you marketing campaigns to match these markets. –Click Here

          5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

          This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

          Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

          6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

          This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is ROI-calculator-b-233x300.jpg

          Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! –Click Here

          7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT” 

          This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is CRUSH-IT-Guide-3-d-298x300.jpg

          The “Crush It” Guide includes easy steps to launching an effective direct mail marketing campaign, how to create a targeted prospect list, the perfect way to layout marketing materials for success, seven opportunities available to target in your area right now. –Click Here

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