Real Estate Online Marketing Tactics: Part 1

6 Tips for Building Your Real Estate Website Like a Pro

60% of buyers Google their real estate agent according to a study. What would a prospect find if they Googled your name? Do you have a professional REALTOR® website for them to find online?

Today I'm going to zone in on this one area – online marketing tactics, specifically your Realtor website. This platform offers so much potential for real estate success, and in today's day and age, it's a crucial area if you want to stay ahead of your competition.

The primary goals of online marketing are real estate lead generation, brand awareness, and more repeat and referral business. These goals work together to help you acquire new customers and stay top of mind among your past customers. So how can you ensure that your Realtor website is helping you achieve these goals? Let's find out.

The Real Estate Website

In a recent study by NAR, 82% of home buyers said online websites were a very useful source of information. To capitalize on this, you must establish your online authority. This requires launching and maintaining your own real estate website. Although this may seem intimidating at first, it's easier than you think. The end results will be worth the effort, and you'll have this website to use for your real estate business for years to come! Just make sure you follow these guidelines:

• Present your brand. Your clients trust you with one of the biggest financial transactions of their lives, so they need to feel like you are professional, capable, and savvy. Remember, you're selling YOU, and everything you put into your business matters. This includes developing and presenting your professional brand. As you think about what you want your brand to represent, remember the following: give people a reason to choose you. Trust your gut and take risks, stay up-to-date, keep your brand as real as possible, and be creative. All of these elements combine to present you as a memorable and personable real estate professional.One of the ways you can present your brand is by displaying an attractive, mobile friendly Realtor website that incorporates your visual identity (your photo, logo, and colors) and tells your story. Your other marketing materials should match, including email headers and signatures and social media banners.

• Use a responsive design. You know that feeling of frustration when you come across a website while using your mobile device that isn't mobile-friendly? That's what happens when you don't use a responsive web design when creating your real estate website. Responsive web design will automatically resize and highlight the important content on your website for the device it is being displayed on. This creates the optimal user experience on a wide range of devices, including laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. Considering over 70% of Google searches are now don't on mobile devices, a responsive Realtor website is a must-have to ensure your online presence will reach your audience on any device.

• Provide IDX capabilities. The ability to let users search listings in their area right from your Realtor website is a functionality that doesn't simply boost engagement on your site, it also keeps visitors coming back! If you opt for IDX functionality, your website visitors can search freely while building confidence in you for providing information they need. Another great feature of IDX integration is that it requires users to qualify themselves before calling you, saving you time in the long-run. IDX integration ensures that your website visitors find the listing information they're looking for on your site. Additional IDX features like saved searches, subscribing to email notifications, and registering to your website makes it easier for your leads to get relevant information, and even allows you to capture their contact information.

• Capture leads automatically. Lead generation should be one of the top priorities of your real estate website, and you need a way to capture them. That's where a lead form or other contact method comes into play. It's vital to have clear Calls to Action (CTAs), as well as contact information right on the homepage. Adding a contact form to your site can also help you capture new leads. When that lead form is connected to a real estate CRM, they can automatically be added to a drip marketing campaign that ensures you're connecting with them as swiftly as possible. Lead follow up is time sensitive, but with automated lead capture, your leads will start receiving communications from you right away.

• Give users the information they need. Align your brand and website goals with content that is helpful to users. What should they know about you and your company? What success stories can you share to build trust? What are users searching for that is leading them to your website? Website content can help answer all of these questions while providing a relevant user experience for your audience. If there's one rule to follow regarding website content, it's this: provide information that is useful to your audience. A real estate blog is a powerful way to demonstrate your knowledge and provide your audience with the information they crave. Your blog can establish you as an expert in all things home ownership-related, show your prospects that you're knowledgeable and active, and regularly updating content can even boost your SEO ranking in Google!

• Build trust with testimonials. Happy past clients are usually willing to share their success stories with others, so take advantage of that! Ask your past clients for a written or video testimonial and include that testimonial on your real estate website. If you have more than one testimonial, sprinkle them throughout your website. This will allow the success stories to reach a broader audience who is scanning your site while simultaneously providing trust factors for potential clients.

There you have it! These real estate online marketing tactics will set you on course for a surge in leads through the strengthening of your online presence, reputation, and overall discoverability. The internet is a wonderful place for any kind of marketer, and with a real estate agent website, you are ready to explore a new world of potential clients. Stay tuned for Real Estate Online Marketing Tactics: Part 2, where we'll be exploring real estate blogging and effective social media marketing strategies!

To view the original article, visit the IXACT Contact blog.