Recruiting top agents is a competitive venture, and any worthwhile prospects will pepper you with questions before deciding if your brokerage is right for them. Besides queries about commission splits, franchise fees, and training, expect to be asked how your company helps agents market their listings.

To help you in that conversation, today we're going to break down how each of the three major property search portals helps you grow your brand with agents. It's a continuation of an ongoing series that evaluates the features and benefits of the top portals (see part one and part two). Here's the criteria we'll be using today:

• Placement of listing agent attribution on the property details page
• Listing agent identification and contact information on the lead form
• Sold listings on agent profiles

1. Placement of Listing Agent Attribution

How prominent is the listing agent's information on the property details page? Ideally, this data should be "above the fold," which means that it's visible without having to scroll down. This placement puts the agent and their brand (as well as yours) front-and-center.

When it comes to placement, however, each of the three portals takes a different approach. Trulia is the only one that offers above-the-fold placement. They place attribution right below the property description so that it's easy for consumers to spot. They also link the brokerage's name to the listing syndication source (broker website, ListHub, Diverse Solutions, etc.), but offer no phone number.

Realtor.com displays attribution in the middle of the page, but features the brokerage phone number and a direct link to the agent's Realtor.com profile. Zillow places attribution at the bottom of the page with a phone number for featured listings and a link to the syndication source.

• Trulia - Immediately beneath property description
• Zillow - Bottom of the page
• realtor.com® - Halfway down the page

2. Listing Agent Identification on Lead Form

Repetition is part of building a successful brand, and two of three of the major portals feature the listing agent's name and photo on the lead contact form. This reinforces the listing agent's brand and gives home searchers a visual representation of who they're contacting.

Trulia and Zillow take a similar approach, with both displaying the listing agent's name and photo on the lead form. Both feature the agent's phone number and a link to their portal profile where consumers can see their other listings and read customer reviews. For brokerages who pay for featured listings on these two portals, the listing agent is the only one who appears on the lead form. Non-premium listings feature the listing agent and two to three other agents that the consumer can choose to contact.

Realtor.com's lead form has no information on the listing brokerage for non-featured properties. For featured properties, they provide minimal information. In this case, a phone number for the listing brokerage, but no name or links.

• Trulia - Yes
• Zillow - Yes
• realtor.com® - No

3. Sold Listings on Agent Profiles

All three portals provide agent profiles and a way to access them from the property details page of active listings. There are features common to agent profiles on all portals like customer reviews and current listings. However, sold information is treated differently on each portal. Sold data is important because it not only shows the agent has a track record of success, but because consumers considering selling their home are very likely to search sold data to get a feel for market pricing. This makes sold listings a solid source of seller leads.

All three portals feature sold listings on their agent profiles. Where they differ is their treatment of agent attribution on sold listings. Zillow and Trulia both display the buyer side and listing side agents under the "History" section of their property pages. Realtor.com offers no agent information at all on sold listings.

• Trulia - Yes, including the property details page
• Zillow - Yes, including the property details page
• realtor.com® - Yes, but not on the property details page

Stay tuned for Part 4 of this series! We'll be exploring the ways property search portals can help you grow your brand with consumers.

More Articles in This Series

• Why Frequent Listing Updates are Better for Your Brokerage
• 3 Keys to Evaluating How Portals Protect Your Brand
• 3 Ways Portals Help Brokers Build Brand Awareness