“Ask a Question” – Trulia Does It Well
Professionalism in real estate is based upon two core service provider traits: service responsiveness and subject knowledge. Service responsiveness is a problem for real estate websites today. For some reason, an email inquiry is treated differently than a telephone call. Why? Scores of research has consistently accounted that 1/3 to 1/2 of all real estate inquiries delivered through a broker or agent website are never answered. As a service industry, we need to find a better way.

Use A Badge To Increase Website Leads
We recently launched the ability for real estate agents to embed a trust badge into their websites and blogs that displays their reviews. I wanted to share some thoughts on how this can help you increase your business. Verisign recently published the results of a study that asked people to rate the trustworthiness of unfamiliar websites on a scale of 1 to 100 (with 100 being “I trust this site completely”). The study found that the the average score was only 61 out of 100. In other words, most people on the Web give unfamiliar websites a rating just above an “F.” And how well do you think a website with an “F” would convert cold visitors into new leads? Not well.

How Does Your Brokerage Compare to Realliving.com?
Real Living is among the fastest growing franchise groups in the United States and have a track record of of impressive accomplishments. Today they represent more than 400 offices and more than 10,000 agents. Entrepreneur Magazine, Inman News, Swanepol Trends Report and a 96% satisfaction rating (As surveyed by QSC) among consumers are among the accolades. In an announcement today, they unveiled a new consumer facing franchise website developed by industry technology leader, LPS. LPS has been the technology provider for many leading broker organizations, including the supplier of website services to Home Services of America, a Berkshire Hathaway company.

Are You Driving People Away From Your Website?
After visiting and observing a variety of real estate industry websites, one thing stuck with me that has raised a large concern. In my understanding of being successful online driving traffic to the website is just the first step. The next and probably the most important step is making sure people drive deep into the website and ultimately convert to either a web form, or a phone call. But, I have found an alarming number of organizations placing their social media links like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, dealership blog, Digg and a host of additional social media connection points on their homepage. These invitations are linking shoppers away from the website they are visiting. I know some people will say that all this is doing is launching another browser, which preserves your website beneath but is it really? Let’s be honest and call a spade a spade. It drives people away from the website. If the you are lucky this will only be temporarily but it may be permanently. Is this counter-intuitive? The more thought I put into it I realized a couple of things.

Think Your Web Presence is Virtual? Think Again
Your web presence is very real and has real consequences, good and bad.  The Internet is often compared by many as a brochure-like space. I look at websites everyday that are nice looking and have neat graphics. The questions I ask myself when looking at a site is simply this: “Is this site consumer friendly?” ”Is it easy to get to information relevant to me?” “What’s the call to action?”    These questions require digging into data, looking at the web shoppers’ behavior. Explore click paths and see where to they go inside the site you have designed. Understanding your web traffic will help you make your site more relevant. Anonymous web shoppers will decide whether you make their “list” by their online experience. It is important to take a step back and look at your site through the consumer’s eyes. Too many sites have way too much information and no logical way for a consumer to only get the information relevant to them.  If a web shopper cannot get to what they want quickly they will go somewhere else to find it.

Got Content?
Just like the "Got Milk?" campaign that’s run for years, the question of "Got Content?" is everywhere. And, it’s as good for your website’s health as milk is for your body. Website content – not just well-composed webpages, but helpful articles, blog posts, photos, videos, and more – is a must for today’s businesses, and real estate’s no exception. Content marketing isn’t just a new buzz term, fad or idea, it’s a proven, viable tactic.

Is Your Website Accessible to All?
When considering all the functions a real estate professionals looks for in building and maintaining a professional website, accesibility for the disabled rarely enters the equation. But there are legal reasons to consider adding accessibility features to your website. Did you know that of the 308,942,937 people in the United States, about 18% (according to the U.S. Census Bureau) of us have some kind of disability? That works out to about 62 million people, which is the combined populations of California, New York and Arizona. In 1990, Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to establish a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability. Among the protections provided in the ADA is the right for disabled persons to enjoy places of public accommodation fully and equally as non-disabled persons. Since the turn of the century, the definition of a public place has expanded to include the Internet since it is now an everyday tool for conducting business and recreational activities.

How To Make Your Website Howl!
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, WolfNet Technologies specializes in Internet technology and consulting for real estate companies located throughout North America. WolfNet's services include award-winning web site design, company Intranets, IDX/VOW search solutions, online marketing strategy formulation and implementation, lead management and tracking, custom application development, and general consulting. The Pack at WolfNet has been hard at work and they are pleased to announce several exciting product enhancements coming soon to their WolfNet powered MLSFinder.com® property search! Here is a summary of what’s in store:

dsSearchAgent IDX
dsSearchAgent is designed around Web 2.0 features that make connections and engagement between the consumer and the agent seamless. This product is built from the ground up to be a map-based search solution. Sliders and features that allow the consumer to narrow their search criteria are dressed along the left side of the map for ease of use. This design is not only very functional, but it allows the consumer to view more property information without scrolling down the page. Like most IDX solutions, dsSearchAgent has many features that encourage consumers to register to the website to access helpful property search tools. For example, customers can save a search and get listing alerts. dsSearchAgent goes even further by allowing the consumer to get the information in the form of an RSS Feed as well as email. Customers can also register to add their own notes to property. The agent back office control panel allows for easy access to customer searches, favorites, and viewing patterns. There are also some nice features that allow agents to organize leads.

The Virtual Office Website
A Powerful New Marketing Tool. As a result of a settlement between the US Department of Justice and the National Association of REALTORS®, brokers now have a powerful new marketing tool at their fingertips. Brokers who are members of a MLS can now provide more comprehensive information to their customers than any non-REALTOR® website can feature. They can now offer a data feed of all MLS listing information to their clients via a Virtual Office Website (VOW). Consumers are hungry for more and more real estate information. They are not only looking for active data, but any information that will help them get a better gauge on the local real estate market and neighborhoods they are interested in. They are looking for as much accurate, comprehensive and current information available. Who better to serve their information needs than REALTORS®? The MLS has the greatest depth of real estate information available anywhere. VOWs can help the industry capitalize on the strength of MLS and property databases. They can help keep REALTORS® at the center of the real estate transaction instead of encouraging consumers to go to third-party non-REALTOR® websites for their real estate search needs.