Real Estate Websites: Publish More Than Just Listings

One too common issue with broker websites is they concentrate on delivering listing information to consumers and don’t give enough attention to the other important components of delivering real estate services to consumers.

Leading brokerages today provide answers to all of the questions that consumers have about the real estate process on their website. These brokers aspire to be the source of all real estate services, and even though consumers may find them as a result of starting a search for properties, it’s the information about the rest of the services provided that differentiates the brokerage and compels the consumer to return.

Most brokers do this in some manner, but too often it’s canned content in a section called Buyer and Seller resources. Review your site and ask yourself if the information provided makes the site (and ultimately you) a true consumer resource.

Check out Seller Resources

• Selling your home yourself vs. using our brokerage
• How to choose one of our agents
• How our agents and our brokerage market your property
• Real estate marketing trends such as how long it is likely to take to sell your home
• Pricing strategies that maximize your selling price to the market
• Staging your home for the photo shoot
• Features that influence buyers
• Getting your home ready for an open house
• Real estate marketing that attracts buyers
• Our network – the agents, the MLS, and the....(franchise or network)
• City by city property sales trends
• Marketing your home as a short sale

Review Buyer Resources

• How much can you afford and how to get prequalified
• How down payment impacts mortgage rates and mortgage approval
• Finding the right area for your lifestyle
• Finding the right home for your lifestyle
• How our agents work with buyers
• How to evaluate the homes you see with your agent
• Strategies to make offers that get accepted
• What to expect when making a short sale offer
• Should you buy a home warranty
• Your offer was excepted, now what
• Moving in

In an ideal world, buyer and seller resources would be constructed for every city or market area you serve. The objective is to demonstrate your local market expertise by consistently adding community information on a regular basis.

Your success at publishing to your broker website will not only help you attract customers, it will improve your search engine optimization, help you recruit and train new agents, and become a content source for the type of information that you should be publishing on your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.