Yesterday, we featured an overview of a successful sales funnel for real estate websites. Today, our journey continues, courtesy of BrokerageU, as we learn about more in-depth ways to build website traffic.

Now that you understand the real estate website sales funnel, let's dissect each step and discuss options for targeting your efforts and optimizing your return.

Before you can even think about converting leads with your real estate website, you have have visitors to your site. There are two ways to get visitors to your site.

Attracting Site Traffic

Getting found on a search engine (Google) is a long term content marketing strategy. Being rewarded with organic traffic comes only after adding consistent, relevant, timely, key word optimized content.

Optimized content for your real estate website should be geographically focused. Organic traffic works similarly to compound interest in regards to time, consistency, investment and rate of return.

Local, organic traffic can be, and should be, approached using two different content marketing approaches.

Real Estate Market Content Marketing

• Market Reports
• Open Houses
• Foreclosures
• Price Reductions
• Just Listed
• City or Zip Code focused Price Range content

Community Focused Content Marketing

• Events and Activities
• Restaurant Openings and Reviews
• Community News and Issues
• Small Business Spotlight
• Parks and Recreation
• Breaking News and Local Issues

Driving Site Traffic

The quickest way to convert leads from your website is to drive traffic to specific content pages. Driving traffic means that you "push" or "send" traffic to your real estate website.

Here are a few examples of ways to drive traffic to your site:

Print Marketing

• Just Listed and Just Sold postcards
• Door hangers / Door knocking flyers
• Open house flyers
• Newspapers/ Local Publications
• For Sale Signs
• Business Cards

Online Marketing

• Email Signature
• Facebook Posts / Business Page
• Facebook PPC
• Google PPC
• Craigslist
• Email Marketing

Discovering what message is most effective and how to deliver that message is the hardest part about driving traffic to your website. Organic search will attract traffic that is already interested in what you're offering, or the reader would have never made it to your site in the first place.

When driving traffic, you may have to test several different campaigns and messages before you identify the most effective message or offering for the marketing or advertising vehicle you are using.

Traffic alone will not result in leads from your Real Estate Website, this is only the very first step, the ticket to the game. Once you have sound strategy for getting traffic to your website, the next step is delivering the right message to the reader/visitor.

Next! See Real Estate Website Sales Funnel - Step 2: Capturing Interest

To view the original article, visit the BrokerageU blog.