Imagine that you have the opportunity to present to a stadium full of people who are looking to buy or sell their home. My guess is you’d show up prepared and looking your best, with up-to-date information and helpful ideas.
To the thousands of people searching the internet for information on neighborhoods, properties and agents, your online presence is your first impression and your first chance to impress.
Does your website drive traffic present your business well and help you sell? Just as you continue to hone your sales and presentation skills, it’s vital to continue to evolve your website to grow your business, increase your reach and ultimately your sales.
Here are five ways to take your online presence to the next level.
1. Leverage portals
Even if you have a very successful website, you will probably not reach the 124 million users achieved by Zillow, so make sure your profile is complete and up-to-date.
Aggregate enough reviews to be on page 1 when searching within your community, and ensure all your past sales show up. Having lots of citations that all display the same and accurate info about your business helps to improve your ranking in local search results.
Other sites to leverage include Facebook, Google and your broker’s website. You can use a local citation tool such as MozLocal, Yext or BrightLocal to find other directories and third-party websites you can add your listing to.
2. Get local
Capitalize on the opportunity that comes with hyper-local content and long-tail keywords. Use your online content to become the local agent.
When your audience is searching your neighborhood or area of expertise, you want to be the first listing to show up that isn’t a brokerage or third-party website.
How do you do that?
Demonstrate your knowledge of your neighborhoods with content about community features, businesses and events.
In an ideal world, you would add a new piece of local content each week. Then share your articles to larger websites and include backlinks to yours.
You could also ask local businesses to share the articles you write about them on their website.
Here’s an example of helpful local content.
3. Make it mobile
Think through how your clients are finding and experiencing your website. Mobile digital media time in the U.S. is now at 51 percent compared to desktop (42 percent).
This means that people are most likely viewing your site on a mobile device such as a smartphone; so make sure your website is responsive and works when viewed on a phone or mobile device.
4. Add video
When used correctly, video can be a powerful form of content that adds value for your visitors and makes a significant contribution to your SEO strategy.
Make sure to have a clear goal for what you want to communicate with your video, and keep it short, interesting and easy to watch.
Here’s a great example of creative use of video.
5. Allow for interactivity
At a minimum, your website should include your contact information, home search and some information about you, your company and the local area.
I also recommend having testimonial pages and some buyer and seller resources. To add another layer of value and drive interactivity, consider incorporating different ways for visitors to interact with your site.
Three common calls to action are “Search,” “What’s my home worth?” and “How’s the market?” Allow visitors to search by community, neighborhood, schools, price point, open houses, new construction, luxury, waterfront or foreclosures, depending on your market.
Lifestyle searches are a cool new way agents in some markets are capturing more buyers. Ready Chat is a great tool to engage people while they’re on your website. Also, make sure you utilize social sharing buttons and include links so visitors can follow you.
Here’s an excellent example of leveraging lifestyle search.
Make sure you’re regularly reviewing your website’s metrics to see where your traffic is coming from, what people are doing on your site and where they go next.
Your website has the potential to enhance your brand, deliver leads and help you close more business. Consider investing some additional time and effort to ensure you’re making the most of the real estate you have online.
Brandon Doyle is a Realtor at Doyle Real Estate Team — Re/Max Results in Minneapolis and co-author of Mindset, Methods & Metrics – Winning as a Modern Real Estate Agent. You can follow him on Twitter.
