1. MLS Search Capabilities According the Realtor® Magazine, the #1 and #2 most important things consumers want are lots of property photos and descriptions, and searchable listings. If your site is just an online brochure, you will not likely be visited again.
2. Search Engine Optimized Content Optimize Your Site for All Communities in Your Market, not just the Big One. Instead of trying to throw the widest net possible over a large metropolitan area (like "Los Angeles Real Estate"), you should instead be looking for your little chunk of heaven within the huge metroplex you live in. Think about having specially optimized pages for every small community that you market to so when those home buyers Google "Glendale homes for sale" you will be there!
3. A Blog Blogging has many benefits such as adding new, fresh content regularly to your website which keeps you looking fresh to search engines. Blogging also can help you become known as the local real estate expert. Think of this, every time you post a Blog it is one more page on the Internet pointing to your website. Two postings a week equals 104 pages a year and Google rewards websites with new, fresh and plentiful content with higher rankings.
4. Custom Design and Personal Branding Does your templated website make you look like every other agent in your office, or do you stand out? If your website looks exactly the same, why should a prospective home seller work with you over them? Your site should from start to finish carry your own special look and feel and promote you and your personal brand.
5. No Flash Intro or Sound If you make home buyers go through a production number every time they come to your site, they simply won't come back. Quick content will impress them, whiz bang Flash and Sound intros will not. Home buyers sneaking a look at homes in their cubicle at work will not return to a site that has a "cool" song blaring from their computer every time they go to it.
6. Map If you must use Flash, use it smartly with an easy to use clickable color Map of your local marketing area that users can instantly - click click click - go to the Community listings they seek. There are many map options available now and studies have shown that giving this visual tool for them to search with is a winner.
7. Make It Easy to Request Info Make sure you make it easy to ask for Information on a wide variety of subjects, Relocation information, How Much Is My Home Worth, Listing info for homes. Something will appeal to someone at sometime and you need to not play "hard-to-get" with offering information.
8. A way for leads to be automatically entered into your primary contact database Depending on what systems you are using, it is not inconceivable that you could have two, three, four or more different online systems running with their own database contact system. This is an administrative nightmare. Make sure all of your contacts are run through just one. I personally recommend Top Producer and have had a lot of success feeding web leads directly into client's Top Producer accounts.
9. Automatic Lead Follow up Plan A lost or unattended lead is lost business. Period. It all comes back to Systems. Make sure your website has automatic follow up plans set up to contact all your web leads regularly. This should include a mixture of emails, scheduled phone calls and mailings. Again, if you use Top Producer, a complete system for follow-up for every single lead can be set up automatically. If you follow the ideas here, you will have an abundance of leads that won't be slipping through the cracks ever again! If you incorporate these ten principals into your site, you will create a place for home buyers and sellers alike to come back to again and again and bring you an abundance of leads.
Brett Miller is the founder of HoopJumper.com and has created the best lead generating real estate websites in the industry and helped hundreds of real estate professionals make the most of their Internet presence.
