Why Too Many Real Estate Websites Fail to Produce Leads

Why Too Many Real Estate Websites Fail to Produce Leads

What do you see first when you visit a real estate website? Most of the time the first thing you see is a promotion for the community.

Why?

It’s true that in my 19 years selling real estate I did come in contact with a few people who were cruising the entire Northwest looking for a place to settle. Perhaps a half dozen over the years. They were looking at homes from Montana, across Idaho, into Washington, and down to Oregon. Frankly, they were not my ideal clients because they wasted a lot of my time before moving on to another state. They were definitely not serious buyers and I probably should not have taken time for them.

So yes, a few people will visit your website to learn about the community and decide if they’d like to view some homes for sale. But the majority of buyers who visit your website are there because they either already live in the community and want to move up, down, or out of Mom’s house – or because they know they want to relocate to that community.

The sellers obviously already live there or at least own property there. They visit your site to learn how well you promote individual listings. They’re looking for a top-notch agent and are hoping to learn enough via the Internet to make a good choice.

So why should you present a “Chamber of Commerce page” on the most valuable piece of Internet real estate that you own?

I realize that not everyone agrees with me on this, but I believe you should not.

I believe this page should show why you are the agent in that community that buyers and sellers need on their side. It does need to show what community you represent, just so that visitors know they’re in the right place, but I don’t believe its purpose should be to sell the community.

Your home page should not only feature your name and your photograph, but should offer reasons why calling you will be a benefit to the buyers and sellers who visit your site.

Every good agent has something special to offer, so write a couple of enticing paragraphs and let them lead into your buyer and seller pages. Let your visitors know that they’ve just found a true professional who can and will help them achieve their goals.

Then, if there is one particular segment of the community that you claim as your territory, you could sing its praises.

The next mistake I see on real estate websites is stinginess.

It’s natural for agents to want to capture the names of visitors to their sites. But when they rush into it and refuse to give up any information without “payment” in the form of the visitor’s contact information, it encourages that visitor to look elsewhere.

Instead, let visitors search the MLS. Give them some free advice. Show them that you have knowledge to impart and that you’re willing to share. Shun the “canned” articles that appear on hundreds of sites and either write your own or have them written for you – and make sure they actually say something. Too many of the articles on real estate websites are just words with no value.

Then, after you’ve shown that what you have to say will be beneficial to your visitors, offer something of even greater value in exchange for their name and address. By that time they’ll be willing to hear from you.