Posted in You get a new website, add your listings, open the doors and… no one comes in! What gives? Here are 3 reasons why websites can fail, and how you can fix them.
1. The website sucked.
Not all real estate websites are created equal. Here are some of the common reasons they can suck:
- The website hasn’t been updated in ages
- The website offers less than the public MLS website (Realtor.com/Realtor.ca)
- The website is badly designed (Flash menu, too many images, little content, etc.), eliminating your ability to rank well in search engines
- The website looks terrible (ill-formatted, bad colors, old, etc.)
Successful websites are well-designed, dynamic, often updated, and offer vast amounts of information to visitors that they can’t get anywhere else. Statistics, neighborhood trends, extra listing information, photos, market news are just some of the things you NEED to be offering through your website.
2. You chose the wrong channels to promote your website.
- Trendy doesn’t necessarily = money. Twittering away into oblivion isn’t going to immediately translate into leads – your time is best spent on things that are guaranteed to work.
- Print advertising is all but dead, and promoting your website in newspapers (unless they’re online) can easily be a complete waste of money.
- Bus benches are expensive and unless done consistently for years, are the worst bang for your buck.
Promoting your website takes time and diligence, but avoiding the wrong ways is easy and will save you time and money. Consider the following (make sure you’ve corrected step 1 before continuing):
- Blogging and email newsletters. Include a weekly blog entry (market stats, etc.) and email a newsletter to your sphere of influence every month giving blog headlines and directing them to your site.
- Flyering. Yes, believe it or not flyering (if done properly) still works like a charm! Just make sure to include something enticing on each flyer that answers your customers’ main question: WIIFM (what’s in it for me)?
- Search engine ranking. Your website CAN and SHOULD rank in search engines for phrases of your choice. Make sure your website provider understands how SEO works and ask them to give you some pointers.
3. The website looked like a scam.
If your website is riddled with words like, “No Obligation,” or, “FREE!!!,” then you’re scaring away good leads, and attracting unqualified people looking for something free.
A good website GIVES information without advertising that it’s, “Completely Free!!!,” all the time. As visitors use your site, you’ll earn their trust and they’ll be more compelled to give you their contact information.
This is a hard attitude to change, but once you try it you’ll never look back!
Having a website that makes you money requires that you approach it from the right angle. Make sure you avoid these 3 mistakes that so many Realtors® make.
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