Effective digital marketing is one of the most critical elements to any successful modern business. For small businesses, digital marketing has blown open the door, providing previously undreamt-of access to thousands of potential new customers. And for real estate agents, this access is likely the lifeblood of your business.
A great website is vital for success in modern real estate
But the most important aspect of digital marketing is not social sharing, SEO or digital ads, it is the website to which all your marketing efforts lead back. Building and maintaining a great real estate website are crucial to the success of any agent or firm, and this guide will go over a few of the steps and building blocks for making your own.
Choosing a Web Developer
If you are reading this article, you likely do not have enough experience or expertise in website creation to build your own from scratch. With this in mind, you will want to find a web developer that will either build much of the site for you or make the steps simple enough for you to handle on your own.
Since there are countless options out there, you will want to start by finding a developer that specializes in real estate sites. Do some research and ask around your professional network to find the best options. You can also identify a few competitor sites that you like and simply scroll to the bottom of the homepage; you will likely see the name of the web developer there.
Choosing a Domain Name
This may seem like the simplest of the steps (and you likely already have something in mind), but the importance of choosing the right domain name cannot be overstated. You want something that is simple, easy to search, easy to spell and that clearly identifies who you are. For example, isoldmyhouse.com is clear, unique and succinct, and there is no question about the purpose of the site.
For most real estate websites, the domain name should simply be the name of the agent or firm – or some simple version thereof.
Tailoring the Site to Your Target Audience
In terms of both appearance and functionality, you need to tailor your real estate website to the tastes and needs of your target audience. If you deal mostly with first-time homebuyers, include trendy images and clever wording that would appeal to young people. For luxury homes, you would want a lot of white space and elegant fonts.
Just like all of your marketing strategies, your website should be targeted towards those who are most likely to buy what you are selling.
Adding Interesting and Relevant Content
Your site needs to contain more than a few home listings and your contact information. It will need more content that is likely to bring in more traffic, even those who were not initially looking for a real estate agent.
A blog is the best place to start for this. Begin writing, or hiring someone to write, and posting content that is relevant to homebuyers, your target audience and anyone in the area. Keeping your site updated with new, intriguing and interesting content will not only bring in more traffic, but it will also help your site climb the search results ladder.
Linking Back to Your Site
Once your site is up and running, you will want to do as much as possible to bring in traffic. Tell everyone you know – put the site on your business cards and signs – and always link anything you post back to your site. You might have the most interesting and relevant social media posts around, but they will do you little good if they do not link to your site.
It is also important to get others in the industry to link to your site via guest postings, paid ads, and any other channels. Getting the word out and getting traffic to your site is the number one priority.
