When it comes to your real estate website, consumers come there in hopes of finding 5 primary tools and pieces of information when they are researching to buy or sell a home. The question is, does your real estate website and it's design easily provide the tools and information they are looking for?
Yes - Other Posts Have Been Written...
While I really like the post Leesa wrote on the "Top 8 Things Consumers Want From a Real Estate Website", I suggest we take a step back and drill down to the real heart of the matter. Why do consumers come to your website? Below are the 5 tools and high-value content that every real estate website (and it's design) should address.
1. I Want to Search for Homes - ALL the Homes!
I suggest you answer that question by providing a large, easy to find feature graphic that says Search ALL Homes for Sale in (insert your area) HERE! Your large search graphic should be linked to your property search tool. Offering a large graphic along with answering this question "Can I Search For Every Home For Sale in the Area On Your Site?" in the affirmative positions you as the "FREE giver" of all the home data and not be seen as a "gatekeeper" of information.
2. How is The Market?
It's the same question REALTORS hear your friends and acquaintances everyday. When asked that question, that's your opportunity to say; " If you are a Raleigh homebuyer, we have tons of inventory and the market is in your favor! In fact, inventory year over year is up xx%, blah, blah blah." If your website fails to address this burning question, you're missing a great opportunity to be seen as the local area expert and connect with your prospects. If you want, you can even buy the data from vendors like Altos Research and Top Producer.
3. How Much is My Home Worth?
It's the #1 reason why home sellers come to real estate websites. It's to determine the value of their home. Does your homepage offer a large feature graphic directing potential sellers to easily find and click to request a CMA? It better if you want your site to "work".
4. Hyper-local Content Rules!
Here is where I think Leesa nailed it! Her list of hyper-local focused information is spot-on. I would suggest you add the following important pieces of information to her impressive list. First, provide neighborhood information! Then on your neighborhood detail pages list the following critical pieces of high-value information:
offer a quick search of all available homes for sale in the neighborhood (if the neighborhood is large, maybe consider offering pre-defined searches by price point like Mt. Pleasant Real Estate Pro Chuck Avera in the example below!
min/max price structure of homes in the neighborhood
min/max of square footage of homes in the neighborhood
HOA information including dues, special assessments and regularly scheduled HOA meetings
outline "ALL" the amenities in the neighborhood (walking trails, kiddie park, pool, tennis courts etc.)
5. Consumers Want to Get Between Your Ears!
When I say that I mean home buyers and sellers want to "read your blog" and get inside your head! As you all know, blogging is one of the single most effective tools you can use to help you share your local knowledge and be seen as the area expert. Consumers get to know the real you if you will let your personalty ooze out on the pages. :-)
Your Homepage Home Work!
Now go back and look at your homepage in light of this information and see if your site visitors easily find what it is they are looking for when they arrive on your real estate website!
Do you use all the right online marketing tools to connect with the largest growing homebuying segment in America - women homebuyers? Do you encourage your friends and followers from social media sites to take the short trip to your online marketing hub? Do you know where women congrate giving you easy, instant access to all their personal information, their preferences and what's happening in their world? Did you know you can lurk and listen for "social triggers' which are golden opportunities to connect and be top of mind with your target audience?
Online Marketing Tools You Should be Using!
This list below is an abbreviated summary of some of the online tools I'll highlight when I speak to the local chapter of the Crystal Coast of NC Women’s Council of REALTORS® on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina! If you live along the Crystal Coast, be sure to attend the luncheon which is scheduled for February 24th Wednesday, at 11:30am – 1pm at the Country Club of the Crystal Coast in Pine Knoll Shores.
Practical Tools to Target The Female Homebuyer!
Below are the tools you should be using to grow your business in your respected target markets. The tools I’ll highlight at the Women's Council meeting include:
Every agent must maximize their online “hub” which is your real estate website and your blog. Do these tools provide the answers to the questions female homebuyers are asking when they arrive on your “hub”? Do you even know what they want when they arrive on your website? Do you make it incredibly easy for your target audience to find the answers to the burning questions they come to your website to find?
Not ready to devote huge chunks of time to write a blog? Blogging made easy – The 5 minute blog post women love to read and agents love to write!
Facebook! The ultimate haven for women!
Be sure to visit my Bobby Carroll social media and speakers blog for the rest of the story on the tools you should be leveraging to connect with this growing group of homebuyers!
Before I answer that question, let me tell you how this post came to be. Where do you dig up your post ideas? For me, this post had its genesis as a result of an email I recently sent to one of our real estate website clients and Iowa City real estate agent Toni Rubin. Toni had a question about writing content for a blog page she was creating for her new Iowa City BlogDakno designed and built for her.
Turn Your Blog Green! Recycle Emails Into Blog Posts!
How about you? Have you ever recycled an email and turned it into a blog post? If you haven't, you should! I suggest you take a peek in your sent folder of your email client and find that email you constantly use to answer the same question over and over again. You may discover the best post you may ever write has already been written! It's just sitting in your sent folder of your email client dying to be shared with your prospects, past clients, and current clients.
Get the Google Juice!
That way everyone can benefit from the information. Plus, you gain the benefit (Google Juice) of adding fresh, original content to your website or blog.
No More Writers Block!
Thank you Toni for being the inspiration behind this post! After reading this post, you have no more excuses about experiencing "writers block"!
Now Back to the Topic at Hand - Posts That Provide ALL the Answers!
One importanrt concept to note about creating content whether it’s for a blog or a website, be sure your post or article answers these important questions:
The what
The who
The why
The when
The where
The how
I'm Just a Tease!
Ready to read more on providing ALL the answers when writing posts and articles? Please go to my Real Estate Marketing Blog NOW!
In my previous Active Rain post, many of you voiced your desire to know "a little HTML code" so you could add those uber important h3 tagged sub headlines I mentioned on several occcassions. I confess, I'm a novice at HTML code, but I can wip out some code when I need to and sub headlines beg to be coded with h3 tags. With that said, here are some quick, and easy to follow instructions on using and adding HTML code to your AR post.
Tips to Adding H3 Tags in Your Sub Headlines
To make it easy, write your post first, then save it as a draft
Click the edit button and click the "HTML" code view tab. You'll need to locate the sub headlines you created previously in visual view and substitute the "p" in code with an "h3"
You will also need to close the tag. Again, substituting the "p" with the "h3"in the closing tag (</h3>.
Next save the draft again, and take a look at the saved draft post. You should see a "bolded, larger text" of the sub headline.
Once you have designated all your sub headlines with the h3 tag, you are ready to change the visibility from "draft" to "public" for your AR post. You may have toggle back and forth several times to get the post the way you want it.
BTW-Don't forget to also include your hyper-local keyword references in your sub headlines. It has tremendous impact when your post is indexed by Google.
Add Interest & Some SEO Pop!
Taking these extra steps will help make your post not only more interesting but it will make them easier to read, and even add a little SEO POP to the post as well.
If you have a question, do leave a comment. I'll do my best to help. :)
P.S. If you own a WordPress blog, be sure to take advantage of the h3 tag in the dropdown in your WP blog dashboard. Most bloggers using WordPress are clueless and never use it!
Do you find yourself being asked by blog and website owners to read “War and Peace” novel articles with forever scrolling content? I call these novels a "Wall of Words". The sheer thought of reading it sends me in search for the big red X or the back button. Admittedly, I have written my fair share of terribly long articles in the past, but no more.
Are You a Tease?
Plus, most real estate web sites fail to use proper structure. Failing to use sub headlines (designated with a Headline tag-h3) to help tease the site visitor to what the paragraph will say is a missed opportunity on so many levels. Your website backend editor should allow you to designate your sub headlines with an h3 "tag". If your current website editor prevents you from having the ability to designate sub headlines in this fashion, you are handicapped and it may leave you on the “long end of the search engine results“. Having the ability to easily edit your headlines, sub headlines and body content really is important if you want to be near the top of the search results.
Format Your Copy to be Scanner-Friendly
I also strongly recommend you format your copy with the following structure (when practical). You might be asking why? Your website copy must be scanner-friendly! Site visitors all have a terrible case of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Consider using this format for your content:
Page Name=Headline (h1)
Short intro paragraph
Sub headline (h3)
Short content paragraph with complimenting image (images give the reader's eyes time to rest plus it adds interest to the page)
Use bullet points so the reader can scan and easily find the information they are looking for
Sub headline (h3)
Concluding paragraph containing a "call to action"
Avoid Using Multiple Font Styles, Colors and Sizes
If you long for your website or blog to look like it stepped out of the 1990's, go ahead add all the weird font styles, colors, words bolded and underlined! Just know that you will probably be the only site visitor who hangs around long enough to read your content. Using these tactics to format your copy is so unprofessional. Now add spelling mistakes and you'll get an "A" for making your site and it's information look less than reliable.
Ask the Site Visitor to Take Action! (this is an example of a Sub headline with an h3 tag)
In your concluding paragraph, always include a strong call to action (request this information, read this article, search homes now....). When should the reader take action….NOW!
Don't Forget Those Geographic Keywords!
So the next time you write copy or have real estate web copy written for you, think “geography” and then add the geography identification to the copy. Once you have written the copy 21 times using these techniques, it will become a habit and you’ll write great, reader-friendly, SEO-rich copy formatted properly without missing a beat!
What's Stopping You Now?
Be sure to leave a comment now (I practice what I preach!! - call to action) and let me know what is preventing you from taking action (and control) of your website (and its content). Implementing these best practices TODAY, you will begin to see better results.
You have probably been told that you need to maintain at least one real estate blog, a Facebook Fan page, maybe you have a Twitter account plus you have to manage several profiles scattered all over social media, but are you really getting the most from your efforts? Utilized correctly, your blog and all those portals can work in your favor. Hang in there help is on the way!
Learn & Achieve Greater Results with this FREE Dakno Real Estate Blogging Webinar!
During this hour-long live streaming video training session Brad and I will show you ways how to help you truly benefit from what you have started and how to maximize your efforts. You will also discover how to drive more traffic to your blog plus you will gain incredible insight how to increase your Search Engine Optimization.
As Monday's go, mine was going really well. I had even updated my Facebook status to say "Bobby is having a great day!" Why was this Monday such an awesome day. Life is all about how you view it, and I made a conscious decision to don my "rose colored glasses" and make it a great day. Plus, the fact that Brad and I had completed our mission to build a TV studio provided a dose of satisfaction. Why build a TV studio? To stream live video webinars like our Blogging BootCamp, a Social Media BootCamp (in the planning stages) as well as some FREE live streaming real estate marketing webinars. Life was (and is) GOOD!
Hanging with the Boss!
Little did I know Brad's invitation to grab some lunch and go with him to the post office to process his passport request would take a really cool twist. I always relish hanging out with my boss! I hope you can say the samething about yours.
Brad Headed North of the Border
A passport is required for Brad to travel to Canada next month when he speaks with Coach Ken at a RE/MAX conference. Anytime you mix the Federal Government (passport request) and the post office, you face a lengthy wait and the height of inefficiency. After lunch, we headed to the post office to submit Brad's passport application. Brad called me from inside to say "I'm number six in line and the line is going nowhere". With that, I headed for the nearest Starbucks in Cameron Village.
Each time we receive a Dakno Real Estate Marketing website inquiry before returning a call I go through my usual "drill" and Google the name of the party interested in our Dakno real estate website & blog products and services. (Do you go through that drill when someone contacts you about your services? - Maybe you should.) Because of the awesome SEO-power of Active Rain, many times a profile will appear at the top of the search results of an agent who has invested considerable time blogging at AR. Why not take advantage of this Google power and really make your Active Rain profile work for you. Here are 5 recommendations you might want to consider:
I see way too many AR profiles written with a 8 point font. Unless you target an alien audience under 35 years old with perfect eye sight make sure your profile font size is large enough to be reader-friendly.
Avoid using multiple font colors, font styles, font sizes and words underlined for no apparent reason (underlined words normally cue the site visitor that the word is a "link"). BTW - a few bolded words are ok, just don't go overboard and make everything bold and in all caps. IT GIVES THE APPEARANCE YOU ARE SCREAMING AT YOUR AUDIENCE! See what I mean.
Many profiles are written in third person making the profile cold and impersonal. I recommend profile owners write their "bio" in first person. It's far more casual and makes you more "approachable". Isn't that the objective to connect with people? Although this isn't a "AR About Me page" I think it ranks up there with one of the all-time best "About Me" pages! Take a look at AR member Elena Thurston's About Me page!
Because AR offers you some serious SEO backlink power, I suggest you link your target market keywords from your AR profile to your website and your blog and don't forget to use superior anchor text when linking. When I say link to your website I'm not just talking about linking to your homepage but to interior pages of your blog or website. I also suggest you "deep" link to interior pages like buyers articles, sellers tools especially your area information and your MLS property search tool.
Because the Internet Empowered Consumer is far more concerned with their needs than a real estate agent's desire to "capture" them, they are always asking the "what's in it for me question." If your AR profile fails to answer that critical question WIIFM, chances are you're missing opportunities to connect with your target audience. Maybe you should consider adding more value to your profile by offering some area information and do a little less "self promotion". To the consumer, it's mostly "noise" anyway.
Now that you have gone through the challenging birth process of your cherished online baby, it's time to begin to help your real estate website begin to grow. Remember, a website should be considered a "living document" and that means growing your baby into a toddler, then an adolescent and maybe even someday a full grown adult website.
Do You Take the "Set it and Forget it" Approach?
Then again, some many real estate agents have the Ron Popeil mentality when it comes to their websites. You know what I'm talking about - Set it (or in this case - launch it) and Forget It! If you adhere to this philosophy with your website, good luck attracting many visitors and benefiting from any potential ROI from your website.
Does Your Real Estate Website Have Good SEO Bones?
I wrote a couple of posts over at the Dakno Real Estate Marketing Blog that offers a few basic tips to help your website be organically sound so it can "support" your business. Consider it baby formula to give your website strong SEO "bones".
Here is a sneak preview of the topics covered in my post:
If you read my previous Active Rain post or Brad's post, you probably know that there is a big brawl happening in Virginia. From Active Rain to Utterli, this Virginia blogging event is spreding like wildfire! Talk about creating a real “buzz”. What's the Buzz all about? Be sure read our client's post at his Charlottesville Real Estate Blog or you can checkout the VAR Buzz Blog for the recap.
The Twitter Version
Here is a Twitter version recap of Round #2. Dakno client and Brian Chase's Charlottesville Real Estate Blog advanced to round #3 as a result of offering to donate $1 for every vote his blog received ($200 Max) in round #2. His blog advanced into round #3! Ok, that was obviously more than 140 characters but hey, I can get away with it here!
Dakno Gets in the Giving Spirit!
We were so impressed with Brian Chase’s commitment to give $1 per vote last round, that the team here at Dakno Marketing decided to match his contribution for round #3. For each vote cast for the Brian Chase C’ville Real Estate Blog, Dakno will give $1 to Toys For Tots (max of $200)! Deadline for voting is 2pm Tuesday November 25th so hurry and cast your vote ASAP. You can visit the VAR Buzz blog or vote using the form below. Thanks for making this holiday season a little brighter for those less fortunate!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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Archives
America - women homebuyers? Do you encourage your friends and followers from social media sites to take the short trip to your online marketing hub? Do you know where women congrate giving you easy, instant access to all their personal information, their preferences and what's happening in their world? Did you know you can lurk and listen for "social triggers' which are golden opportunities to connect and be top of mind with your target audience?
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in Virginia. From 
blog advanced into round #3! Ok, that was obviously more than 140 characters but hey, I can get away with it here!
