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The Web works! Give it a try, but only if you want business.

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Concepts

About three years ago I jumped into cyberspace with John Bowerding of agentdeluxe.com. 535,450 hits later, I'm still with John and have made my web presence a cornerstone of my business.

Today alone four prospects were able to reach me through my website, and I've already made contact with three of them and sent them properties. The last just logged in at 10:48pm, and I'll follow up with him tomorrow.

Since I've been with my brokerage I've had many discussions with other agents about websites, search engine optimization, search engine submission and integration of a web platform into an agent's business model. Many agents it seems are afraid to spend $39.95 a month in order to better allow prospects to reach them. That's a shame. Several I've talked too have been searching for the "best" website for years now, but they just can't make up their minds.

We'll never get a perfect anything in my opinion. There is no such thing. Think perfect car, job, city, house, nation, laws, etc. If we waited for perfect, we'd still be in the stone age. An 80,000 mile tire is no good in the snow, a mud tire is great for four wheelin', but it sure is noisy at highway speeds. You get the picture.

3 years ago I started with my site. I've spent many hours on it, made many revisions and have had varying degrees of success. From the beginning of this year I've been getting from 400-1500 page views per day. Through diligent submission my pages have worked their way up to many top slots, but if I'd been trading horses I doubt I could enjoy the traffic and leads that I now do.

OK you're asking, "How many unique visitors?" My answer, "I don't give a flippin' banana!" So my question is then, if I get hundreds of leads, and conservatively 150,000 hits a year, do I really care about the stats? If I have an effective, well placed platform that gives me good presence and that the public can utilize, what's the diff? The question is really, how many prospects can I get to identify themselves so that I can help them! Answer is: more and more everyday.

Yesterday I listed a house. This real sharp gal was blown over by many things I do, but she made particular mention of my website. She commended me on the design and for providing a great public resource. To say her praise was effusive (what I wrote in my handwritten thank you note) is an understatement. So, it's not perfect but it works, and it makes people happy. To me, that's all that really counts.

 

Comments (10)

Joeann Fossland
Advantage Solutions Group - Tucson, AZ
Master Certified Coach to Motivated Agents
What a wonderful testimonial about the power of good online presence! You'll stay busy no matter the climate in the market!!! You go!!!
Jan 25, 2008 04:23 PM
Courtney Cooper
Cooper Jacobs - Seattle, WA
206-850-8841
Congrats, matt!  Looks like your hard work is paying off!
Jan 25, 2008 04:37 PM
K. Davis
Davis Enterprises - Sarasota, FL
Thank you so much for posting so candidly. I am launching sites and blogs right now and hope to refine my platform over the course of the next three years. My sites are not perfect, not do I expect they every will be. It is an ongoing process of site maintenance and diligent work, but I know in my heart that I am doing so much more than selling--I am giving back to my community (my site is community service based and promotes my area). Hopefully as time progresses and people in the area know they can trust me and my co-workers to market their listings for them tirelessly, it will pay off for us and them. Cheers!
Jan 25, 2008 04:57 PM
Chuck Willman
Chuck Willman - Alpine, UT
NewHouseUtah.com
Just curious Matt, what areas of your site appear to be the most popular? I'm in redesign as we speak, type.
Jan 25, 2008 05:21 PM
Matt Grohe
RE/MAX Concepts - Des Moines, IA
Serving the metro since 2003

Joeann, Courtney, Kae: I'm out here in cyber-land, but you'll never catch me on webcam! and if you do, report me.

Chuck: last weeks traffic reports are in! 1.) Home Page 2.) Search Homes 3.) Daily Free Foreclosures list 4.) Buy a home 5.) Buying forclosure properties 6.) Foreclosure search sources 7.) Townhomes and Condos 8.) Sell a home 9.) Income and Investment property 10.) HUD homes

Lots of folks are foreclosure crazy right now. All the media hype I expect.

Jan 25, 2008 06:47 PM
Lance Winslow
The Car Wash Guy - Malibu, CA
Hey Matt, congratulations, you are getting some decent traffic there, good stuff. It pays to do it right, and that's exactly what you are doing there. Be well, Lance
Jan 25, 2008 08:13 PM
Russ Ravary ~ Metro Detroit Realtor call (248) 310-6239
Real Estate One - Commerce, MI
Michigan homes for sale ~ yesmyrealtor@gmail.com
Thanks for the great success story.  I have been thinking about writing a blog asking for people who are getting lots of referrals of the web.  Thanks again I will look at your site.
Jan 25, 2008 10:27 PM
Matt Grohe
RE/MAX Concepts - Des Moines, IA
Serving the metro since 2003

Lance: You're my hero!

Russ: I've had four out of state referrals in the past five weeks. They found me by search engines, not agent rosters. Optimize your pages and submit often.

 

Jan 26, 2008 05:26 PM
Matt Grohe
RE/MAX Concepts - Des Moines, IA
Serving the metro since 2003
UPDATE: It's about 43 days after I posted this. I'm at 577,301 hits, or about 973 hits a day since and the poofs' in the puddin'. It works y'all! And if I worked it a little bit more, if I had the time, it would work even better.
Mar 10, 2008 02:04 PM
Chuck Willman
Chuck Willman - Alpine, UT
NewHouseUtah.com
Excellent results Matt... I've also noticed and increase in my web traffic by doing a few tweaks.
Mar 10, 2008 02:09 PM