I have spoken to hundreds of agents over the years and many have been disatisfied with their website provider.

Bones of contention include:

• Not enough website traffic.
• Not enough design options.
• Listing feed is limited or nonexistent.
• Prices increase drastically year after year.
• Long term contracts.
• Lack of responsiveness by website service provider.
• Search functionality for consumers is of poor quality.
• Not closing enough business from the website.

Some real estate agents I have spoken to have been personally upset over the situation.  Some real estate agents have vowed never to trust another vendor again or to not get involved in online advertising.

There is a huge window of opportunity left for those embracing the internet.  For every real estate agent who has a website, there are many more who have websites that are not effective. The information is outdated, the searches are "immature" for web 2.0 offerings, and community information and local happenings look like they have been ripped out of a Chamber of Commerce book from 1998.

I was surprised to see last week in studying various top producing real estate agent websites that the same seems to be true. Some real estate agents have kept up with their websit by regularly feeding it orginal content.  Other real estate agents still only have a webpage on their real estate broker's website.  

There are even some real estate agents who had a domain name setup with a template and that was it.  There was no other information on these blogs and webpages- not even a photo or a name and phone number.

That just floored me.

When you build a business you need to you put a plan in place. Successful real estate agents know and practice this. They are successful because they treat their venture into real estate as a business.  It makes their clients and prospects see them as respectable business folk.

You need a plan when you market your business. A big portion of your marketing plan should include your internet marketing. There are businesses that have separate marketing plans just for their online marketing. For Real.

This is why they are highly effective online.

So back to the widespread disappointment real estate agents have with their websites. Here's the deal. You need to know what you want before you buy it. You can't have any expectations when you don't have any predefined goals before the purchase.

You need to have a plan.

Start by viewing this video, "Creating an Online presence" from SCORE (counselors for small business). This video will help you determine your goals for your website and what types of services a website provider can offer. It will also help you to determine a maintenance plan for your website.

Yes, I did use that dreaded word "maintenance".

A good website and online plan that draws results will require some maintenance on your part. There is no such thing as maintenance free online marketing. Eventually, though, the maintenance will become easier and might even lessen when you've got it working for you.

Once you have your plan and you have your questions prepared- ask for a referral. Ask successfully wired real estate agents (probably best to do this outside of your local real estate market) who they use and why. If their online goals match yours, and they are happy with their website provider- BINGO- you might just have a match.

Recap. The formula for Prevention of Buyers Remorse is: Get An Online Marketing Plan. Ask Questions. Demand Answers. Don't settle for products that can't meet your goals.

Easy button pushed. The End.