Eight Ideas to Get More Real Estate Leads Online

I consult with real estate companies, individual realtors and home builders to help them develop online marketing strategies and tactics. Most complain about lack of traffic and poor quality leads to their websites. If you've been around the marketing block a few times, it's not hard to see why. Let's look at websites for example, most agents use "one-size-fits-all" cookie cutter templates that center around some automated MLS listing feed. I especially love the sites that require visitors to  register for the opportunity to use their home search feature. So, let's get this straight. You've offered me nothing of value from your site and now you want my personal information in exchange for access to information available on thousands of other sites just down the digital street? That's what passes for a lead generation system? It's no wonder agents complain that their sites are ineffective.

 In Anna Maria Virzi's article Real Estate Advertising's Slow Slog to the Web, she quotes a 2007 Classified Intelligence survey that nearly four in five brokers and agents have Web sites, yet 58 percent say they're dissatisfied with the number and quality of leads generated from these site. From my own experience, I'd say the percentage is much higher. So, what's an agent to do?

Here are eight action steps that all real estate professionals should implement now if they want to become a force online:

• Develop a brand strategy for your business.
• Design a unique look and feel for your website and keep it SIMPLE! Make your site, as Seth Godin would say, a purple cow.
• Discover what your target customers want and translate to the content of your website.
  
• Learn that the Internet has fundumentally changed in the past two years. It's called Web 2.0. You MUST embrace The NEW Internet.
  
• Demonstrate to your site visitors how your process works for both buyers and sellers.
• Build rapport with personal video or audio introductions.
• Ask past clients if they would appear in a short video testimonial.
  
• Develop all online content around how I can serve you rather than look at me marketing.

 These are only a small sample of things that should be part of a much larger online marketing system, but I hope these ideas will stimulate some thought on how you can serve your customers more effectively online.