If I built it...Shouldn't they come?? Uhhhh...Sorry, but this isnt the Field of Dreams...The honest answer.....No, not really. And even if they do, they probably won't stay for long.
In this world of instant gratification and the ability to get exactly what you want at any point in time, simply having a website is no guarantee that anyone will see it...and there is no guarantee that anyone that does see it will become a lead without being able to get them "hooked".
Now, Im not a techie website building type of guy, but I have seen a metric ton of real estate websites and I know what works...and I know what doesn't work. (And if you have not yet read that post, you need to!!)
The fact of the matter is, according to some industry experts, the average viewer sees a website for a total of 5 seconds before deciding of they are going to stay or leave. If you dont have something there to keep thier attention or offer them something, they are gone.
So, how do you keep them there? There are 5 questions you can ask yourself about your site that can help you immensely when it comes to traffic and leads capture...
- What am I doing to drive traffic to my site? Do you put your website on your business cards, literature, listing ads,? What about optimizing your content of search engine optimization (SEO)? Have you listed your website with local business directories? Do you post your listings online on outside sites?
- Do I have a reason for people to stay on my site? Do you regularly update the content of your site? Is that information useful in some way? Do you know what pages of your site are viewed more than others?
- Do I require interaction? Are you asking your visitors to "click here for more information"? Are you asking them to sign up for email alerts on new listings or special offers?
- Is it easy to contact me from my site? Is your contact info on every page? Are the forms that you use for future contact simple and easy to fill out?
- Is it easy to upgrade or maintain? Do you require a site administrator to do updates, or can you do that on your own without spending hours on end getting it just right?
Bottom line - No website traffic = No leads. There are other ways of driving traffic to your site - either through SEO optimization tools and fresh content to PPC ad campaigns. But, even with those in place, if your site isn't designed properly, all the money in the world isn't going to help your site get leads.
If you would like more information on getting buyers for your listings, please contact Clint at 406-329-7652 or 800-977-7058 and the team at www.recr.com will be happy to help!
If your website isn't generating business for you, then it's a waste of money!!!!
Brenda and David -- Exactly!! And you would be amazed at how many agents I speak with daily that tell me that they are not getting positive results from their sites. And, it makes me question...why not? Then I see the site and Im like....Oh THATS why...LOL
Thanks for taking the time to comment on my little blog...feel free to subscribe. :-)
Buyers (andseller) overwhelmingly want to see pictures. They want to see them quickly and without a barrage of calls or emails. This is the number one thing. It is a business of hurry up and wait.
Bonner
Bonner -- Yup. Thanks to McDonalds and Blackberries and other forms of instant gratification, everyone expects this same level of instantaniousness (if thats a word...lol) in everything they see and do. Real estate sites are no different. Thanks for the comments!
Clint,
Nice post! We've had our website for over 10 years...we tweak it once in a while, but it doesn't seem to do much for us...although it has risen to a 3 rating since my Active Rain activity...
We are in the process of changing 'hosts'...and for some reason it isn't up right now...I would really like more control over it and more interactivity, but don't kniow how to go about it!!!
Thanks, Fran
Fran -- Thanks, man. That means a lot coming from you. AR helps a ton! Especially if you link AR to your site...that seems to help a good bunch also. Any other outside blogs that allow such 'Google-ishissness" (Is that a word??) are also very useful.
We just changed hosts on all of our consumer sites and ADMIN sites...it was a nightmare!!!! Luckily, we have a crack programming staff and they were able to complete the process for us in a matter of days. But, for a company like ours...being down for days is a HUGE HUGE HUGE loss in income. Best of luck with the change!
As far as the interactivity...my best advise is to find someone that designs sites and have them do a review of it. It usually costs a bit to do this, but its worth it if they can provide you with some viable suggestions.
Clint...
I have always been very successful with the Internet, I have tons of traffic and generate a lot of leads. I do everythibg myself so I know exactly how everythibg is working and not working.
Richard -- Awesome! You would be amazed at how many people dont do any of those things.