We all know why we have websites, right? Lead generation!

With so many people using the web to find out information before even placing a call to a Realtor, we have to keep our websites up with the times.

I have made my website easy to use and full of information. From links to the MLS system for easy home searching, to a list of what to expect, to a list of preferred providers, to a mortgage calculator, it is all in one place.  I am constantly uploading new listings, price changes, and disclosures for all of my listings.

There is a fine line on providing too much info. Vs. creating a reason for the lead to call.  Continue reading this post

We are all pretty much in agreement now that people are looking for homes on the internet. So my question is: What is the make up of a great Real Estate website?

I have some ideas and maybe others in this community can help me expand on those ideas. I am thinking of reworking my site “Homes in Columbus GA” and would love to hear your thoughts. Here are a few things that I have been thinking.

1. Search Capabilities. A great Realtor Website should first and foremost have great search capabilities as most potential clients want be able to search homes in your area. If you are worried about giving this information away – don’t be - because someone is going to provide the information and you want to be the one they turn to for info. a) Map Search
   b) Lots of ways to search: Subdivision, Areas, MLS #, City, etc.
   c) Pictures
   

2. Visual Appeal. A great site should also be pleasing to the eyes.  a) Colors should be pleasant and indicative of your company and personality
   b) Uncluttered - just like staging a house
   

3. Memorable. Check out my friend Cal Carter’s site for Gulf Shores Condos – Gotta love that Crab!

Continue reading this post

Become a keyboard warrior.  If you want to win the online war against Trulia, Zillow and Yahoo, you need to know the 10 secrets that will put and keep your website or blog on top of the engines and generating leads. 

Learn advanced SEO, SEM, Landing page optimization and lead generation strategies employed by professional online marketers tailored to real estate in this easy to understand and implement techniques.

I will unveil one never before heard SEO secret exclusively to the HomeGain.

Your Keyword Cheat Sheet:

How many clicks will you get when your site hits the first page of Google?

Number 1 receives 42.1%

Number 2 receives 11.9%

Number 3 receives 8.5%

Number 4 receives 6.1%

Number 5 receives 4.9%

Number 6 receives 4.1%

Number 7 receives 3.4%

Number 8 receives 3.0%

Number 9 receives 2.8%

Number 10 receives 3.0%

So, this means you are shooting for the NUMERO UNO position!  Anything else is FAILURE.  Your mission is clear, so put on your camis and start fighting!

Continue reading this post

In today’s ever competitive Internet arena, we, as real estate professionals are drawn every direction for the perfect website solution.  With website companies offering multiple color schemes to integrated IDX search engines including all the bells and whistles, it’s easy to fall into information overload.  Finally, we make our best guess, choose the lucky winner and begin our journey.

Almost predictably there is a progression that the new agent takes until they find a website solution that works for them.

And, just how does it truly work for us?  Have we reaped the desired net return or do we ignore it and continue to pay the $35/month just so we have a website like everyone else?  Or, are we truly investing into our website, time, passion and money, so on the flipside it generates a positive ROI?

Late 2006, I began using HomeGain’s BuyerLink product.  Through trial and error I have learned to produce a positive cash flow through lead conversion.  Since then I have come to understand you can point BuyerLink traffic to just about any IDX search engine and generate some form of lead capture.

Quite literally you could point BuyerLink traffic to a brick with any flavor of lead capturing home search feature and make money at it.

Continue reading this post

It’s Fall now.  That means football season.  My local team, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Miners have got off to an 0-3 start and, of course, the coach is starting to feel pressure.  He has been telling all of the fans that the team is not made up of losers - they are doing all of the little things right — and if you keep doing all of the little things right, it is impossible not to end up with the results that you want.

After I heard that comment I thought he is right — and it applies to real estate as well as football.  Sure the market is tougher now than it was a year or two ago, but people always need a place to live.  People are being transferred into town, getting married, having babies, etc.

So, how do we find these people?  By doing the little things.

Real estate is a contact business.  We have to keep putting ourselves in front of potential buyers and sellers.  If we do this enough, then we will find plenty of clients to work with.  Keep contacting those for sale by owners and expired listings.  Keep calling and emailing your buyer prospects.

What I’ve found, though, is that it’s not enough just to make the contact.  It’s the follow through that separates the top Realtors from the rest of the pack.

Continue reading this post

As a guy who does search engine marketing, I believe in testing. I test a lot.

During a typical week, I will visit quite a few real estate websites. This past week, I took the opportunity while visiting them to “Mystery Shop” 50 of them. I was not mystery shopping to see who had the prettiest website or the coolest interface, or the most search criteria.

I was simply registering with my name, phone number and email address to see who called me back first. This post is a BASIC report of what I found.

(Note: I am going to do a more detailed study on many more sites in about 2 months for publication – if you would like a copy of that study, shoot me an email! – it should be out in December / January and I would be happy to share it with you. It is going to not only include how quickly people responded, but HUNDREDS of examples of their responses as well).

Out of the 50 real estate websites that I registered for, I did not receive a callback or contact at all on 27 of them. (I was STUNNED at that one.) Nine of them called me back within two hours. By the end of 24 hours Continue reading this post