Real Estate Marketing

The large majority of home buyers use the internet as part of their search for a home and in finding a realtor. The National Association of Realtors just put out a publication available for purchase that talks about how influential the internet is in the real estate world. So, as a real estate agent or broker what can you do with your site and internet marketing to help you stay on top of the growing trend of buyers shopping online?

Most real estate agents and brokers understand the importance of having a web page in this day and age. However, how visitors perceive your site starting with your home page is crucial. You get one shot at making a powerful first impression. You can’t take the risk of not engaging your visitors and potential clients!

The main key to a great home page is not only a professional look but to provide something for everyone. You may want to offer help to buyers as well as sellers. Offer relocation packets and/or information on the area that you market. Information is your best friend when it comes to your website.

Naturally you will want great information on your listings as well as your personal information. Once you have great content on your site you can branch out into building links and networking online so that you can build traffic and qualified leads.

Social networking and social media are extremely powerful real estate marketing tools. Real estate agents can not place enough importance on networking, referrals and word of mouth. The internet allows the ideal platform for great success in these areas.

Thanks to the internet and sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (to name only a few) you have a way of keeping in contact with your clients. This includes past clients, current clients and prospective clients. Most real estate agents will admit that a very large percentage of their business comes from referrals. Agents simply cannot afford to miss opportunities for such referrals.

The internet also allows real estate agents to market themselves during and after a sale. Most states have real estate contracts that give provisions for agents to keep in contact with the client for a set amount of time after a transaction. This can be your opportunity to keep them on an email list or to send them personal notes via email to let them know you haven’t forgotten them or to thank them for their business. It is important to take advantage or the ability to stay connected online with your clients because as we all know: repeat business and loyal clients are the backbone of success in sales.

Blogging provides a great asset to any real estate web page. A blog keeps you personally connected to your visitors as well as providing great information. Blogs can consist of a various types of information. You can simply do a review of a local restaurant that your clients may like when visiting your area or you can do entries regarding the real estate climate in your area. The great thing about blogs that are kept current and updated frequently is that they get repeat visitors. Once a visitor knows that you provide quality information you will keep them coming back.

Virtual tours are a great things to ad to your listings and attract a lot of traffic. Everyone loves to look through homes and virtual tours saves the agent time and the customer. It is ideal that your customers can look at the house you want them to see, even if they are located in another state.

Thanks to great technology advancements online real estate marketing is easy, fun and quite affordable. Just keep in mind that you want to make a great impression and build a site to keep your visitors coming back time and again!