Real estate marketing doesn’t have to be hard, and you make make it even easier with your website. Because the real estate business is so competitive, you have to have an above-average marketing strategy if you want to succeed. Real estate is a saturated market, and if you want to stand out the first step is to understand that there are no short-term wins.
The best website marketing tip for real estate agents is to create outstanding website content. You need to publish long articles answering real questions related to your market.
Is your website marketing working for your real estate business?
Marketing your website does not have to be hard. Although there are many options to consider, each has its own benefit. Having a diverse website marketing approach will help you stand out as the leading real estate agent in your market.
It’s important to carry over the same quality website production to your shop front. When creating high-quality property slideshows for your website, you can also present these via digital signage for real estate in your shop front. This uncommon tactic can be used to present a professional appearance both on and offline.
Here are 15 easy ways to market your real estate website:
Optimize your website for mobile
As a real estate agent, you should know that most people looking at your website do so with their smartphones or tablets. And if your website hasn’t been updated recently, there is a good chance it isn’t optimized for mobile devices.
How important is mobile browsing for your real estate website?
Online research is a huge part of buying or selling a home today. However, most of that research is done on mobile devices. Therefore, if your website is not optimized for mobile, it isn’t going to help you get any more business. So it makes sense to present users with the content relevant to buying and selling real estate and do so in a mobile-friendly manner.
We also refer to mobile-optimized websites as responsive. That’s because these real estate websites respond to the user’s screen size. Meaning, if someone looks at your real estate website on a mobile phone, your site will adjust how your website is laid out.
Having a responsive website is also critical for higher search engine rankings. Google’s ranking algorithm considers websites based on their mobile-friendly or unfriendly design. Therefore, a website built on outdated, non-responsive technology will rank lower than a responsive website.
Why is a responsive design important for marketing your real estate website?
A responsive website will be optimized to display your content on a smaller device like a phone or a tablet. This is especially important in the real estate industry, where websites are so heavy with images. A slow mobile experience will turn your potential real estate clients away.
Social media gives you access to billions of potential users. Best of all, these people are engaged and want to share with their friends. You can leverage these networks to connect your fans and followers to your website. It’s important to be true to your real estate brand and be authentic on social media. Write content that answers real questions about your market. If you do people will read it and share it with their friends.
Don’t push your real estate business on social media. People can smell from a mile when they are being sold and it turns people off. Create content that is engaging and authentic. The selling should occur on your real estate website. Share news about the area. Show how you’ve helped people buy and sell homes, but don’t actively sell to your audience through this channel.
Improve your website marketing and take your real estate business to the next level:
- Plan the content that you will promote through social media. Are you targeting Pinterest users? Make sure the images you use to market your real estate business are high quality and the correct size. Are you targeting LinkedIn users? Tailor your message accordingly.
- Create great content. Real estate website marketing through social media requires people to share your content. They will only share if your content is great. The content on your website should answer questions your target client wants to know. Don’t create generic content like “buying a home.” Get more specific like “Is buying a fixer upper in San Diego worth the cost?” This is a real question someone living in San Diego might really ask. If your website has an answer, you will build massive traffic to your real estate website.
- Encourage people to ask you any question about real estate, or the area you are serving. If people think of you as the go-to resource for everything real estate, it will do wonders for your business.
- Maintain a consistent brand image throughout your social media accounts.
- Connect your blog to all of your social media accounts. Share everything.
- Encourage people to share your posts. Spell it out for them. “Please share this”. It is important to have a strong call to action.
- See what the top real estate agents are doing. You can learn a lot about your competition by following them. Find out how the most active real estate agents interact with their customers.
Use email to market your real estate business
Most real estate agents do too little email marketing. You might think of messages spamming an inbox, but emails are still an effective way to gain traffic and interest.
The return on investment (ROI) is still one of the highest on email marketing.
To avoid annoying people and creating negative experience, have customers agree to receive your messages. Create an incentive to join. This can include special real estate reports, books about getting top dollar when selling a home, discounts for services (not your real estate services, of course), guides or other special offers.
Once you have email addresses, create follow-up messages that invite readers to visit your real estate website and contact you about your real estate services. If a customer feels they are receiving exclusive information, they will feel special. Because you are emailing people who opted-in you can expect a high level of interaction.
Real estate websites should optimize content for search engines
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps users find your website instead of the millions of other real estate websites online. If you want your real estate website to stand out, you need to research relevant keywords. This process involves finding keywords relevant to real estate in your area. The best website publish content to answer questions their potential customers are searching for. Incorporating these keywords in your website content, including your images and pictures.
You also need to link to other relevant websites to show up higher on search rankings. And when you have outstanding content, other websites will link to your real estate website, helping you rank for relevant keywords.
SEO is a process. As long as you know the basics and measure your progress you can improve. Test what keywords bring in traffic to your real estate agency’s website. Research your consumers and new target audiences to determine how they search.
Grow your real estate business with paid advertising
If you want to skip the effort involved in SEO, PPC (pay-per-click) advertising will save you time. However, unlike, SEO, PPC involves a paid service, and it isn’t cheap for realtors. You can pay Facebook or Google AdWords to place your content at the top of search results for certain keywords.
Costs for placement is dependent upon the popularity of a keyword. In real estate, you could pay more than $20 dollars for each click, and click isn’t a lead, it’s just a click. So, in a competitive industry like real estate, paid advertising is expensive.
Since your real estate website appears at the top of the search results, PPC will certainly drive traffic. There are also caps available if you have a limited budget. These caps stop the ads once a goal is met.
PPC is an expensive but fast way to market your real estate website.
The best real estate websites have great content
Real estate website marketing is impossible without great content. Most real estate websites have poorly written content. Actually, most real estate websites have almost no content other than the bare minimum.
The previous steps involve attracting visitors. Great website content will entice users to take an action. Whether that is calling you to set up a time to meet about selling or buying a home, great website copy helps you engage customers. Review your real estate website with a new customer in mind.
What content or features would be appealing to someone who is buying or selling real estate in your area?
Create content to get people interested in your real estate business. Get their attention, and sell them real estate.
How to use PR to grow your real estate business?
Public relations (PR) is about increasing awareness about your real estate business. Press releases are a function of (PR). They can help promote your business to the news media and bloggers. You can work with an agency or news outlet on your press releases. These services come with a price tag. Free alternatives include posting this information on your own networks or websites. Word about these updates can spread as they are shared with your audience.
Take your real estate business to the next level with referrals
Referrals offer the cheapest way to market your real estate business. Reach out to past clients and politely ask them for referrals. You can do the same with prospects. Just because a prospect didn’t become a client, it doesn’t mean they can’t give you a referral.
As a real estate agent, you can get referrals from almost anywhere, even from other real estate professionals. Generally, most people trust word-of-mouth from people they know over paid advertising.
Positive recommendations go a long way. Leverage great experiences you have created with your customers. Encourage them to share with their friends and reward them. Address any negative reactions quickly to minimize damage. Keep an eye on review sites, social media and forums to understand how your customers perceive you.
Use video to market your real estate website
Real estate agents can truly differentiate themselves with video marketing. Adding a video to YouTube places your content in front of billions. Video is an engaging medium. This type of content helps build a strong connection with your customers. Even the smallest of budgets can afford resources to shoot a video.
Think of what you want to say with your brand. Then figure out what messages you can share with a video. Some of the best video marketing for real estate agents is about answering client questions.
You could create short Youtube videos for your real estate business on topics like:
- How long should I wait before selling my house?
- How to buy a house before selling a house?
- How to inspect a house before buying?
- How to negotiate when buying a house?
- How much money should you put down when buying a house?
Paid advertising for your real estate business
In addition to creating a business page on social networks, you can also pay for advertising. If you want to target specific groups, social media channels have options for you. Make use of the vast amount of user data available on a place like Facebook. Here you can find very specific customers. A probability of a sale increases the closer you get to a specific interest.
You can also purchase sidebar ads on other websites through remarketing. If a customer visits your site, you can place a cookie in their browser. Then, other sites will use this data and your products will pop up as the surf the web. This has a high ROI because you already know what a customer is looking for. The constant reminders encourage them to make a purchase.
Traditional real estate agency marketing
Don’t forget the basics. Although the internet has great tools, traditional options build a great foundation. This includes signage, business cards, coasters, flyers, etc. Make sure your digital and your traditional materials work together. For example, if you have a business card, make sure it encourages customers to follow you on Facebook as well. People still enjoy physical items, but you can still encourage them to check out what you have to offer online.
After reading this list, I am sure you have a least a few ideas on how to promote your website. The important part is to find options that work with your business. Once you have an understanding of your customers, deliver engage with them in one of these channels.