Whether you’re a new agent or one who’s been around for a while but hasn’t embraced the web, don’t get start on a web site until you have at least learned the basics of what works and what doesn’t. Even if you want a site just to display your listings, there are simple and inexpensive ways to make it a lead and commission generator.

Sort Out the Fact versus Fiction concerning Real Estate Web Sites

Don’t believe for a minute that a web site can’t generate income for you. Squash some misconceptions here.

A Real Estate Web Site is Only For Listing Ads: While this is true for many agents/brokers, it doesn’t have to be. There’s an agent is a town of 10,000 population, working 20-25 hours a week, and making a six figure income working only with leads generated by his web site. The right content, plus offerings to capture visitor contact information, will generate prospects and commissions.

Make Site Visitors Sign In to Search Listings: The theory here is that forced registration will get more leads. Agents have turned off required registration and found that their prospects dropped immediately. However, some of those prospects give email addresses like micky@disney.com. If they can get around it with fake info or find another site without registration, they will. Let them search the MLS for FREE, with no need to supply contact information. This will keep them coming back and eventually they will trade their contact information for something of value from you site.The sites that gather the most leads do so with valuable rich content and special report/info offerings that require their email to get them.

Web Site Leads are Not as Good as a Walk-in or an Ad Phone Call: Real estate web site leads are only as good or as bad as the site and content that gathered them. Forced registration may get their email address, but if they didn’t like giving it up to search, they may not want to do more with you. Another website lead killer is not responding quickly, and we mean quickly. Let that lead sit a week, and you’ll lose it to a better agent who responded right away. Responding with canned sales pitches instead of good info will also lose prospects. The personal touch is always more effective.

Choose a Domain Name Without Stressing Out

It’s not that difficult to come up with domain names that will work for you. And, they’re easy and inexpensive to register. You can even point multiple domain names to one web site.With millions of sites on the internet, it’s easy to disappear. Your domain name is how people get to your site. Let’s look at some important considerations when choosing a domain name.

1. It shouldn’t be your name.

Though you should own the real estate domain name for your name, it shouldn’t be the primary way people find your site. With annual domain name registration costs running under $10, you should register your name and point it to your site. However, it’s highly likely that real estate shoppers will know your name. Let’s look at some important domain name selection criteria.

2. KISS - Keep It Short and Simple

“TheVeryBestRealEstateAgentInMyTown.com” might sound good to you, but it’s a lot to remember and type for your prospects. Shorter is always better, even if you can’t say exactly what you want. The only exception to this rule might be if the name of your town is long…see the next item.

3. For real estate, your town or area is important.

Real estate is truly a local business. People look for homes in places (cities, towns, etc.). Try to incorporate your city name or area into your domain name. This also helps with your sites search engine placement. A name that’s highly related to the content of your site will boost your sites appearance with search engines and real estate shoppers.

4. Dashes for search engines, none for users.

Actual tests have shown little advantage on the search engines for domain names with dashes, I.E. “your-town-real-estate.com.” As domain registration is inexpensive, you can purchase the dashed name as well as yourtownrealestate.com. The URL without dashes is easier for users, so it should be the main domain on your servers. Point the dashed domain for the search engines.

Want to learn more? Contact Professional Support Services by Email at Info@PSSPROS.com or call us at (310) 833-0432 for more information.

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