For Realtors, Personal Web Sites Are Catching
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 By: Matthew Ferrara - Technology Educator
Contrary to the dot-com gloom, the internet is alive and well. The number of real estate agents reporting the use of personal web sites exceeds 80% in recent polls. For agents without a website, suffice it to say, they will and soon. Why? It’s simple: as the numbers of homebuyers searching the Internet doubles over the next few years, you will have little choice. Consider: "Out of 1,000 buyers polled, ninety-percent plan to use the Internet in some part of the home purchasing process" says Realestate.com in their latest survey. And: "Thirty-seven percent of all home buyers use the internet to search for a home, an eighteen-fold increase in only four years, " says the National Association of Realtors in research posted on OneRealtorPlace.com.
It’s an exciting time for technology and the real estate agent. Current trends show that even though consumers are using the Internet to search for properties, they are by no means using it to replace the personal relationship with an agent, which is even more reason to applaud the information highway! The Internet enhances, not replaces, relationships with clients. Of course, it can do this via your web site or someone else’s web site.
Balancing the need for a positive Internet presence with the myriad of options available can be daunting. The key is to create a successful web environment that meets a variety of goals, from marketing to consumer relationship management. The challenge is to keep it simple, fresh, exciting and informative without breaking the budget. The only thing worse than not having a site is having a poor site; remember, almost 85% of visitors browsing your site will not come back, according to recent studies; So when you finally get them to your site, you have to deliver the best experience with the most reasons to come back again in the future.
What makes a good site good and a great site great? What will keep consumers coming back for more? Here are some tips for you to consider as you venture off to build your online presence.
The first requirement for a really memorable website is simple: Make it fun to visit. Overly "corporate" or boring, text-dominant web pages are certain to turn off visitors. They will hit the back button long before fully exploring your site. Instead, use interesting color schemes and complimentary text. Incorporate plenty of eye-catching graphics but match it with equally interesting content. And while making the site fun, be sure it remains easy to use. A logically organized site should be easy to navigate without confusing or hidden menus.
Have a good time with the layout and design. Beware the temptation to use too many special effects; time consuming plug-ins and huge sound files take too long to load and will discourage viewers with slower connections. When a visitor hits your site for the first time, the immediate impression will determine weather or not they will browse through the rest of your site. A fun, easy to navigate, fast interface is therefore essential.
Mollie Wasserman of Mollie & Company - Keller Williams Realty has been enhancing her web site with fun content since 1995, winning many online and offline marketing awards for her site www.molliew.com. "When I first got into real estate, I was amazed at the gap between the average agent and the average consumer. This gap was not just in age, but more in "formality." The consumer seemed very intimidated and put off by agents with the Mercedes and badge, dressed to kill. When I designed my site in late 1995, I was determined to have it reflect myself; friendly, professional but casual, and fun. More importantly, I designed it to be content rich by putting real estate issues in easy to understand language with easy to identify graphics." By making her site fun, Mollie bridged the gap between the online consumer and herself. "The wonder of the web is that people, from the privacy of their home, can become educated without anyone looking over their shoulder. And I had a hunch that the agent that made the consumer feel empowered by providing lots of information in a friendly layout would earn their loyalty."
Once visitors start to tour your site, the challenge becomes getting them to return frequently. The easiest way to encourage consumers to bookmark your site and revisit often is to make it interactive. Sites where the consumer can actually "do things" help keep the consumer involved. Web sites that include polls, quizzes and finance calculators allow the consumer to "test drive" the issues related to real estate. Frequently updated links, stories and testimonials give them a sense of "installments" like a weekly television show. In most cases, online tools like polls or hyperlinks to third-party articles can be found on the Internet and linked to your site at no cost, with little need to learn HTML programming.
For example, sites that include links or stories related to community content help visitors feel the "local" aspect to your global web site. Add links to sites like www.weather.com or www.moreover.com so that daily weather and news reports appear on your site; combined with the local content, the consumer will get a sense that your site is more like the local newspaper – friendly and pertinent to their neighborhood concerns.
After presenting visitors with localized content, ask them for feedback. Let your guests know that you are interested in their comments. Provide them with an easy to find outlet to express themselves such as a threaded bulletin board. Publish a schedule of a few times a month when you will be available in your live chat room. Consumers can get an opportunity to ask you questions without giving out their phone number or getting trapped on the phone for long periods of time.
On Wasserman’s site, the most interactive elements are related to property updates. "Hands down the property search and daily alert service are used most. Visitors want to get their feet wet by looking at listings. Not only is the data current, but I have an email follow-up plan that slowly educates them on the value of fiduciary counsel that my team provides. By staying in touch, and having a No-Sales-Call policy, the pressure is off and they contact me when they're ready." For Wasserman, her site’s interactivity has saved her thousands of hours of tedious follow up work annually and helped consumers help themselves when they visit at any hour of the day.
After attracting visitors and enticing them to return often, great web sites take the most important step: they get proactive. Tools such as information request forms and auto-responders provide plenty of options for consumers to receive follow up information from you automatically. An opt-in weekly e-newsletter makes it easy to capture visitors’ email addresses while sending mass mailing pieces to thousands without the printing and postage costs. Tools like Microsoft’s Listbuilder (www.bcentral.com) offer consumers a chance to select which newsletters and updates you provide and receive a monthly subscription to the information at no cost; you can send articles, recommended hyperlinks or notices of new inventory with literally a few clicks. The key to these types of tools is that they bring the content to the consumer, instead of relying upon the consumer to return to the web site; they are proactive.
While good sites are fun, fresh and proactive, great sites consider the visitor’s other concerns as well. Most important to today’s netizen is the issue of privacy. Visitors will be reluctant to sign up for your newsletter or enter your chat room if they feel that you will misuse their email address or personal information. A well-written, carefully constructed privacy policy can assure your guests of what you do and do not do with their information. Post your privacy policy on the front page of your site in a central location – and make it a hyperlink in the footer of every page on your web. Reassure visitors that confidentiality is a top priority to you. Inform them if you place tracking tools such as cookies on their computer and how you intend to use any such gathered data. Tell visitors how you plan to be of service and they will feel more comfortable disclosing personal information to your site. Remember to post contact information in your privacy policy as well. Post your email address, phone and fax numbers and street mailing address in plain view so people can feel comfortable knowing with whom they are interacting online.
Finally, the mark of a bad web site and the distinction of a great site is freshness. Sites that have not changed in days, or worse, months, make consumers worry you will forget about them just like you have forgotten about your site. Key elements of freshness include new articles, recently updated calendars and certainly, property data. Aside from the advertising compliance issues of avoiding misleading marketing, old inventory simply discourages the visitor. If every time they request information about a property your response is that has been sold long ago, the consumer will conclude that you are holding information from them for some ulterior motive; they will leave your site in search of more updated and accurate information elsewhere.
And it is not just new visitors to consider, but your current clients who will use your web site as an information bulletin board during their transaction. Current clients are counting on you to keep them up to date with the latest news and information, on market conditions and finance issues. An updated web site should be a top priority each week. When asked how often she updates her site, Wasserman stresses, "At least once a week, especially concerning market data that changes fast. Many visitors have commented that my attention to freshness makes my site stand out from the neglected "resume" sites that never change. About 2-3 hours per week is spent by myself or someone on my team doing updates or redesigns on average." While it seems like a lot of time to dedicate to online marketing, the effort has paid off for Wasserman. In 2000, more than ninety percent of her non-referral business came directly from her website.
A personal web site is one of the most powerful online tools for real estate professionals. While most big companies and national franchises have wonderful sites to reach buyers and advertise listings, an agent’s personal site can be priceless for reaching the local marketplace best. Whether you have a simple free site or an elaborate expensive site maintained by professionals, the basic rules are still the same. Keep them fast, fresh and fun and your site will surely shine online.
Matthew Ferrara is a noted educator and founder of Matthew Ferrara Seminars. Among his honors is: Former Technology Chair of the Real Estate Educators Association, 1999 Best Training Company Award - AgentNews.com, 1997 Educator of the Year. He can be reached at: 1-888-TEACH_RE or visit at www.mfseminars.com
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