Web sites, web sites, web sites.
I have this conversation with agents and business people over and over. Everyone knows they need one (and if you didn’t know, here’s your wakeup call). But not everyone knows what to do with one. Or what a good real estate web site even looks like.
In general, real estate web sites usually aren’t great user experiences. And that’s because the people who build them aren’t usually web designers — they’re people like us who have no idea what we’re doing but want to have control of the site. But so much has changed so quickly in the world of digital, that higher quality web sites are easier than ever to create and manage — even if you aren’t living a double life as a web designer by night and a business owner by day.
Many companies often offer their agents/employees a “site” and by site, I mean one page within their site. And this makes me crazy — why would you entrust your entire business profile to one page on someone else’s site? And what if you change companies? You lose your page and you lose your entire web presence.
If anyone can make sense of this web site wackiness, it’s Seth Price. Seth is the VP of Industry Relations at Placester, author of the upcoming book Road to Recognition and host of The Craft of Marketing and Marketing Genius podcasts. Oh, and he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
My first question to Seth in this episode of SamSpeaks! was about the most important aspects of a web site; What are they and what should people know when they create their site so they don’t keep wanting to change it 20+ times (like myself)?
“The first thing is to decide if this site is a brochure or are you using it to convert in some way?” Seth told me. “I would suggest using it to convert.”
If you think this is a no-brainer, I’m with you. But you’d be amazed how many people don’t use their web sites for conversion and instead, fill it with way too many photos and content that doesn’t actually do anything. And that’s the key, according to Seth — what do you want your web site to DO? How can it serve your visitors? Do you want a pretty site or do you want a site that prints you money?
Seth goes over the three most important things you have on your home page, and here’s where we really got into the good stuff.
“It’s not about the bells and whistles of the web site, it’s about the content.”
So what’s the right web site content? Is it your bio? Is it your listings? Is it your blog? Is it video?
The answer is all of the above.
How do you create all that content? And how do you get people to find it — more importantly? Seth is going to tell you and you have to watch and find out. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Here’s what you’ll find in this episode:
0:45: What are the most important aspects of a web site for a real estate agent?
2:45 What are the 3 most important thing to have on your home page?
6:00 How much should an agent expect to pay for a good web site?
7:30 blogs or video?
8:50 Is it better to have unique content or should you outsource it?
10:40 How do agents drive traffic to their site when there is so much competition?