11 Tips for a Great Web Site

The 2003 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers found that 65 percent of homebuyers used the Internet to search for a home. Here are 11 tips to help you attract those buyers to your site:

1. Recognize that you have less than 20 seconds to grab prospects’ attention, notes Randy Engfer, a sales associate with The Hasson Co., REALTORS®, in Portland, Ore.

2. Repeat and reinforce your marketing message by matching your Web site’s look and feel to your print and other personal marketing efforts. The same marketing principles apply to both.

3. Post your Web site at multiple domain names like www.yourtownhomes.com, www.yourtownrealestate.com, and www.yourname.com.

4. Trade links with other real estate professionals, general business sites in your area, and your town’s main home page; consider testing an ad on the site.

5. Post a privacy statement telling visitors you’ll keep their e-mail address and personal information confidential.

6. Post current neighborhood information (crime statistics, school reports) from reliable sources; on the Web, content is king.

7. Promote your site on your other materials, and make it exciting to go there.

8. Post a response form that prequalifies prospects and lets them request additional information from you.

9. Put your name, your brokerage company, and your e-mail address on every page of your Web site.

10. Post informative articles about homebuying and homeselling. Get permission from the author or copyright owner if you use articles from other sources.

11. Don’t skimp on Web site maintenance. There’s no sense in having a great Web site if it’s inoperative or littered with broken links.

For the Broker
Build Web site synergy between your company’s site and those of your sales associates.

Add links on your site for each associate, with a photo and short skill summary.

Discuss buying a co-op ad on your town’s Web site.

Pay your Web designer to create a master template your salespeople can use to create their own pages.

Develop monthly market reports, and teach associates how to download them to their individual sites.