Creating a web site for your real estate agent sales and business will produce more results than all your other marketing efforts combined if have clear direction and follow a plan.

Most often you attend a conference or training session and hear about a great new thing that will improve your real estate business like a web site. So you set out to find a developer and ask them to build you a web site with the sole purpose of putting your listings and profile on the internet… this will be the most expensive and time-consuming failure in your business… unless you know what to do.

Many web site developers and designers will wow you with shiny features and portal integration designed to make your life easier and faster. The problem is easier and faster does not take Google search marketing, lead generation and email marketing into the equation. These easy to use portal features actually hurt your search engine rankings and improve the big portals like Real Estate, Domain and REIWA, or wherever the listing appears first (even delaying your listings a few days will not help). These developers tend not to let you know this because most of them are owned by the big portals have a vested interest and want to improve their rankings, not yours. As the great Marc McLeod once said “where ever there is free cheese, beware the mouse trap”.

In reality most web developers and designers don’t really know what it takes to create a successful website, yes they can make it look fantastic, but that will not under any illusion convince a visitor to do business with you. This isn’t really their fault as they aren’t sales people and don’t know what you need unless you tell them. The other problem is you don’t know what you need and you assume they know what you need… So this is where frustration and blame kicks in and this happens with almost all website development strategies in all industries not just real estate.

Eventually you come to the conclusion that web sites don’t work… just like the other attempts into marketing you have undertaken like seat ads, banners, auctions, flyer, etc. you get the picture.

So how do you avoid this?

First thing you need to do is write down your “statement of purpose” for your website. The statement of purpose for Real Estate Connected is: “We want to provide the best tools and internet marketing solutions for real estate agents”. What is your statement of purpose in your real estate business?

The next step in developing a successful web site is to have a plan. Now this is where most web site developments fail… there is no plan and a famous quote “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” — Benjamin Franklin, should not be taken lightly.

The final step in the process is to develop a site map, this is essentially the website in word format with all the web site sections and content layed out.

Now getting back to what I said at the beginning “a website will produce more results than all your other marketing efforts combined”. In order to achieve a successful web site you need to be clear on its purpose from the beginning. Keep the end in mind at all times throughout the life of your web site.

If you already have a web site all is not lost, the wonderful thing about them is their ability to change and quickly adapt to new needs, unlike traditional printed marketing materials. Start by writing down a statement of purpose, follow a plan and build a site map. Then give this to your developer and ask them to action it.

When you are ready to enter the digital age and build a powerful website designed for your visitors to use and enjoy which positions you as the expert look at Easy Property Listings.