Online Real Estate Marketing--What works/do's and dont's

Time to get back to blogging a bit. Many ideas lately seemingly so little time to address them!

I've been doing some research lately: looking at realtor websites, mortgage company websites both locally and around the nation and talking with my clients, brainstorming on ways I can make my website presence more effective and my realtor friends can do the same.

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised but there are just so many poorly designed, incomplete websites out there that it's no wonder that homebuyers find it hard to trust the information they are given be it from a real estate agent or a loan officer. My personal page is by no means perfect, it's a never-ending work in progress :)!

Do's:

1)A home/ main page that really attracts the interest of the reader: No matter how much text you have built into there to attract those almighty search engines, the fact is, you need "meat" and "potatoes"! If its all obvious text there to lure in search relevance with nothing to offer, it will not take long for that back arrow to get used real quickly creating a high bounce rate. A high bounce rate drops you way down in search relevance even if your keywords are solid. Remember, If no one sees your site any longer your efforts will go to waste.

2) Ease of Navigation: Have friends or family members test drive your page and ask for their honest opinions. (Make sure they spend some quality time here to help your bounce rate too!) You'll be amazed at the things they might pick up on. Little things they can add or suggest to make it user-friendly from the layman's perspective could make a big difference.

3) Interactive features: Offer quick contact forms without asking for too much information to make it easier for the shopper who isnt ready to commit to anything at least express their interest. Hone your skills of converting that casual interest into a sale. (We're all still working on that right? There's a whole other blog in and of itself right there!)

Dont's:

1) Outdated information: HUGE turnoff. You know how many sites I see with stuff like "Date last modified 12/1/06" on the bottom of them?! This screams: "I dont care". If you dont think it's worth the time to update your site don't expect it's worth anyone else's time to spend reading it!

2) Dead Links: Make sure the links/pages work and work properly! I test my application and page-to-page links regularly to make sure they are fully functional. In my case, with the online application I have it is absolutely essential that 1) it be secure and 2) that it promptly forwards all information accurately and completely. Make sure those "e-mail me" and "contact me" links are good to go.

3) Information access: Real estate agents: I'm of the mindset that a house shopper should be able to browse listings without having to register to do so. You want the buyer to use your site to do this so they contact you when they are ready to see something. And, if they spend all their time browsing your site to do this, this helps you out on that ever-important bounce rate we talked about now doesn't it?! The fact is if someone doesnt want to register on your site they can just Google "your city here MLS listings" and find a competitor's site where they do not have to.

4) Functionality: OK, we've established looking at listings now let's make sure that looking at them is as user-friendly as possible. I've found numerous sites where accessing the list of all listings that meet search parameters is no, problem but when you click on it to view details and see photos it displays all the text in an impossible-to-read color like bright yellow on a white background! That mouse is moving toward that back arrow really fast...If your site makes the listing browsing easy and enjoyable that shopper is likely to bookmark your site and come back there and use it again & again and more likely to contact you when they are ready to move forward.

Please share your experiences and comments here....we can all benefit to become better e-marketers!

Thanks for reading

~Kevin