Work Your Website, Not Your Nerves

Originally written and published for Realtor Magazine

Over 65% of REALTORS® report having a website for at least 5 years but have had only 2% of their business come from those sites. Yet over 90% of home buyers start their search online. Does anyone else see the problem with these numbers? They do not add up.

I am all for referrals and repeat business (which means your website does not have to crush it) but what if you could connect better and more frequently with where home buyers actually are?  The numbers do not lie: Home buyers and sellers are online so it may be easier to get them to your website than your office.

One of my favorite ways to get real estate buyers and sellers to visit my REALTOR® coaching clients' websites is by using Facebook ads.  

Why?

Since over 70% of adults online use Facebook and Facebook ads can target whomever you want for as little as $1 a day, it would be a flagrant foul to not use Facebook ads to drive traffic to your website. You can target Facebook ads based on your hobbies, alma mater, farm areas, client careers, client employers, Facebook users likely to buy a home soon, Facebook users searching about home remodeling (because they may want to sell), and anything else that suits your fancy.  More importantly, ads are not limited to your Friends' list but can connect you with people all across the world whom use Facebook and just may be moving to your town in the near future.

If you have ever been on Facebook, then you know that most people over-share about their lives. Facebook tracks that information (I know this is too much like Samaritan in Person of Interest) and makes it available for marketers to sort through.  It is there and someone will use this data even if it is not you. Why not use it while they are selling it so cheaply at a minimum of $1 a day? This really is a no-brainer! Watch how easy it is:

Not sure what your Facebook ad should feature? Click here to request complimentary access to our idea guide.

Once you have traffic flowing to your site, you may still wonder why you are still in 2 % land when it comes to the amount of business originating from your website. This points to a secondary problem with the websites many have but are too ineffective to use.  Aside from the obvious of having a mobile-unfriendly site, outdated listings, and a site that looks like it was created when the internet first became a thing, your website may not offer engaging reasons for people to contact you or leave their information.  

This brings us to today's second tip.  

Get website visitors to leave their contact information so they move from a site surfer to an actual lead by making a compelling or fun website offer that is tied to a prominent data-collection form. 

Why?

None of us like spam and most home buyers and sellers are savvy enough to know if they complete your contact form, they may never get off your email list. As shocked as we may be when it comes to prospects' reluctance to signing up on our own business' list, we know this is the very reason why we do not sign-up on most retail websites (mmmm hmmm, I know I am telling the truth). Unless of course, the website offers us something we want first. This is intuitive when we visit various retail sites so why do we magically expect our site visitors to think or act any differently?

Hopefully it is now settled that you need to have compelling offers on your website.  You can make any offer that you think will resonate with your ideal client. The key is to connect the offer to a contact form (such as what can be made in MailChimp).

Need ideas to give your site visitors an offer they cannot refuse? Click here to request complimentary access to our exclusive infographic to help you get started in creating your own attention-grabbing offers.

What's next? Schedule a chat by clicking here: bit.ly/callwithlee