The Seven Deadly Sins of Realtor Web Sites
by Stephen M. Fells &
According to a
just-released NAR survey of 11,800 Realtors®, 95% work for firms that have web
sites. Yet, in a market where seven out of 10 buyers use the Web to search for
a home, only 50% have a personal web site, while 21% are planning to have one.
The bad news is that most Realtor web sites
perform poorly or don’t work at all. In fact, the NAR
also reports that 34% of personal web sites generate zero business! In our work
with Realtors from across the country, we’ve found
that this poor or nonexistent performance is due to a few key mistakes. We call
these The Seven Deadly Sins of Realtor Web Sites.
The good news is that, once you know what
they are, you can avoid committing each and every one of these Deadly Sins. So let’s get started.
Deadly Sin #1: The Three-Ring Circus Site. Do you greet your web site visitors with a Steven Spielberg-like Flash
presentation, with no option to skip straight to your home page? Do you assault
them with pop-ups, ads or questionnaires that cover up the information you
really want prospects to read? Do you think frames are cool? Do you scroll or
blink text across your home page as though it were a theater’s marquee? Does
your site have so many third-party ads that it looks like a Sunday newspaper
pullout? Does your web site look like everyone else’s,
because it was built from a template instead of customized? Then stop.
Prospects want to buy a house or evaluate whether they should list with you,
not go to an amusement park. They want unique, meaningful content presented
professionally. This means no forced flash introductions, no pop-ups, no
frames, no scrolling or blinking text, no stock tickers and no templates.
Deadly Sin #2: The Control Freak Site. Do you guard the listings on your site like the crown jewels by making
every prospect sign-up and login to see them? If so, you’ll
achieve the opposite effect: almost every prospect will leave. Do you ask
visitors to complete guestbooks or fill out forms
that take more than a minute to complete? (Name, email and phone, with optional fields or checkboxes to
indicate specific interests are all you should have.) On the other hand, do you
give away detailed, valuable advice and services, while never asking them to
fill out even a simple form? A good rule of thumb is to try to capture leads
whenever you are offering real value.
Deadly Sin #3:
The Buried Treasure in the Child’s Bedroom Site. Is navigating your site more like an adventure or as difficult
as an IQ test? If you don’t have a search feature, if
you need more than 3 clicks to reach 95% of your content or if your menu names
don’t appear consistently on every page, then your site is guilty. Prospects
will get frustrated and go elsewhere. Even if navigating your site is easy,
look at each page and particularly at the home page. Where are your eyes naturally drawn or
do they go round and round in circles? Is locating something as difficult as
finding an item in your child’s bedroom after a temper tantrum? Always make
sure that each page is as easy to follow as a newspaper or magazine layout.
Deadly Sin #4: The Master of the Universe Site. Do you “specialize” in everything? Do you present
yourself as an expert on residential, commercial and rental properties; on
mansions, houseboats and fixer-uppers; and on every neighborhood in your entire
county? If so, you are confusing your prospects and hurting your personal
brand, because these prospects know it’s impossible to
be an expert in everything. For the same reason that you’ll
never see McDonald’s Gourmet Steakhouse; Home Depot Custom Suits, Heinz Pound
Cake or Volvo competing with Ferrari, you cannot succeed by appealing to
everyone. Real Estate is local, so ask your customers what makes you special.
Then, play to your strengths. You’ll end up winning
more business at home than ever before.
Deadly Sin #5: The “If You Build It, They Will Come” Site. Do you believe that the world will beat a path to
your site? It is your responsibility to broadcast your web site to every
potential customer.
Deadly Sin #6:
The “What If They Came, But No One Was There” Site. Do you believe that getting a prospect to your home page is the key to web
marketing? In fact, it’s only the beginning. If you
spend your entire marketing budget on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and none
on your web site, then you could end up with crowds of prospects coming to your
site and leaving in a few seconds. No matter how slick your advertisements or
powerful your SEO strategy, if a prospect doesn’t instantly like your web site,
then you’ve lost them forever. A related sin is getting the wrong people to
come to your site. If you are a regional broker, you want to make sure that
your SEO firm makes you easy to find in that region, not for everyone in the
country. If you are in
Deadly Sin #7: The “We Only Use 10% of Our Potential” Site. Are you squeezing every last drop of value out of
your site? Are you even scratching the surface? The truth is that, just as most
people use only 10% of their brainpower, most Realtors only tap the surface of
their web sites’ potential power. Top web sites do far more than impress
prospects. They also include tools that allow someone with no technical
knowledge to easily: post quick and easy updates, have prospects automatically
schedule viewings, create a unique web site (www.myuniquewebsite.com) for every
single property you list, automatically collect follow-up information from
prospects, post listing documents and floor plans on-line so other brokers can
download them and more. A great web site bolsters your image, generates
qualified leads and saves you time and money through automation and smart
tools.
To sum up: don’t treat your web site as a commodity or a business card.
Instead, make it a strategic asset and a core part of your marketing plan. As
your personal on-line showcase, you must give it the same care and respect that
you give to your personal appearance and to the homes that you show. Finally,
your web site is only as good as your web development firm. Find one that truly
understands and avoids the Deadly Sins and you will truly be in Realtor heaven.
Stephen M. Fells (