Beyond MLS for Websites

Many agents seem to rely on their MLS listings as the main attraction to their website. However, with Realtor.com, IDX, and Virtual Office Websites (VOWs), MLS listings are all over the place. Potential buyers don’t need to come to your website to check out listings - and they won’t if you don’t give them an incentive. You need to provide them a better reason to visit your website.

Providing Valuable Content

Users are looking for content. They want to know what it is about you that makes you the best Realtor to work with. This usually revolves around your insight into the home buying/selling process, how customer focused you are, what types of services you offer them, and in general, how well they will get along with you.

Template websites don’t build rapport. To do that, you need content - and I mean content that conveys your personality. Sites shouldn’t be about why you are number 1, but should give helpful advice and tips on little things like problems sellers might encounter if a buyer is nitpicking about a tiny problem with the house or information about what the neighborhood is like and how it has changed over the last 10 years.

Providing Valuable Content

Think of it this way, if you take listings, your job is to assist the seller in obtaining the highest price possible for their property. To do this, if you are going to advertise their home on your website, you want potential buyers to visit your site. From a buyers point of view, what do you need to include on your site to get them interested and motivate them to take that next step? Requiring them to fill out a form that promises they will only do business with you isn’t going to work, but educating them about the area, and at the same time, adding some personality into your writings will. Weblogs work really well to stay in touch with prospects while building rapport and demonstrating your expertise in your niche. You can also work to make your site a community resource to attract buyers. Adding new content is always good.

Client Focused Web Design

Websites should also be easy to use. Some companies sell generic, template sites that use frames or are difficult to navigate. Others actually have ads to other vendors on their websites - why would you want to drive traffic away from your site? If a website company offers to design your site for free as long as you pay a hosting fee, there’s a good chance they’re making money from the site somehow, and displaying other people’s ads on your site is one way they go about doing that. Sites that have numerous pop ups annoy users as well.

Effective websites profile users - meaning that before you start building the site, you ask who is most likely to visit your site. What types of information would they be looking for? What do they do in their spare time? As a career? What are their goals and aspirations? Where do they see themselves in 5-10 years? You’ll probably have a number of different people visiting your site for different reasons. Your site should answer their questions and address their problems as quickly and easily as possible - in their language, tone, and style.