By Amanda Ross
Twenty years ago something happened that changed our world forever and brought science fiction of the past to the present and information to anyone, anytime. The Internet became commercially available.
Within a few years, businesses everywhere started creating websites to showcase their products and/or services. That included real estate agents and brokerages. It was all so new and exciting to have a “website” and “domain”. The next step was to figure out what exactly they should be putting on the website. Some standards arose and pages called About Me, Sellers, Buyers, Featured Homes and Our Agents became the norm.
Set it and forget it was the idea then. Create a website and they will come.
Now we live in a very different, highly connected, excruciatingly tech-savvy world. The problem is that many websites haven’t moved as quickly. I’ve looked at a few that say 2001 all over them! The online community is ever-changing, growing and thriving and it will continue to do so, but that doesn’t mean you have to change your website every year. Perhaps every two to three years, though. Any longer and you’ll start to look out-of-date.
So, here we are coming to the end of 2014 and I ask you to take a look at your website. You need to know why anyone would come to it. Who are the people that are checking you out?
As a brokerage, you’ll have your own agents, their clients, potential clients and potential recruits. Your agents and their clients generally want the same things – they want to see that their listings are being posted to the brokerage website with their name attached. They want their photos and video linked to the listing as well and they want it to be completely automatic.
Your website could easily be a lead source if you add some additional advertising layers in with Facebook posts, ads and YouTube sharing.
Potential leads are looking for something a bit different. This group wants to see homes. They want to be able to search, browse and easily share the ones they like and learn about open houses. Another reason they come is to find an agent. Hence, having a photo and bio of every agent is important. For larger brokerages you also need an easy-to-search platform.
Have a signup form of some kind, whether it’s to gain access to all listings through a VOW feed, or to download a document about each neighbourhood you serve, statistics or something that interests them enough to give you their contact details.
Potential recruits are a completely different thing. This is where I find many of these websites lacking. A recruit will be looking at a few different brokerages – especially a newbie because they’re told to do this in their training.
What makes you stand out over your competition? If they went to Brokerage A’s website and found tons of great information, and then went to Brokerage B’s and only found one page with a short overview and contact form, who do you think they’re calling first?
Recruits want to know about:
1. The leadership team, so add a page with photos and a brief bio.
2. The brokerage history, how long it’s been around, some high-level stats about homes listed over the years, number of solds.
3. Your involvement with the community or that you encourage it through your agents.
4. What training will be available to them, how long it will take and what the process will be.
5. A mentor program, if you offer it.
6. What kind of “vibe” your office has (best to get them in and have a meeting so they can see for themselves).
7. What support will be offered through the admin team.
8. What your agents think about being part of your brokerage. Get as many testimonials (videos are best) from your agents and post them to YouTube and connect them to your website and social media.
9. How easy it will be to sign up with you.
10. What investment will be required by them. I would leave this to discuss during a live interview, but you may touch on what you offer.
A good-looking website is also a big plus, but information is still gold.
You can use a template website or make your own with some tools out there or hire someone to create one for you (I’m a WordPress fanatic – it allows for a ton of customization).
Amanda Ross is the owner and creator, educator and strategist of RealtyBoost (www.RealtyBoost.ca), where she helps brokerages and sales reps build strong brands, smart strategies and more knowledge that brings value to their clients. Follow Amanda on Twitter, @ImAmandaR and/or RealtyBoost at @RealtyBoostCA.
