The 3 Most Important Things Your Website Should Do

The year is 2022; If you don’t have your own website and social media accounts, do you even exist?! Your online presence isn’t just about selling real estate (or whatever it is you sell)–it’s about selling YOU. Good salespeople don’t just register a domain, pick a trendy template, and slap a few sentences up every now and then. Your website has the power to make or break your business; Here are the three most important things every agent’s website should do…

1. Give a clear sense of your personal brand.

This is the part where those of you who follow me here will say, “Ryan, you sound like a broken record!” But I need to keep beating the personal branding drum over and over until every last salesperson gets the message. It’s THAT important. Just as your outfit, appearance, and personality give clients a first impression of you, the colors, font, and design of your website give an instant impression of your personal brand. Before you create a website, get clear on what your brand is. Is it polished and buttoned up? Rule-breaking and disruptive? Create a detailed map of your personal brand, and then make sure your website instantly conveys its message. Also pay attention to your content–using a consistent voice is key in order to stay on brand–and don’t forget to show visitors your “And.” Your “And” is a key part of your branding strategy, as it’s what separates you from the sea of other salespeople out there. It’s the personal details about your life, hobbies, and interests outside of work, and that’s the stuff that actually stays with a lead and makes you memorable.?

2. Provide useful content that makes people come back.

Aside from providing information about who you are and why you’re different, your website must cater to your audience’s most basic and obvious desire: To browse real estate! The easiest way to do this is with an IDX feed, which pulls the current inventory from MLS and allows your visitors to sort through listings. Over 90 percent of real estate agents have this feature on their sites. Do you? If so, good! Here are two more things to add:?

• A blog featuring informative posts about topics your readers likely have questions about (how to get the best mortgage rate, common contract contingencies, the most important rooms/features that sell a home).
• A video module that highlights your latest home tour from your YouTube page or explainer from your TikTok account.

3. Convert visitors to leads.

Now, let’s get to the fun part: CLOSING DEALS! Or, in this case, converting leads. Your website is part of a funnel that begins with people searching for something online and ends with them hiring you. At the front end of the funnel are things like SEO, social ads, and content marketing that find leads and bring them to your site; I get into this in more detail in my upcoming course, The Ultimate Website Course for Real Estate Agents, launching June 21, 2022 in partnership with Luxury Presence! In the middle of the funnel is where you convert your website visitors into leads and add them to your database. How do you do that? So many ways! The most common way is to require your visitors to enter their name and email to access your IDX feed. Just like that, you’ve added a new lead to your list. Other ways are to offer free content or services people can sign up for, such as a newsletter, downloadable checklist, or free home estimate. When set up correctly, your website can bring in as many (if not more!) leads than paid traffic and ads.

If all of this sounds like a lot of information, don’t worry–there is a lot of information about website optimization—this is only the tip of the iceberg. If I just added a task or two to your To Do List, that’s great! My goal is to share as much helpful information with other agents as possible. And remember, if you want to know ALL of the secrets to creating a website with ROI that converts leads and sells your brand, go check out my new course when it launches on June 21, 2022.