10. There is more emphasis on you, rather than your listings.
Most agents are paying way too much for web sites that stroke their egos, building the "look at me bio sites" rather than leveraging open services of the web to give their properties the most exposure online -- the real job of any agent site. Remember that most visitors are looking for homes, don't hide them.
9. You're not leveraging the power of Web 2.0
Designing for the modern web is essential, especially now. Does your site enable the ability to connect to free open services? For example; Widgets from Zillow or Trulia? Mapping from Google? Finance Widgets from Bankrate? Automated feeds for maximum property exposure online? The list goes on and on. These services are all free, how many are you leveraging on your current site?
8. Your web site visual design is dated, really it is.
Does your web design look like the all too typical Realtor template site? Do you have a complex site design that discourages fast navigation to your property listings? In recent user experience studies, most users surveyed found that realtors put way too much information on their web sites. Battling through a sea of information, irrelevant resources and links was the number one reason for site abandonment and lost leads.
7. Your site requires a computer science degree to maintain
Agents spend a pretty penny to have a site built, then most are stuck with something that becomes dated and too complex for them to maintain. "Going custom" isn't necessarily the best approach when you lose the ability to keep your web site fresh and updated with ease. Developing a custom look and feel with simplified maintenance is the way to go in the long-run.
6. You're paying way too much for no good reason
Most agents with the resources and finances to go premium end up paying way too much for their web site and services. Did you know that the average realty web site with over 50 custom listings + high-res photos can be hosted for FREE? Did you know that unlimited syndication and single property web sites cost your service provider ZERO dollars once connected to a provider feed? If you're paying a high monthly for web site services, understand your options.
5. Your online services are spread across multiple providers
Currently, services are sold by piece meal all over the web. Use a template or custom site provider to build a site... Get up-sold itemized services and pay a pricey monthly fee... Use another provider to syndicate your properties... Then talk to another expert about optimizing your site for search. The list goes on and on, you get the picture. 2009 is the year to re-think and aggregate your service providers to streamline unnecessary expenses.
4. You feel handcuffed and too invested
Already invested the time, patience, and sweat into a site and feel that you're handcuffed to it? Think again. Getting up and running with a more efficient web solution will streamline your maintenance overhead and ultimately save you time and money in the long-run. New site solutions are designed to leverage Web 2.0 scalability, something that is not found in most template offerings and custom site providers of yesterday. Importing listings, updating information, and linking resources on a new site is easier than you think.
3. You blog therefore you think you're done
Blogging is an excellent way for you to build a personal connection with your audience. It's also a great way for Google to find you. When your blog is finally ready to convert that lead for you, what happens? In some cases your lead is lost to another local agent that leverages a better listing system. Don't get caught by being a local expert and then falling short in capturing leads. Buyers are looking for beautiful high-res photos, simple property pages, and new age features not found in most IDX listing tools, how do your property pages stack up?
2. Your online identity is too complex
Simplicity fuels the elements of great web site experiences. Simple design accounts for ease of use, speed, visual appeal, and accessibility. Great design starts with the design of your site's fundamental function, showcasing properties and generating leads. Your visitors will thank you for having a clean site design that focus on the features they need to accomplish their goals. Always be selective with the information you provide, less is always better.
1. You don't focus on visitor's needs and goals
Focus on discovering your buyers and sellers actual needs. Your web site should speak with an approachable tone and provide a gradual relationship path. Your site visitors will reach out to you when they are ready. Put yourself in your visitors shoes and stack rank why people are at your site. These items should be the most accessible features, available immediately from your homepage. By not intruding on these goals, you'll find that converting leads becomes a much easier exercise.
These are just 10 of the countless things that matter when building a lead driven site. Learn how Milobox is turning heads and re-inventing online agent marketing.
Enter 2009 with a lead driven web site, learn more...
Friday, January 30, 2009
Top 10 reasons why most agent web sites fail.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Trulia launches first real estate ad network.
What does this mean? Advertisers (real estate agents, brokers & brand advertisers) who want to increase their share of voice with a highly local audience of in-market home buyers, owners, and sellers can now reach an aggregate audience of 10 million monthly unique visitors across a large number of high-quality niche content sites.
Why Trulia? Trulia is uniquely positioned to address this problem. We have built up deep industry relationships with real estate advertisers, including 93 of the top 100 largest US brokers, over the years. We have established relationships with a network of publishers, through our Trulia Publisher Platform, that have highly relevant and local content. By aggregating local audiences across relevant sites, Trulia now offers advertisers an efficient way to extend their reach in local markets.
Read the full article at Trula Blog
by Trulia
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Keller Williams joins the Zillow Listings Feed Program
Go Big or Go Home. That’s just one of the many things they say in Texas and I’m really happy to announce that Zillow just “went big” with Keller Williams, headquartered in Austin, Texas. See the release here. We are proud to announce that Keller Williams has joined the Zillow Listings Feed program and that listings from KW’s 73,000+ associates are now prominently displayed on Zillow, bringing Zillow’s total listings count to 2.1 million. As you know, Keller Williams is one of the largest residential real estate companies in the U.S. and you will now be able to see their familiar red logo throughout our site.
Read the full article at Zillow Blog
by Jorrit Van der Meulen
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Krunching: A Toolset for Serious Real Estate Investors
Real estate brokerages and investors aren’t at peak performance at the moment. Far from it. They’re not brokering like they once were, nor are investments being made at great clip. There’s little good news for the industry. Some are saying we’re at a 30-year low as far as the housing depression is concerned.
So how are we to take the debut of Krunching, a new Web service geared to provide brokers and investors tools to better gauge markets? Are the service’s tools useful in a down market? Or is the release fated to be a case of really bad timing.
by Paul Glazowski
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
ZoomProspector, Real Estate Search for Business
Finding a place to plant your business is all about location, location, location. Everybody knows that. Whether you’re a storefront looking to gain customers based on foot traffic, or you’re a startup seeking out a hipster area to keep your employees safe and happy at work, the physical location of your business is a primary starting point for many a company. ZoomProspector is an online search and resource tool that’s looking to provide you with the tools to make the right decision for your company’s home base.
Read the full article at Mashable
by Kristen Nicole
Cellsigns launches iPhone video tours
Geeks love their iPhones. And I tell you what… as soon as I finish writing about a new iPhone application in real estate (see Terabitz Creates MLS iPhone Site), another one lands on my doorstep.
This time, it’s from Cellsigns - the SMS marketing company. They’ve launched a new product where you can text in to a number (say, on a for sale sign) and receive the video tour of that property on your iphone.
If you have an iPhone, you can see how it works by texting the numbers on the following video
Read the full article at Future of Real Estate Marketingby powerbooktrance
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Realtors welcome at auction site bidEup
A new online auction site claims it will be the first to facilitate legally binding sales, by authenticating users and allowing the use of electronic signatures and documents so contracts can be executed digitally.
Bethesda, Md.-based bidEup will accept only those properties listed by licensed real estate agents or owned by financial institutions or government agencies, and requires bidders to show they have cash or financing from a lender.
Read the full article at Inman Newsby Inman News
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Real estate videos get more exposure online
Video search company ClipBlast said it will begin indexing all current and future real estate video content from MLBroadcast, a marketing service for real estate listings.
The move comes at a time when real estate agents seek all the exposure they can get for property listings in slow markets, and also when many are shifting more marketing dollars from print to online.
Online advertising in real estate is expected to grow more than 12 percent this year with ad dollars surpassing that of traditional advertising channels by 2010, according to research from Borrell Associates.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Closing on Syndication Standard for Real Estate Listings
Members of the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO), including the National Association of Realtors® and other industry leaders, have approved a draft standardized data format for distributing real estate listing information.
The standard was drafted and approved by a RESO working group composed of NAR’s Center for REALTOR® Technology and many of the real estate industry’s leading publishers and consumers of real estate listing data. They include MLS Assistant, MLS Listings Inc., MLSPIN, New Jersey MLS, TREND MLS, Move Inc. (operator of Realtor.com®), Bridge Interactive, Bainbridge, Cevado Technologies, CLRsearch, eNeighborhoods, eShowings, FBS Data Systems, Google, Homescape, Marketlinx, Oodle, Point2, PropBot, Prudential Preferred CRE, RealEstate.com, Realtracs, ThreeWide, Trulia, Vast, Yahoo! and Zillow.
Read the full article at Rets.orgby RETS
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Trulia shows us the streets
Sure enough they did open it up and today, Trulia became the first national search site to incorporate the Street Views (available in over 40 cities) into their search results - though others have already done it on a more regional level (see Brokers and Agents Who are Walking the Walk).
It’s definitely a very nice feature, and one that continues to keep Trulia ahead of the pack when it comes to rolling out new features that aide the search process.
In the News - Google + Trula = True View
Rich Jacobson from Active Rain points out, “Now your Buyers can see that HUGE water tank next door. Or maybe the description of a ‘filtered’ or ‘partial’ view by the Listing Agent gives new meaning to embellishment. And who knew that the Next-Door-Neighbor was a Used Car/Appliance collector? You can begin to see the value that this incorporated feature will offer.”
Paul Glazowski from Mashable says, “In a partnership made official this week, Trulia users can not only parse address numbers and neighborhood data and the like, they can also take a little virtual stroll around the block thanks to those snazzy camera vans roaming around the nation and snapping pics at ground level.”
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Going "Viral" is a Real Estate Agent's Dream Come True
Yesterday on my personal blog I wrote of the concept of going “Viral” as it pertained to a recent segment I was featured in on a local news program regarding how the Internet is effecting Real Estate in the California Central Valley. Well that clip made it to BlipTV, then to websites throughout the company and so on and so on…
Though the majority of my readers are the 300 Agents I coach at Prudential California Realty, and they rarely leave a comment (hint hint), I did receive quite a few emails asking me to elaborate on the concept and where a Real Estate Agent may be able to benefit from it. My mind immediately turned to the concept of “Listing Sites” & “Single Property Websites” you have heard much about this concept lately, I am sure, but putting things into perspective is my speciality, so here goes….
Monday, March 31, 2008
Getting the most out of your YouTube videos
There has been a lot of talk about video lately especially with the announcement from Google about adding Youtube stats. My colleague Rodney and I were chatting about some of the things we do with YouTube videos.
Besides producing, uploading and embedding videos, there’s one other thing to keep in mind… optimizing your YouTube videos so they will show in the Google search results. YouTube is highly indexed and will show up from time to time in the universal search results.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
100 Websites, one unfulfilling experience
As part of a brand analysis for an East Coast brokerage, I drilled 10 pages deep into Google's results for "real estate" in the company's market area. I explored every result. There were 100 Web sites in total.
While I learned a bit about search-engine positioning, this exercise revealed something far more concerning: the X that marks the spot where real estate Web sites, in general, fail.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Zillow Adds Listings from Realogy
I imagine the Internet will become an invaluable resource given the shift in information gathering and the success that Zillow has already experienced in the past few years. As Realogy is somewhat of an aggregator itself, the relationship it’s building with Zillow should be mutually beneficial, and allows Zillow to further grow and reach more people as a result.
