Do I Need A Website For My Real Estate Business?
The Answer Might Surprise You
Some people treat a website like a placeholder for a business card. They make them small, with little utility and high disposability. The content is then generic and sparsely populated, but it may look nice and have interesting textures or designs.
What do you do when people hand you a physical business card?
Most of us throw them away. If we actually sought out the service, we may slap it on the fridge till we need it. These days there are many better options for finding contact information online, such as our partner ContactOut.
A website can be so much more than just a digital business card. It can provide tools, resources, and perform prospecting functions.
The important question is: do you need a website, and if so what kind? Will a placeholder do, or should you get a higher quality product to represent your brand?
If You Currently Have No Website & Are New To Your Profession
Take a look at your marketplace. Are you in an urban centre with lots of other established realtors with social media followings & big name brands? If so, it would be difficult to create a website that functions to drive you prospects. In this situation it may be reasonable to not have a website, at least until you have done a few deals and can get some reviews.
If you are in a smaller area with less competition and have the support of a big brand, you may find it worth the effort to build a website with tools and resources for prospecting. When a new professional can get lots of reviews from past clients in a short time, and get link juice from big local brands, great things can happen.
Your Current Website Is Underperforming Your Expectations
Often people are unhappy with their website service provider for one reason or another. I have found the greatest gripe most clients of website building services have is lack of responsiveness of their professional. The next big complaint is about the lack of actual attention being drawn to their business by the website.
You created the site to draw eyeballs to your professional service. Why is it not doing that?
There are a couple of usual culprits for this. The first is that your website has not been Search Engine Optimized for selected keywords. In other words, the content must be written so that Google reads it and understand its relevance to the world. The second usual problem with websites is lack of backlinks and social media engagement. Your website thrives on link juice. When other websites link to your website as an authoritative source, Google understands and is more likely to show people your page for those keyword searches.
There is an entire industry surrounding backlinks, advertising and generating more engagement by genuine prospects. Some focus on blogs, podcasts or zoom events. Others use more traditional means like Pay per click ads.
If you thought you could just make a free wordpress website and it would bring you clients in Downtown Toronto with no more work, you have a reality check coming.
If You Get A Website, Have It Designed By A Proven SEO
There is no point in making a website yourself- at least not without doing some of the great guided projects from Coursera. To build a website that has any chance of working to draw new clients requires specialized knowledge of how Google reads the internet. It also takes some ability as an author to keep readers engaged with the content. This is a skill built up over time and practice, which you will not have as an amateur. You would then need to spend half your time learning how to generate valuable backlinks to ensure Google believes your website is credible.
This is a big job. Do not take for granted that you will be successful. Taking a site from 0 to 90 SEO score with great backlinks could take years of dedication. My advice is, find a proven professional SEO.
Just Last Month I Helped A Law Firm In Thunder Bay Get To The Top Of Google Search Results Locally
Give me a call if you need someone to build or rebuild your website. We can talk about my track record, your needs, and then discuss payment plans that will facilitate both of us getting what we are looking for.
Call: 807-630-2490
