Does your real estate presence need a boost?

Having a real estate presence used to mean being in the office, attending community events, and getting out in your territory to talk with people.

Now it also means having a real estate presence on line. Internet marketing is something you can’t afford to ignore.

You, and your bio, need to be present on:

Your brokerage website
Your own website
Social media sites
Real estate portals

I’m sure different people have different ideas about which of those sites is most or least important. Is your personal website more important – or is it your business page on Facebook or (you name it)?

I personally think your own website is the most important, because it can serve as the hub of your marketing.

Your personal real estate website can/should do far more than give visitors a place to search for homes.

It can become a go-to place for information about your community – and about neighborhoods, subdivisions, neighboring communities, etc. It can be as extensive and informative as you want, and of course that information can grow over time. The more useful content you add, the more visitors will find you – and the more they will see you as the community expert. Plus – these are the posts that will rank you above the “big guys” in an Internet search.
Your website can become a resource for real estate information that buyers and sellers need to know – offering everything from terminology, to the steps involved in getting from offer to closing, to reminders about things to do when moving.
Best of all – it can reveal who you are and how you do business. Your agent bio is central to this, but it doesn’t stand alone. You add to the real estate presence it creates with blog posts and even Q&A pages that reflect your attitudes, personality, and expertise.

Once you’ve established your real estate presence on your website, give it a boost!

Begin driving visitors to your site via Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other social media sites that interest you. Write interesting, informative posts on your blog, then share them to social media. Those posts can cover community events, new developments, your market reports, open house notices, new listings, volunteer activities, your insights on the market, and much more.

While you’re at it, write blog posts for Active Rain. I think Active Rain is an important site for you to have a real estate presence for a couple of reasons. One is that the posts you share there will link back to your own website through your signature. You can also link to specific pages on your website via your posts, thus boosting your SEO even more.

At the same time, by posting and commenting on Active Rain, you’ll become acquainted with other agents across the country. As they get to know and like you, they’re apt to refer you to clients who are moving to your area.

For additional presence, you can write guest posts for lenders, stagers, and others associated with the business of selling real estate. How about writing posts for Realty Times? Of course, everything you write will increase both your exposure in the marketplace and, via your links, your own site’s ranking.

Your email signature, your business cards, and all of your print marketing should also invite people to visit your website.

Setting up a website is no small undertaking…

If you already have a website of your own, you only need to drive visitors to it and keep adding content to increase it’s value. If you don’t have a site, do be careful as you decide how to proceed.

First off, you should own your domain name and should not incorporate the name of the brokerage – unless you own the brokerage, of course.

Why? Because no matter how much you like your current brokerage, things can change. A year or five years from now you might want to move – or you might want to go independent and open your own company. A personally branded website will give you continuity, so the people who have come to know and love you will still be able to find you.

Second, you should own, not rent, the site. I’ve talked with agents who are paying several hundred dollars per month to rent their sites. Some of them report being restricted in the pages they can add and the number of words on a page. How awful.

If you’re not techie, get someone to help you set up a WordPress site so you can make your own decisions on content and make changes and additions as you please.

Remember that your site doesn’t need to be “fancy.” It needs to be informative and easy to navigate. It also needs to be optimized for mobile devices and to load quickly. That means keeping an eye on file sizes, animation, and sound. As for sound – researchers recommend giving visitors the option to click rather than having the sound start automatically.

Remember also that it doesn’t have to be finished on the first day. Make it a work in progress.

One last thought regarding your real estate presence…

Since your agent bio is important, do take the time to review it. If you have different bios/profiles on different sites, review all of them.

Things do change over the course of a year, so get in there and make corrections and additions. If you don’t have a bio, now is the time to get it done.

Internet marketing Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net