The success of your business can be greatly affected by your website’s conversion rates. When looking for ways to make your site better, it is always good to make it easier for customers to take “ACTION” on your website.

But what action do we want them to take and why?

 

How Home Buyers Pick Their Agent:

 
70% of home buyers interviewed said they only interviewed one agent, according to the National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers Report.

42% of buyers chose to work with an agent who was referred to them by a friend, neighbor, or relative.

12% of buyers chose to work with someone with whom they had previously bought or sold a home.

9% of home buyers found their agent through a website.

9% of home buyers found their real estate agent through a web siteClick To Tweet
  • The 1st step taken by 51% of real estate buyers:  Look Online For Properties For Sale
  • The 1st step taken by 17% of real estate buyers:  Contacted a Real Estate Agent

 

How Home Sellers Pick Their Agent:

 

74% of home sellers interviewed stated they only interviewed 1 agent.

41% used an agent referred by a friend, relative, or neighbor.

23% of sellers picked an agent they had previously bought or sold a home with.

5% of sellers found their agent through a web site.

5% of home sellers found their real estate agent through a web siteClick To Tweet
  • 34% of sellers said that the most important factor for choosing an agent was reputation.
  • 18 % of sellers said that honesty and trustworthiness were the most important factors when hiring an agent.

 

How Home Buyers Use The Internet

 

92% of buyers use the Internet to search for real estate, according to the NAR report.

“Photos and online information about properties were more important to Millennials, whereas real estate agent contact information, virtual tours and photos were most important to the Silent Generation”

51% of buyers found the home they ended purchasing online.

 

What The Data Tells Me

 
Working your database to generate referrals from family, friends and past clients is by far and away the best business strategy for you the real estate agent.

If this seems like a foreign concept or you just need a nudge in the right direction I would suggest that you sign up for:

Peak Producers by Buffini and Company (I have no affiliation with this company)

However, 92% of buyers use the internet to search for listings, and for 51% of them that was the first thing they did.  While online they are looking for:

  • Pictures
  • Listing Information
  • Neighborhood Information
  • Agent Contact Information
  • Virtual Tours and Interactive Maps

17% of buyers looked for a real estate agent first.  And 2 out of 3 of them hired the first agent they found.

9% of those buyers found that agent from a website. In the NWMLS (Greater Seattle, WA Area) there were 110,445 sales over the last 12 months.

9,940 home buyers found their real estate agent by searching online and looking at websites in the Greater Seattle Area.

When they were looking for a real estate agent they were looking for someone with a good reputation that they could trust, with a website that provides lots of pictures, local information, social proof, and contact information.

 

Increasing Your Real Estate Website Conversion

 
A solid place to begin is by improving your website’s overall look, design, and navigation.

The first impression a customer receives of your business is often their first look at your website, and in this case, they will be judging the book by its cover. If your website is majorly slacking in a certain area, they might get the impression that you are less credibile than a competitor with a more put together website.

A great looking website can help display your reputation and build trust with potential clients.

 

1. Incorporate An Understandable And Captivating Value Proposition

 

Your value proposition is the main reason that a client would hire you. It answers the question “Why should I use you?

It is a way to convince your website visitor and explain to them why they should hire you as opposed to your competitor.

This is a good area to improve upon before jumping to simply redesigning the look of your site; by perfecting this aspect, you give your website visitors a reason to choose you, therefore, increasing your conversion rates.

What do you specialize in, what are you good at, what makes you unique, what areas do you serve…

 

2. Give Visitors A Clear Path To What They Want

 

What people want when they visit a real estate website:

  • Look at listings
  • Research neighborhoods
  • Watch virtual tours
  • Want to know how to contact you
  • Want to know they can trust you (testimonials)
  • Sellers want to know how much their home is worth

Your website needs to offer these things and it should be very clear how to navigate to each one.

You can accomplish this goal by adding clear “Call To Action” buttons and links.

 

3. Increase Your Reputation and Build Trust

 
How does someone who has never met you decide that you have a good reputation and that you are someone they can trust?  We need to give them the proof they are looking for.

The first impression a potential client will have of you is your website.  Does it look professional, like you spent a little money and are invested in your real estate career.  Are there any misspellings or typos.  Is the layout attractive and visually appealing.

Is the site mobile friendly, or a fully responsive WordPress website design.  More people access the internet on their phone than via a PC or Laptop.

We need to have testimonials from our 5 star clients clearly marked and easily accessible.

Do you have good original content in your blog feed, real estate agents that blog get 55% more leads than those that don’t.

Do you have a social media presence that displays that you are a real person.

You should have a Real Estate Buyers and Sellers page, that clearly maps out your unique value proposition.

 

4. Incorporate IDX into your website

 
What is IDX:
IDX for real estate websites

Essentially it is all the beautiful images and listing information that most buyers are looking for in a real estate website.

Can you compete with Zillow, Redfin, and Trulia?  No.  But if you get a referral from a friend or family member the first thing they are going to do is Google you.

When they find your website, they are going to first decide if you have a solid reputation and are trust worthy… then they are going to start looking at pictures.  If you do not have them… it could leave you looking unprofessional.

Besides, even though you are not 1 of the big 3, you will generate some conversion with your IDX feed.  I see it everyday, even in 2018.

 

5. Make It Ridiculously Easy To Contact You

 
After all if we are being honest with ourselves what we really want is people calling our phone and asking us to list their home or help them buy a home.

Leads are ok… but I want referrals.

If you have a beautiful website that is well laid out with a clear value proposition, lots of great content, listings, and social proof.  It is quite possible that you have convinced that visitor that you are an agent they can trust and hire.

If that happens the very last thing we want to happen is have them get frustrated that it is difficult to contact you.

 

Some things we need:

Contact Page clearly marked in the navigation

Clickable Phone Number and Email in the header

Clickable Phone Number and Email in the footer

Some things to consider:

A pop up or slide in web conversion form (I recommend Hubspot)

A chat box (check out Olark)

Contact boxes in strategic areas around the website that relates to that page or topic

 

6. Refine your website’s navigation

 
We want to keep it fairly simple.  I like to stick to a few pages in the navigation.

  • Search
  • Buyers
  • Sellers
  • Communities/Neighborhoods
  • Contact
  • About
  • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • Calculators
  • Schools
  • Featured Listings
  • What is your home worth?

This makes it very clear what you are offering and it displays exactly what people are looking for.

 

Summary

 
The data shows that you can acquire new buyers and sellers by presenting a quality website.  You just need to give them what they want.

A good-looking website, social proof, great content, listings, and contact information.

Then make sure that you have the tools in place to capture the clients that trust you enough to want to contact you.