Since 2008, the housing market has risen by a massive 11.4%. This presents a huge opportunity for real estate agents hoping to bring more clients in the door.
The internet has revolutionized the way real estate agents generate leads. If you haven't yet optimized your website for lead generation, you've been missing out. Millennials will soon make up 33% of the housing market, and 99% searched online while they were looking for their home.
In this article, you'll learn how you can generate real estate leads online, and how you can turn your website into your biggest marketing asset. Ready? Let's get started.
1. Creating Videos
These days, the power of video can't be ignored. Using videos to give a virtual tour is a great way to speak to the majority of your audience. Not only do videos keep potential leads engaged, but they also inspire them to get in touch.
In fact, videos can convert up to 33% of leads online. If you want to connect with your audience, creating videos is an excellent way to increase interest in a particular home.
2. Blogging
Blogging is one of the best ways to generate leads online. But you can't rely on stale corporate blogs about the company picnic.
If you want to attract leads with your blog, provide readers with helpful, actionable information. These could include posts about working with a real estate agent, saving for a downpayment, choosing a lender, or listing their home.
Anytime you can provide advice for free, you'll become a trusted influencer in the industry. And that means that when your readers need to buy or sell a house, they'll immediately think of you.
3. Paid Traffic
Facebook ads and Google Ad words provide an excellent ROI for real estate agents. When someone searches Google for real estate in your area, they're probably thinking about buying a home.
When they type "Chicago real estate" or "San Diego homes for sale" into the search field, they'll first see ads on the side, top, and bottom of the search results. Realtors pay for these ads and use them to attract targeted traffic to their websites.
Facebook ads work in a similar way. You can pay to place ads within people's newsfeeds. As they continually see your ad, they're likely to think of you when they're thinking about buying or selling a home.
4. Optimized Website
Your website is the foundation when it comes to generating leads online. This is an opportunity for you to provide visitors with real value, and help them interact with your brand.
Many real estate agents go wrong here. This isn't an opportunity for you to write paragraphs about how great you are. Instead, switch the copy around so that you're showing visitors how much you can help them, and how much value you can provide.
One way to check if your website is too company-focused? Check how many times you've written "we". Instead, you should be speaking directly to your leads with "you".
5. Social Media
If you're not yet active on the main social media channels, now's the time to start. Everyone uses Facebook, and Instagram is a great way to get photos and videos of different properties out into the world.
Social media allows you to promote the content you're creating- your blogs, whitepapers, and videos. That means you should be actively engaging on different channels every day and building a loyal following.
Many real estate agents feel like they don't have enough time in the day for social media. But with tools like HootSuite and Buffer, you can easily spend an hour a week setting up automatic posts. That way, you can simply check in and respond to comments whenever you have a few moments throughout the week.
6. Influencer Marketing
Another good way to attract leads online? Connect with influencers in the industry. This could be other real estate professionals, and you can share each other's work and engage with posts online.
You can also create campaigns with real estate and lifestyle bloggers, or build relationships with industry experts.
7. SEO
There are only 10 spots on the first page of the Google search results. Almost 33% of peoplewill click on the first result. 18% will click on the second. And the numbers continue to decrease, with just 4.4% clicking on the sixth result.
This is why so many people are working to grab that top spot.
A great SEO campaign will involve choosing the best possible keywords, using those keywords throughout your content, and attracting people who directly need your services.
8. Retargeting
While we covered Facebook ads briefly above, many people are unaware of just how great the ROI can be for retargeting.
This allows you to retarget people who have shown an interest in your business. They may have previously clicked on an ad, read a blog post, or maybe signed up for your newsletter. You'll get a much better conversion rate with people who have already been interacting with your business online than people who are simply scrolling through their news feeds.
9. Testimonials
People are much more likely to choose your business if they can see that other people have positive things to say. There are many different business review websites online, including sites like Glassdoor and Yelp. Your goal should be to have the best possible reviews on these websites so you can attract more leads online.
Ask previous clients to review you on these sites, or even give you a testimonial for your own website.
10. Mobile Optimization
When was the last time you checked how your website looks on a tablet or smartphone? Mobile searching has overtaken desktop searching, so if you haven't yet updated to a mobile-friendly theme or website, you need to do this ASAP.
Google is now punishing websites that haven't upgraded to mobile-friendly themes. If you're hoping to generate leads online, your mobile website should be easy-to-navigate, clear, and attractive.
Ready to Generate Real Estate Leads Online?
The above tips are excellent ways to begin generating your leads online. By creating a lead-generation strategy that covers all of these things, you'll quickly rise in the search results and see your conversion rates skyrocket.
Need some help with your strategy? Check out how we can help with your real estate marketing today.