The Best Websites for Realtors - Branding, Lead Capture, or Listings

Stop Wasting Time on Listings — Here’s What Your Website Really Needs

Okay, here it is — I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands of realtor websites, and let me tell you, 95% aren’t very good. Sorry to burst your bubbles. And I’m not trying to be rude or use strong-arm or scare tactics to sell my services. I’m trying to be honest, which is the only way I can help anybody.

The Problem with Most Realtor Websites

I don’t know why, but most realtors cram as many listings from the MLS on their websites as possible. Here’s a massive FYI, if you didn’t already know it: Home buyers and sellers do NOT go to realtor websites to find homes, they go to realtor websites to find realtors. What a concept!

There is NO WAY you can compete with Realtor.com, Redfin.com, etc., for listings. It’s just not going to happen, and I don’t know why realtors even try.

Well actually, I think I do know. It’s because they don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to digital marketing or building a quality website, or even a basic website, for that matter. They think lots of listings on a site make it a real estate site.

One realtor friend of mine was upfront and honest about his non-existent website. He said he only uses the realtor Compass bio page because he’s not up to speed on all the regulations, trends, design info, and basic marketing know-how, so he just leaves it up to Compass to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s. Which, I don’t blame him for. Plus, it’s free, although not very effective.

Types of Realtor Websites

It’s said that there are 3 types of realtor websites: Branding, Lead Capture, and Listing. Well, as I mentioned, there is really NO reason AT ALL to stock your website with listings pulled from the MLS. It’s utterly useless and a waste of time and space.

If you’re doing well and can afford huge monthly prices from companies such as Luxury Presence, at anywhere between $500 and $2500 a month for a website, then you’ll have a pretty good branding website, after the roughly 2 months it takes them to set it up. And I don’t mean to pick on Luxury Presence because there are a bunch that charge huge prices for a glorified bio with pretty pictures and contact info.

The Right Approach: Branding & Lead Capture Combo

So what do I recommend? A branding website is great, and you should have one, but it takes such little effort to add a couple of lead capture devices on your site that it blows my mind why realtors or these website services don’t add them.

Here’s what you need: A branding & Lead Capture combo. Simple to create, easy to set up, effective, AND easy for your website visitors to understand.

The Importance of Owning Your Website

Keep in mind that you don’t own your website when you use services like Luxury Presence. You’re basically renting your online space. And if they go out of business, change their policies, or increase their rates, you’ve just lost all your SEO and web history.

I recommend choosing a service that lets you own your site or host your own website on WordPress so you own your own website, control the content, and build up your online history. Kinda like owning a house vs renting. Which is something I HOPE you all understand.

Think about it: Would you pour money into renovating a house you’re renting? Would you be excited to replace the roof on a property you don’t own? Hell no! You wouldn’t invest in major upgrades for some landlord’s benefit. But that’s exactly what you’re doing when you rent your website.

You’re building equity in THEIR business instead of your own digital property. You’re driving traffic to THEIR platform, building THEIR credibility, not your own.

It’s like paying for home improvements on a rental — absurd, right? Well then?

Creating an Effective Realtor Website

So, here’s a simple layout for your website:

Start with nice pretty pictures of homes and you, your family, your hobbies, or however you want to brand yourself.
At the top of the page, called the hero section, add a call to action, i.e., “Contact Now to Start Your Home Buying Journey”, “Schedule a Free Consultation”, “Call for a Free Home Evaluation”, etc.
Do the same halfway down the page, and again at the bottom of the page. Give them a reason to click the button: “Click Here for a Free Home Evaluation Tool”, “A Home Seller’s Guide”, “a Neighborhood Guide”, etc. There’s a bunch you can use.
Now, about listings — keep it simple. Add just ONE row of properties. Ideally, showcase YOUR listings — the ones you’re actually selling right now. No random MLS pulls. Don’t have any current listings? No problem. Use your “Previously Sold” properties. Still coming up empty? Fine, throw in 3 or 4 MLS listings just to have something there. But remember, this is about YOU, not about being a wannabe Zillow.
Do you want to add a property-search just to look cool and high-end? Then go for it. It won’t kill your branding or lead capture. But don’t make it too big and distracting. Keep it sleek and secondary to your main message.

So, 99% of the website focus is branding and Lead Capture and 1% is listings. The only exceptions would be if you have several huge highly priced listings that you’re trying to sell. THEN you can add as many of those listings as you have.

Getting Help with Your Website

Yes, you can call me to help you edit or build your site, and there are a few good services that I’ve come across you can consider, such as mail-right.com or InboundREM.com. However, InboundREM is not cheap and it’s not quick, but it works. And that’s a quote from the owner. And there are a few others along this vein.

No matter who you get to create or edit your website, make sure you have a combination of branding and lead capture. Then think Local SEO, and add lots of blog posts and videos to your site to rank on the search engines to get organic local traffic, which is what you want, Local Customers.

Yes, you can call me to help with your website and marketing challenges and projects. We’ll set up your marketing and digital marketing basics, then dive into the marketing heavy lifting.

CrossCopywriting.com