Template websites make real estate websites affordable in today’s tough economy, but many agents are surprised when they invest in a domain name and website but the leads they expect never roll in!

 

Before you sign up for any website, consider the following factors:

 

Would YOU use your prospective website to research local real estate? For many template sites, their navigation system is just a long list of pages with no organization to them. Will your navigation system be organized to lead visitors where they want to go, or will it just provide a long list and let them find their own way?

As your content changes, can you create new pages and navigation menus for your website? Is it easy to do, or do you have to pay a webmaster to do it? If your website can’t evolve without paying your webmaster, the savings of cheap template sites are short-lived!

The Internet is used for research! Will your website be more than just a virtual business card? Dynamic content keeps your visitors on your site longer and keeps them coming back for more! Provide your visitors with a content-rich website they’ll want to bookmark!

Websites that appear to target everyone may end up interesting no one! What experience can you convey for different markets? Will you be able to organize your website to address the needs of condo buyers, first-time buyers, investors or retirees? Website visitors have short attention spans! Will you be able to make your experience and content easy to find?

According to NAR’s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, community content is second only to listings! Will it be easy to add and update community content? Interactive maps are efficient space-savers, and many offer web video in addition to text and digital photography about communities, schools and area businesses. Look for those with built-in lead generation and branded contact sheets and branded printable brochures so anything that’s printed has your contact information on it! Avoid those that pop up in a separate window: keep visitors on your website!

While at first blush this may seem like a shameless plug, and it is because it’s our newsletter, you don’t have to log hours on YouTube to realize that web video is a popular and effective means of connecting with your audience and sharing information! Would YOU rather watch a video or cycle through still images? And since video has become more affordable, more agents are creating promotional videos that begin to establish a relationship with their prospects by conveying their personality, style and approachability! How easy will it be to add web video content to your new website?