Monday, September 15, 2008

Real Estate Design Website Content is King

Real estate design, website aesthetics and ease of use are three critical elements to having an effective online presence. For a Realtor, an effective real estate web design can quickly take your business to the next level.

Some Realtors forgo the use of a qualified web designer because they don't recognize the importance of using their web site as a marketing tool. Still, it's very possible to self design and build a website that ranks in the Top 3% of all websites on the Internet, even if you've never built a website before.

Given the competitiveness of the real estate sales industry, your real estate web site needs to be eye-catching, inviting, highly interactive and functional. When done right it will attract and keep customers at your web site.

The more content you provide, the more they will linger, which is exactly what you want them to do. When you give them what they want, which is great content, they'll eventually give you what you want; signing up for your newsletter, a listing, a phone call, an appointment to see a listing, etc.

Website Size Does Matter Many agents don't know it, but websites that dominate the Internet landscape often have hundreds, if not thousands, of pages. Optimally, each page has unique content and is like a separate doorway to the respective websites. The more pages the more doorways.

Now, compare that to some pre built web sites that come with 25-75 pages of content. Sure, they may look good and feature some valuable tips and information for home buyers, sellers, investors and renters. But don't stop there. While 75 pages or so sounds like a lot of content know that websites with way more content rule the roost.

Build It and They Will Come Your web site should include lots of relevant content to increase your chances of being found in the search engines. You should also name your pages in such a way that they are catchy and invite the clicks.

A well designed website can essentially become your personal virtual real estate marketer, providing useful consumer information while automatically gathering the names and email addresses of your site visitors. Coupled with an auto responder there's no limit to what you can accomplish with a good website.

Traditionally, real estate agents have farmed with letters, flyers and the like. Today's smart agents are farming with real estate lead generating websites.

Websites NEED pages; the more, the better. A website filled with keyword-filled, template style pages will not impress the search engines or your visitors. However, websites with pages of real content and relevant links to other sites will become a feeding ground for the search engines.

Slowly but steadily adding pages of real content will help your site attract the search engine spiders on a regular basis. This is the 'tortoise wins the race' philosophy to making friends with the search engines!

Summarily, good content for these pages is crucial. Your visitors may land on a page of your site that is not the main page. However, having information on every page that focuses attention on your main product or service will generate more interest and sales.

Visit Real Estate Marketing Talk for more information about Real Estate Website Design.

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