Going online is the quickest way for a real estate business to generate leads. The days of television, radio and outdoor advertisements being the go-to for leads is long gone. Everyone in the business world has already made the online switch and it’s time for you to do the same. Below are four tips to help you make the switch and get online lead generation for real estate success.
Build a Website
The first step in getting online lead generation for real estate success is to have an online presence. The easiest way to do this is to build your own website. As you may already know, many people today are starting their home buying process online, and if you don’t have a website then you’re missing out on big opportunities. The key to gaining online leads is to build a user-friendly and attractive website with valuable content. If you’re capable of building your own website that’s great, but if you’re like most of us who don’t know a single line of code, then I propose an alternative. Some sites like WIX, GoDaddy and Squarespace will let you build and customize your very own website even if you don’t have any programming skills. Remember, you have to be online to get online leads, so make sure you invest in a website today.
Produce Content
Okay, so now you have a website, but how will people find it and what should you put on it? Well, the old fashion way to get your website exposure is to make business cards with your website printed on it and hand them out to people during networking events. That’s great and all, but things have changed and the best way to get online exposure for your website nowadays is through search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is simply the process of getting your website or web page to appear on a search engine’s (Google, Yahoo, Bing etc.) results page. The easiest way for you to do this is to blog. To post blogs on your website, set up a WordPress account directly to your site and post blogs from there. All you have to do is produce relevant content and incorporate a focused keyword within your content. A focused keyword will help get your blogs on search engines; the keyword must be within your title, meta description and strategically placed throughout your content. For example, you write a blog called “Curb Appeal Tips for Selling a Home.” Your focused keyword would be ‘curb appeal tips’ and the more you use this keyword phrase throughout the blog, the higher it will be ranked on search engines. If you need help finding the right keyword for your blogs then check out this article on how to do blog keyword research.
The best types of blogs are those that educate readers by giving tips and advice. Don’t just write blogs that promote yourself; write about things that people are interested in and are searching for. Your blogs should also show off your personality, make them fun and entertaining and more people will want to read them.
Expand Your Email List
After you’ve created your website and added valuable content, it’s time to start generating leads using emails. Now that’s easier said than done, because not everyone who visits your website will be willing to hand over their email address. You have to provide them with some kind of incentive in exchange for their email. One suggestion is to have your readers sign up for a newsletter. If they think your content is relevant and useful, they will sign up for your newsletter and you can send them content as it becomes available. You can use tools like MailChimp and Infusionsoft to create a sequence of emails ahead of time and send them out as new readers sign up for your newsletter.
Another way to build your email list is to host an online webinar. You can host your webinar every week or once a month and give your input and advice on current news, events, and problems in the world of real estate. All you need is for your readers to submit their email address to participate in the webinar or save it and watch it later. A webinar is a great idea, because you can take the questions that were asked during the session and answer them in your next blog post.
Take Advantage of Social Media
Social media is one of the fastest and easiest ways to bring awareness to websites and get online lead generation for real estate businesses. Social media give readers the option to like, comment and share your posts with their friends. This is important because you want to engage your readers and build relationships through conversations in the comment section. There are many social media channels you can use, but Facebook is the most popular. This means it’s important to have a Facebook page and post your content on it.
Similar to Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus are also useful for lead generation. You can use Twitter to tweet out your content and use appropriate hashtags. Twitter has an import system where you can import your email list and it’ll show which one of your contacts has a twitter account. You can then follow and connect with them. Posting your content on Google Plus will help it get rank higher on Google’s result page. Many businesses don’t use Google Plus for awareness, (many users are inactive) but the SEO benefits it provides are extremely valuable.
Visual social media channels like Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube are especially helpful for real estate success, because you can post pictures of your home listings. Make sure you only use photos you have taken yourself and not stock photos. Stock photos can look different from the actual home and you don’t want potential clients to think they’re being tricked when you show them a home that looks nothing like the pictures you posted. Videos are a good compliment to posting photos. Instagram has a feature called hyperlapse, which allows you to create short videos. You can record a short video describing a home or showing fun local places around the area like parks and restaurants.
The last social media channel for generating online leads is LinkedIn. Unlike other social media sites, LinkedIn is more professional, which means you have to be on your A-game if you want to get leads here. The first step to getting leads on LinkedIn is to complete your profile and company page with your website URL, your experience, accomplishments and certifications, links to other social media sites and any unique specializations that will help you stand out from everyone else. Presenting yourself as a professional will increase your chances of finding and converting leads.
Your next step on LinkedIn is to join groups and communities that share your similar interests. You can interact and build relationships with them. LinkedIn now allows long-form blog posting, which means you can now blog directly on the site and share what you know with others. If people have questions, answer them and let them know that you’re a real estate expert and you’re available to help them. If you can’t find any groups that fit your style, then create your own and invite people to join.
Finding and converting online leads will be much easier once you’ve established a strong online presence. If you have questions about generating online leads or you need help producing content, don’t hesitate to contact us at Nao Media. We’re a content creation company that will help you tell your story through engaging content. We’ll work with you to create valuable content for your website and guide you through converting leads. We look forward to hearing from you!
