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By: Stan Smith
Are you frustrated with your website?
I've been there before. Everyday you check your visitor statistics and every day you see the same poor results. A slow trickle of visitors, no real leads - it gets pretty painful. The good news is that this problem can be remedied very quickly (and cheaply) with just a few minor tweaks to your website.
But first you need to know the problem. Let's take a look at at the top 10 offenders that can cripple your website's success.
1. No Traffic You must steer a large number of people to your website to be successful. One or two visitors a day isn't website traffic - it's a waste of time. Success on the web is a game of numbers - without traffic you have a very low probability of converting visitors into clients. Getting 'mucho' traffic to your site should be your first priority.
2. No Listings Don't even think about building a website that does not have MLS listings. Like a boat, a website without MLS listings is just a hole you throw money into. The #1 reason why people use the Internet to research a home is to read MLS listings. No Listings = no go. Just that simple.
3. No Community Information The second reason why people use the Internet to search for a home is to research neighborhoods, schools, shopping and entertainment. Visitors to your website will expect you to give them a snapshot of their desired community. The first realtor who gets them this information wil win.
4. Not Search Engine Friendly Eighty percent web surfers use search engines to find websites that interest them. If your website isn't easy to index by search engines you will have a very difficult time getting quality traffic.
5. Old Information The carnal sin of the web is to have outdated information on your site. If you haven't updated your website within the last three months - you may be upsetting your visitors. Sites with old listing and community information are quickly bypassed by Internet Homebuyers.
6. Poor Design White text on black backgrounds. Yellow on purple. Blinking logos. Flashing text. Micro-print. Flavor of the week fonts. All scream unprofessional. Ugly websites get ugly results.
7. No Follow-up You are missing an incredible opportunity if you are allowing your visitors to exit your website without leaving an email address. Collecting email addresses is The #1 objective for your website. These addresses are the only chance you have for transforming cold browsers into hot buyers (and sellers!)
8. Misspellings and Bad Grammar Misspellings spell disaster. I always recommend reading every page of your website out loud. This way you will hear sentences that don't sound right. This is also the best way for catching words that your spell checker overlooked.
9. Resume Oriented vs. Benefit Oriented Some realtors make the mistake of thinking that their visitors care more about resumes than listings. Leave your certifications and job history to your contact page. Make sure listings, community info, and featured properties are front and center. This is what your prospective clients want - give it to them - quickly.
10. Never Advertised Build it and they will come is not true on the Web. With over 6 billion web pages, your website is just a blip on the radar screen. Your site will get swallowed alive if it is not actively promoted.
Do a quick checkup of your website and see if these 10 offenders are hurting your websites success. With some minor changes you can turn your website into a lean, mean, prospecting machine.
About the Author
How some realtors are using the web to make a fortune Stan Smith has cracked their code so that you can learn their secrets and boost your business practically overnight. Free Details --> www.RealtorInternetTips.com Free Email Course --> mailto: realtorsample@getresponse.com Return to
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