As Kevin Kaiser mentioned earlier this week in his real estate website post, Five Reasons Why Your Real Estate Website is Flailing, consumers are very concerned with the credibility of the professionals they are working with. This is especially true in today’s shaky economy.
This post will discuss three ways you can reinforce your credibility.
1. Create a brand and logo
At the end of this post, you’ll see a screenshot of the “About” page of a website we recently completed. That project included brand creation, logo design and a customized Point2 Agent website and blog.
If you look at the website “about” page, which is for a company that markets Burleson TX homes for sale, you’ll notice several things. First, there is a logo at the top of the page. This site was created for a new brokerage, but the same principle applies to an individual agent’s marketing strategy.
A logo that represents your brand automatically sets you apart in your marketplace. With your own brand, you aren’t just another agent associated with your brokerage. You take on your own individual persona, with your brokerage as the strength that supports your business.
You’ll also notice that the logo isn’t just a cute graphic that plays off the broker’s or agent’s name. The logo itself starts to “train” consumers as to what your real estate business stands for.
Then, if you read the about page, you’ll see how the brand provides a structure within which to communicate the benefits the consumer will receive when they work with you. It’s a powerful way to differentiate yourself in the marketplace.
2. Acquire Specific Designations for Your Target Market
On the sample about page, you’ll notice the e-PRO and SFR logos. And, we used the SFR logo that includes the tagline. If you’re like a lot of professionals who are targeting the foreclosure and/or short sale market, don’t underestimate the value of a designation in that discipline and its effect on your credibility.
And, don’t display the logo for your designations with no indication of what it is for. For example, the SFR designation would mean nothing to most consumers unless they know it stands for Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource.
3. Create a Professional-Looking Information-Rich Real Estate Website
As you can see from the screenshot below, the website includes a professional design. The site also contains a Community Guide, information on buying foreclosures and avoiding foreclosure, a full-featured MLS search, a blog and a strong marketing message on the about page.
While it’s true that your Internet visitors won’t care much about you when they first land on your website, they will want to know more about your business services when they get closer to working with a professional. The about page gives them the reasons they need to choose you as opposed to the other agents or brokerages they know about.
And, finally, notice the prominence of the contact telephone number. It’s in the header. It’s at the top of the right column on the pages in the “contact image” that also acts as a link to an email form. The telephone number appears in the call to action at the bottom of the page. If you ask a visitor to call you, don’t make them search around for your telephone number!
Finally, all contact information is available on the Contact page and at the bottom of each page. The footer of the page contains both a physical address (especially important for Internet marketing) and telephone numbers. Don’t worry about overdoing it. Your visitors will be glad you made it so easy to contact you!
