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Today’s most successful agents no longer play games withcustomers to get their business. There is no such thinganymore as too much information. These days, withholdinginformation makes us less valuable to potential clients, not more.The good news is that you can harness the vast amountof data and information your clients — and potential clients— need and want all in one place. From new buyers to emptynesters, your Web site should be a one-stop resource thatanswers every possible question a customer might have. Howmuch information should you provide to the consumer? Theonly answer is “all.” When the time comes to buy or sell, or thatperson has a question specific to their situation, your phone willstart ringing.The following 10 concepts capitalize on that idea andwill do wonders to not only drive traffic to your Web site but toconvert that traffic into clients and future referrals. You will seequite a bit of overlap among these 10 items. Integrated wellwith one another, these tools will make you stand out from thecrowded field of agents looking to get new business.

1. Offer an exhaustive search capability.

The days of having an Internet brochure or holding 24-hourInternet open houses are well over. Although exclusivelydisplaying your listings, highlighting how much real estateyou’ve sold in the past and posting pictures of your expensivecar or family and pets might be interesting to look at, they dolittle to generate leads, provide timely information or educate aprospective client.Consumers want access to all listings all the time andhave the ability to search in numerous ways. Your Web siteshould have an IDX (Internet Data Exchange) search thatprovides numerous criteria to search by with, at the minimum,the capacity to search by ZIP code, subdivision name, city,county, school district, street name and street number — or anycombination of those. It should also have an automated newlistings report so that it’s always up to date.

2. Construct pre-defined searches.

If you live in a metropolitan area that has popular places buyerstend to ask for by name — the Wicker Park neighborhood ofChicago or a large, well-known subdivision or high-rise, forexample — prominently feature a heading on your search pagethat says, “Search these popular areas now.” Then individuallylist the areas as buttons or hyperlinks. The customer can thenclick on the button and go straight to a predefined MLS queryand pull a blanket search for every property in that in-demandarea. Prospective buyers can then drill down and filter theirresults by whichever criteria they want because you alreadyoffer an exhaustive search capability (see No. 1).Some agents have made a lucrative specialty of seekingleads for a narrowly tailored pre-defined search such as homeswith swimming pools, lake homes, golf-course homes andvacation properties. Some even dedicate a separate Web siteto them.If there aren’t a lot of standout neighborhoods, sections oftown or buildings in your listing area, pre-define your searchesin other creative ways, such as by:

•Styleofhome(ranch,split-level,two-story,bungalow,

multifamily, etc.)

•Builddate•Architecturalstyle•Homesthatonlyhaveafirst-floormasterbedroom

You can also create specialty links that feature these types

ofpropertieswithincertaingeographicalareas.Byoffering

pre-defined searches, you’re providing the consumer thewherewithal to do the best-defined search possible for theirindividual needs. As any buyer will tell you, there’s nothingworse than click-click-clicking through scores of properties justto find a few decent listings. Instead, you’re giving prospectiveclients a fast, efficient, targeted search, which they willappreciate.

3. Employ interactive mapping.

For the buyers from out of town who don’t know the area they’removing to, interactive mapping is an invaluable tool. Whilefriends, co-workers and other real estate agents might suggestcross streets to begin a buyer’s search, such word-of-mouthinformality only goes so far.However, when armed with those cross streets and theright technology, visitors to your site can now draw a boundary,and the MLS can then hone in on that exact predefined area.To make your information even more robust, add satellite, streetor aerial views, topography or a combination of any of the four.Included with these views should be demographic informationsuch as average age, income, education levels and nearbyservices and attractions.

10 Must-Haves for Your Real Estate Web Site

Instead of gatekeeping, unlock success by swinging those gates wide open

By Jonathan Nicholas

Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Obēo

An interactive mapping search is the easiest kind toconduct for most people. Once the visitor has an area to lookat, they can filter the search further by number of bedrooms andbathrooms, price or other criteria, yet another way to deepenyour predefined search offerings.

4. Provide compelling and relevant visualcontent.

Prospective buyers want the most visual content they canget their hands on: multiple still photos, panoramic 360-degree views, virtual tours and video. Most recent reports andassociation studies have proven beyond a doubt that the morepictures an agent puts into a listing, the more traffic and viewsthat property will generate — which translates to more andbetter leads. In general, a property with six or more pictures willgenerate up to six times the traffic of a listing that has just one.There’s nothing more irritating to a buyer than clicking on alisting and seeing just one photo — a bad one at that — of thehome’s backyard. There are no interior shots to give an ideaof the home’s condition, floor plan or amenities. The frustratedprospective buyer or her agent will simply say, “Next!” and moveon to the next Web site immediately. The ability to look at, say,a virtual tour, allows buyers to eliminate or choose a propertyquickly. Out of 100 listings, they can quickly identify their top fiveor 10.Instead of wasting time driving to appointments, a buyercan drill down within a matter of a few hours to establish ashort list of highly desirable properties. Ideally, the buyer goesonline, conducts all the research on his own, calls an agent— hopefully you! — looks at the five houses on his short list

andbuysoneofthem.Byanyone’smath,thatapproachisfar

more efficient than taking five different days driving aroundafter work or on the weekend looking at a laundry list of “sortof right” houses. As an agent, you save money because you’renow more productive and your return on investment is muchgreater — all because you passively provided an abundance ofinformation to a complete stranger.One note of caution: When it comes to visual content, leaveit to a professional. Using low-quality photography and video willcancel out any advantage putting photos, tours or video into thelisting might have otherwise provided.

5. Make your site the local authority oncommunity and lifestyle information.

When buyers are actively searching, they not only imaginethemselves living in the house itself but being part of thecommunity in which it’s located. What will my neighbors belike? Where is the grocery store? Are there a lot of children inthe neighborhood? How many renters live in the vicinity? Isthe neighborhood governed by a homeowner association? Onmany levels, the decision to buy a house frequently boils downto emotion over logic. To accommodate those considerations,an agent’s Web site must provide information that answers all ofthose questions.Weaving this concept back into interactive mapping,perhaps include a panoramic virtual tour of the neighborhood;an interactive map that highlights points of interest such ashospitals, schools, places of worship and shopping. Couplethese map points with a neighborhood history and biographythat gives buyers a feel for its personality. Is it a younger,more active area with a vibrant night life? Or is it a bedroomcommunity where young families move to raise their kids?Try including testimonials from select neighbors and offeringsuggestions for the top 10 shops or restaurants.Right now, few agents — less than 1 percent — are doing

this.Byintegratinginformation,photographyandmapping,

you’ve given this buyer an initial tour of the neighborhood and afeel for its residents and their lifestyles; everything they woulddo if they were visiting in person. This kind of informationaldepth is especially valuable to the buyer moving from out ofstate. The more interest you create, the more psychologicalownership buyers will take, which will make earning theirbusiness a little easier.

6. Give your site’s visitors an Ivy League realestate education.

The old agent model was to be light on information and detailand heavy on direct response. Today, the opposite is true. Tobe successful, agents must have comprehensive informationabout the home buying and selling processes. What ispreapproval? Is that the same as prequalifying? What is a homeinspection? Is that the same as an appraisal? Inexperiencedbuyers want an extremely broad A-to-Z overview of what ittakes to buy or sell a home. Remove the mystery.As you educate prospective buyers, you’re building loyaltywithout even having a relationship. If your Web site can bethe first place they think to go to when they want information,chances are pretty good that you’re going to get their business.A healthy percentage of buyers are first-timers. They aregoing through an education process that might start 12 monthsbefore they are ready to ask for an agent’s assistance. Andthey’re not just finding areas they like and eliminating homesbut also learning the actual process of buying a home from offerto closing. Why not be the one who teaches them? The abilityto pull down detailed information that educates them about thissometimes intimidating process can be extremely reassuringand helpful.There are many convenient delivery methods for yourinformation. PDF reports allow buyers to download theinformation to their computer and read or print it at theirconvenience. You can make the home-buying process a “class”where you offer a different “lecture” every week via a pod castbuyers can download and listen to, again at their convenience.Or you can teach the process using a combination of video,audio and PowerPoint slides. You can also very inexpensivelyuse any number of Flash video software to do 15-minutevignettes on buying and selling. The possibilities are limitedonly by what you can imagine. You can also use the educationprocess as a lead-generation device by offering signups foryour weekly or monthly “classes” on buying and selling.

7. Offer nonintrusive lead-generation forms.

Requiring an upfront lead-generation form as an informationexchange tool is an outdated tactic. Instead, think of theseforms as offering the buyer a chance to raise his hand and askyou for help. You are showering perfect strangers with the giftof robust, abundant information all throughout your site. Whenprospects have questions, they won’t be afraid to ask you forassistance because you’ve already been helping them. Withso much information on your site, you’re giving them reason tointeract with you.

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Though you’re providing information, you still need to havethe ability to interact and know who’s coming to your Web site.Your Web site is a sales tool, so use it that way. Throughoutyour site, offer — but don’t force — prospective buyers to askyou for more information. Though you’ve likely answered amajority of their questions with the wealth of information you’vealready provided, they may still have questions or requests.Scatter information request forms throughout yourinteractive website. To make it easier to decide what to ask for;the most common questions and requests often include:

•Howmuchismyhomeworth?•Willyousendmemorein-depthinformationona

particular property?

•Willyouconductacomparativemarketanalysis(i.e.a

home evaluation)?

•Willyousignmeupfornewlistingsreportsviae-mail?•Willyoualertmewhenpodcastsorothereducational

materials become available?

•Willyousendmearelocationpackage?•Canyousetupaviewingappointmentforaparticular

property?

•Canyouprequalifyme?•IhaveahometosellbeforeIbuy.Help!

When a user is ready to make those kinds of requests,

youwilloftenbethefirstpersontheythinkof.Why?Because

you’ve spent months planting seeds with them through your Website’s content instead of wasting time cold-calling a pile of low-quality leads. Offering several ways for visitors to transition frompassively looking at your site to actively seeking your expertisefor even the smallest question can quickly turn into new business.They’ve now come to you instead of you going to them.

8. Use objective data and third-partytestimonials.

Real estate ranks in the bottom five of all industries fortrustworthiness — right alongside attorneys and used-carsalesmen. We’re also a very egotistical industry. Avoid thetemptation of having 10 pages on your Web site devoted totelling visitors how fabulous you are, how many homes you’vesold and the number of dollars you’ve generated. When youbuild yourself up like that, many prospective buyers will think,“That agent’s too busy for me. I’m not going to call.” Overhypingyourself drives as much business away as it might bring in.Remember: It’s not about you, it’s about the property. Instead,illustrate your value with objective data and testimonials fromhappy clients.It’s good to talk about the value of a REALTOR® — howusing one can save or make money for buyers and sellers. Theapproach you choose, however, will make all the difference.Instead of saying, “I sold $2 million worth of real estate lastyear,” it’s much more compelling to say:

•“Onaverage,buyerswhoworkedwithmein2006saved

$6,472.”

•“Iworkedwith26sellersinthepastyearand,onaverage,

got them 98 percent of their asking price.”

•“Lastyear,Iworkedwith32buyers.Ofthose,Iaveraged

a savings of 12 percent off the listing price.”You’re showing customers in a powerful, concrete,provable way that you have real value and that your servicescan often pay for themselves. No one can argue with that.In addition to using data, put genuine, heartfelt third-party testimonials on your site. Every time you have a happyclient at the closing table, put them on camera. Visit the familyof first-time buyers on their moving day. Make an emotionalconnection with future buyers and sellers. Allow them toimagine themselves sitting at the same closing table or loadingthe moving truck. In a relationship business like ours, there’snothing more powerful.

9. Learn and implement Internet syndication.

Your Web site should feed, or propagate, your listinginformation to numerous other sites on the Internet such as

Yahoo!,Trulia,GoogleBase,Craig’sList,OodleandLiveDeal.

With live feeds, every time you put a listing on your site, itautomatically syndicates to these other sites. Such movementwill amplify each listing’s impact, increasing the number andquality of your leads substantially. For those agents whoare less technologically inclined, syndication is easy to setup through a good Internet developer. With many vendors,syndication comes as part of a whole Web site package.Now that you’re syndicating your listings, you can accuratelyquantify and qualify where your traffic is coming from. This isespecially helpful for those agents who have a limited marketingbudget. With metrics in place, you can spend more money onsites that get more traffic and cut back on others that don’t.

10. Build a robust administrative/back-page areafor your site.

No lead-generation Web site would be complete without anexhaustive backsite that:

•Housesallincomingleads•Hasacontactmanagementcapabilitywhereyoucan

search by last name, ZIP code, price range and MLSnumber

•Haslistingmanagementfunctionsforallofyourindividual

listings including adding and deleting photos andbanners, changing descriptions and price, managingvirtual tours, etc.

•Hasaleadfollow-upsystemthatallowsyoutocreate

campaigns, track online viewing habits and develops aprofile for each visitor

•Canautomaticallysendselectclientsinformationabout

events in a neighborhood, such as a new restaurantopening

•Cansendautomatede-mailsaskinghowaclient’ssearch

is going or offering more educational information such as,“10 things you need to do before writing an offer”

•Housesyourmonthlynewsletter

Look at everything on your back-page area with an eyetoward touching base, educating, assisting with searches andproviding neighborhood and lifestyle information for each ofyour clients.