“An agent’s website should be a destination, a place that people want to go to and spend time at,” says Joe Stacy, managing broker of Koenig & Strey in Schaumburg. If your brokerage has business all across Chicagoland but you focus on a specific area, such as the Gold Coast, then your web page should reflect that. Each one we make is unique and focuses on the local markets they serve.”īuilding an online image that effectively markets yourself to consumers, reflects what you are an expert in and reflects your brand begins with adding and managing the content on your web page. The Century 21 app we made is different than the Sotheby’s app both are different from our own app. “(Personal apps are) for anyone who wants to have a mobile presence available to consumers right at their fingertips,” he adds. It’s important to strategize the content between the two sites.” “Many brokerages cover multiple areas, whereas an agent’s website is more local. “Real estate is inherently a local business,” he says. Philip Charles-Pierre, senior vice president of marketing and distribution of Smarter Agent, says that agents should leverage both a company and personal website. Smarter Agent is a company that allows agents to strategize in terms of their own apps agents’ name, logo and icon can appear in app stores. With Smarter Agent, Realtors can create their own personal apps for consumer download, including for Android, Blackberry and iPhone, which can also be integrated into websites.
Similarly, Smarter Agent is a company that builds search and discovery tools for website and mobile platforms specifically for the real estate industry. Brokerage websites provide leads through consumers searching through the company website, whereas personal websites provide leads through consumers searching through Google, Bing or other search engines. Instead of creating a functional website, often agents will opt to use their brokerage website to gain online visibility, because, as a household name, their brokerage website should, ideally, have an easy search function, a simple, non-distracting design and the information homebuyers are looking for – your listings and contact info. When managing your own website, however, keep in mind that if prospective clients can’t easily search or find what they’re looking for, if they’re distracted by bright graphics and music or are distracted by links and pages upon pages of blog posts and other content that they don’t want to sift through, you will drive them away. “They can’t just take the brand with them,” Zadik says. For those agents, especially if they’re not planning on staying with the company for a long time, personal websites are vital. “A company website is a way for consumers to get to know the agent.” A company may be lax about whether or not an agent has their own website, especially if the company offers minimal content on the agent’s profile page. “Some agents want to brand themselves personally,” says Menash Zadik, co-founder and managing broker of Rising Realty. You just put in your contact info and you’re ready to go.”įor many agents, however, using their company website is much more cost-effective – the company is a well-known brand already, and the agent’s listings come up higher in searches because of that – and the company pays to upkeep its own website. If you’re on the low-end of this, opting for a personal web page might be the better choice. “Does your company package include advertising on or other sites? How many characters does your company page allow you? This can range drastically between companies, with some allowing 400 characters of text, and others, 1,600. “Does your company allow you to add video or links to other web pages you manage?” she asks. There are benefits to both, though much of this depends on what your company offers in terms of content and user-friendliness.Ĭolleen Basinski, team leader/broker of Keller Williams Preferred Realty, says that the choice between a personal website and a company website depends on whether or not the brokerage offers agents customization and personal branding abilities on their own site, as opposed to a simple profile page on the company site. Your website might be a personal website that you created and paid for yourself, or a company website set up by your firm.
What builds an effective online presence? When a potential client searches your name in their Google toolbar, what will they find? What will make your listings come up on the first page of a Google search for your name? What will get your blog, listing or website to come up on the first page with that same search term?