Traditional media is no longer a powerful way of gaining customers the way to go is the internet and hence the use of websites. As a real estate agent you are not different, you need to reach out to your clients. It is no longer a matter of waiting for clients but going where they are. A website helps you brand your business.
Became a Client Resource – The first step is to create your website, where your current, and prospective, clients can go to learn more about you and the services you offer. However, most agents make the mistake of doing only that and no more; in today’s competitive marketplace, you need to go beyond displaying your services. You need to use your website, blog, and social media to become a valuable resource with pertinent, helpful information.
Brand Yourself – Set yourself apart from the competition, you do not want to be just another pretty face on a standard corporate site. By having your own site you are creating your online brand, as your website is a direct reflection of your authority, goals and services. Home buyers and sellers want to work with someone they can trust. The National Association of Realtors website states that 54% of buyers and 64% of sellers found the agent they worked with either from a personal referral or they used an agent they had worked with before. And how do they follow up with a referral? Google search! Question. Are they looking up Holly Homeseller or the name of the reality company?
Sourced from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-reasons-why-real-estate-agents-need-own-websites-mark-cordy
Your website should not contain fluff. It should be a place where property buyers and sellers find relevant information. Relevant information in turn can earn you clients because they trust you
It Should Be a Source of Valuable Information
Your website should be source of information for your Buyers & Sellers. It should provide information in the form of ebooks, videos, blog articles, and/or audio, which answers questions.
Think of the most commonly asked questions you get from them. You’re a walking, talking, living book of real estate information, so share that knowledge online at your website.
It Should Be a Portfolio of Your Previous & Current Listings
This is the place where your sales record of listings should be. You should be using professional real estate photography and virtual tours for all of your listings.
There is no better way to show off your brand as a professional real estate agent than showing off how you “market” your client’s homes. Each listing should have it’s own page on your website. This page should be directly linked to the active listing both Zillow & Trulia thru virtual tour and external links. These linkbacks are also phenomenal for the SEO benefits to your website. Bringing in traffic from Zillow & Trulia should be a major goal of each one of your Active Listings.
Sourced from: http://agentredefined.com/real-estate-agent-websites-everything-need-know/
A good real estate website is one that facilitates discussions. These forums attract more traffic to your site. You should also ensure that you have good content.
Forums
One way to drive traffic to your real estate website is through forums, such as AgentsOnline, RealEstateForum.com, and BiggerPockets.
For SEO purposes, businesses would often use links in their profile on posts to build links back to their website, as you could specify the anchor text that you wanted to use in order to rank for your desired terms. However, excessive use of these kinds of links are now being targeted by Google, with their recent Google Penguin algorithm update.
A great way to still use sites like the ones above, as well as Trulia and Zillow, is by contributing quality articles to their burgeoning online communities. Trulia actually allows you to have your own blog on its website, where you can contribute articles and earn a following from other community members — which, ultimately, can build your brand as a real estate agent and thought leader amongst your peers (who could conceivably refer local business to you).
Sourced from: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/07/4-types-of-content-for-realtors/