Build Your Online Presence as a Real Estate Agent

In a recent study by Zillow Group, 87 percent of home buyers surveyed indicated that they used an online resource when searching for homes.¹ Sellers are there, too, going online to find and compare real estate agents. Given the overwhelming online trend, it’s more important than ever that you are well-versed in how home buyers and sellers use the internet, what they do online, how you can be everywhere they are — and how you can contribute to a great experience.

Best practices

Advertise online. Real estate websites offer a variety of online advertising options for nearly any budget, and make it easy to get started and maintain your profile. Highlight your expertise to potential clients across Zillow and Trulia with Premier Agent Advertising and connect with interested home shoppers actively looking for homes in your farm area. Many sites provide a mobile app so that leads and clients can find you anywhere, anytime. Check out the free Premier Agent App, which helps you easily manage leads and track team performance.

You can also advertise on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and on search engines like Google and Bing. Use Premier Agent Direct to extend your reach by targeting shoppers with ads on Facebook — and showcase your brand and listings with video ads on Zillow search results.

Maximize your presence on Agent Finder. Zillow’s Agent Finder helps you showcase your diverse skills so that consumers seeking that particular set of talents find you quickly and easily. Buyers and sellers can narrow their search by filtering for language fluency, home price, home type, brokerage affiliation, service needed or agent specialty. Agent Finder can also help drive profile contacts — buyers and sellers who have already reviewed your profile and reviews — directly to you. Follow these seven tips to get more contacts from Agent Finder.

Optimize your real estate website. Every marketing campaign you undertake — regardless of the call to action (CTA) or delivery method — should drive traffic to your website. If your website doesn’t deliver an optimal experience, you risk missing opportunities to attract and convert leads. Look at your website from a consumer’s point of view and ask yourself if represents an experienced, knowledgeable real estate professional whom you would trust to help you buy or sell a home.

• Implement smart SEO strategies to attract more real estate leads.
• Offer concise but engaging content and a CTA on every page.
• Make sure your website is optimized for viewing on mobile devices as well.

Start a blog. Delivered on a consistent basis, compelling and engaging blog content — even repurposed posts that you refresh and reuse — can attract any number of followers and increase your online presence. A blog gives you a voice and identity. It can help you connect with potential clients, letting them know who you are, what your values are, and what you’re most knowledgeable about. Writing a blog post doesn’t have to be difficult — you can share your message in six easy steps.

Don’t forget to reply to every single comment left on your blog, whether it’s good, bad or neutral. Thanking someone for taking the time to leave a comment or apologizing for something that generated a negative review shows your humanity and humility, and reinforces your likability and dedication to customer service.

Add videos to your website and social media platforms. Creating videos and adding them to your marketing repertoire can help you attract, engage and connect with consumers. Shooting video has become easier than ever; even a smartphone can produce high-quality footage. That said, consider taking the time to storyboard your videos to get the best possible product.

Follow these tactics for sharing your videos on social media platforms as well as your own website — share your content the right way and on the sites where your audience spends its time.

Digitize your newsletter. Real estate newsletters can be an effective strategy for staying top of mind with leads and clients — and a great way to differentiate you from the competition. They reinforce your brand, deliver your message, and demonstrate your expertise — all things that a successful marketer does regularly. Consider the benefits of an electronic newsletter:

• It’s quick and easy to send to a new lead.
• It can link to your website and drive traffic there.
• If you need to make an update or correction, you can tweak and repost your newsletter in minutes.
• It eliminates the costs of paper, envelopes and postage.

¹Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report 2016.

Related resources

• 7 ways to get more contacts from Agent Finder
• 25 videos you can shoot and share right now
• 7 smart strategies for real estate SEO
• Using drones for real estate photography