The question of whether or not you really need your own website as a real estate agent (or team) comes up quite a bit. In today’s landscape, most brokerages provide their agents a pretty limited profile page (usually tied into the centralized site) that more often than not includes basic features such as a bio, a list of previous sales, a home search, and testimonials. Those can be great but that’s not what we are talking about in this article. What we’re referring to are the third-party custom websites that agents/teams build outside of the standard one provided by the company.
Is putting forth the money and effort towards your own personalized website worth it as a real estate agent? The answer really depends on you as a Realtor and what your professional goals are. We know many Realtors that sell real estate “on the side” and have no intent to make this their main source of income. However, this is not the case for everyone.
A website is not a passive entity. Having one can establish a certain sense of authority and legitimacy when going after bigger listings or developments.
There are only two reasons to have a website if you’re a real estate agent:
1) You enjoy creating content for your community or listings and need a platform/portfolio to foster an audience of buyers and sellers (think: articles, listing videos, local news or happenings, etc). This is a great way to connect with your potential clients. No one likes to purchase from strangers. We do it because sometimes there is no other choice. We want to be familiar with the person who is selling us what is the biggest and most important purchase of our lives. People want to be able to say they “know you” or they “know your team”.
2) You want to utilize the latest digital marketing strategies and be in total control of your lead-capturing efforts (Facebook ads, landing pages, etc). Top producing agents understand the potential of having their own platform and lead capture system and are willing to invest the time and/or money to create content and be on the cutting edge.
Real estate is an industry that relies on personal relationships so a website alone will never overshadow the importance of putting yourself out there and networking face to face. But if you’re able to utilize the potential a custom website provides, the results can be overwhelmingly successful!
If you’ve been contemplating creating a website for yourself or for your real estate team, contact us today. We can guide you through the steps and help you figure out if it’s right for you.