Real Estate Websites: Choosing A Website Company
Many of the template website vendors offer tiered packages so you can choose a variety of features, even semi-custom or custom design. You may be able to post listings on your site, handle contact management and automatic marketing, set up link-exchange pages to improve your Google Page Rank, and include a form for visitors to send their contact information. Lead-generation features may be included or you could opt for a site created and maintained specifically to attract new business. Some agents have both: their own "branded" personal site and a generic-looking lead-generation site.
One misleading tactic to watch for is the offer of a "free" website, where, oh by the way, there is a monthly fee for hosting. The hosting charge is legitimate; it's the presentation that's a bit sneaky. Since your website must be hosted for it to be seen on the Internet, they "gotcha." If you were getting a discount on the price, that would be different, but you're not. Imagine a media company saying "Free Billboard!" but you have to pay them to hang your billboard where the public can see it, and their price is no lower than their competitors. That ain't free!
Here are some pros and cons to consider when adding a website to your marketing plan:
Website-Pros: Website-Pros: A full website gives you multiple pages and thus more opportunity to promote your services and connect with a prospect, as well additional keyword-rich content to attract visitors. Look for productivity tools to help with marketing and contact management. For the budget-conscious, a template website is a good place to start and may suit your purposes throughout your career. With a custom website, the sky's the limit-you're restricted only by your finances and the design, programming, and optimization skills of your webmaster.
Website-Cons: The number one disadvantage of a website is the cost and time involved to develop and maintain it. If you want to generate new business and overcome the "needle-in-the-Internet-haystack" aspect, it will also require additional work for search engine optimization and search engine marketing, either by you or a company you hire.
Following are just a few companies offering real estate websites. Costs quoted are subject to change. These are not the highest or lowest fees in the industry but what you can expect to pay for an attractive and professional, real estate-specific site. You can find inexpensive sites through outlets like Costco or Sam's Club but those are generic sites, not created for the real estate industry.
Template real estate websites: Point2Agent.com, FREE/no monthly hosting fee (upgrade available). Alamode.com, $299/year. Avicy.com, $29/month. Myers.com, $199 setup + $39.95/month.
Custom real estate websites (costs vary): HobbsHerder.com, ProStepMarketing.com, RealAgentSolutions.com, RealEstateWebmasters.com.
Related Tags: marketing, webmasters, internet, websites, realtor, real-estate
About the Author:
Sharon Hassler is author of the downloadable ebook, "So You Think You Want A Website: Internet Marketing 101 for Real Estate Agents." She is owner/manager of 4 web page and directory sites for professionals in the real estate industry. A former loan officer and real estate agent in Southern California, Sharon served as Communications Manager for First American Title-Arizona for 11 years. For more about the author, real estate agent directory, and the ebook, please visit http://www.GoGetRealEstate.com.
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