How to generate more real estate leads online

Are you searching for a way to generate more real estate leads online without having to rely on the large directory sites?  Now that Trulia, Zillow, and the other real estate directory websites have snagged the all-important top spots in search results for most real estate-related terms, competition for internet leads has become incredibly fierce. Simply putting up an attractive real estate website and waiting for home buyers to come to you isn’t going to work; in order to generate more internet leads real estate agencies need to take a proactive approach with their online marketing strategies. At For Sale Marketing, we’ve searched through the results of the leading real estate studies by the National Association of Realtors and Google to figure out the best way to generate real estate leads online. We’ve distilled the information into five real estate lead generation tips that will help you reach more real estate clients. Let us know how well they work for you!

1. Switch to a responsive real estate website design
   The majority of new home buyers (89 percent!) use their tablet and/or smartphone throughout the home search process. If your website doesn’t deliver perfect performance on all types of mobile devices, property buyers are going to go to your competitors’ real estate sites to find their next home. Responsive real estate website designs deliver flawless performance no matter how they are accessed, so prospective home buyers can switch between devices while enjoying a consistently enjoyable browsing experience.
2. Start a real estate blog
   Adding a blog to your real estate website is a great way to bypass the search engine blockade that the directory sites have created and direct traffic to your site. A robust smattering of informative content, such as How-to guides, helpful tips, neighborhood walk-throughs and other local information will do a good job of introducing home buyers to what you have to offer.
3. Send out a monthly email newsletter
   Personal referrals are still the number one way that most home buyers and sellers find their real estate agent, so you need to find an active yet non-obtrusive way to stay top-of-mind with all the clients you’ve helped over the years. A monthly email newsletter is an ideal way to do that, and it’s not hard to put together. Combine a helpful “How to” guide with tips for home buying, selling, moving etc., with a reprint of one of your blogs about a local neighborhood, and finish with one or two beautiful pictures with your favorite listing of the month, and you’re good to go. To generate even more real estate leads, segment your email subscriber list according to demographics, home type, etc. and send out different versions of your newsletter specifically targeting each group’s interests.
4. Nurture contacts through social media
   It’s important to remember that the home buying process does not happen overnight. While most home buyers actively search for an average of ten weeks before finding their new residence, the complete path to a home purchase is years in the making. The contacts you make through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media all have the potential to become active leads if you have the patience and dedication to nurture the relationship. Keep things more strictly social on Facebook to grow the personal side of your client relationship, and use the professional end of social media (LinkedIn, Google+) to let your real estate acumen show through. Activities such as answering home buying/selling questions through LinkedIn forums and creating Google+ video hangouts to answer real estate questions, will generate more online real estate leads over time as contacts come to see you as the go-to professional for all their real estate needs.
5. Optimize your website for local and hyperlocal search
   Now that the large directory sites have snagged the top spots in general real estate search results, local and hyperlocal search terms have emerged as the best way to reach home buyers. In fact, a whopping 69% of home shoppers who take action on a real estate brand website begin their search using a local term. To generate more real estate leads, create community pages and sections on your website and optimize them for local search using keywords related to specific neighborhood features and terms that home buyers are interested in.

For more real estate lead generation tips, along with comprehensive support services for your real estate internet marketing strategies, you can always turn to For Sale Marketing. We can provide you with everything you need to generate more internet leads, including a responsive real estate web design that includes fully-integrated IDX, lead generating real estate forms, expert SEO services, social media marketing, and more.

Contact For Sale Marketing today at 954-779-2801 for a complete range of real estate marketing services to help you extend your marketing reach and generate more internet real estate leads!