Ryan Gervais

By Ryan Gervais

Do you suffer from ugly website syndrome?  Does your website have a twin?

If you answered yes to either question, it is time to “get real,” as Dr. Phil would say, and develop a better brand image for your website.  In my last article, I gave a bold statement: to try and help every reader get one more sale this year.  Here is the first step in that process.

First, load up your current website.  Now count the number of unique articles or stories you personally have written.  If the answer is zero, that is probably the same amount of traffic you are getting from Google.  If you are getting zero traffic from the largest search engine in the world, you are probably not converting too many online leads to clients.

Now, count how many calls to action you have on your website.  A call to action is asking the visitor to do something specific on your site, such as sign up for a newsletter, give their personal information to receive listings, etc. If you do not give the visitor several different options to give up their personal information, you will not get many leads.  Website users need to see variations, such as text links, banners, buttons, etc.  If you are lacking calls to action, you will need to think about ways of adding them in so you can direct traffic to your conversion page.

Do you have a conversion page?  This is the page that makes you money. If you do not have a conversion page, you should drop everything you are doing and create one.  A conversion page is where buyers or sellers give you there personal information and allow you to call or email them.

If you have made yourself look like an expert by writing articles, you will be surprised at how many people will make an initial contact through your website.  The main conversion page that most agents use is a “sign up for MLS listings to be emailed to you” page.  Every person who signs up for this service should immediately be put into your contact system to start receiving emailed listings.  These are the cream of the crop for leads, and it need to be harvested carefully (I will speak more about that in a future article).

Now that you know a few of the main things to look out for on your website, I will address how to create a unique website using a content management system in my next article, so stay tuned!

Ryan Gervais is a sales representative in Sarnia, Ontario with RE/MAX Sarnia. Connect with Ryan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SarniaRealEstate LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/ryan-gervais/a/222/3b or on the Web at www.sarnialistings.com.