Marketing Your Website
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - By: Brian D
So you have just purchased your shiny, new AgentAdvantage site. You’ve just ripped off the (metaphorical) cellophane wrapper, and your Account Manager has given you the tools for Internet success. How large or small this success is directly relates to your website marketing. Marketing your website can be as simple as mentioning in your voicemail message or as elaborate as purchasing paid advertisement program on a major search engine, with many levels of participation in between.
Marketing your website begins with simply informing others through conventional means that you have a website. Believe it or not, one of the primary pitfalls that smaller website owners encounter is a lack of simple word of mouth publicity. Sometimes not even the agent’s own colleagues/employees, family, spouse, etc. do not even know that they have a Homes.com site. Therefore, if an agent’s immediate circle of contacts has no knowledge of their site, it’s a safe assumption that no (or very few – maybe extremely web savvy clients who have sifted through a few pages of results on Google) clients have heard of your site. (So, the first step in Internet marketing is to admit that you have a site.) So, letting your co-workers, family, spouse, and most importantly, your existing clients is a crucial first step. By starting with those you know, you become accustomed to mentioning your site in conversation, obviously coming in handy when talking to new clients. Also, people your family and employees may tell someone they know, who will tell someone else. Word-of-mouth bears much resemblance to a plant or a tree. This tree, however, needs to be planted somewhere.
Mentioning your website whenever possible (in whatever media possible) will garner a surprising number of new contacts - all for very little additional monetary investment on your part. Add your website name to your voicemail message so that if you happen to be assisting a client on the other line, a new client can be immediately directed to the information they need. On signage you were already going to have made, add your website and email address. For printed materials and promotional items, also be sure your website and email address features prominently. On anything containing your contact information that you give to your clients you need to make sure you add your website name.
Branded email aids in the reinforcing your website name and brand with your clients. Not only will your clients remember “you@yourname.com” more than they would an address hosted by a major (or not so major, especially) email provider, branded email yields a more professional appearance. Having your own domain name gives the impression of legitimacy and permanence (even if you are only paying $8 a year for your domain name!) to your potential clients. (It shows that you care enough to purchase a name, and that you might care about a few other things, like selling their home!) Additionally, the more often a customer sees and/or hears your website name, the more likely it is that they will visit.
So, if your potential customers are hearing your website name in person, on your phone, and on all of your signs and promotional items, just think of the impact and reach if you multiply by this by a factor of five or ten? Buying multiple domain names is a good way to achieve this end. Market every area you represent, or every property type you may deal in with a unique domain name, all pointing to your main website. Additionally, purchasing multiple versions of your top-level domain name can protect your brand name. Buy the .com, .org, .net, and .biz for your name so that clients will not get diverted elsewhere when trying to remember your website.
With all of these domain names you have now purchased, you may wonder whether or not this idea is actually working. Tracking your contacts based on domain names will help you determine how clients contact you, as well as whether or not you need to shift your advertising efforts from one domain to the other. Beyond this, tracking your contacts over all types of media will assist you in developing an overall assessment of your website, and overall, marketing efforts.
You may find that by telling people about your site, putting your site on all of your client media, having branded email and multiple domains may be enough to make some notable results. But who can say no to more business? So why stop here?
Consider these two options…
Customers can link directly to your site from Homes.com using our Portal Advertising products. Portal Advertising Products advertise you and your website with colorful, professionally designed ads. These ads are custom designed per your specifications, including your photo, logo and tagline, with animation available. You can target customers by city or by zip code, purchasing 100% market coverage of cities to gain the ultimate competitive advantage.
Homes.com Power Search purchases pay-per-click advertisements at the top of major search engines like Google.
