The 4 Deadly Mistakes Real Estate Websites Make (And How to Fix Them to Blow Up Your Appraisal Appointments by up to 483%)

In this blog I will list the 4 most common mistakes on your real estate website that are preventing home owners from booking appraisal appointments.

These include how to create a real estate headline that stands out and avoid generic “We Sell Homes” type headlines.

The counter-intuitive reason you should never include a photo of properties on your home page header.

What the focus of your home page should be and how to avoid getting stuck in trying to give everything to everybody and confusing your prospects.

And finally I discuss how to do forms right and how to avoid having your prospects leave your Market Appraisal pages.

Mistake #1: Generic Brand Statements (Yes I know you sell homes – but why you)

A headline is the first thing your website visitors read when they come to your website – it should summarise in a few words your UVP (unique value proposition) – how you help home owners and what makes you different from other real estate agents.

Your headline must be client centric and focus on their pains, needs and aspirations and avoid “self-centric” focus on yourself – when people land on your website they don’t care about your company’s history – they want to know exactly how you can help them.

Most real estate websites suffer from generic headlines – these are forgettable and say nothing about the agent.

Your website should not state the obvious – clients know that you are a real estate agent so you don’t have to point it out – e.g. “We Will Sell Your Home” or “Let us Find Your Dream Home” is stating the obvious.

Here is an example of a UVP focused headline.

“An Agent with a Guarantee – If I Can’t Sell Your Home Then I Don’t Get Paid”

You can also have a subhead-line that includes more specific information to expand on your Unique Value Proposition.

You must state why the client should choose you immediately – you must know your ideal client and where you stand in the marketplace to do this effectively.

Mistake #2: Not Letting Customers Know Who You Are

Most real estate companies don’t show the faces of the people who make up the company – instead they show a generic photo of a building, an apartment or a lake.

In a service based business customers expect the personal touch – what better way to do that then with a photo of the owner or a member of staff to create that connection and create a personalised experience.

Instead of hiding staff photos on the ’Team’ page – make them a focal point on your home page – no amount of design changes will create the emotional and personal connection that of a photo of an agent will.

Scientific studies show prospects are 2x more likely to click on and engage with links that have photos of people – rather than logos or non human photos.

There is a reason why brands pay millions of dollars for brand ambassadors and spokespeople to represent them.

No matter how large or small your agency – a human photo on the front page helps build a personal connection with your prospects right off the bat and clients will be more receptive to your brand when you follow them up which will lead to more seller listings closed.

Mistake #3: Selling Properties (Instead of Selling Listing Appointments)

The focus for your real estate website should be to book appraisal appointments as they are the foundation to your revenue.

When your real estate website is focused on trying to sell your listed properties you end up competing with major property portals like RealEstate.com.au.

Instead of encouraging the prospect to browse properties the focus should be on selling appointments.

Closing a listing appraisal will bring two customers for the price of one – the home seller and home buyers. Focusing on home buyers will only bring one type of lead.

EVERYTHING on your front page should be done with only 1 goal in mind – get the seller to take action and reach out to you and book an appointment.

Mistake #4: You Need More Than An Email (Bad Forms)

When done right your website forms help you book seller appointments and start the selling relationship on the right foot by asking the right questions and providing your sales agents and yourself useful information to help you take the home owner to the next stage in the sales process and close the sale.

As a minimum your form should have

• The home owner’s phone number – don’t allow prospects to leave their email and waste your time with long back and forth messages.
• The property address – this will help -you- in creating value when you follow up with the client.
• Prospect’s buying stage – this will help you qualify the prospect and know if they are looking to sell immediately or are just shopping around to prioritise the your leads effectively.

Real estate agents either don’t ask these questions or they don’t make the questions required.

Asking these questions will make the sales process run smoothly and will stop you from losing your power in the sales process by forcing you to follow up without the relevant data.

Summary

Just like a face to face appraisal appointment your website must have a system to control the flow of conversation and lead the client to the next stage of the sales journey with you. This system is accomplished with the words and images you use on your home page and determines how prospects view your company and how many appointments you book.

Just like your sales appointments have a structure so should your website – you wouldn’t spend an hour with a customer just answering random questions without structure that’s designed for a specific goal – so your website should be structured to achieve a goal.

Once your prospect decides to engage with you for an initial consult you must ensure your forms are optimised to make this process as easy as possible for the prospect – and ask the right questions for a smooth hand off to your sales team (or yourself).

The items I’ve just outlined – a UVP headline, correct header photo, forms and focusing on booking sales appraisal appointments – contain the fundamental building blocks of optimising your real estate website for maximum appraisal listings and can lead to up to 483% or higher conversion rates when used in combination.