I've been pondering the idea of having a website, however I have no clue what I should include in it. I want it to be creative. If anyone has anything in your real estate website that your clients have commented on please do tell.

Thanks

Point 2 Agent has a great website. The base site is FREE!! Lots of pre-built content. Great back end tools. Great prospect management.

I pay $49.00/mo for the upgraded service and it is DEFINITELY worth it. Go to this like to sign up

http://www.joerealestatefw.com/ForAgentsRegistration.aspx?in=UIDIWP

Joe, do you get many leads from your point 2 website?

the thing I have against them is they're not creative and they're very limited with SEO tweaking. plus you have the same content that every one else on point 2 has.

If you are even kind of serious about real estate, you MUST have a website. You have a lot of catching up to do.
If you are looking for a great company for websites, use these guys. You will not be sorry.

Hey Guys,

I think I should re-state my question. I already have a graphic design artist thats going to make it for me, she's extremely creative and an amazing artist. I need ideas of what to put in my website. I have been in real estate for 5 years have had no problem with getting leads in regular marketing methods, I just want a place for my leads to go to learn more about me and to see my testimonials. I also want another venture to possibly pick up more leads. So back to my question ( is there anything in your website that your clients commented on which they thought was a great idea, or maybe something on your website that you think is vital?)

Once again thanks for all comments!

It depends on where you expect your traffic to come from. If you expect your traffic to come from search engines and web links - then all you really need is listings and/or access to the MLS - and some forms for visitors to fill out to contact you for home searches and evaluations.

If you expect your traffic to come from advertising you do locally in mailouts, newspapers, etc. - then you need all of the above plus whatever you are telling people in your advertising that you have on your website. eg. specialized information about the market areas, neighborhoods, info for buyers and sellers, etc.

Perky, Yes I get a lot of leads. I find that you can do a lot of changing to the website, you just need to know how. check out this website This is a p2a site. Very custom.

I had good placement on Yahoo (1st page) and then have slipped some since I have not changed my content recently. They also offer a blog and that helps a lot with seo.
Feel free to contact me if you have more questions.

The question was essentially what do or did CLIENTS or LEADS like about a website. That seems to mean people that the poster has talked to, or is actively working with, ones he can direct to his website for further indoctrination, and NOT as an internet lead generator. The poster seems to be considering what I'd call a "vanity" website. Vastly different animal.

If you are working with buyers who've not yet decided on what they'd like to buy, offer a "members only" area where, after signing up, they can view listings on their own. From the sign-ups, you can send them market updates, your views on real estate, area pros/cons, etc. Things that are addressed to each member personally, so they think it is just them you are contacting. You'd be surprised how much they like that. Find ways to make them feel special, and you put yourself above the competition. Offer perhaps free screensavers that your graphic artist can render. Have a "people and their pets" area. Mostly all people have pets they love and love to talk about, share pictures and stories.

Basically, find ways to make people feel special and appreciated; while at the same time, indoctrinate them with why YOU are special in your field, and why people who've worked with you appreciate you. Tell stories about other people and their experiences. People love to read about other people. This takes time and thought, but it's worth it.

This might be your first mistake. This artist might be great at putting together a pretty site but if she is like most graphic artists she knows nothing about SEO and will make mistakes that are hard to fix after the fact. ie. Every site I have seen done by a graphic artist has had canonical domain issues.

Have your site done by a website SEO expert and then have the artist decorate it.

The most important thing for a website is content. Words. Text. Write anything and everything about real estate in your area.

I have to disagree with Bigtoe. I have worked with many designers who were both outstanding at SEO AND made my sites very easy to adapt to new technologies. You just have to make sure they understand what your goals are. If you have to, go ahead and tell them about all the "tips & tricks" you have up your sleeve. It won't hurt and they will probably be happy to do it your way.

Equity Manager - I stand by my statement. I just looked at your site and without going past the first page I see you have the canonical domain issues I was talking about.

A real estate website that does not go anywhere in the search engines is just a very expensive business card.

what the heck is a canonical domain issue?? sounds like a church parish not SEO.

http://www.seolc.com/glossary.php


Canonical URL
A canonical URL is the preferred internet address for a website. Frequently, two alternate URL's will access the same site: http://www.example.com and http://example.com. This can have a diluting effect on your search engine representation and PageRank. Thus, it is best to use a 301 redirect to force all visitors to one specific URL.

Basic SEO. If your website designer does not understand the basic fundimentals then they are not the ones to build the initial website. Bring in the designer afterwards.

Equity actually has 4 different urls pointing to his home page. When getting a webste built ask for referal sites and check out their placement in the search engines.

My recommendation would be to just follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines. They're pretty straight forward have actually have quite a bit of intrinsic value when it comes to SEO:

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769