As a broker do you have a website for your firm? Do you encourage your agents to get a site as well? If your site and agents sites don't rank on the top of google whats the point? What is your reason for a website?

Websites serve a variety of purposes. Obviously, one great reason is s that clients can find you. That is probably the most profitable reason for having one.

Another reason why business owners have a website is it creates credibility in buyers eyes when you can simply tell them, visit us on the web at www.mywebsite.com

Another reason for having a website is as a means of communication with existing and potential clients. For example, you can go to my website to find a 100 point marketing plan that I use to sell homes or go to my website to find a link to utility service providers in your area, etc

I think it is very important for a brokerage to have a website. I get disappointed if there is a company I'm interested in finding more about and they don't have a website in any industry. I won't go into more details about what is important to have on an agent or brokerage website.

Seriously? I almost thought this was a trick question.. :)

Of course you have to have a website, as a professional. And not one of those freebie ones either. Buy your own Domain and start building your brand of YOU.

A website can serve a variety of purposes, although it is worth mentioning that some agents do not need a website quite as much, depending on their size. That said, I still think that most agents would be well-served by having an online presence, the caveat being to ensure that they understand the goal of their site and that their site is doing them more good than harm.

I think today that having a website for your business is just as important as having a phone number for it.

Many potential clients will look you up on google when they are making a decision on who to deal with and if they cannot find you it's a big problem.

there are so many companies out here offering to build websites? Can I get a few good recomendations?

We centralize web operations and none of our agents have their own presence. It's a lot easier to focus on one goal and mission than to have everyone online doing their own thing.

^That would be a brokerage I would never work for. For one thing it's too easy for whoever is in charge of distributing leads to play favorites.

I think having an online presence is essential! It is important for agents because it lets them create a relationship with the potential buyer or seller.

A lot of agents with websites also have a blog. This increases your odds for a google search on agents in X market.

The agents also make it clear what company they work for which gives them more creditability.

My website is currently in development with Uptown Creative Group. (www.uptowncg.com).

They're hands down, the cleanest - websites available.

I think having a web site for a real estate agent or broker is a no brainer. How could you not be where people are looking over 80 -90 % of the time.

However, as a broker who has been active on line with multiple sites for 11 years my feeling for search engine placement has changed a ton.

Where at one time I worked very hard to maintain a #1 ranking, now-a-days I couldn't care less. Web 2.0 has changed how people interact online.

Now I focus my marketing on driving people to my site for specific offerings. it beats the random stuff all to heck !!

Good luck. Dave

Our firm has a diverse online strategy. We have a company website maintained by us, a lead generation website for the company and each agent also has a web page spun off that which is maintained by a third party. Finally, we encourage our agents to also maintain their own websites if they want to as long as it meets some minimum guidelines such as mentioning the company name etc.

I do have to say that since obtaining the lead generation website our traffic has doubled from what it was this time last year on our main company website. It also brings in about 50-60 extra leads a month from what we were receiving before. This is excellent for us as we are a small town second home market.

Having a good web presence whether it's a site or blog is crucial in my part of the country. Lot's of tech savvy people here, they expect their real estate broker to have the tools to compete on the web.