Hello!

I was thinking of creating a website for myself. I was wondering if you have one and what it does for you. Does it bring in business? Do you get a lot of traffic and do you use Adwords or something similar to get that traffic? I'm also not sure who to use if I do get a site, I have heard good things about GoDaddy.com. Any input is appreciated. Thank you! :)

This is a HUGE question with many different answers. I myself use a company called busyagentpro.com. Instead of creating one yourself I would find a company that specializes in real estate websites. However if you have the know how you can create great websites with wordpress. I created a simple website myself about 6 years ago. It wasn't too pretty as I'm not a website designer. But amazingly got a few clients. But things have changed since then in real estate marketing. Having an IDX feed from your MLS is very important also as people are looking for listings. There are hundreds of real estate related website providers My website brings me clients. Most all buyers. Many website providers include your domain name with the subscription. I use GoDaddy to buy my domains though. But not for the website itself.

When I first built mine 6 months ago I knew almost nothing. Bought an agent press theme for a Wordpress blog and away I went. Integrated it with an IDX. Invested less than $500 total and have brought in about 150 leads over the last 6 months with 2 closings. Well worth the investment and time to generate some income.

This is in a small niche market as well. Could be much larger in busier areas. Working on upgrading for another site now as well.

I was with busyagentpro for six months last year. I could not get anyone to return phone calls whenever I had a problem. I never was refunded my money either. It was very frustrating. I switched to Point2Agent. The service is great.

I'd recommend setting up a (free) blog such as Wordpress or Blogger. Then buy a highly relevant URL such as SacramentoDreamHomeUpdates.com (a little long, but you get the point) from GoDaddy and set it up there so that your blog comes up when your URL is used. Then add IDX, images, and most importantly, highly relevant content and a "contact me" link to your blog so that readers can contact you right from there. From that point on, you can update it a couple times a month using highly relevant keywords.

Be sure to include your URL in your signatures, both on and offline. Answer questions on consumer RE forums and include your URL in the signature line. If your content is important to consumers, your rankings will rise and your phone should ring.

I suggest leaving out the "dream." Nobody searches using the term "dream home."

I think it's cliche.

A lot of agents have websites but few agents have websites that actually generate business. Your website will help you if you can get it onto the first page of google search results. But if you think of the number of agents you have in your MLS board most of them will not be on page #1.

If you are willing to put the time and effort into developing your website (as many on this forum do) to rank your site high then it's is well worth the effort. On the other hand you may wish to spend your time & money on other marketing efforts that could pay off for you as well.

As myself, I use busy agent pro and would highly recommend them. I have never experienced the issues mentioned above.

I have 25 websites/ LC pages and 2 WP blogs all hosted through BAP. Never had an issue with them and like Kjmendy mentions they are ranking high and bringing me business. I have no complaints.

Focus,

If you feel BAP owes you money feel free to call Brian Rodgers directly. His personal number is 620-662-6449. He can look at your account and if you are owed money he'll give you a refund. It's as easy as that.

I would say that rather than just getting a free wordpress theme I would get a Thesis or Genesis theme and host it on Hostgator or Bluehost for 6-7 dollars per month. The themes are not expensive, they run around $50-$60 one time fee. They are pretty sophisticated in terms of customizing and they have great results in the Search Engines. Plus both companies have forums and ways to get help if you have issues. If you have the $$ get a dedicated IP for your site and an IDX provider.

Get your domain through whichever company hosts your site. There is no point in registering with Godaddy. Most hosts will give you a free registration of 1 domain name if you sign up for hosting.

I do believe a website is important. But as with any other facet of your marketing plan, you need to prove that you're different in order for it to be effective. If you want people to be impressed by your website, it needs to be something that doesn't look like you signed up for a cheap template website, and then just changed the header/logo and uploaded your agent mugshot. People will look at it, yawn, and move on.

I actually don't get much a huge amount of business from my website (I get plenty from my existing SOI), but I haven't really worked on SEO much since I just haven't felt the need or had the time. I absolutely do get enough inquiries from it to make it worthwhile, though.

I use Go Daddy for my hosting; I would categorize their service as "adequate" -- not outstanding, but I haven't had any problems that would make me go looking for another service provider.

Thank you all for your input and advice, it's greatly appreciated! I'm going to research a few of these further and then go for it.

I had a website that did not generate any real business for 2 years. In January 2011 I had a company build me a website and I'm picking up 1 or 2 good clients a month. The real hard work has been getting the website on to page 1 of google. Since getting on page 1 my website got a huge jump in visits every day. The thing that I am struggling with is getting people to sign up on the site as a guest.

If you are getting good clients why do you need them to sign up as a "guest?"

Here is my website what do yall think and it was free. www.homefad.com