3 Reasons your Real Estate Website isn’t Generating Leads like you Thought it Would. By Mike Blankenship

It’s actually easier to fix than you think!

72% of real estate agents are unsatisfied with the number of leads their website generates, according to NAR Realtor. And for investors, the truth is much the same.

Everyone wants their website to generate more leads.

So if you stare at your website conversion rate day after day for want of leads, wondering what could be, you’re not alone.

In fact, the majority of real estate professionals are in that same boat.

But fear not. At Carrot, where I work as a marketer and content strategist, we’ve generated 1.4 million leads for real estate agents and investors all online.

We don’t know how to drive real estate website leads because we’re smarter than you, but because we’ve ran thousands of A/B tests on our customer’s websites to determine what works, what doesn’t, and iterate accordingly.

In line with that iterative process, here are three reasons we’ve found that real estate website’s often lack lead-generation luster.

1. Your CTA (Call To Action) isn’t front and center

Since you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you’re not happy with the number of leads your website generates.

So much so that you think something might be wrong.

Why might something be wrong?

Well, because when people visit your website, they aren’t doing what you want them to do. Different real estate websites will have different CTAs — you might want people to fill out a form regarding their specific reason for wanting your service. Or you might just want them to enter an email address.

Whatever that CTA is, though, it should be at the top of the landing page so people don’t have to go looking for it. Make the CTA as easy as possible to find with a unique color, significantly-sized button, and front-and-center positioning.

It won’t solve all your website conversion-rate woes, but it’s a foundational must for increasing your lead generation.

2. It’s not optimized for relevant search engine queries

You can’t increase your website’s lead generation without first driving traffic to your website. More importantly, though, you need the right traffic.

Ideally, you want less nonchalant tire-kickers and more decision makers with a sense of urgency. You want people who need their problem solved as soon as possible, whether that be to sell their home or buy a new one.

That’s the kind of traffic your website needs.

Doing that, though, is easier said than done.

At Carrot, we’ve found that the best way to drive high-commitment traffic to a real estate website passively is by optimizing the website for relevant search engine queries specific to that real estate professional’s area of operation.

Here’s a short list, for instance, of SEO phrases that might be worth targeting on your landing page.

• Sell my house fast in [target city]
• Buy a home in [target city]
• How to relocate to [target city]

And here’s a few ways you can optimize your landing page for search engines.

• Include the target phrase on your landing page — ideally, somewhere near the top.
• Make sure your website loads quickly. Fast websites rank better in Google.
• Produce consistent content on your blog. This tells Google that your website is active and updated.

Driving the right traffic to your website passively doesn’t have to be a far-off dream. For the first 10 Google results of any given search, it’s not.

And for you — with just a bit of SEO intentionality  — it shouldn’t be.

3. It doesn’t have enough trust-building elements

In this article, I’ve saved the best for last.

No real estate website can generate consistent lucrative leads if it doesn’t first build trust with the people who arrive.

If visitors land on your website and think, Wow… this seems like a scam, there’s no way that they’re going to work with you. They’ll exit, click a new Google result, and end up working with your competition.

Which is why, above all else, your landing page needs to build immediate trust with anyone who visits.

How do you do that?

• • Testimonials — Choose the most compelling testimonials you have and put them right on the home page. If you can, also include the full name, picture, and profession of the person who said it.
  • Video content — Videos build trust with website visitors in a way that words on a page can’t. Since people can see your face and hear your voice, they’ll learn to trust you before they ever even meet you.

 

• Friendly pictures — Make sure you include pictures of yourself smiling on the landing page. People want to see a friendly face, and the friendliest face you can give them is one where you’re smiling (for an authentic smile, try to get yourself to laugh during the camera shoot).

 

One thing’s for sure — if people don’t trust you, they won’t work with you. The above three tips will help you build immediate digital friendships with people who don’t even know who you are.

Conclusion

If you’re frustrated with the lack-luster amount of leads your website generates, you’re not alone.

Lots of real estate professionals feel the same way.

But, as your mother told you, don’t keep doing something just because everyone else is doing it.

Just because everyone else is suffering at the hands of un-optimized websites doesn’t mean you should.

In fact, by avoiding these three conversion-optimization mistakes, you can jump ship and surf your own wave — a wave that’s far bigger, more promising, and more sustainable for your business.