Agent Websites

Every agent knows that in today's real estate market, more and more advertising and lead generation is done over the web. To do this, you need to have a website promoting your own brand, hosted under your own Internet domain name. But with all the choices available, how do you sort through it all and decide what is right for you?

Many agents confuse having a web page on their broker's website with having their own internet presence. These pages are typically very basic in nature, and ultimately do more to promote the broker than to promote the agent. But what happens if you change agencies? And do these web pages generate a lot of leads specifically for you?

A central part of brand creation and promotion is to register your own web domain name. In general, once you decide how you want to brand yourself, you should choose a domain name that supports that branding. This can be your own name (www.roblevy.com) or a name that reflects the kind of business you do, or the location you serve.

Once your website is set up, you can promote it in everything you do. It becomes a destination for prospects and clients alike to learn more about you, about your listings, and even about the community you serve.

Different Approaches to Agent Websites

Agent websites range from inexpensive and simple to expensive and elaborate. Some agents spend thousands of dollars to have a custom website built (often by someone who doesn't know the real estate business), only to realize that it doesn't really meet their needs. Unless your situation is unusual, a website designed for real estate provided by a reputable vendor will almost certainly meet your needs.

Choosing among the vendors and the products available can be confusing. Certainly the attractiveness of the site designs is one consideration. But also, what additional services does the site provide? Does it include auto-response email and email campaigns? Does it come with a monthly newsletter? Or are these add-on features that cost more? And no matter what features it comes with, does the vendor provide an upgrade path so that as your needs grow, you can move into a more sophisticated solution?

Real Pro Systems provides two agent systems; RPS Silver, and RPS Gold. Both of these are based on a premium-quality website designed specifically for real estate. And both include an integrated follow-up system consisting of a monthly e-newsletter, drip email campaign capability, and a blast email tool. RPS Gold also incorporates stealth marketing lead generation, an agent blog, and an online home showing feedback tool.

Our belief is that a branded agent website in your own internet domain coupled with a high-quality automated follow-up system, is foundational; you cannot operate successfully in the Internet Age without having these essential tools in place and using them actively. We believe that without them you cannot market effectively or be taken seriously by today's internet-savvy buyers and sellers. RPS Silver is designed to establish this foundation for agents who are serious about building their internet presence.

If you are further in along in establishing your internet presence but are looking for a richer set of tools, or for more effective lead generation, RPS Gold may be right for you. With a blog integrated in the website, you will get more traffic. With online showing feedback, your sellers will adjust to market reality far more quickly. And with stealth website lead generation, you will engage many times more internet buyers and sellers and turn them into clients.

If you start with Silver your investment is secure. You can upgrade to Gold at any point in time. You will be charged the difference in price between what you paid for Silver and the current price of RPS Gold at the time you upgrade.