Traffic or Leads?
Most agents believe that they way they will generate more leads is to generate more web traffic, so they become very concerned about search engine optimization, often without attending to the basics of content. A good real estate website will have a way to capture leads from visitors to the website, and put those leads in an appropriate drip email campaign or subscribe them to an e-newsletter. This is a sound strategy; necessary, but not sufficient.
Since agent websites are intended to be heavily branded for the agent, they will only attract leads from one portion of the market- those that don't mind exposing their identities to an agent who may call them. However, many internet home buyers and sellers are not ready to speak with an agent, and will not feel comfortable registering on a branded agent website.
Consequently, generating traffic alone will not necessarily generate leads, especially from “lookers” who are early in their search process. A very powerful lead generation technique is “stealth” website lead generation (see “Stealth Website Lead Generation”). This approach does not rely on SEO to drive traffic at all, yet is a proven lead generator for “lookers” who are not ready to speak to an agent.