Are there any tips on encouraging people to call me having seen my website. I'm no marketeer, but know I need calls!
Then you need to become a marketeer!! One for all and all... oh... How about a button that they can click to have you call them? At a time of their convenience?
I would encourage you to ensure that the site appears professional and has what the visitor is looking for. In real estate the visitors tend to be "buyers" and not "sellers" so you'll want to have listings on your site. IMO, these are the two (2) main factors in turning visitors into callers.
And make sure it has plenty of listings. Most people will only call you if they see something they are interested in. Just because they are looking for houses in your area, doesn't mean they will call you. You have to show you have houses that fit their specs to generate the call. Otherwise they will go somewhere else.
Thanks for the info guys. I also need to strike a balance of getting them interested and not giving them enough so they need to call!
Sometimes the 'withholding' approach can backfire on you...people use the Internet to find info, if you can't provide it they'll go to another website that can. I'd suggest looking at other real estate sites for your region. What are THEY offering on their site? What type of content can you offer to make yours stand out? One thing I hardly ever see agents do is share their expertise. If you've indepth knowledge on certain cities then let your site visitors know about that. Add weekly updates on which neighborhoods are hot, where the great schools are, and other insider tips (like great local shops, restaurants, events, etc). In essence you're not only educating them, but also taking to first step to develop trust (you're SHOWING them, not just telling them, that you're an expert in this area). You could even take it one step farther and create a 'hot buys' list. This is great if you don't have a lot of your own listings. In addition to offering a generic mls search feature, pull together a list you've picked from the mls showcasing really great houses (homes you'd love to be a part of selling). Again...it's another way of satisfying readers needs, as well as highlighting your expertise. You don't have to be pushy about getting people to call you, any web savvy person is probably going to prefer emailing. It's essential to have good email writing skills these days. Just make sure you give site visitors direction (call to action). Obviously you want an email link (or web form link) and phone number on every page, but you can enhance this by having helpful hints on each area of the site. For instance, include short articles on the steps people need to take to buy/sell a home. What should they be thinking about? What can you provide them with? It's all about developing relationships and trust.
Do you have MLS searches implemented on your site to encourage people to want to call you? I have several MLS Realtor/Broker sites, that dont generate loads of traffick, but they do get phone calls every now and then. People dont call unless they are really interested in something though. Thats why you need to generate some interest. I noticed that my MLS Realtor/broker site clients dont get calls unless the customer has actually found a nice home that they could picture themselves living in. Once they have found that perfect home, of course they want to get started on the buying process as soon as possible or ask you loads of questions about it. And if your number is displayed very clear and visibly, then the first thing they will do is call you to ask you more questions, or to get started with the buying process. Make sure to put the phone number so that it appears on all of the pages of your site. Put the number on the top of the site somewhere that is plainly visible.
I wanted to point out 2 other things also stated by dreamshop. If you are a subsciber to e-neighborhoods. Then you should pay close attention. I was able to develop a solution so that any subscriber of e-neighborhoods can have a custom designed/programmed web page where his users can search e-neighborhoods information just as you do from your account when you log in. Basically your customers are using my script to log into your account and use the e-neighborhoods script to view its information regarding any city/state region in the United States. Please dont tell e-neighborhoods I did this as im sure it violates their user agreement, but it works well. Be advised that your account may get shut down if their server keeps track of how many times you use the script each day or how many times you log in each day. I have been implementing this into realtor sites for 2 years now and I have not ran into any problems as of yet. So I imagine you wont either. Here is an example of a site I built that has this feature implemented: - http://www.raylopezteam.com/index.php Please click on the community profiles link to view this script in action. The other thing I wanted to mention is that it is a very nice idea to have a Featured homes/properties page in which your visitors can get a quick overview of all of your properties for sale. Not only does it help you get your properties sold, but it gives the visitor a reason to come back in the future. As no other site will have your featured properties listed in one or two concise pages. It is also an ever changing list as you are selling and listing new properties. It gives them a great reaosn to come back so they can check the new featured properties.