What Makes Them Come Back?

Timing is Everything

Somebody used the word, “stickiness,” to describe a Website quality that would cause prospects to return again and again to a Website. The term has also come to mean a Web page that holds a visitor’s attention. At any rate, the word caught on and ever since, agents and brokers tell me they want their Website to be STICKY. So what kinds of Web programs can a site have that might cause a prospect to want to visit often? It depends on when you want those prospects to visit and how often you want them to stop by and what kinds of prospects you want. Want a little free professional guidance on this? Visit http://www.sellrealestate.net/FreeWebPlan.asp. Tell me what you want and I’ll tell you how to get it.

ALL AROUND STICKINESS

How about a great link section that directs people to businesses and services that are truly helpful? A link to rentals online would appeal to renters who might become first time buyers. A link to home repair and remodel sites would appeal to homeowners. Links to moving companies would appeal to sellers and buyers. But there are other things you can do for general, all around stickiness. What about a coupon section on your Website where anybody can visit and download coupons worth real savings at various businesses in town.? You would need to change the coupons monthly to insure frequent visits from a wide variety of people who may or may not be currently interested in real estate.

TARGETED STICKINESS

Maybe you simply want to appeal to prospects who are ready to buy or sell their real estate. In that case, you might consider Web programs that are more specific in nature. How about showing recent sales data for your geographic farm? With Recent Sales data you can include additional, interactive pages so that homeowners can pretty much do their own CMA online when they visit your site.

Make it Easy to Find

You could safely give away $1,000,000 to anyone who signs up on your Website as long as you keep your Web address and your offer a secret. Now, lots of people do keep their Websites a secret but that is not what you want to do if you want to generate leads. And, if you want people to come back to your site again and again, you must select the type of promotion that will facilitate that.

EMAIL IS THE BEST

Once you get a prospect’s Ema il address and permission to send a newsletter and messages to keep them informed of your Website’s updates, you will love the results. We include a Free monthly E-newsletter for your clients and an Email Contact Management system with every real estate Website we design. That makes it easy for our clients to keep in touch and keep prospects and past clients returning to their Websites.

SALES AIDS WORK WELL

Some sales ai ds will do a good job for you as well. Consider printing telephone message pads and bookmarks with a message that reminds prospects that your Website has the right stuff. This means that you cannot use canned or template ads and sales aids anymore than you can use a template Website to get the job done. However, sales aids give you the advantage of hanging around for a long period of time, which justifies their cost.

EXPENSIVE REMINDERS

Postcards and media ads are expensive ways to remind prospects and past clients that your Website has information they want. This type of promotion is often used initially in order to build up a good Email database.

Once You Get Them There...

The purpose of all of these prospect-pleasing devices is for your Website to demonstrate your expertise and the benefits of working with you. Actually, some of the Web Programs you could use for Stickiness will also enhance your credibility in the minds of your prospects. For example, a good recent sales section or a good link section will show that you understand their needs. A coupon section or a Win a Prize section is appealing and will get you Email addresses but says little about your abilities as a broker or an agent.

INTERACT WITH THEM

You may remember from an earlier newsletter that the way to engage prospects online is to ask meaningful questions. Now I don’t mean that you should grill them or set up a series of feedback forms without giving people a reason for wanting to answer your questions. To find that Newsletter go to http://www.sellrealestate.net/archives.asp and look for the title, Let’s Get Interactive dated July 05,05.

SHOW YOUR STYLE

It helps a great deal if your Website sets a tone and has a look that differentiates you from your competition. Imagine your Website is in a lineup of about 10 sites that your prospects are considering along with yours. I know you have heard it before but you do only get one chance to make a good first impression.

DON’T MAKE ‘EM THINK

Website navigation should be designed so that visitors know exactly where to go to get what they need. Some template Websites confuse visitors by providing too many options and other template sites fail to follow a sensible guide to the inside pages. The best way to make your site user friendly is to develop a custom Website that starts with a PLAN. If your PLAN is good and makes sense, it should be much easier to develop a user friendly Website.