Myth: Lots of links to other sites will enhance my site.
Reality: Links to other sites will usually just lead your visitors to other sites.
Sometimes, however, you may want to show other sites on your site, for instance a school site or law enforcement site. If so you can "frame" it so that your navigation links stay on the screen and your visitor feels they are still on your site.
Myth: Trading links is a good way to build traffic to my site.
Reality: To some extent reciprocal links can increase your site's relevance in the search engines, particularly Google, however, they must make sense in the context of your service or business. Random links for links sake can have the opposite effect and lower your site's relevance.
Myth: I have to spend a great deal of money to have a successful real estate web site.
Reality: Generally a well thought out and designed web site will cost you much much less than an ad in the local newspaper and will serve you better. What one considers "a great deal of money" is, in any event subjective. The goal should be to have the absolutely best designed site that fits your advertising budget.
Myth: Prospects from the Internet are fickle and many of them are frivolous.
Reality: Quite the opposite. Prospects go to a lot of trouble to find information on the Internet. They don't do it for fun. They do it because they are doing serious research on buying or selling property. Treat every inquiry from your site as gold plated.
Myth: There are only a small percentage of people that use the Internet to make a real estate buying decision or to find an agent.
Reality: Five years ago that was true. Now nothing could be further from the truth.
Myth: If I have a page on realtor.com, my company site or some other such site, I really don’t need my own web site.
If you believe that you have never put yourself in a prospect's shoes and tried to use realtor.com. Besides realtor.com is now very expensive to advertise on.
Myth: Web sites are pretty much alike and I can shop for the cheapest and get by.
Reality: That really makes sense, doesn't it?
Myth: Once I put up a web site and register it, I can pretty much forget it.
Reality: That's like saying once you buy a car and fill it up with oil it never needs service. To compete you need a process of constant upgrading in content and style. You should review your site frequently and have a professional keep it up to date.
Myth: The best way to get leads from a web site is to register it with the 400 top search engines.
Reality: That’s the best way to be a lead not to get them. When you register with those 400, 395 of them are simply ways to get your email address to put you on marketing lists. Watch your email box fill up with spam
Myth: If I register my site with the big search engines I will get good traffic to my site.
Reality: Registering is not the answer. Indexing properly is the answer. There is no easy way to good indexing. It takes time, money and expertise.
Myth: If I get traffic to my site I will get leads.
Reality: That’s like saying that if there are fish in the pond you will catch some. True ONLY if you have effective fishing gear. If your site does not spur a prospect to action, you won’t get any leads no matter how many people see it.
Myth: A lot of hits on my site indicates I am getting a lot of interest. Hits are the best measure of activity.
Reality: VISITORS are the measure of traffic to your site. "Hits" as a measure is totally misleading. A typical web page may register 10 or more "hits" every time a visitor accesses it. One visitor may account for several hundred hits in a single session.
Myth: A good way to get leads is to send email to tens of thousands of email addresses. After all if only 1% respond….
Reality: Surprisingly, there are still people who believe that and so we have hundreds, thousands, millions of spam emails to deal with.
Myth: Most real estate prospects that use the Internet are technically oriented.
Reality: I probably should delete that question. I think everyone knows these days that that is not true.
Myth: People stumble onto web sites.
Reality: People (read 'prospects') find web pages by searching for them using criteria that their interest dictates. Still www.stumbleupon.com/ has become a very popular site and its name says it all. It's fun, but don't count on it for business.
Myth: If I am well registered on the search engines, I can reduce my other advertising.
Reality: Actually, that "myth" is becoming reality. It is true more every year and many large real estate offices are trimming their print media advertising and directing more of their ad budgets to upgrading their web sites and the way they handle Internet generated leads. One result for us at www.silkshorts.com is to add search engine positioning to our list of services for real estate clients. A lot of brokers and agents are preparing for their growth by seriously competing for web site position for important search phrases.
Myth: If I have a lot of links on my site, then prospects will come back to my site and eventually call I about buying or selling.
Reality: If you have a lot of outside links on your site, you are collecting traffic for someone else. When they follow an outside link you lose them.
Myth: Not many sellers use the Internet to find a selling agent.
Reality: Five years ago this was true. Not so now. Seller's as much as buyers monitor the Internet and especially their listing agent's web site to see how property is marketed and what current values are. We now routinely equip our sites with data tracking for sellers so they can monitor progress or lack thereof.
Myth: When I get an Internet lead from my site it is best to email them first before calling them on the phone (if I have a number).
Reality: Wrong, wrong, wrong; an immediate call (in
daytime) is the best course if you want to touch a new prospect before they go
to the competition.
Myth: When I get an email inquiry I can respond anytime during the first 24 to 48 hours.
Reality: Usually your competition has contacted them within a few hours if you haven't.
Myth: Browsers like to read over my resume and see what kind of awards and qualifications I have.
Reality: Only if the browser is your mother. Prospects want to know what you will do for them. Put in the Alphabet soup after your name, but don't labor under the misapprehension that it will have much effect.
Myth: Browsers like to hear about my family and see pictures of my kids and
pets.
Reality: Yes, I think to some extent they do, but only after they are considering hiring you, Put this information on your resume page but not elsewhere on your site.
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