So far this spring, real estate leads have begun flowing online in spite of a slowing housing market. A developer in Lake Keowee, SC went from receiving 2-3 real estate leads per week to over 20 web requests.  It has never been a better time to find buyers online and here are a few reasons why:

Tightening lender restrictions are making the leads better. Thanks to the media, it’s becoming common knowledge that you need to have your financial stuff in order if you want to buy a home. The days of “have a pulse, get a loan” are over.  While the leads may not be as plentiful as the good ol’ days, they are, in my opinion, better qualified.

It’s no secret that internet leads may be anywhere from 3-12 months away in terms of buying a home. Therefore, lead incubation management becomes a high priority in building a pipeline of 50-60 prospects that could buy at any time. One of our clients has a buyer’s agent with 50+ prospects that check their automated listing updates at least once per week. This agent is developing quite a nice business for herself in a slow market wouldn’t you say?

The Search Factory has created a way to develop online customer relationships until your web visitors are ready to buy. Our real estate search engine marketing coaching solutions help agents, builders, brokers, and developers create online relationships through a synchronized multi-stage approach including the following 4 steps. Remember, a website is worthless if cannot be found, cannot capture a lead, and cannot track return on investment and other important statistics.

1) Advertise the real estate website on the search engines. Your site needs to be visible or else you’re wasting serious money-something you can’t afford to do if you hope to survive this market.  You must be on the first page of major search engines to be most effective.

2) Turn your website into a lead generating site. In order to succeed in the world of search engine marketing, your site must be able to capture leads. Some ideas to capture leads may be to offer a free giveaway or report on your site in exchange for an e-mail address and phone number. Gifts could include local MLS statistics or an inexpensive resource from the visitors and convention bureau. Zig Ziglar says “help other people get what they want, and you will get what you want.” Buyers want to do one thing when they go to the web, search for homes. Help them do this and provide them with “goodies” that they would give you their info for, and you’ve got a hit.

3) Manage and analyze data from search engine marketing program.  Data must be tracked and ROI calculated. A search engine marketer worth his/her salt must provide a monthly update on how your advertising campaign is performing. With our AdCoaching solutions, you receive a 30 minute coaching call once per month to analyze and enhance your online advertising program.

4) Write a customized and personal lead incubation program for your registered visitors that lasts at least 6 months, 12 months is ideal. In all lead correspondence, always give them a compelling reason to come back to your site.

Remember, the more “returning visitors” you have, the healthier your website. If 50-60% of your visitors are returning, then you have done something right. While you may not know who those returning visitors are today, know that you’re pipeline is filling with people that like using your website over and over again. If they like your site, they probably will like you to and give you a call when they are ready to move forward.