Thread: What Makes Visitors Stay?

I'm not sure what converts someone but I can say for myself that when a site is too busy, I click away as fast as I can. I would stay away from to much flash media.

Let's say that for some reason you were moving from Oregon to Harrisburg, PA. You know that you need a home in Harrisburg, and you start looking at homes on a web site. Would you seriously consider buying that home based upon a price tag and a few pictures? In most cases - no.

Regardless of your age and family status demographics, what you probably would want to know most about is the neighborhood and the surrounding community. If you have children, you might want to know about local schools and youth athletic leagues. If you're an empty nester, you might want to know bout golf courses and community events.

Your real estate site should target a specific demographic and the ad copy on the site should be a sales pitch to that demographic. In most cases, to make a truly effective sales pitch that makes web surfers begin to trust you and consider you to be a local real estate authority your web site can't be one-size-fits all. If you have more than one key customer demographic, you may need more than one web site.

Take the Cadillac ads on TV. Why do they play "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin in there commercials? Does anybody associate a new Cadillac with rock music? No. But the ad agency knows that their target demographic is the 40-something crowd that wants a luxury car, but maybe one with a little get up and go in it. So they appeal to that demographic by laying down a music track that speaks directly to that target audience.

Your web site needs to reach out and connect with your target audience to be successful. Great ad copy will not only allow your audience to connect, but also lead them down a path to take action.

One word of caution on real estate web sites. Be sure that your ad copy does not violate Fair Housing laws (i.e. "Great property for retirees!"). I have not heard of any lawsuits related to Fair Housing and web sites, but you can bet that it's only a matter of time.

I fully agree.
What visitors want, most of all, is information.
Not flash sites, not pretty pictures, not (heaven forbid!) a requirement to register before you'll tell them anything about current or upcoming listings, and not a page that's so busy they end up becoming confused.
They may not even realize it, but they're looking for sufficient facts and figures about your local area plus enough clear evidence that you -- more than anyone else -- are the guy/gal who will look after them, answer all their questions, steer them in all the right directions, and will do whatever it takes to be of service to them (and obviously have the knowledge and capabilities to do so).
It's really no different than when you're making a listing persentation. Your objective is the same: Hey, hire me, hire me. And your website needs to be designed and written with this purpose in mind.
Do this and they'll not only stay. They'll call you!

Duncan

Well said, guys. I couldn't have agreed more. My site is still so new. Still struggling with developing contents. Between showing homes, real estate marketing, doing docs, patching the site, participating in forums and taking care of the family, I hardly have time to do anything else.

Try adding Local Websites, stuff that is going to attract people to want to move there, apart from that Golfguy said it all

Originally Posted by CTABUK

Try adding Local Websites, stuff that is going to attract people to want to move there, apart from that Golfguy said it all

I would add as few links to local web sites as possible. Once a web surfer leaves your web site, they may end up on the site of a competitor.

If you do place a link to another web site, always set the link to open the site in a new window. This way, at least your web page is still open on their desktop.

Absolutely! Never distract visitors too much but also provide more resources than your own. It will make you appear "well rounded" even though they may never visit those resources.

MAXSinclair
Keeping people in your site is what I try to do everyday. The truth is that you just want them to send you info about them so you can catch them first. HAve a look at my web site www.FloridaRealtyFInder.com
I input pictures, and other details, but too much writting. You must catch their atention to make them want tot sent youtheir contact info. After that it up to you as a salesperson to hit it off.
Good luck

From the point of view of a potential home purchaser, what I would look for are virtual tours of the houses and grounds. Information about mortgages and about the area would, of course, be important to me. A friendly, smiling picture of the realtor would also be nice. Also the hours when you are available........