REALTORS® want to get business from the Net, but one of the most disturbing trends in web site development is the "hollow entry page", where there is just a big graphic (sometimes broken into several smaller files), but no information of substance until the user clicks through to another page. These pages are typically designed to gain good placement in the search engines, but they really do not provide good service to the 'net-surfing consumer.

I surf real estate sites constantly, and I see this as a problem for many real estate practitioners on the Web, even many of those with award-winning sites. I believe that many people who surf real estate sites do so at night, at home, on machines slower than they have at work. Here's why.

I track the O/S, Browser version, etc. of my site visitors, which number approximately 1,000 unique individuals per week. The most common O/S is Win95; the most common browser is IE3.0. I also have run a script on my main entry page to my site, which tells me many things, including the load-time of my front page. This would suggest that the visitors are typically using a 28.8 modem when connecting in the evening (home-surfing), and either 33.6 or 56 modem when connecting during the day (lunch or boredom break at work). I'll admit that my assumptions on the modem could be way off, but I do notice that load-times are much slower in the evening (could be caused by heavier 'net traffic).

So, when people go to a site that requires them to wait for a photo-page to load, and then to go to another page to start receiving information, they must be getting frustrated. If they are like me, they leave, and don't come back.

Yes, good search-engine placement is important, but so are all the other aspects of web site design. Don't let your site be dependent on unnecessary pages in order to drive traffic to your site. You could be driving the consumer away with too much download time! After all, traffic isn't what you really want - you want good solid leads.

There are many ways to drive traffic to your web site, without placing high on search engines:

• Work with your Chamber of Commerce to be the official online Realtor for your community in all the materials they send out. In our small town, the Chamber sends out 45 information packages a month to both businesses and individuals.
• Promote your site to the Human Resources Director of local companies - make your site THE place for their employees (both local and relocating) to turn to for real estate information.
• Focus on placing higher when people search for your community/town/city name: I focus on 'Milton, Ontario' rather than 'Milton Ontario Real Estate'.
• Promote your site off-line in everything that you do.

I really think that Realtors are doing themselves a dis-service if they don't place the consumer's experience above their own needs. I've been doing my own site for almost 4 years, and have learned much from my mistakes and successes.