More and more real estate clients are turning to the Internet for house hunting. Your prospects are doing their research online, and you can capture their interest by clearly highlighting the information they're looking for on your home page.

To stand out from their competition, Internet-savvy agents have moved past simple sites that are simply a bio and strong sales pitch. Successful agents hook prospects right on their home page by providing the information that clients want along with a lead-generation vehicle using a simple, clean, easy-to-navigate layout.

The lead-generating vehicle that I'm talking about is a simple one: offering useful information in exchange for contact information. Make sure it's a fair trade -- consumers have grown wary of freely sharing their contact information, so you have to make sure the information you're offering is something they genuinely want.

I made a list of some of the different types of visitors that might come across your website, and some suggestions that will encourage them to give you their information.

For visitors looking for: Sales Trends & Statistics for Their Area

• Show Your Local Knowledge: Whet their appetite with a few key current local statistics and offer a custom home evaluation with a link to your Market Valuation Form.

• Create a Story Around a Recent Success: Bring statistics or a market trend to life with a client success story. Link to your Contact Me Form to learn more information.

• Do You Write a Newsletter? Advertise It!: Build your network with regular monthly updates on key trends and events. Then, be sure to advertise this newsletter on your home page, with a link to newsletter archives. Offer a free subscription in exchange for their email address!

For visitors looking for: Fresh Listings

• Hot Property of the Week: Create an ad for the property on your home page and link to the property's page to learn more. You can choose to ask for contact information upon opening this page. You can also link to the Single Property Website of the listing, if you have one.

• Home Page Slideshow: Engage users with a slideshow of your freshest listings to motivate prospects to click into your website to learn more.

For visitors looking for: Local Listings Search

• Direct Traffic to Your Most Popular Search Page: Let people know right away that you offer a local search right in your home page text, and provide a link directly to it.

• Promote your IDX (if you have one): IDX solutions are proven lead generators, so if you've got it, flaunt it! Advertise the IDX service right on your home page with a link to the MLS page.

For visitors looking for: Tips on Buying or Selling a Home

• Let Visitors Know About Free Brochures: If you offer brochures, advertise the service directly on your homepage to increase traffic to your sign up form and unleash this powerful lead generation tool.

• Offer a Moving Guide or Checklist: Create a Moving Guide or Checklist and offer to email it to anyone who contacts you by linking to your contact form or a custom form.

The trick is to understand the visitor's wariness of handing over information- in today's world of spam and identity theft, it only makes sense for them to protect themselves- and to make them not just feel comfortable, but to look forward to handing their information over to you.

Paul Sheng is CEO of iHOUSE Web Solutions for more information, please visit ihouseweb.com.

Published: March 21, 2007

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