Adding additional property photos to your listings is a great way to attract buyers, please sellers, and increase traffic to your website. According to the National Association of Realtors® 2009 Home Buyers and Sellers Report, more than 80 percent of home buyers found photos and detailed information about the property very useful when searching for a home online.

Adding extra photos can also boost your listings’ rankings on the new Homes.com website. The more photos you have with your listings, the higher your listing will appear when consumers search for homes in their city. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your online marketing efforts with property photos:

Use high resolution photos

The photos on your 2 MP camera phone may look great on your handset, but when visitors enlarge them online they may appear grainy, fuzzy, or distorted. Photos on Homes.com are now displayed two times larger on the new Photo View tab of each listing detail page, so make sure your photos look professional. For tips on using free software to improve your photos, check out “Editing Your Photos for Free” at the AgentAdvantage Learning Center.

Power in Numbers

The more photos you include in your listing, the higher your listing will appear in the Homes.com search results. AgentAdvantage allows you to include 30 photos with each one of your listings, so don’t let them go to waste!

Be aware of your conditions

Clutter, litter boxes, ladders, and stormy weather are just a few things that should never make their way into your property photos. Be aware, come prepared, and plan accordingly.

Creative implementation

To maximize impact, you can create slideshows, commercials, and print materials for free with the AgentAdvantage Marketing Design Center. These additions turn your static listings into moving, visual presentations that highlight the home’s best features. Need help getting started? Check out the Marketing Design Center How–To Guide. Want a photo gallery, listing details, school information, and more complete with your own personal branding? Consider a Single Property Website.

Do you know the best way to communicate with today’s consumers? Is your marketing attracting buyers and sellers in generations outside of your own? In order to stay competitive agents will need to implement new action steps to communicate with different generational groups and market to them effectively.

Most of us understand the characteristics of the Baby Boomers, the over–50 crowd that controls 50% of all discretionary income in the U.S. But what about the up and coming Echo Boomers (ages 10-27) with their solid educations, rapidly increasing incomes, and love affair with ‘one–stop’ shopping? This group, now with over 75 million members, is by far the most tech–savvy, and the most likely to research your business reputation online before even thinking about calling you on the phone. The holiday greetings and recipe cards of yore aren’t effective marketing tools for this group, and may do more harm than good!

And what about our mature segment? With increased emphasis on networking and word of mouth marketing for this group (and print publications on the decline), what are the best ways to keep this group engaged?

You can begin to tackle this issue by thinking about your clientele and determining who your current marketing is reaching. Then you can see which groups you may need to make targeted campaigns for, such as millenials or seniors. After you’ve set your goals you can attend our free webinar, “Thriving in a Multigenerational Marketplace” with expert John Ansbach as he explains how to create high–impact messages that are tailored for each generational segment. He’ll give plenty of tips and techniques to communicate effectively with each group so you can stay competitive in any real estate market.

Do you have any strategies for communicating with different generations that you’d like to share?   Post them here!

How can you increase the “stickiness” of your website and provide in–depth community information to your visitors? Improve your ratings in search engine results? Solidify your position as an expert in your field? You can accomplish all of these things and more by providing hyperlocal content on your website!

What is hyperlocal content?

Hyperlocal content is extremely detailed information about a particular community or service area. Hyperlocal content on your site can include local news, historical facts about your city, local entertainment and attractions, or even a list of your favorite restaurants. Content that is especially useful to outsiders includes descriptions of local schools, the amenities available in popular subdivisions, and information about utilities, cable, and telephone service providers, and contact information for public safety departments.

Providing detailed information about your service area gives visitors more data to browse (keeping them on your site longer), significantly improves your search engine optimization efforts, and positions you as a knowledgeable resource within your market.

No time to write your own articles?
If you don’t have the time to create hyperlocal content for your site you can have our professional writers create content for you by ordering a TopSeller Package. Contact Member Services at (800)889-3726 for details.

Convert more leads with your choice of either long or short forms for your AgentAdvantage Website!

As a real estate agent, leads are the heart of your business. Your AgentAdvantage website is a lead–collecting tool. Without means to collect leads, your website is nothing more than a pretty container for your contact information and listings available for consumers to freely browse. No guarantee exists that a customer will leave contact information in exchange for your listing. All too often, this uneven exchange occurs and agents wonder why they do not notice an appreciable gain in leads. With the lead generation tools in your AgentAdvantage website like the new Form Manager, you can convert leads more effectively by choosing a form that meets your specific needs.

Many agents are concerned with the length of their Contact Form and how it affects their ability to convert web leads. Short forms are great for collecting a large number of leads because browsers are more likely to complete a short form for more information. Long forms are great for weeding out serious prospects who are willing to give in–depth details about their situation. Using the new Form Manager feature, you can choose the best lead form to suit the needs of your business in seconds!

 
Screenshot of short contact form

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