Almost every real estate transaction begins with an online search, making your online presence as a real estate professional one of the most important parts of your business. Where do I start? Whether you already have a website for your real estate business or are just getting started, there are two website extensions (.realtor) available.TM and .realestate top-level domains – National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) was created to help you build your brand.
Get started with .realtorTM or .realestate domains are easy, affordable, and easy, according to industry experts who have seen businesses grow and thrive since the switch. Here, in their own words, are the 10 key benefits they think every real estate professional should know.
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1. Your domain instantly establishes a voice of authority
real estate agent® Member of the National Association of Realtors® and adhere to a strict code of ethics. This designation lets home buyers and sellers know right away that this is a trusted industry expert. Denver-based Realtor Britt Guimond says it's important for your online presence to immediately demonstrate your credibility.® He is the owner of West Homes and Main Homes, a boutique brokerage firm. “Real estate agentTM The extension gives my website credibility,” she says. “This is something like .gov or .edu, which are vetted entities. You can't have those extensions on your site unless the site has exactly what it declares. What is .realtor? It's very obvious that there is.TM represents. ”
2. It’s easy for clients to remember your name.
Like many in the industry, Josh Jarman of Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers has decided to focus his real estate strategy on name recognition. His goal is to promote his name as synonymous with Maui real estate. “I want to do as much as I can with my name,” he advises, which is why he chose .realtor.TM Your name (joshjerman.realtor) will be prefixed to the domain.
With one short URL, you can quickly find out who he is and what he does, and effectively build your personal brand.
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3. Harnessing the power of SEO
In addition to .realtorTM In addition to extensions, NAR also offers a .realestate option. REALTOR Lisa Kunkel takes advantage of this.® Partnering with Keller Williams Realty in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area was seen as a clincher for SEO.
Before becoming a real estate agent®, Kunkel actually worked as a website developer. “A website's name affects her SEO, so if the URL has 'real estate' in it, that's a very good thing,” she says.
Kunkel chose to protect the URL using the name of her hometown, Cranberry Township, a commuter town in Pittsburgh. She chose both cranberrytownship.realestate and cranberrytwp.realestate to maximize her presence in search results.
4. Clients can find you faster
real estate agent® Use .realtorTM and .realestate domains report that clients can find them almost instantly.
Since launching the website, Kunkel said the calls from buyers and sellers have been ringing “nonstop.” “As soon as you type in ‘Cranberry Township Real Estate’ or ‘Cranberry Township Keller Williams,’ my name pops up,” she says.
Occasionally, she also receives calls about other town-related concerns, such as broken sidewalks in front of homes that are for sale, but she sees this as a positive, meaning the online strategy is working. I think this is proof. “They obviously called me because they found me on the Internet,” she says.
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5. Enables quick response to referrals
.realtorTM Extensions can also be an asset when it comes to referrals. German explains: “Another agent who has a .realtorTM Domain has utilized its platform when it needs to refer to different agents in different markets. This is the real estate version of someone using LinkedIn to connect with other people in their industry. ”
Last year, he reported getting four to five referrals this way.
6. Helps increase revenue
Real estate is a numbers game. The more people you can find, the higher your sales numbers will be at the end of the year.
In Kunkel's case, she had a successful few years working in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area before deciding she wanted to target her hometown of Cranberry Township. Her narrow focus not only allows her to define her own market, but also saves her money on driving to far-flung areas.
Her new strategy included revamping her online presence with the cranberrytownship.realestate and cranberrytwp.realestate websites. And the results speak for themselves. In the first year of her new site, she made $4 million in sales in her Cranberry township alone. “I think this is a huge success,” she says.
7. Building on the NAR platform is easy
your new .realtorTM NAR's .realestate website includes free hosting and a self-service platform to help you build a new website.
“It's very simple,” German says. He had previously hired his web developer for his 20 hours to build his website for his business. When it came time to build the joshjerman.realtor site, he and his assistant were able to build and customize the site themselves in just 2 hours.
Guimond had a similarly positive experience when he switched to NAR's website platform to build brittguimond.realtor. She had previously built websites on another platform, but she discovered NAR's .realtor and “switched gears right away,” she says.TM Recruitment. “This CMS is easy to use and intuitive.”
8. Customize your site as much as you like
The NAR platform includes many customization options that allow agents to make their site feel consistent with their personal brand. These include looping videos, photo slideshows, blog templates, and more.
“Widgets help create a dynamic user experience,” says Guimond. “They add variety to the look and feel of a website.”
She also highlights her favorite feature: the image library is free to use. “Everything is of high quality and beautiful.”
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9. Access support
NAR's platform has a support team that quickly responds to setup questions and requests to customize or change template pages.
German shares that when she was building her site, she reached out to request a “contact” button on her About page. The change was made within hours, he said, praising the level of service he received in response to his request. “They said they would be happy to make that adjustment and let us know if we needed anything more.”
10. You can't beat the price.
All NAR members receive their first year of a professional website with .realtor.TM You can use the domain for free. This includes hosting, customization, image libraries, and technical support. After that, it's only $39.95 per year.
Kunkel puts this in perspective. “If you've ever spent money on advertising, you know how expensive it is,” she says. On the other hand, .realtorTM or a .realestate domain will work instead and appear many times in search results. All for an affordable flat rate. She sums it up this way: “Advertising doesn't come cheap.”
