Agent Website: Customer Success Guide

2018 is the year to do bigger business, form better client relationships, close listings faster, and be a stronger, respected, well-balanced agent than the year before. Bigger, better, faster, stronger, is the motto; and just as your business isn’t static, your website shouldn’t be either. Take control of your digital footprint, and tell your brand story effectively with your agent website.

According to NAR’s Annual trends report, the typical home buyer used a mobile device to search for homes, and 99% of millennnials and 89% of older boomers searched websites during the buying process. With a buyers’ emphasis on a need for content, it’s essential to have a current, modern website that’s easy to manage and update.

If you’ve taken the plunge and signed up for bldr, you’ve already completed the most important step! {If you haven’t signed up yet, schedule you custom website demo here.} Upon sign up, your agent website is already halfway done, you simply need to customize and localize, and with these easy steps, you’ll be set for a successful launch!

1. Before you get get started, prepare your mise en place. Gather everything you need to plug and play into your website. Don’t even bother logging in or reading through your getting started guide, before you collect, write, and organize the information needed for your site. Going in without a game plan, and no copy or content is a scary way to get started! So here’s your checklist for your basic website launch necessities:

• Sketch a General Outline: During your demo, you likely created custom pages, and reviewed specific needs and requests for your agent website, so the majority of framework is in place. But before you dive in, put together a general outline of what each page will look like and where information will go. Remember, keep it simple, straight forward, and easy to navigate — too many pages are uneccessary work, and could overwhelm your leads.
• Write Copy: Type up your google doc of needed copy, organized by page, i.e. Homepage, About, Current Listings, Contact. Write up each paragraph under it’s designated area, so when it comes time to customize, you are simply copying and pasting the copy in its respective area. Include your tagline, contact information, and any other essential copy needed to build out your site within this single document.
• Photo Folder: Create a folder of images that you will be using throughout the website, including, headshot, local, market photos, listing photos, and any general stock imagery needed. KoaWare will also provide you with some stock imagery and videos to get started, but we recommend using your own high quality imagery, especially if you’ve had a photographer take professional photos of the towns you specialize in and recent listings.

1. Read your getting started emails! These provide valuable, guided walk throughs, how-to videos, and a reference guide for you to set up and launch your website. Login to your website and familiarize yourself with the platform, while keeping your Getting Started Guide open.

• Practice dragging & dropping sections, and clicking save!
• On the right hand side of each section you’ll see your individual section tools to move, delete, or advanced options. Play around with these and see what each section offers.

1. Start with your homepage. The front page should easily explain who, what, why, where: who you are, what you’re offering, and why you’re better than the rest.

• Add a video header or static image; we recommend “Image and Video Header” or “Intro Splash with Logo” customized with your own content.
• Include your tagline, and straightforward, one sentence, “About” verbiage in the first third of your page.
• Scrolling down, highlight a listing, or add the “Featured Listings” section.
• Towards the bottom of the page, include a “3-column” image block highlighting your business values, or hyperlinks to other pages; end with a “Testimonial” section and/or Contact Form.

1. Build your inner pages. Add the pages that define your business…but don’t go crazy here! Keep it simple, minimal and straight to the point. If you find a person that goes through your entire website and reads every single page, then we want to meet ’em, because that’s a perfect consumer! Give your potential leads exactly what they need to know, in an easily digestible way. Because of step 1 above, you’ll be able to simply copy and paste, upload your images, and execute your design. Popular pages include:

• About -> Showcase your experience, market expertise, and personality.
• Featured Listings -> current listings on/off MLS.
• Search -> This is a valuable extra. People aren’t going to your website to search, they’ve got Zillow for that, but this option may keep them on your site longer.
• Neighborhoods (These should be your most popular/knowledgeable markets)
• Neighborhood 1
• Neighborhood 2
• Neighborhood 3
• Blog -> Original content, original content, ORIGINAL CONTENT! Add at least one blog post before you launch.
• Contact

1. Review & edit once complete. Once you’re done, go back and make sure all of your copy is spell checked and good to go. Log out of your website and double check your links are all active and easy to navigate from a visitor perspective. Once ready, we will transfer your domain and you’re ready to launch your agent website!