A real estate agent's website can be one of their best lead generation tools, but only if prospective clients can find it. To get your website name out there and build value into it at the same time, you need to become savvy with website marketing, optimize for search engines, start blogging and actually provide a service. To learn how to do these four simple things, keep reading.



Be a Savvy Website Owner

One of the best ways to get your name and your website's name out there is to become an active on-line participant - an online real estate expert. Start participating in real estate forums, answer questions on sites like Yahoo! Answers (http://answers.yahoo.com), or write articles for sites like BusinessKnowHow (http://BusinessKnowHow.com), eHow (http://ehow.com) or Associated Content (http://associatedcontent.com).

From the quality of your web postings, help prospective clients to see that you are the "go to" person who has the right real estate expertise to address their needs. Every time you post in a forum, answer a question or write an article, make sure you include your name, location and a link to your website.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of designing and tweaking web pages so that they rank higher in a search engines' search results. For example, if you are selling condominiums in Sunnytown, you will likely try to optimize your website so that when a person searches on "Sunnytown condos," you have a link that shows up on the first or second page of Google, Yahoo, or MSN.

Part of an SEO strategy is having other sites link to you (see "Be An Expert" above), another is creating fresh content (see "Blog" below), and another aspect is actually focusing on your own site's wording. For example, if people are going to be looking for your website by typing in terms like "Victorville real estate agent," then make sure that phrase is on your website.

Finally, search engine optimization also means making sure your site can be properly indexed by the engine - so, having a well organized website with a proper sitemap page is imperative.

Blog

Starting a blog is a great way to have fresh, new content every day on your website, position yourself as an expert and pick up more readers. With a frequently updated blog, you'll improve your search engine ranking and keep readers coming up.

Try to keep blog entries on theme and short. Include a picture of yourself, and link to additional related resources. For blogging software you can install right on your own site, try WordPress (http://wordpress.com).

Provide a Service

Your visitors need a reason to visit your site, so provide a service. It may be a blog, but you can also provide unique tools like a free mortgage calculator, free access to your local area's MLS listings, or a house evaluation tool.

Your website can get you leads, but you need to attract and retain visitors by providing a service, blogging, optimizing for search engines, and becoming an expert in real estate.