Real Estate Agents Need a Website Now More Than Ever after NAR

The real estate industry is undergoing a significant transformation in response to the recent NAR ruling. With the implementation of new laws, real estate agents find themselves in the position of needing to reinvent themselves and their businesses while fulfilling these new obligations. Making real estate website changes for NAR is a great place to start.

It’s a perfect time to double down and reinvigorate your brand and marketing efforts. An essential part of that will be your real estate website. If you don’t have one, it’s time to get one. If you have one, it’s time to update it.

Now that the industry is changing so much, your real estate website is going to need to accomplish several things, and in this post, we’ll dive into a few high-level goals for what your new real estate website should communicate after the NAR rules go into effect on July 1.

6 Vital Goals for Your Real Estate Website Changes for NAR

As you plan your real estate website overhaul, there are six main things that need to happen. We’ll discuss each on of these in more detail below, with some concrete tactics and advice, but here’s the list:

1. Educate your audience on all the changes taking place and how things should work.
2. Establish your authority as an experienced, knowledgeable, and trustworthy partner in any real estate transaction.
3. Build trust with your audience.
4. Show the value you bring to the table.
5. Explain what the process is like being your client.
6. Give the user the next step to take.

Educate Your Audience

With the unprecedented influx of new laws and rule changes in the real estate industry, confusion is inevitable. It is crucial to position yourself as a reliable source of information for your clients. Your website should serve as a platform to educate them about the latest developments, ensuring they have their facts straight and, most importantly, know who they can turn to for questions.

There are a few ways this could be implemented, but creating some well-informed, simple blog posts would be a great place to start. Think of some of the most common questions your clients are asking, and turn each question and answer into a blog post of about 600 words. Once on your website, you can share them on social media, their generate some organic search traffic, and you could also turn them into a drip email campaign. And any time a client asks you, send them the link to your post!

And don’t forget, if your website is built on VistaWPs website platform, you have an integrated AI assistant to help you hammer out your first draft and optimize it for SEO.

Establish Your Authority

Your real estate website should establish your authority as a trusted real estate advisor, resource, and agent. Highlight your experience, the number of clients you’ve helped, and transactions you’ve completed to provide concrete evidence of your expertise. Additionally, showcase your years of experience, credentials, and any other relevant qualifications. Including a wealth of quality information on your website, such as blog posts, neighborhood guides, or client resources, will further contribute to establishing your authority in the field.

Build Trust

So, you’ve clarified the confusion for potential clients and established your authority, or your right to call yourself a real estate agent, but that doesn’t mean your clients should trust you. Trust is totally different. Establishing trust with your clients takes a delicate balance of connecting the dots.

First off, having a professional brand and logo paired with a quality website that looks nice and works well, actually goes a long way to build trust with your clients. Think about the last time you were researching a company or service, and clicked through to a terrible website with broken links. Not so trustworthy, right? Well, the same goes for your clients and your brand.

Next, you need to connect your services to other people, organizations, or familiar things. The best way to do this is to showcase your Google reviews or with some high-quality testimonials from clients. Videos are fantastic if your clients are willing to make one. Surprisingly, quantity isn’t as important as one might think here. You don’t need 18 million 5-star reviews. All you need are 3-5 genuine, transparent reviews from real people.

Another great tactic here are some third-party logos, perhaps from the BBB, chamber of commerce, local associations, etc. Seeing a glimpse of a few logos can really help your clients to connect your brand to other people and other groups, and that builds trust.

Show the Value You Provide

More than anything, your website needs to illustrate the value you bring to the table as an agent. This is particularly important now that agent commissions must be transparent, especially for buyers agents.

The best way to accomplish this is to both show and tell your clients. Tell them in simple terms what value you bring to the table. Think bullet-point-list simple, something scannable.

After that, show them how you provide value by highlighting some successful transactions you’ve done. Put together a quick write-up and create a show video, if possible, featuring some previous clients talking about how your services were valuable to them. This content can also be a testimonial to build trust, two birds with one stone.

Explain How it Works

Now that you’ve done all of these things, it’s time to prime your client for what’s to come. Paint a clear picture of what the future for them holds after contacting you. This isn’t a time to make big promises and paint a rosy picture. No. Simply walk them through the steps of what happens next. No one likes to plunge into the unknown. Outline your process so they know exactly what they’re getting into. But be sure to keep it simple too. You don’t need a 38-step plan for success. Keep it simple, concise, and concrete.

Here’s an example:

Buying a home and moving is a serious life event. We’re here to support you and help you every step of the way. Here’s what our process looks like:

Step 1: Scheduled a Free Consultation – Reach out to us for a 30-minute consultation about your situation and your dream home.
Step 2: Get a Custom Buyer’s Plan – Your agent will create a complimentary Buyer’s Plan with recommendations on finding your dream home and details about fees and contracts.
Step 3: Go Shopping – Follow your Buyer’s Plan with your agent and find your dream home.
Step 4: Make the Move – Your agent will help you through every step of the transaction.

Give Them a Next Step

The last step for your website is to give your client their next step. So far, they’ve figured out what the new laws mean, they’ve read through your credentials, they’ve established that you’re trustworthy through others, they’ve seen the value you bring to the table, they know what to expect, and now, they need you to spoon-feed their next action to them. What is it? They’re ready! What should they do? Call you? Text you? Drop by the office? Get an appraisal?

Lay out exactly what they need to do, and make it easy to accomplish. A sure-fire bet is always a ‘Free Consultation’, but depending on your niche and marketing strategy, you could have them download a lead magnet like a guide, or get a home valuation. Whatever it is, put some thought behind it, and make sure it’s super obvious and everywhere!

Conclusion

In conclusion, the recent NAR ruling has provided real estate agents with a clear game plan for their marketing strategies. By implementing the 6 key actions outlined in this blog post, you can position yourself as a top-notch agent in the industry. Take this opportunity to excel and be the best. VistaWP offers all the necessary features and services to accomplish everything here integrated in the VistaWP platform. Don’t hesitate to contact us and schedule a demo to see how VistaWP can elevate your website and marketing efforts. Take action now and unlock your full potential!