Does a Website guarantee you Leads?

[Rob Pene]

I see this a lot in the various businesses that I work with, especially with many of the real estate investors and realtor just getting in to the industry, once their website is up the general thought is that the leads start piling up.

:(

Without website traffic, a solid lead generation feature, massive value, and relevant information addressing your target markets problems, your website isn't really working for you.

Here are some basic things I recommend you keep in mind when putting your website together you're real estate site, so that it can be optimized properly and the search engines can love your site:

(Assuming you're using the Wordpress platform)

1. 1. Proper On-Page SEO (either of these work great)

• I recommend the All In One SEO Pack Plugin
• I also recommend Wordpress SEO Plugin (by Yoast)

2. Proper Keyword Research (focus on your "city" or surrounding "cities")

• Use the Google Keyword Planner (you'll need a Google Adwords account) BUT don't worry too much about the search volume because with proper on-page seo and good content, you'll be able to pull traffic from your long tail keywords EVEN IF they show in the KP as having 0 traffic
• Consider the "city" + "real estate" + "service" search string (i.e.: chicago real estate wholesaler)

3. Proper Link Building Strategy

• Relevant Links and Authoritative Links are the best long term strategy you can bank on
• Often times they can be very inexpensive or even FREE
• "Brand" links are just as good as Anchor text links for long term success (i.e.: a "biggerpockets.com" links is just as good as a "real estate investing" link)

4. Proper Content Strategy

• Add content to your site BLOG, BLOG, BLOG
• Have a plan for your content and ensure its On-Page SEO is on point

5. Proper Social Media sharing features (that also have active accounts)

• Google has been very vocal about "social signals" which mean, the amount of times your stuff is shared across social media (like tweets, FB shares, Pins, etc)
• Ensure the social media profiles that you have on your website isn't just an account you set up for your site…make sure you're active a little and building with people because in order for your stuff to get shared you'll need to engage other in their material as well

Hopefully this is helpful

With a site full of value and activity, your rankings will organically increase and thus increasing your chances of pulling those leads because your site is now sitting on Page One for relevant terms that you've targeted and also provided value to.

Having a website created will only give you a digital business card lol but having a website with proper planning and execution will give you a digital asset that works for you :)