Mobile Responsive Real Estate Investor Websites: Got A Leaking Bucket?

Is your real estate investing website mobile RESPONSIVE and OPTIMIZED to convert your mobile leads to closed deals? If not, you're losing money, maybe lots of it, but there is an easy fix.

You probably got your website before mobile devices existed, or before they were relevant. Your website seems to work just great, and the deals keep trickling in. Should you be concerned? What is all this fuss about being mobile responsive?

When we started offering real estate investor websites,  mobile devices were not relevant. We have old clients whose websites have not been upgraded to become mobile friendly, so this article revolves around important data and how your website affects the profits for your real estate investing business.

If you happen to have one of our websites that is not mobile friendly, then it is time to get a free upgrade :)

So what does it mean to have your website mobile optimized?

A mobile optimized website is a website that has been specifically optimized to look and work perfectly on mobile devices. 

A mobile friendly website is not the same as a mobile COMPATIBLE website. A pure HTML website with no plugins like flash is actually mobile compatible. However in a mobile compatible website, you usually have to scroll from top to bottom, left to right, and so on.

In other words they are compatible but not friendly.

Such websites have slow loading speeds, links and other crucial information are too tiny, and so on. Most users get turned off by the entire experience, leading to the users abandoning your website - and of course you lose some deals and a good chunk of money.

What are mobile responsive websites?

A mobile responsive website looks perfect on any device because it automatically adjusts itself to the device you view it on. It you view it on a PC or mac computer, or a laptop, it will look perfect. If you change to a smart phone or tablet, it adjusts itself automatically to the device.

A user on a mobile device interacts with your website differently from a user on a PC computer. You therefore need to understand the needs of the user in order to take full advantage of a mobile friendly website.

For example, do you notice that Facebook Website looks completely different on a mobile device than it does on a PC? In other words, they have a specific "version" of Facebook specifically created for mobile users.

On the other hand, a mobile responsive website adapts itself automatically without loading a different version of the website. According to Google, they "prefer" responsive websites but do not favor any type of website as long as it is mobile friendly.

How can you check if your website is mobile friendly?

Google mobile checker is probably the best place to start. This will provide you a baseline to work from. If it is mobile friendly, you should get something like this - "Awesome! This page is mobile-friendly."

But this is just the beginning…

Next, you MUST check how it actually LOOKS on your mobile devices. This is a critical step most people forget - you must check and test how people see your website and the experience they go through.

Why mobile devices?

There are actually a few reasons you should make sure your website is mobile friendly.

1) Internet Trends - rise and rise of mobile devices

Obviously the internet changes very rapidly. In 1997, there were just about 1 million websites. Today, there are just about 1 billion websites online according to internetlivestats.com. Just a few years ago, there were no smart phones at all. Over 90 percent of Americans today own a smart phone. More than 40% own a tablet. This trend seems to be getting replicated word-wide.

Today, people access the internet in all sorts of ways - laptops, smart phones, gaming devices, even watches. Some people only use their smart phones for internet access.

According to Pew Research, for many smart phone owners, mobile devices are a key entry point to the online world. In fact, comscore.com reports that the number of mobile-only internet users now exceeds PC-only users in the US.

In other words in the US, more people are more likely to access your website through a mobile device, than through a computer.

So do you understand why you must have a mobile responsive website? If your website is not mobile friendly, half your website visitors (or more) will go down the drain. 

Maybe people that could close some nice deals with you. A single deal can make you $5000 to $15,000 or more - so how much money do you lose if your website is not mobile friendly?

2) Search Engines

Search engines REQUIRE that you optimize your website for mobile devices.

Like it or not we are all slaves of the big "G". It will get us more business if we do what Google says. Just a good search engine ranking can bring you business for years with little input from you.

The Google mobile update was launched in April 2015. This update boosts websites that are mobile friendly. If your website is not optimized for mobile devices, search engines will demote your ranking in mobile devices.

Google says only mobile searches are affected by this.

3) Improved user experience

You have been there, especially in this age of social media apps like Whatsapp….

Some friend shares a link with you, you tap on the link and it turns out to be some a jumbled mess of content you can barely read. You certainly almost 100% of the time never finish "enjoying" the experience. 

When your visitors find your website like this, what do you think they do? Yes, they close it!

According to a recent study by Google, 61% of shoppers will leave a website if it is not optimized for mobile devices.

In other words, people have a negative perception of your brand or services if your website is not optimized for mobile devices.

Improved user experience must go BEYOND how your website LOOKS. Does it actually collect leads? After all, why else do you have a website - to attract leads and convert them to closed deals.

Make sure you can SIGN UP on your website on a mobile device without a hitch.

Make sure your website highlights these elements:

a) Your Opt-in forms must be large and easy to fill out.

They must also be clearly labeled so your visitors do not have to guess anything.

If they have to zoom in to see or fill out a form, you are losing a lot of deals - and money.

b) As an initial point of contact, make sure your website has a very short form for collecting leads.

If your visitors have to fill out 20 fields, you are losing out. To collect leads, your forms should be should be 1 to 4 fields - name, email and phone number should be enough.

Eliminate everything else, or make it optional. Our Interactive Real Estate Investor Websites come equipped with various squeeze forms out of the box, and you can even create your own in a few minutes.

Even if you are not too tech savvy, all the elements for lead generation and conversion are already in place when you get the website.

c) Your website must make it easy to fill out forms

A good website should incorporate features like Google maps autocomplete. It becomes super easy to fill out an address.

When a lead tries to fill out an address, they get suggestions, and all they have to do is tap to fill out the address.

You end up with an accurate address with no chances of typographic mistakes.

Filling out a form on a smart phone can be cumbersome. With a good website that has such cool shortcuts, you end up converting more visitors to clients.

d) A good website must offer multiple calls to action at all times

A direct response real estate investing website must offer multiple opportunities for a lead to take action, no matter where they are on your website.

A good website must provide "baits" that compel leads to take action - such as Ebooks.

e) The website must display your phone number prominently, and the number must be active so they just tap to make a call

When people are using their phone, the natural response for them is to call.

A good website must display your phone number prominently, preferably at the top.

And all it takes for someone to call you is a simple tap on the phone number. So they do not have to go to their keyboard to type your phone number in order to call you.

This drastically increases the number of leads who convert by making a phone call.

f) When they sign up, what happens next?

This is the step where most of the leads get lost by most real estate investing websites. A good website must be able to automatically follow up with prospects by email.

When a lead signs up on your website, say for an EBook, they are not yet all warmed up to do business with you yet. You are likely to lose them if you try to engage them on the phone right away until they warm up to you.

So how long does it take for a lead to warm up enough to do business with you?

Multiple studies show that you have to make 5 to 12 contacts with a lead before they are comfortable to do business with you.

But here is the problem - A recent study by Microsoft shows that 89% of the people stop making follow-up on the fourth contact.

In other words, 80% of the sales are lost because people do not follow up!

This is why your real estate investing website must take over the job of doing the follow-ups for you. 

Aren't we all human after all?

When your website does the follow-up for you, it does most of the heavy lifting for you. By the time the prospect warms up enough to do business with you, a personal contact on the phone becomes very easy and friendly.

This capability to do automated email follow-ups must be INBUILT on the website. The emails must provide helpful information and prompt them to sign up or call you.

Again - the capability to send automated follow-up emails must be INBUILT.

Of course, the alternative could be to order email services from Aweber, Getresponse, Constant Contact and so on. Unfortunately these can add up to hundreds of dollars a year just for the email service.

Here is a quick check for the lowest plans from popular email providers.

That would cost you at least an average of $200 plus the hassle of setting up these emails, learning curves, etc.

Not all of us are tech savvy...

When you get a website with inbuilt autoresponders with all emails pre-loaded, this hassle and cost are instantly removed.

Always make sure that you check your email - because some of your leads may respond to your autoresponder email messages directly.

g) The font size on you mobile website must be large and comfortable enough to make it easy to read on a smart phone.

Let's say your website is mobile responsive - you also need to make sure the font size is comfortable to read in a mobile phone.

Look at this comparison between a mobile optimized RealEstateinvestingWebsites.com website and one that is not optimized for mobile devices:

d) Increased time on the website

When a user gets a good experience on your website, they stay longer - and most likely make you money. Mobile users are always on the go, and they can only stay on your website if they enjoy it on their mobile device.

Your website also needs to fulfill a specific need that is important for the visitor - that is why Interactive Real Estate Investor Websites are loaded with many "baits" such as personalized Ebooks that help you convert visitors to closed deals.

Lots of people spend time on social media like Facebook. If they come across your website and click to your link, you need to make sure they will have a similar or better experience to the one they just came from.

If a visitor is happy with your website, they spend time on the website and probably becomes a client, maybe making you thousands of dollars in the process.

e) Faster website loading speed

A website that is optimized for mobile devices is usually small and loads fast. Mobile device users want to save time.

If your page takes too long to load, it is costing you some valuable business. The size of the text also needs to be large, friendly and easy to navigate with links that are easy to tap.

And once again, how friendly are the forms on the website? After all, these are the ones that convert visitors to closed deals.

f) Competitive advantage against competition

If your website is mobile ready, you are definitely ahead the game and ready to trounce your competition…..

Does your website attract leads and convert them and nurture them to close deals with you?

It is not enough to have a website that is just mobile friendly.

You have to make sure your mobile website actually converts your leads (visitors) to prospects.

A prospect is someone who actually signs up on your website.

Our Interactive Real Estate Investing Websites are created with one key focus - to convert every lead to a closed deal.

For example, a visitor is presented with various offers to sign up - such as Ebooks and "squeeze" videos. These are created to compel visitors to take action and sign up.

When they sign up, the websites automatically follow up with the leads at carefully timed intervals.

You do not have to sign up for email services like Constant Contact, Aweber and others. The ability to send automated follow-up email is a critical feature for conversion - make sure your website is equipped with it.

These messages are created to build rapport between you as the real estate investor and the lead. Ultimately, you end up with a person who has warmed up enough to close a deal with you.

Of course even though the website does the follow-ups for you, a friendly phone call from you can go a long way in cementing these relationships and closing the deals when the time is right.

Your Action Plan

My hope is that I have broken down for you the advantages of having a mobile responsive website that attracts leads and converts them to closed deals.

So what do you need to do moving forward?

1) Test your website

If you already have a real estate investor website, test it to make sure it is mobile responsive.

Follow the advice given in this article to make sure all the elements are in place.

2) Get a free upgrade

If you happen to have had your website from us for years and find that your website is not mobile responsive, request for a free upgrade if you got one of our websites before mobile technology.

3) Get a mobile responsive website

A good website must bring you more business - period. All the features of a good website must revolve around attracting leads, engaging those leads to take action and nurturing them to close deals with you. 

Of course, a good real estate investor website must be equipped with all the features you need to run your business make your life easy and close more deals using less time, money and effort.

About RealEstateInvestingWebsites.com

We have been investing in real estate since 2003, when the first version of our real estate investor websites was born. After using it in our business for several years, we started offering these websites to real estate investors. The excitement with which they were received continues every day, which keeps our promise to deliver a website that helps real estate investors close more deals.