Real estate agents build their businesses differently than many small business owners.
There’s a lot of start-up fees between paying for classes, taking the licensing test, and all the brokerage fees, so it’s no surprise that many agents prefer to cut costs when necessary.
One of the major costs many agents cut is their website. Not many agents take the time to work with a developer to have a custom website created. They either use the platform supplied by the brokerage or purchase one.
While those sites are great to use while you get up and running, as soon as you can afford your own website, it’s highly encouraged that you get a custom website created.
Here are three reasons every real estate agent needs a custom website.
Website Ownership vs. Platform
Did you know that when you use a CRM-type service platform, you don’t own the website? These platforms allow real estate agents to use their own domains, but if you go this route, the website that you update and post information to does not actually belong to you.
Instead, you will pay a service fee to use their services and platform to run your business. If, for some reason, that service closes, you could lose all that content you’ve put out.
The same goes for the website that is given to you by the brokerage you affiliate with.
Not many agents stay with the same brokerage their entire career.
If the only website you have is through the brokerage you’ve affiliated with, then what happens when the brokerage switches website providers or you switch brokerages? You’re stuck moving all your content to a new platform, and basically starting over.
When you build a completely custom website that you own, you don’t have to worry about a business shutting down or moving your content when the brokerage signs a new website provider contract.
Complete Control Over Your Custom Website
Another benefit of owning your real estate website is you have complete control over the look and feel of the design. Templated platforms limit the way you can structure your website, but when you design a website from the ground up, you’re able to pick and choose the layout, colors, and more.
By partnering with Gravity Real Estate Marketing on the design and content of your website, you’ll have the opportunity to pick out the layout and theme of your website and work with the writers on the content you want to provide.
The great thing about having control is the ability to really think about who your ideal client is and build a website based on their needs.
When you have complete control, your dream website can be brought to life.
More Ways to Optimize for SEO
When you house your website on a platform, you’re limited on how much optimizing you can do to be found organically on search engines.
If you have a brand-new website, you’re at the mercy of Google and other search engines to scan your site to start indexing it to show up for the keywords you want to rank for.
However, when you work with someone who can help you build and develop a custom site, there are ways to submit your site to get found more quickly.
Owning your website also allows you to ensure it’s a responsive site. This means that no matter the device a consumer is using to search your website, the layout will adjust to match the screen.
Sites built with WordPress allow for SEO plugins that will scan your pages to let you know if your content and images are optimized properly for the keyword you selected. Many of the templated sites only allow you to add keywords in the content, title tags, and meta descriptions.
In conclusion
As a real estate agent, there are ways to save money on your business, but marketing expenses should not be one of them. Don’t risk losing access to your website because you don’t have ownership of it.