How New Real Estate Agents Can Build a Strong Online Reputation
Your online reputation is crucial to the success of your business in a variety of ways. Find out how to strengthen yours.
In a technology-focused and centered world, your online reputation is crucial to the success of your business in a variety of ways. Having a strong online presence and reputation can help you reach more prospective clients, position yourself as a trusted expert in your market, and generate new business.
Why Your Online Reputation Matters as an Agent
The 2023 NAR Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report examined buying and selling trends across the different generations of consumers. This report found over half of all home buyers, from Gen Z to Baby Boomers, found the home they purchased as a result of searching for it online.
With a world increasingly centered around social media and the presence developed online, it’s clear your online reputation matters more than ever. Consumers expect to see you online, but here’s the catch: they don’t just want a sales pitch. Instead, they want to seek out connections with you, learn from you, and discover what you offer. Social media has led to instant gratification, too; if you fall short in your online presence, consumers will quickly move along to the next agent.
Think of your online reputation as an interactive, customizable, and deeper version of a billboard. Yes, you’ll hook them in with enticing visuals and your basic information — but you’ll also keep them interested and ready to work with you when you build out your online presence.
Building a Strong Online Presence
To have a strong online reputation you can continue to build upon, you must first establish an online presence and have a gameplan to maintain and grow that presence.
Make Sure Every One of Your Profiles is Up-to-Date
First things first: to have a strong online reputation, you need to ensure your online presence is current, fresh, and regularly maintained. This means you need to:
- Ensure your social media profiles are classified as Business Profiles
- Have a current headshot and bio across your social media, website, major real estate portals, and other directories
- Sign up for your RealEstateAgents.com profile
- Own and maintain a real estate website for your business
- Claim and update your Google Business Profile (GBP)
Each of these steps is a must to ensuring your online reputation can be established in the first place. By having current, active, and well-maintained profiles, consumers can have an easier time finding you, knowing who you are, and get clear on how you can support their real estate needs.
When you’re active across each platform, from posting, updating, and sourcing reviews, your reputation gets stronger. Consumers can see you’re using your online presence, and gain more trust and knowledge in your offerings.
Retarget Your Leads Across the Web and Social Media
Did you know there are automated ad touchpoints you can use to keep your online presence top-of-mind, educate web and profile visitors further, and compel them to choose to work with you? It’s possible, using retargeted ads.
With retargeted ads, you’re serving ads to consumers who have already engaged with you and your content in some capacity. This could include:
- Consumers who visited your real estate website
- Consumers who engaged with one of your posts
- Consumers who saw one of your other ads
- Consumers who visited your social media profile
Social media platforms offer robust, easy-to-use, and centralized ad platforms that allow you to serve ads across both, quickly and easily. You can also retarget consumers with ads across the Internet, using a format called display ads. You know how when you search for a new pair of jeans or kitchen gadget and suddenly they’re “following” you everywhere you browse? That’s retargeted ads.
By retargeting these users, you can reinforce your presence and stay front and center, even from one simple action they may have taken. Because you’re essentially reminding them of your business and reinforcing your message repeatedly, they are more likely to engage with you further and have trust in your brand and ultimately, your reputation.
Manage Your Business on Google
Your Google Business Profile, or GBP, is another critical piece of the online reputation puzzle. When you go to Google and type in “real estate agents in [your city]”, who shows up under the “Businesses” section after you hit Search? Those pages with the agents’ names, contact information, location, and client reviews are Google Business Profile pages.
Make sure to set yours up as soon as possible. Then, use it as a hub to collect testimonials and reviews. Make sure to ask your clients to share what it was like working with you in the exciting time of their closed transaction just having taken place.
When consumers see you online and Google your name, they’ll land on your GBP and see your business’s name, details, and location, as well as real-life reviews. This is the ultimate in ensuring a strong online reputation with legitimacy and accuracy.
To continue to build out a strong online presence and reinforce your reputation, make sure you’ve also thoroughly set up your profile on RealEstateAgents.com. You can leverage the platform’s profile builder, which gives you all the tools you need to paint a complete picture of your skills. You can also show off your history and achievements, allowing clients to make the best decision when comparing agents.
Sign in to your RealEstateAgents.com profile today to update your reviews, badges, and more!
