The 5 Most Common Mistakes that Property Advisory Firms are Making Online

We worked with a number of property advisory firms in 2013 and there were several common mistakes that we see these and other firms making. These mistakes will be affecting your firm’s bottom line revenue. To help you get the most from your digital marketing, we thought we’d share them with the group so you can get ahead in 2014.

Everyone looks the same as everyone else

The first mistake we see is that save for a few colour and logo differences everybody’s websites tend to look like everyone else. From a customer’s point of view, when they do a search in Google then visit your site you all look the same as your competitors. A distinctive customer focused website will catch your user’s attention and give them a reason to stick around.

Everyone is talking about themselves, not the customer

Here’s a little exercise. Print out your homepage and one or two other pages on your site. Take a yellow and green highlighter and every time you see “you” and “yours” (from the customer’s point of view) highlight it in green. Every time you see your company name, “we”, “our” and “us” highlight it in yellow. Lots of yellow means you are talking about yourself. Customers want to know what is in it for them. They only want to know about you if it means a benefit for them. Unfortunately most firms spend most of their time talking about themselves and not on what they can do for the customer.

Making it difficult for Google to know what your site is about

Google has a 36 page document called the Search Engine Optimisation Starter Guide which they make available so you can design your website so Google knows what your website is about. Using the points in the guide you make it easier for Google to make your website available to your customers. Distressingly most websites fail to incorporate even a fraction of the points covered in the guide. This is partly due to using a “web designer” rather than a Digital Marketing Strategist when producing your website. Take a look at the guide and see how well your site does. You might be in for a nasty surprise!

Not having a mobile responsive website

Smartphone ownership is on the rise, and 60% of all online searches start on mobile phones. Forbes Magazine reports a staggering 24% of Americans only use mobile devices to access the internet. Just think how many times in the last few days you or someone you know has searched for information on a smartphone. Remember how difficult it is trying to navigate on that small screen and find your way around tiny links built for desktop computers. Failing to make the most pertinent information available to your users in an easy to get at fashion will often mean they will go elsewhere. Mobile websites are no longer optional.

In addition Google has stated that they favour sites that offer a mobile option. No having a mobile website can be impacting your ability to be seen by your potential customers.

Wasting your website visitors

Distressingly, 92% of website visitors will fail to take any sort of conversion action on a website and will leave, never to be seen again. Making sure your site is well designed to convert a visitor into a lead is paramount. There are several key elements that make a big difference to lead conversions on your website.

Benefit Orientated Headline

When a visitor comes to your website you only have 3-5 seconds to convince them that your company can deliver what they are looking for. The main headline on your page should be big, bold and convey to the customer why they should stick around and read more. For example:

Welcome to ABC Property Advisory

Versus

Access the Latest Off Plan Property Investments and Get the Best Return On Your Investment.

I am sure you would agree the second is the more interesting from the customer’s point of view.

Calls to Action

Most property advisory websites have no clear call to action such as “Call us now on 9000 9111 to learn more”. Failing to provide a clear call to action means the visitor much try to deduce what they should do next. Unfortunately many visitors simply decide to leave rather than take the time to work it out.

Summary

By addressing these few points you can make a big difference to the returns you are getting from your marketing. I understand it’s a very competitive market out there and technology is changing the way your customers are engaging your services. I would like to offer you a chance to assess the opportunities that exist for your business with a free strategic focus session.

The session involves:

1. A current appraisal in term of current opportunities in terms of your website and your business.
2. A competition analysis where we show you what other people in the market are doing and not doing, and why it is or isn’t working.
3. We give you the value of your market. We will do some research on your market and show you the exact value and opportunity you have for your business.
4. We will provide you with a strategic implementation plan on how you can create a 30-40% increase in revenue using automated online methods.

now to arrange a time.