Website

[Jason Grant]

Hello :-)

I'm new and trying to get started like the rest of us .. My question is how important do you think a website is ??? I think it's important and my mentor says its no big deal .. I have my signs, yellow letters and the last thing I need is a web site .. What's everyone's thoughts on this ?

[Jeremy Kleier]

I am just starting out in real investing, but my day job is helping businesses build web strategies.

With that said I would suggest it depends on your business model and how you are leveraging your marketing. From my experience most people drive marketing traffic to a website. If its done well it will help you build credibility with your customers.

My suggestion would be put together a squarespace.com website for $8/per month. They have great customer service, some great designs to choose from, and easiest to use admin tools. As a bonus most of their themes already have mobile versions.

Anyways hope this helps.

[Tom Goans]

Jason Grant ,

Studies have shown that roughly 90 percent of tenants and buyers first use the Internet to conduct research and find their home. Almost the same percentage suggests they found their home via the Internet.

Additionally, a website adds creditability to your business venture as much, or more so, than business cards. Many feel you are not serious or assume you have longevity unless you have a website.

Wordpress offers many options for developing a professionally designed website. I believe they also offer options for hosting the website. Go to Google.com to learn about website creation and key words and phrases prior to designing the website. This will help get the website a high ranking in numerous search engines.

NOTE: Be very careful with whom you register your domain name. Read every word of the agreement. Some companies hijack your name to keep your business, including a very popular one you see advertising on TV.

I design my own websites, host the websites with a global company that has numerous repeater data centers, and register the domain with a totally different company. While this sounds complex, there are reasons and it has been worth every cent. Cost is so small it does not matter.

[Brian Pellerin]

Tom Goans Rather than hijacking this thread, I've started a new topic on the issue of domain name hijacking. See here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/94465-domain-registrar-hijacking-your-domain-name I'd like to understand your concerns.

[Todd Heitner]

I know this is a slightly older post, but I just wanted to say that if you're starting out I wouldn't spend a lot on a website, but it still wouldn't hurt to have one.  It can be good for credibility.

You don't need to go out and hire someone to build a custom site for you, that can be really expensive.  Find some pre-made sites designed for investors that are affordable.  Try to find a site that will grow with your business.

[Gabriel Contreras Jr]

Having a website is not going to be a huge game changer, but it will open the door to some Lead gen strategies you wouldn’t otherwise have. When starting out I definitely recommend using websites that offer cheap done for you solutions.