Real Estate Websites – Do You Need A Separate Website For All Your Real Estate Leads?

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Lately, I’ve been asked by a couple of real estate investors “Should I use one real estate website for all my leads?” or “Should I have separate real estate websites for each type of lead?”

In the past, I’ve often asked this question myself and I’ve reached the conclusion that it really doesn’t matter as long as you’re implementing the key marketing principle behind this question. In this post, I’ll explain that principle and also tell you what you need to do in order to ensure that having one website or multiple real estate websites won’t matter.

When it comes to generating real estate leads online, you’ll come across sellers, investors, buyers, renters, realtors, landlords, etc. Your website(s) needs to speak to that individual on a level where they can understand how you can help them.

Each lead category I just mentioned can be broken down into smaller categories such as; sellers in foreclosure, investors who invest in large rehab projects, buyers in Idaho, renters near Baker St….etc. Again, if you’re strategy is to target a certain type of lead, then you want to speak to them on a level where they can easily understand that you have the solution to their problem.

What kind of marketing is this?

It’s called Targeted Marketing. Targeted Marketing is where you get laser focused on a specific niche market (specific group of people broken down by location, problem, demographic, etc.) This marketing principle helps to decrease the amount of tire kickers and also qualifies your ideal prospect (lead) that you’re looking to attract to your real estate website.

Now that we have a firm understanding of what Targeted Marketing is, let’s talk about what you need to do in order to ensure that having one website or multiple real estate websites won’t matter.

What Should I Do If I Use One Real Estate Website?

Let’s just say for the sake of argument that you’re a wholesaler. You decide through your own research that you need a motivated seller and an investor. Therefore, in order to get your business going, you need to attract motivated sellers and investors to your website.

If you only have one real estate website, then you need to have multiple web pages. You need to have 1 web page that targets the seller and speaks to the seller on a level where they see you as a solution. A web page is simply a page within your website that has information about your business.

Typical web pages you might see are:  Home | About Us | Blog | Contact Us

Each page has information pertaining to its title.

If you were to have a page for Sellers, then you might have a page called “Sellers” or a page that says “We Buy Homes”. It needs to be clear which page the seller needs to click on in order for them to see what you have going on.

Now you also have the option of sending that seller directly to your seller page and eliminating the need for them to choose. Your “Seller” page will have a link. It might look like this: www.RealEstateDomainName.com/SELLERS

Therefore when you’re marketing, you can send a seller directly to that link and they will land on your seller page, instead of sending them to your website domain itself. (www.RealEstateWebsiteGoesHere.com)

When targeting investors, you can simply have a separate page on the same website for Investors. This page should appeal to investors only. Now you just do the same thing for the investors that you did for the sellers. Send them to your website and let them click your “Investors” page or send the directly to your investor page link: www.RealEstateDommainName.com/INVESTORS

Be sure to choose a domain that speaks to ALL audiences. Also, be sure that your home page and/or main landing page speaks to all audiences.

If you’re still confused about what a web page is, then look no further than the navigation bar above this blog post on BiggerPockets.com

You have the option of click on Blog Archives, Resources, Forums, Articles, etc. These are called web pages and they are all a part of the website BiggerPockets.com

What Should I Do If I Use Multiple Real Estate Websites?

If you use multiple real estate websites, then the principle of targeted marketing should not change. You can have one real estate website for sellers and a completely different real estate website for investors. When the lead comes to your website, they will qualify themselves and sign up or click away accordingly.

Be sure to choose a domain that speaks to THAT particular lead. Also, be sure that your home page and/or landing page speaks to that particular lead as well.

Why it doesn’t matter to your leads, but it might matter to you

At the end of the day, when you are targeting your marketing at a specific lead, they will essentially qualify themselves as your ideal prospect. They’ll qualify themselves based on their situation, whether they come to a site that specifically speaks to them or a real estate website that speaks to them and other types of prospects.

Some investors may ask themselves: “If I use one real estate website for all my leads, won’t they get confused?”

Honestly, I’ve never run into this issue when using one real estate website and the reason for that is because where I want my leads to go is very clear.

If I’m targeting sellers and they see:  Buy A Home Today! | Investors Wanted! | Need To Sell Fast?

Which one do you think they’ll click? Most likely it will be “Need To Sell Fast?” because they’re probably a seller who is in a situation where they “need to sell fast”. Therefore, when you present your message clearly, confusion should not be an issue.

It’s really up to you whether you should use multiple real estate websites or one website with multiple web pages. However, just realize that multiple websites (domains) will have to be factored into your budgeting each year (cost depends on the # of domains you have) for the domain renewal, hosting (unless you’re able to host unlimited domains), having to remember and manage multiple domain names, and periodic upgrading (particularly if you happen to use wordpress)

All your lead needs to know is if they landed on the right page. As long as it speaks to them, they’ll make themselves at home and sign up or they’ll leave. If they’re serious and your message is clear, they’ll sign up because they need your services.

Hopefully this clears up any confusion, if this is a question you’ve ever had. This is all based on my own personal experience. I’d love to hear from those of you who have one real estate website with multiple web pages and those of you with multiple real estate websites.

What have you personally experienced? Leave a comment below!

To Your Success,

J. Lamar Ferren
New Breed Investor

Photo Credit: Salvatore Vuono

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.