Your website is only one factor in building your media brand on the Internet but you have to clearly identify your site’s role in the big picture. Do you want your site to serve as an extension of your traditional media outlet, like an online catalog as a backup for your in-person sales efforts, to stand on its own as a source of revenue or perhaps just another way to get your company’s name out there regardless of the income potential?

You see, you can build a Real Estate website and promote it anytime. But how does your website fit into your company’s media brand strategy? If you don’t know, you’ll find it more difficult to have a successful website and your site could actually hurt you. Most brands fail because their web design has not allowed the consumer to distinguish them from their competitors.

Here are some tips to get you started on building a brand strategy for your Real Estate website:

1. Define Your Brand – Understand Your Touchpoints

Remember that Branding is the sum experience of every touchpoint your customer has with your product and service, so it’s important you provide a consistent experience. There are many of these touchpoints that help define the kind of company you want to be and who you want to target. These touchpoints include:

• Personality (philosophy & messaging)
• Logos
• Colors
• Imagery
• Typography
• Textures
• Shapes
• Homepage design

Remember, it’s the sum of these parts that make up your brand and how it connects with your customers so it has to be well thought out.

2. Document Your Brand – Create A Style Guide

In branding, consistency is the key, which is why you need to document your touchpoints. That documentation is called a Brand Style Guide. The style guide will define the design direction for the creative team, and keep everyone on the same page across all your media channels. It should ensure that the design of your website is consistent with the design of your Facebook page, your displayed ads, the tone of your emails, and even your printed and video materials.

Creating a Style Guide is one of the processes that our designers create in our Ubertor Custom Design Packages. That way, we can ensure the consistency of your brand both online and offline.

3. Determine Your Website Goals

You’re starting a website for a reason. What is it that you want the site to accomplish? You should know that your website is only one factor in building your media brand on the Internet so you have to clearly identify your site’s role in the big picture. Maybe your goal is to have a showcase of the properties you have already sold? Or to have a funnel and get more leads? Maybe you want to share some information and tips about home buying and selling and become an industry authority, or maybe a place for your customers to look for properties and compare listings.

Whatever that goal might be, make sure that it is part of your marketing process so that you can have some sort of measurements on how effective the website is. It will also serve as a direction as to where do you want your visitors to go, and what do you want them to accomplish (user-journey). That way you can make adjustments to the website and align it with your goals.

In our Custom Design packages, we make sure that your goal is clear before we begin the design process. We create a project brief by inquiring about brand preferences, as well as market positioning, and competitors. We make sure that we are on the same page about the design before we implement.

4. Aim For Function Over Aesthetics – Target Usability and Functionality

Web Design is not just about how it looks, or how big is the logo, or how the color pops. Web Design is all about how you make your website work. However beautiful and stylish your website is, if it is not functional and unaligned with your brand goals, it is useless. It will just be a glorified online brochure.

A functional website provides a system for your actual users to use and communicate with you. Examples of these functionalities are a blog, listing search, property lists, and custom forms to name a few. These functions will make your website usable and eventually decrease the bounce rate. It also places you as an expert in the field since your website is more than just some blurbs on the internet.
(suggested read: Real Estate Website and IDX)

Ubertor, as a content management system, has these features prebuilt. And we are continuing to add and develop more features. Recently, we have also released our ChatBots so that there will be someone to attend to the questions of your visitors even if you are not online.

5. Optimize For SEO

If you want people to find your website, then you need to be thinking about how to design your website for the search engines as well as people (although people should always be a priority!). That means learning the basics of SEO and optimizing each of the pages on your website is imperative.
(suggested read: Improve Real Estate Leads and Sales with SEO )

Search engine optimization is a big topic, but to give you the short version, it includes:

• Performing keyword research to learn the terms your audience is using (and how competitive they are)
• Including relevant keywords in your URL structure, title tags, headings, image meta tags, and content copy
• Adding meta descriptions on every page on your website
• Including natural internal links on your web pages using relevant keywords in the anchor text

Ubertor, as a content management system, has this pre-built within our pages. In fact, we are so specialized on it that you even have direct access to the page’s meta title, meta keywords, and meta descriptions. These SEO features works seamlessly with our system. Other providers needed third-party plugins for this, which are sometimes faulty and ineffective.

6. Develop A Social Media Strategy

Nowadays, people are mostly on social media. So most likely, your future clients are already there so why not drive traffic to your site through it. Create blogs about industry news and use social networking to keep readers coming back to your site for the latest info. Share links of your latest properties and upcoming open houses. Get site visitors through Twitter and boost your site’s awareness on Facebook to bring your site’s visitors back multiple times a day. Post gorgeous listing photos on Instagram and pin house design ideas on Pinterest. Again, your website is just one on your media avenue, so create a harmonious environment between media platforms for your brand strategy to work.
(suggested read:
Boost your Real Estate marketing with Social Media Hashtags)

7. Measure Your Traffic

Lastly, measure your website’s performance. Use web analytics tools to track your site visitors’ habits as they work their way through your content.

Where are they coming from? How long do they stay? Which pages did they leave? Monitoring these patterns provides you a clearer picture of what’s working on your website and what isn’t. If certain topics drive visitors to your site, you know you can increase clicks by giving users what they want.

If you have other areas of your site that are practically ignored, you can decide if you want to alter the content or eliminate future coverage.

Ubertor’s Custom Design package includes adding your Google Analytics code, free of charge. All you need to do is to sign-up for an analytics account. We also have an in-house SEO expert to give you clear information on how your website is doing and how you can improve.

Next Steps

We have shared as much knowledge about building your online brand strategy, but you can get much more specific and relevant information by discussing your web design project with us. We *love* to talk about web projects and strategy. You can email us at clientservices@ubertor.com or call us directly at 1-604-264-1999, or chat with our live help. We are here to help.

By now I’ve lost track of the amount of times I’ve heard a client tell me “I’m not a blogger” or “can we remove the blog from my site?” Whenever I allude to the blog feature found on the dashboard. To that my reply is this: You don’t have to be a devote writer in order to blog and you most definitely need to have a blog on your site. The key ingredients for starting a blog is genuine interest in your field, the motivation to learn and subsequently share what you what you learn with your audience. Blogging for your real estate business (or any business) is time well spent and it will pay off I promise!

Here are a couple personal tips for first-time bloggers. Get organized and get informed. The best way to be a successful content writer is to plan your posts. Jot down 3-6 ideas for blogs that you would want to publish in a month’s time and schedule them. This will give you the time to do your research and gather any required media. Avoid writing a blog on the same day you will publish it, taking a second look at your work on a different day is always helpful. Struggling to find a topic to write about? Get inspired. Find blogs and publications that you like and read them religiously, once you make a habit of it you’ll see that ideas just come to you! Some of my personal favourites are Sorry For Marketing, Inman Real Estate News, and BetaKit.

If you’re still not convinced that blogging is for you, I hope to change your mind with the following points on how blogging can positively impact your business.

1. SEO!— I knew that would catch you attention. In the last couple of years SEO has become increasingly more difficult than it ever was. Search engines want you to work for and earn that first page placement and nothing accomplishes this better than blogging.  One thing Google loves is original content, write new content and you will see the fruits of your labour displayed on the pages of Google.

2. Connect with your audience and cultivate relationships. Engage your audience with blogs and start up conversations. It’s also a great way to ask for feedback and who knows you might even get a testimonial or referral out of it.

3. Become an industry leader. Share your knowledge about real estate, your community or even a particular hobby you have and gain legitimacy as an expert. Once you’ve established yourself as a reliable source of information people will flock to your site.

4.  Blogging is easy, especially on the Übertor platform, yes we do generate automated blogs, but please don’t settle with that, write your own, get your ideas out there it could even be about an interesting article you read.

5.  Blast your blogs on social media channels and get relevant/wanted traffic onto your site, blogging is a great way to generate new leads.

6. Real Estate agents can sometimes have a reputation of being cold , sales-driven and impersonal. A blog is a great way to give your online persona a voice, become as approachable and likeable online as you are offline.

7. It’s a great way to showcase your accomplishments and milestones! You work hard and are passionate about what you do. Home buyers are looking for success stories and “social proof” that you’re as good as you claim to be. Broadcast your sales, awards, events, or even a new team member on your blog.

If you wish to have more information about blogging using the Übertor control panel, or simply want to bounce off ideas for a next post, give me a shout!

Selling a home is a BIG deal and if you’re not going to brag about it, we’ll do it for you. Here’s a shoutout to the sales rockstars of the week. Keep up the hard work!

306 168 CHADWICK COURT, North Vancouver, BC. #Sold by Rob Henderson.

1290 West 11th Ave, Vancouver, BC. #Sold by Amy Rozier.

6675 Laburnum St, Vancouver West, BC. #Sold by Ben Chen. 

167 COLLEGE PARK WAY, Port Moody, BC. #Sold by Vera Cosovan.

4525 Prospect Road, North Vancouver, BC. #Sold by Tam Barclay.

4 657 14TH STREET, North Vancouver, BC. #Sold by Chantal Vignola.

If you’ve made a recent sale that you’d like us to feature in our next #SoldOnUbertor blog let us know or gives us a shout on twitter using the #SoldOnUbertor.

To better illustrate our vision for a bilingual real estate website site, I’d like to showcase a recently completed bilingual site by Übertor. Morning Yu, is an award- wining realtor, top seller at New Coast Realty selling over 180 properties in 2015 alone. Let’s take a closer look at her new, responsive, bilingual website.

Default site is in English with the option to easily switch to Chinese by clicking a tab on the navigation bar. The navigation bar and corresponding sub-tabs automatically change without compromising the aesthetic integrity of the site. 

Active listings view: Intuitive flow for search listings online. Addresses remain in English while the key details of the property are shown in Chinese characters. 

When viewing a property’s overview page whether it be for owned or reciprocity listings, all labels and call-to-cation buttons are in Chinese. 

If you’d like more information on how to transform your website to reel in new costumers, don’t be shy! We want to help you. 

We hope with this article we can help new, and potential Ubertor users answer similar questions.

We’ll structure the article in a “count down” format, with written step by step instructions, followed by visual screenshots.

6. How do I insert a hyperlink in the content?

A hyperlink is a link which the audience can click on that will direct them to another page automatically.

To insert a hyperlink into your content:

1. First log into your CP (Control Panel).
2. From there, go to the content page of where you would like to add the hyperlink.
3. Once you’re there, select the word(s) which you would like to be hyperlinked.
4. Click on the hyperlink icon.
5. Enter the URL of the page you would like the link to be directed to.
6. Click “Insert”, and save your work.

5. How do I change the banner of my website?

The banner is the long narrow image sitting right underneath the Main Tabs. It is the first thing your audience sees when they go to your site, and more than likely has your branding designed on it.

1. Click on “Accounts and Settings” tab, and then the “Template Design” tab.
2. Scroll down and click on “Set Default Banner Image”.
3. Here, you can select 4 different types of banners.
   • Static: Static banner is a simple still image.
   • Flash: Flash banners are composed of multiple images alternating in a slideshow format.
   • Super: Super banners are a combination of slideshows and videos displayed at the same time on the banner.
   • Custom: Custom banners are just that. Custom. You can create your own banner and drop the HTML into the box provided.

4. Why I can’t I download my listing?

There are four general reasons why you would not be able to download a listing via MLS number.

1. Sold listings are not available for MLS import.  You can, however, add sold listings by hand to your website.
2. Ubertor gets its MLS data directly from the regional MLS boards, not MLS.ca.
3. At times, listings are delayed. Because of this, some systems such as MLXchange will show listings sooner than Ubertor. This is an MLS Board imposed restriction.
4. Listings are also sometimes exempt from display on the internet or reciprocity agreements. Because of this, some systems such as MLXchange will show unavailable to Ubertor. This is an MLS Board imposed restriction.

3. How can I view my billing invoices?

1. You can view your invoices by clicking on the “Billing” tab in your CP.
2. Click on “Go To Billing Portal”, the username and password should be the same as your Ubertor CP login.
3. Then click on “Invoices” under the “My Finance” tab.  Here you can view all your past invoices.

2. How do I customize the design of my website?

Unless you’ve had previous first hand experience, it is very highly suggested that you contact us and let us know what you’d like to change so we can point you in the right direction.

Our talented Approved Vendors are an excellent “go to”, if you’d like professional help with creating your own unique design.

Interested to see what’s possible? Check out Limelight Marketing’s portfolio of customized Real Estate website on the Ubertor platform.

1. How do I add videos to a listing?

Videos play a vital role in today’s media-rich environment.

1. To add a video to a listing, first click on the specific listing under the “Listings” tab.
2. Click on the sub-tab “Video”.
3. Here, you have two options:
   • Add video by using the URL and add as an embed video.
   • Add by Uploading a video file from your computer.

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And there you have it, the top 6 most frequently asked questions we face in Live Help. If you hit any roadblocks along the way, don’t hesitate to reach out to us – we’re more than happy to help.

1. Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

2. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

3. Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money–That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not

4. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

5. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

6. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It

7. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t

Do you want to do more business in a certain type of property or a certain area?

Here are 4 examples of real estate agents marketing themselves to a certain area and in one case to a certain property type:

www.loftsvancouver.com
Reid Dewson and Ed Gramauskas have been working a niche website for years. Their website showcases all lofts available for sale within the Vancouver area. Plus they have building information, upcoming projects, plus much more. It is by far the most reliable website for lofts in Vancouver.

www.yaletownpark.ca
Ian Watt has 6 niche websites all targeted towards a specific area or property type. YaletownPark.ca is dedicated to the Yaletown Park condo development that has just gone up in Yaletown, downtown Vancouver. Here are his other sites – www.vancouver-penthouse.com, www.electricavenue.ca, www.whistler-homes.com, www.vancouver-townhouse.com and www.ianwatt.ca

www.kitsilanohouses.com
Marty Pospischil runs 3 websites. His martyhomes.com main website which is all about his real estate business but he runs kitsilanohouses.com and assignmentsvancouver.com (under construction). The Kitsilano website has rental information, properties for sale, restaurants, businesses, schools, plus much more.

www.pointgreynow.com
Ken Wyder is a great example of a website put together in only a few months and is seeing excellent results. Ken has adding lots of great information about Point Grey including the real estate listings that area available in that area.

What to see some results?

– If you Google “Lofts Vancouver” or “Vancouver Lofts” you will see that loftsvancouver.com comes up #1 under both terms.

– If you search “Yaletown Park” in Google, Yahoo and MSN you will see Ian’s website come up 2, 5, and 3 respectively.

– In Yahoo and MSN when you search “Kitsilano Houses for Sale” Marty’s website comes up number 1 in both search engines.

– Searching “point grey real estate” brings up Ken Wyder’s website on the first page of Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Would you like to get started?

We can get you up and running in 60 seconds for $67.00/month – no setup fee. ($57.00 for your website and $10.00 for your autofill category of listings) Give us a call at 604-264-1999 to learn more about creating a website for a neighbourhood or niche that you want to farm.

Think of your favourite website… look at it today and then think, would this still be your favourite website in 6 months if it was exactly the same?

Lets say your favourite website is the clothing company Banana Republic. If you look at their website today (screen shot here) you will see their Christmas specials and some widgets that are pushing certain products and promotions. How would you feel if you went there in July and the site was still pushing their Christmas sale.

Or how about WhistlerBlackcomb.com? What if you went to their website and you saw the snow report from 2005… or if you came across their big new announcement is a new lift that was launched 8 months ago. Would you keep going to their website? or would you find your Whistler news somewhere else?

Make your website relevant! Make your website matter!

Here are 5 tasks you can do in 2007 to help your website gain the exposure and return visitors that it deserves:

1. Seriously.. Get Blogging
INMAN News named blogging as one of the top real estate stories of 2006. They reported that the “Real estate blogoshere comes to life. Real estate blogs really took off this year, with more solo agents getting into the mix and more blogging on collaborative sites.” Zillow‘s CFO & VP of Marketing Spencer Rascoff says that one of the top online real estate stories for 2006 was that blogs went mainstream.

2. Expose your Listing in a new way
Get the massive exposure that your listings deserve. Flyers, Open Houses, local Newspapers are all good ways to attract attention to your listings but services like craigslist.org, zillow.com, oodle.com, edgeio.com, hotpads.com and trulia.com are all excellent ways to gain massive exposure to your listings. Adding your listing to these sites should be standard practice when advertising your new listing.

3. Expose yourself to new ideas
2006 will be remembered in online real estate as the year that more information than ever became accessible to consumers, for free. The creation of Zillow.com, Redfin.com, and Trulia.com are a few among a rapidly growing group of companies that are pushing the envelope. Are you up to speed with what is going on? Do you know what a blog is? how about RSS? craigslist? Make 2007 the year of learning new things. Plan to attend a conference that you have never attended before. There are lots out there. Here are a few places to start looking www.realestateconnect.com or www.realtor.org.

4. Track Everything
Take the time to track what you do so that you can replicate what works and stop doing what is not working. Here are a few ideas to help you get tracking your results:
a. Ensure that you are using Google Analytics to track the stats of your website
b. Use multiple email addresses to track what is working.
– On your open house flyers use steve@yourdomain.com
– On your busines cards use sjagger@yourdomain.com
– On your just listed flyers use justlisted@yourdomain.com
You get the idea. Doing this will allow you to track which inbound emails are coming from which marketing effort.
c. Multiple domain names is a great way to track (yourdomain.com, yourdomain.ca, yourdomain.info)
d. Your Open Houses can even be tracked… ask everyone how they heard of the open house. Even tell them that your testing to see which of your marketing is pulling its weight. Run a survey to track the results. Do this for all of your open houses. I bet the results will surprise you.

5. Learn the complete capabilities of your website.
Even if your website is not an Ubertor website you should take the time to learn the complete capabilities of what your website can do for you and what technologies are available to help take you to the next level. Take some time to learn about Feedburner, RSS, Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, WordTracker, Blogs, PageRank, Link Baiting, etc.

With all of these new tasks you will need to Systematize your business. A good book to read about systematizing your business is Michael Gerbers E-Myth. His book talks about small business owners and the need to operate like a franchise. Definitely worth a read.

Need help with any or all of these tasks… Ubertor Support can help with some, Ubertor Training is another option, RET Meetups will bring you together with like minded agents, services like realtysupport.ca can do the work for you, or even a real estate coach might be the answer.

Keep in mind the California Association of REALTORS® survey found that “The typical buyer is now an Internet buyer“

Any questions… feel free to contact me directly.