When you first think of social media, what comes to mind? Your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and a myriad of other accounts come to the forefront. You are well aware of the need for engagement and consistent interaction on these sites. Which is great! All of your social media platforms deserve your attention as clients and potential clients oftentimes find it easiest to interact with you through these mediums.
But have you considered your website as a means of social media interaction?
Oftentimes, people focus on how their website looks at first glance and work hard to make sure the content is compelling and up to date. But, if your website isn’t geared towards being social; you’re missing out!
Since social media has taken the seat as frontrunner in our marketing strategies, website developers and designers have been finding ways to gear your online presence to our present social age. But, building a social media friendly website is much more than placing a few buttons on your home page!
Recently, Joanna Lord, vice president of growth marketing at Seattle-based SEO and social monitoring service SEOmoz, pointed out five ways to make your website more social. While she noted these for any business, I’ve tweaked the top three to hone in on what you can do in the real estate industry.
1. Encourage a more social experience. There is a belief that people either share or they don’t. Not so. You can encourage sharing and engagement on your website by choosing “emotionally intelligent words.” This means you select words that represent the personality of your brand and appear conversational.
A good example would be changing a “Contact me today” link to “Ready to get your home sold?” or “Let’s go shopping for your new home!” This evokes an action and also makes the click more of a personal experience for the user. Making it personal, in turn, can help users feel more comfortable about leaving a comment or sharing on your site.
2. Raise the bar on content quality. This is a familiar tip but content will always be an important part of anything you put online. For those of you with a blog infused within your website, it’s a great way to create sharable information as visitors have the option to easily share a post they feel is worth having others read. It’s a great way to draw attention to your website and your services!
Videos and other info graphics are other ways to provide quality content that are much more interactive and people feel more compelled to share with others.
3. Track diligently and make adjustments. You might believe that some brands are just more likely to win in social engagement than others, but that is rarely the case. Success often comes down to a more strategic process of testing and making adjustments.
To boost engagement on your site, test such factors as where sharing buttons go and which kind of messages encourage client interaction. Most sites have Google Analytics or other research tools, but few are using them to track social media traffic and better understand how people are engaging on their site. Simple changes such as using more direct language can often boost social activity.
Businesses that refuse to test and adjust their social optimization strategies will find that engagement can quickly fizzle and competitors will gladly connect with their former fans.
I hope you find these tips helpful as you consider how to make your website as social as possible!
Carrie Gable and the team at RealSupport, Inc. are our “VA Quick Tip” columnists offering expertise in real estate marketing, technology and more. RealSupport’s office and team of 15 full-time staff members is located near Chicago, IL. Their successful team works virtually for many top real estate agents and brokersnationwide. Pioneers in the Real Estate Virtual Assistant industry, RealSupport offers marketing, branding, website and logo design, listing marketing, lead generation, technical support, transaction management, socialnetworking, blogging and much more… Just ask!
