Scotsman Guide - August 2009 Residential Edition

The Weight of the Web
Having an online presence isn’t enough — customers and closings must follow
By Jerry Rouleau, owner, J. Rouleau & Associates LLC

It’s no secret that today’s homebuyers often begin their search for a mortgage broker online. Brokers, therefore, should understand not only how to create a Web presence but also how to maximize that presence and turn it into closed loans.

In some cases, brokers will seek a Web designer’s help. Other times, brokers will attempt to create their own site. Either way, understanding online consumers will help you deliver your message more effectively. This is true whether you are dealing with your first online project or are looking to improve your current Internet image.

A seven-second window

For many consumers, a Web site has less than seven seconds to leave a positive impression. If it fails to do so, consumers will move on. As such, brokers should ask themselves the following questions:

■ Does my home page make an immedi-
ate positive impact?

■ Am I selling a lifestyle?

■ Do I represent loan-seekers from dif-
ferent backgrounds adequately?

Remember that marketing isn’t just about you; it’s also about your customers. Your home page should be attractive enough to encourage consumers to spend time looking around the site and informative enough to answer their main questions. You could have the best product, but until you grab consumers’ attention, you can’t prove it. The idea is to make your site as sticky as possible.

Although it’s important to address consumers’ questions and desires, it’s also important to realize that many homebuyers choose a mortgage broker based on personality. Make sure to inform potential clients about your past successes, your community-service efforts and your hobbies. Promote your personal narrative, your staff specialists and your service. Use testimonials and industry affiliations to your advantage. The idea is to make a connection and to build trust and confidence. When prospective clients like you, they are much more apt to do business with you.

In many cases, music and videos distract consumers, and gaudy design can cause Web shoppers to click away quickly. Web sites that take too long to load also likely will fail. If you want to use video and audio elements, give users the option of selecting those items rather than having them launch automatically.

Also make sure to update your site often. A good Web site is never complete. It’s a living thing that reaches its potential

only with new and interesting material. For mortgage brokers, daily rates are a perfect place to begin. Maintaining a blog is another way to keep information on your site current. This can be done on the site itself or through a third-party service.

Drive traffic

The time and effort you put into designing your Web site won’t matter unless people can find it. Here are some simple ways to drive traffic to your site:

■ Post comments to blogs other than your own. Include your name, your company and Web address whenever possible.

■ Place resource links on your site. This adds value to users, who may think of your site as an important Web tool. Consider linking to community events, local school districts and government agencies, as well as anything else about which homebuyers in your area should be aware.

■ Ask others to link to your site. Request that your business and referral partners, suppliers, vendors, and organizations to which you belong link from their Web sites to yours.

■ Join online social networks and link from there to your site.

■ Consider business-directory listings

and ads in the phone book. It might seem antiquated, but the phone book is still an important research tool for many consumers. It’s OK to drive traffic from a printed page to the Web. Phone-book listings also often appear in the associated directory’s online pages.

■ Post your company’s news releases on appropriate public relations sites. These releases often are posted on other Web sites and can improve your Internet search rankings and your image.

■ Research which keywords mortgage customers use in their Internet searches and consider buying pay-per-click advertisements on popular search engines. These ads can appear next to keyword search results for the products you offer.

you wish to control access. This can be ideal for forms, sample quotes or contract examples. When you meet customers in the field, you can give them the specific URLs — make these addresses easy to remember — where they can find these items.

Finally, make numerous attempts to collect customers’ information — even if only an e-mail address and first name — but do so without disturbing their Web experience. Publish newsletters, write articles and offer special promotions that call site visitors to action and that entice them to share their information. A strong e-mail database can represent powerful currency today and as the market recovers.

■ ■ ■

Create leads

Beyond getting people to your Web site and keeping them there, it’s also crucial to turn the prospects into business. One way to do this is to include a contact button on every page. This makes it easy for customers to get in touch with you, especially via e-mail. When they reach out, make sure to respond quickly.

Think of your site as a lead-generator and demand its top performance. Make sure to track your Web site statistics, including the number of new visitors and the amount of time visitors spend on the site. Relate those statistics to the number of clients you gain from the site and make adjustments as necessary.

Another great way to use your Web site is to include hidden pages where you post special information or data of which

Having a Web site is one thing. Making it an attractive lead-generating machine is quite another. Brokers should understand how to drive Web users to their sites, how to keep them there after they arrive and how to turn potential customers into happy clients.

Past Articles

Jerry Rouleau is the owner of public relations and marketing firm J. Rouleau & Associates LLC. He also is the founder of BuilderRadio.com and co-host of the popular weekly radio program “Selling More Homes.” Rouleau is a speaker, author, coach and consultant who specializes in public relations, marketing and sales training for builders, housing companies and building-product suppliers. Reach him at jerryrouleau@comcast.net or (860) 589-7391. For more information, visit www.jrouleau.com and www.builderradio.com.