Full Transcript
[0:00]
Welcome to the 8-5 Web Minute and today we're talking about why your website is costing you clients before you ever shake their hand. We're really going to be drilling down into what home buyers right here on the Central Coast, specifically in SLO County, expect when they look up a real estate agent online. Right, because the goal today is to cut through all that national advice and get really specific. For an agent here, your website isn't just a nice to have anymore, it's the main filter. It's the only filter in many cases. If your site doesn't pass that initial split second test, you've lost a lead. And the worst part is, you'll probably never even know they looked you up. And the number of people doing these look ups, it's just mind-boggling. The reality is that almost every single home buyer, we're talking something like 96% or more, is using the internet in their search. But here's the number that should really grab your attention. It's not just that they use the internet. A massive 43% of buyers start their whole home buying process online. Wow, so they're not getting a referral first, they're going straight to Google. Exactly, they're evaluating agents, they're looking at neighborhoods, all before they even think about picking up the phone. So if a potential buyer is looking for a home in SLO County, they're evaluating you the second your page loads, that's really the core of what we're digging into today. And this is such a high stakes market. You know, the median home price in SLO County, pushing what $910,000 in 2025, buyers are taking this very seriously. An unprofessional website suggests you'll provide a professional service. That's a perfect lead in to what we're calling the first open house, which isn't a house at all, it's the speed of your website. It absolutely is, I call it the speed trap, because judgment online is instant. It happens on a tiny screen, not in a beautifully staged living room. Yeah, I think a lot of people still picture their clients sitting at a big desktop computer, but that's just not reality anymore, is it? Not even close. The data is so clear on this, 72% of home buyers are using a mobile device, their phone, their tablet, they're looking for houses at lunch, waiting for a meeting.
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They are not at a desk. So if your website doesn't load perfectly on a phone, you've just ignored almost three quarters of your potential clients. And it's not just how it looks, it's how fast it loads. Yeah. That three-second rule is just brutal. It's the great digital bouncer, right? It is. If your site takes longer than three seconds to load on mobile, 53% of those people are gone. They just leave, they don't wait. They're already back on Google clicking on the next agent. So let's just be really clear here, having a fast mobile-friendly website isn't a competitive advantage anymore. No, it's table stakes. It's the absolute minimum requirement to even be in the game. An old, slow website is actively pushing clients away. It makes them wonder, you know, if you can't handle a website, how are you going to handle my million-dollar transaction? That's a really powerful point. The site's performance is a direct reflection of your professional competence. Okay, so once the site loads fast, the buyer's mind immediately starts asking some key questions. Right. And your website has to answer them without you saying a word. And the first most important question is, can I trust this person? Trust. And we know everyone looks at reviews. I think it's 96% of consumers read them. But something is shifted with how much we actually believe those reviews. A massive shift. It's incredible. A few years ago, 79% of people said they trusted an online review as much as a personal recommendation from a friend. That's a huge number. It was. But now, that number is plummeted to 42%. Yeah. People are just, they're savvy. They know reviews can be faked or that they can be generic. The bar for authenticity is so much higher now. So if I'm an agent, how do I build that trust on my fight when people are so skeptical? What's the, you know, the actionable step? Specificity. That's the new currency of trust. Stop using generic phrases like award-winning service. Nobody cares. They want proof of results in their area. Okay, so give me a real-world example. What does that look like on a website's homepage? It's about metrics. Instead of a five-star graphic, have a line that says,
[4:04]
helped 47 families find homes in the Paso Robles area last year, or specializing in vineyard properties in Templeton and at Asgardero, even better, real photos of real clients at their new home. With their permission, of course. That makes so much sense. It's tangible proof and it matters even when you get a referral, right? That's what I find so interesting. Oh, absolutely. We know 40% of buyers find their agent from a referral. But what's the very first thing they do? They Google you. They Google you before they call before they email. Your website's job isn't to create the lead anymore. It's to confirm the lead. The referral told them you're great and your website has to instantly prove it. If it doesn't, that doubt creeps in. Okay, so if trust is question one, that flows right into the second question, which is so critical here on the central coast. Do they know my area? It's non-negotiable. With these price points, you're not looking for a generalist. You need a hyper-local expert. Someone who knows the difference between, say, Templeton and Lasosos, or why one neighborhood in a royal Grande and AG is completely different from another one just down the road. Exactly. Your website has just show you know those differences that you understand why one part of AG has different flood considerations or their septic regulations in Templeton versus, you know, city hookups in a task at Arrow. Yeah. If I see an agent's blog and it's just five tips for first-time buyers, that could be for anywhere in the country. It tells me nothing. And you should question that. Your website content needs to be a library of local knowledge, detailed neighborhood guides, market updates about moral-bay condo prices, not just national trends. I can hear an agent listening and thinking, wow, that sounds like a ton of work. Creating all that custom content takes time. It does, but here's the difference. A social media post is gone in a day. That hyper-local content on your website is an asset. It builds trust and it builds search engine authority over the long term. Zillow can't write an article about agricultural exemptions in Santa Margarita. You can. That's how you become the authority. That's a great way to frame it.
[6:05]
Okay, so we have trust. We have expertise. The third and final question is just as critical. Is this going to be easy? Right. Is this going to be easy? You've done all this work to get them to trust you. And then they can't figure out how to contact you. The poor experience trap. It happens constantly. The stat is that 88% of people will not return to a site after a bad experience. And bad experience often just means I couldn't find the contact info. So what are the easy fixes here that people just seem to miss? The basics. Number one, un-mobile. Make your phone number a clickable link. Don't make someone try to copy and paste it. And number two, simplify your contact form. Oh, this is a huge one. I see forms asking for your budget, your timeline, your pre-approval status. It's a massive deterrent. The goal of that form is just to start the conversation. Not to qualify the lead. All you need is a name, email, and phone number. That's it. You can get the rest of the details in an actual conversation. Remove the friction. Okay, let's pivot to the visuals because real estate is so visual. It's everything. And the data here is just black and white. 70% of buyers will just skip a listing entirely. If the photos are bad, you just scroll right past. And that's not just for the listings. It's for the agent's own branding too. 100%. You need a professional headshot. No selfies from your car. And the photos of the homes you've sold need to look amazing. It shows you know how to present a property correctly. And this is where video comes in. It's still such a massive opportunity. It's the biggest edge an agent can have right now. Properties that have a video tour get 403% more interest. 400%. That's four. That's four times more. So why aren't more agents doing it? I think they think it's too complicated or expensive. Yeah. But honestly, a simple authentic walk through video you shoot on your phone where you're talking about the unique features of the home or the neighborhood that builds trust and expertise at the same time. It's a huge win. Okay, let's talk about the big tech question that trips up so many agents. IDX. The whole idea of putting MLS listings on your site. Right. IDX.
[8:06]
The internet data exchange. The goal is to keep people on your site to search for homes. But it's a trap for most independent agents. It's expensive. It's a huge maintenance headache. And it almost always slows your site down to a crawl. But isn't the argument that you need it to compete? That without it, you're just sending everyone to Zillow. That's the common fear. But you have to be realistic. For an independent agent on the central coast to build a search tool that's as good as Zillow's, it's a losing battle. They have billions invested in their technology. So if you can't win the search engine war, what's the winning move? You change the game. Yeah. Your website's goal isn't to be the best search engine. Its goal is to be the best expert. You want to be the person they call after they find a house on Zillow. And they need a local pro to help them. Ah, so your site becomes the verification tool? Precisely. Focus on a clean, fast site that shows who you are, proves you know the area, and makes it incredibly easy to contact you. That will outperform a slow, clunky IDX site every single time. Be the expert they call not the app they use. That really brings it all together. It's not about replacing the big tech platforms. It's about proving you're the indestensible human expert they need. That's it. Because at the end of the day, 88% of buyers still use a real estate agent. Your website is your single best tool to prove you're the right agent for that job right here in Esolo County. That's the quick tip for today. If you want a professional website without the agency price tag or the DIY headache, here is the better way. At Ugrow.pro, we build it, we manage it, and we handle every update forever for just $79 a month. There is zero setup fee, no contract lock-in, and it is strictly month to month, so there is zero risk. We're local here in AG, and we can have you live in days, not months. Want to see what your site could look like? Go to Ugrow.pro right now, and we'll design three custom mock-ups for your business, completely free, no strings attached. Thanks for listening and keep growing.