Launching a new custom real estate brokerage website is a significant and exciting project. Since a good website is such an important tool, you’ll want to make sure the launch goes as smoothly as possible to help you build momentum to continue generating more traffic. The multitude of different factors that go into a website launch necessitate breaking down the launch process into pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. The truth is, the steps to a successful real estate brokerage website launch start before your website even goes live.
Pre-Launch
This is the time to plan your design. First and foremost, you want to build a website that is easy to navigate and pleasant to look at. Otherwise, visitors may not stay on your website for very long. You’ll also want to take into consideration the groups you are marketing towards. Your audience will factor into how you target your launch, where you announce the launch, and how your launch announcement is crafted — so do some research. You should be looking at market factors such as your industry peers, as well as lesser-known factors such as the best day of the week to launch. (Hint: Don’t launch on a Friday.)
Make a prioritized list of true launch blockers. Be careful when prioritizing what you would like versus what you need. This is especially true if you want to launch on time, under budget, and with as few bugs as possible — also, more features can always be added in later.
Besides timing, a successful launch often starts with a “soft launch” or “beta.” With a soft launch you can limit who can see the live version of your website to test its capabilities. It’s going live without going live. That will give you time to fix glitches before you make the formal announcement, improve navigability, and get feedback from actual users.
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Additionally, keep in mind that positive reinforcement goes a long way. You’ve worked hard. Your content is ready. Your team is excited, so stay excited! Sometimes all of the buttons don’t get pushed, and some of the levers don’t get pulled, but all issues can be fixed. If all parties are calm and remain positive, your website will launch successfully.
Real Estate Brokerage Website Launch Day
It’s here, and you’re ready to launch. Ideally, this day will be smooth sailing. (If you’re a TRIBUS customer, this is especially true.) The main thing you’ll want to do is get the word out! These are the typical steps for most real estate brokerage website launches that will effectively get the word out to your target audience, and will make sure that people know that your website is now live:
- Issue a press release – Issuing a press release online to announce your real estate website launch can reach business directories, professional marketing firms, and other industry professionals who list businesses in your area.
- Share on social media – Sharing your announcement on social media can help to reach the growing number of millennial real estate buyers. Make sure to link back to your website on social media.
- Send an email blast – Targeting an e-mail blast to a close group of colleagues, friends, and associates asking them to check out your new website can produce enough traffic to push up your search engine rankings even if you only send it to a few dozen contacts. Remember to make the e-mail compelling enough to make them want to click your link.
In addition to getting the word out to humans, you’ll want to make sure your website is fully SEO-ready. You should have someone observing the website’s early performance, something TRIBUS is well-known for increasing significantly.
Post-Launch
Your post-launch efforts will determine whether or not you will build on your initial success, or if interest in your website will fall off. One way to keep interest in your new real estate brokerage website high is to continually add new and engaging content. That includes adding more properties and featured listings, more neighborhood information, and great blog content.
Have patience. With regard to traffic, leads, and search engine rankings, patience is the highest virtue. It takes time for the public to get to know and respect your online brand, and it could take up to six months of producing consistent content that’s optimized well to see your traffic really go up. As you start to notice trends — good or bad — tweak items, whether that’s content, buttons, or a new distribution strategy on social media.
After launch, if your needs change with your platform, you can continue making modifications — all you have to do is ask!
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