Testimonials To Improve The “Stickiness” Of Your Real Estate Website

Add testimonials to your Internet marketing campaign to help add “stickiness” to your real estate website. However, all too often, getting testimonials from your real estate clients is an after thought. In this attention deficit age, website visitors usually scan your well-crafted copy seeking the high points. Think of your own website browsing habits – if your curiosity isn’t quickly roused, you probably click to the next website in five seconds. IMCD Web Design has found that well-placed testimonials in our real estate web designs adds a stickiness factor that keeps website visitors on websites longer and converts visitors to sales leads when they fill out your guestbook.

Obtaining testimonials to add and highlight is paramount to making your real estate website more sticky. Testimonials have two things going for them that people love: a human interest story aspect and a third party “certification”, or “social proof” as the psychologists call it, of your real estate prowess. How to get the testimonials?

There are several ways to get testimonials for your website, direct and indirect. The direct way is to ask for a testimonial and include a release statement that can be signed and dated with the request. You can request your client’s feedback by asking for their opinion, which can elicit both positive and negative feedback, but the negative feedback can help you address something in your service of which you were not aware – but that isn’t the subject of this entry.

A second direct way is to write down something your real estate client said to you and ask permission to use that quote on your Realtor website. This helps if the person is busy and doesn’t have time to write something for you. However, if they ask you to write something that they will sign, it is better to get them to say something on the phone that you can write down. People usually can detect “canned laughter” in a testimonial, which does not help build your real estate website’s stickiness.

Also try to get permission for the person’s whole name for believability purposes. If personal security is a concern, at least use the first name and last initial and their town. This can protect their identity and yet present a “face” on the quote.

An indirect way, calling for some tact and diplomacy, is to use a rotating list real estate clients who allow you to use them as references for new clients can contact, preferably by email. When your reference sends a testimonial to your client, they may also cc a copy to you. These testimonials usually work very well for marketing because they address your customers, not you and have more of an impartial ring of authenticity to them.

The science (or art) of using testimonials as part of your real estate web design includes weeding out positive, but uninspiring testimonials. These fall in the “non-specific” or “too short” columns. Our somewhat jaded buying public is unimpressed with “…best ever..” “…wonderful person…” type testimonials or the ones that do not attribute a specific benefit received. “You were the best real estate agent I have worked with…” does not carry the punch that the same testimonial listing why you were the best does.

Take a few more minutes with your real estate clients and get that verbal or written testimonial. Spicing up your real estate website with third party quotes builds your creditworthiness and arrests the eye of your website browser!