RISMEDIA, April 3, 2010—Many of us know that testimonials are important to our business, but imagine using your testimonials in creative ways throughout your website to help you with niche marketing and lead generation. Below are six tips to maximize your testimonials in your overall Web presence that will guarantee a return on investment.
1. Change your page name from “Testimonials” to “Raving Fans.” This creates a synergy that you have a connection with your buyers and sellers way beyond the average testimonial letter. Show that you go the extra mile for them! Add that button to your homepage so that people can get to it fast. Remember your potential buyers and sellers are interviewing you online well before you even know it.
2. Take your testimonials to a new level with video. Bring your clients’ experience to life by adding them creatively to your website.
Take a look at http://kathytoth.com/raving_fans and see how engaged you feel about the agent.
3. Create a YouTube Channel with your name where you can feature your testimonials. The benefit of featuring your videos on YouTube is that video has outstanding results for ranking on the search engines.
4. Ask for testimonials that relate to the experience or the farm area you work. If you have helped a homeowner sell their home in a specific neighborhood, have them mention the name of the neighborhood in their actual testimonial. On the neighborhood page of your website, have that specific testimonial on that specific page. What’s another benefit to this strategy? This allows for well-positioned keywords to be on your site for search engine purposes.
5. Sprinkle unique testimonials on different pages throughout. Imagine having a testimonial about how you sold your clients’ house after they had it listed with another agent? Instead of having this buried in a long list of testimonials, add that testimonial in your home-selling section or your CMA response form. Check out http://lindahall.com/home_market_appraisal as an example. This is a powerful strategy that relates to what they are thinking about.
6. Leverage your testimonials by adding a “Raving Fans” category to your real estate blog. If you have the video, link to that as well for maximum effect!
Tricia Andreassen is the CEO/Founder of Pro Step Marketing, a leader in brand and Web strategy for the real estate industry. As an industry expert, speaker and author, she has over 19 years’ experience in helping Realtors grow their business. For more information, please visit www.prostepmarketing.com.
