Sure, your website is about your business and the expert services you offer – but what if you turned it around to be more about the buyers and sellers who will be working with you?

Rather than saying, “I have 15 years of experience in the Nashville market” on your homepage, consider saying something like, “You deserve to work with a Realtor who has 15 years of experience in the Nashville market.”

You’ve seen website addresses that start with http:// and https://. So has Google – and for the past year, sites that use secure socket layer (commonly called SSL) technology have been enjoying a rankings boost over sites that don’t.

That means Realtors with an https:// web address have the chance to show up higher in search engine results than Realtors without one.

Nobody knows your areas like you do. You know the neighborhoods, the zoning restrictions and the fun community activities that take place every summer. You also know the ins and outs of different types of financing, where someone can get title insurance (and why they need it), and what turns a lackluster front yard into something with unbelievable curb appeal.

Do the people who visit your website know you’re so knowledgeable?

Setting up a blog serves you well in two ways. First, it gives you the opportunity to share your knowledge with potential clients; second, it feeds into the search engines. (Google and the other search engines love frequently updated sites, and they’re much more likely to offer them to searchers when they have fresh information.)

It’s great when potential clients find you online, but once they do, they need to know how to contact you. Your phone number and other contact information needs to be highly visible. This is usually easy if you’re complying with TREC guidelines and Benchmark’s own policies, but you can take it one step farther by including what’s known as a call-to-action on every page of your site.

“Call me at… for free listings delivered straight to your inbox” is a great call-to-action that often gets results.

Testimonials are incredibly important. Including proof of real results helps you establish credibility with your clients.

You’re not just selling homes. You’re giving buyers and sellers an experience, and they know that – so when they see another person talking about how you delivered, they’re more likely to work with you. In fact, 88 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as they’d trust personal recommendations, so it’s important that you include testimonials on your website.