If you’re like most real estate investors, you’re already running paid advertising campaigns to your website (Carrot or otherwise).
You’re running Google Ads or Facebooks ads or both…
And every day, you wake up and check results. How many clicks are you getting? How many of those clicks turn into leads on your website? How many of those leads turn into deals? And do the results you’re getting justify the money you’re spending?
Those questions are enough to give any marketer a migraine…
But they are important questions to ask.
You’re spending hard-earned money on paid advertising; you need to know if that’s money well-spent or not. If it is, great! If it isn’t, you’d best make some adjustments (advertise somewhere else, tweak the ad you’re running, or change where you’re sending traffic — Carrot converts out-of-the-box).
To help you, we helped one of our members with their Google Ads campaign. We monitored their conversion rate and we even ran a nifty heatmap on their homepage which only tracked Google Ads traffic.
Here’s what we found.
The Case Study: Google Ads Traffic To Carrot Website Reveals The Most-Clicked Page On Your Site
The website/company that we ran Google Ads campaigns for is called Henry Home Buyers, a real estate investing company which operates out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Here’s what their website looks like.
From April 15th to May 15th, we drove traffic to their website via the below Google Ad campaigns. During that time, we tracked their PPC metrics, their website conversion rate, and even put a heatmap on their homepage.
Here is an example of an which ran from April 15th to May 15th.
For the month, that Google Ad campaign received 127 clicks, which took visitors to there homepage.
The conversion rate was an above-average, super healthy 16.54%, meaning that 21 of the 127 people who clicked also opted-in on Henry Home Buyers website to become a lead.
Considering that most real estate investors need 20 or 25 leads to generate one deal, this one Google Ads campaign could have theoretically amounted to $10,000 or $20,000 (depending on the width of their wholesale fee) — we weren’t able to actually track how many of those leads turned into deals, so this is conjecture. But you get the point.
A good Google Ads campaign can pay you back ten-fold.
Perhaps most revealing, though, is the heatmap we ran on their homepage during the test. Take a look.
It doesn’t take an eagle-eyed human to spot that there’s two places lit up like a Christmas tree on the above heatmap — two places that people clicked more than anywhere else.
- Their high-converting Carrot opt-in form.
- And their “Meet Our Team” page (AKA, the “About” page)
Well, it’s a darn good thing they have such an awesome “About” page with a high-quality team photo, their company’s core values, and even a CTA at the bottom encouraging visitors to give em’ a call.
Which leads us into the main takeaway from this test. And it really can’t be overstated…
The Most-Clicked Page On Your Website… Do NOT Neglect Your “About” Page…
We’ve said it a million times and we’ll say it again…
Real estate transactions aren’t just expensive financially, they’re expensive emotionally and mentally. Because real estate transactions are so taxing, the average consumer must completely trust the person that they choose to work with. They must believe you can solve their problem or help fulfill their dream, and that you can do so expertly.
They also want to know that you have their best interest in mind — you might just be building your business to make money and achieve entrepreneurial freedom, but they don’t want to know that.
They want to hear about how you can help them, why they should trust you, and how easy the process is going to be.
They want to know that you understand their situation completely.
They want to know that you’ve helped other people just like them.
And they want to know that you can help them, too.
This isn’t just true on Henry Home Buyer’s website…
It’s true on this real estate website…
And this one…
And even our OWN website!
In fact, our Carrot research found that the “About” page is almost always the 2nd most-visited page on real estate websites (right after the homepage). This means that most people who visit your website browse your homepage for a few moments and then go directly to your “About” page.
The best thing you can do, then, is treating your “About” page as a natural part of your visitor’s experience. You know they’re going to click there quite fast; what can you do to make sure your “About” page serves them well? How are you going to convince them to work with you even though they’ve never met you before?
Here are a few ideas.
- Include your core values & mission statement — Remember how I mentioned that your prospect only cares about themselves and how you can help them? This is where you get to list the values of the company and the mission that drives your company. That’s immensely powerful for building trust with your website visitors. For inspiration, check out Carrot’s mission statement and core values.
- Use smile-y photos — If you’re looking for motivated sellers, then your prospect probably isn’t in a very good place; more than likely, they’re going through a stressful and difficult life situation. For that reason (and to increase your likeability) give a big authentic smile in your “About” page photos.
- Add a few testimonials — Nothing helps build trust with website visitors quite like a testimonial. People don’t want to be the first one to work with you, they want to know that you’ve already helped other people just like them. Assure them that you have by adding one or two testimonials (video testimonials are the best, but written will do the trick) to your “About” page.
- Include a CTA — Since many people will click right to your “About” page after visiting your homepage, you should craft your “About” page like it’s the most important sales page on your entire website. Put your phone number on it and include a CTA with an opt-in form at the bottom.
Where are you sending your paid traffic?
That’s an important question.
Where are you sending paid traffic?
Because where you send paid traffic determines (at least partly) how valuable that traffic is going to be for your business. If you send traffic to a low-converting WordPress website (not all WordPress websites are low-converting, but many of them are), then you’re going to lose money fast. If, on the other hand, you send paid traffic to a high-converting site (like Carrot), you’ll make a hefty profit, you’ll gain new confidence in your paid ad campaigns, and you’ll probably even dump more money into running those ads.
(If you can make $2 for every $1 you spend, why not do that all day long?)
But how do you make sure that you’re sending your audience to a high-converting website?
What even qualifies as a high-conversion rate?
Well, cross-industry, a high conversion rate is around 2% or 3%…
And while we know that’s the average for many websites in the world today, at Carrot, we say bubkus…
We are committed to higher conversion rates, to more opt-ins, to more closed deals for our members.
Which is why, for Carrot members, an average conversion rate is around 10%…
An excellent conversion rate is around 15%…
And an incredible conversion rate is 20% or higher.
To be honest, if you’re not getting at least a 5% conversion rate with your website, then it might be time to rethink where you’re sending your paid traffic. Maybe you could try to re-work and optimize your landing page… maybe you need better targeting with your paid ads… or maybe you need a Carrot website ( ;-) shameless pitch).
Whatever the case, do not settle for a low conversion rate. Work until you’re pulling as many leads as you need to run a healthy business that provides you with the predictable income and financial stability that you need.
Conclusion
The pressure is on.
When you’re running paid ads, you’re watching the ROI of your campaigns like a hawk…
You’re wondering if the amount of money you’re spending is going to pay you back like you hope it will (try using our calculator over here to set a realistic paid advertising budget).
Unfortunately, I can’t give you the answer :(
But I can (and did!) show you what other real estate investors are doing, what kind of results they’re getting, and what you should expect for your website conversion rate.
I hope it helps you build a business that you’re proud of.