Once you figure it out and repeat the process just a few times a year, real estate becomes a very lucrative and profitable business, with very little overhead.
– Carter Crowley
How Credibility and the Right Partnership Led to 38 Transactions in 2020 w/ Carter Crowley
The importance of the agent and investor relationship is something we’ve been talking about for a while now here at Carrot. We’ve often said that in the future, agents will need to invest, and investors should be licensed in order to better serve their leads.
Well, the future is now.
Now, more than ever, people are looking for ways to sell their homes. With the rise of iBuyers, people are looking to other sources when they are thinking about putting their home on the market. The agent or investor who is able to offer multiple solutions, is going to be able to complete more actions and help more people.
Here’s how Carter Crawley is doing it.
Read the Full Show Notes Below…
Carter Crawley is a Carrot client who is mastering the agent-hybrid model. His business has a healthy mix of deals, and his volume is double that of other investors or agents who try to fit everyone in the same box.
His versatility and ability to offer more than one solution have allowed him to serve more people.
Building That Credibility
Carter Crawley is generating a lot of leads from his Carrot site. His marketing is working amazingly well because he isn’t afraid to put himself out there and let people know what they are all about.
They are currently using Google Ads, Facebook, and a little bit of YouTube for retargeting purposes. They are also running cold calling campaigns and setting up mailers. However, video surrounds the brand.
Their website is laid out very well, with videos explaining exactly who they are and what they do. The website conveys trust and lets them know that Carter and his team can solve their problem.
With his videos, Carter is building rapport and credibility with his clients before he ever meets them.
The Power of 3
There is something about the number 3 that leads to higher conversions. Giving your customers 3 options will often lead to more sales. One option leaves your client with the ability only to answer yes or no. Having two options can make one seem expensive, while the other seeming cheap.
But having 3 options really makes people think. The highest price offering has all of the bells and whistles. The lowest-priced offering is just bare-bones service. While the middle option is the best value and the best service. Everybody wins.
As a hybrid investor agent, Carter can offer several options to his client. He can list the property. He can buy it outright for a lower price. Or he can present it to his network of buyers, allowing his client to sell fast while still receiving competitive offers. Again… everybody wins.
Don’t Be Afraid of Having a Partner
For Carter and his business today, his perfect partner is his dad. They can balance each other out and pick up where the other leaves off. Dad handles the contracts, service providers, and business management, while Carter goes on appointments, handles the financing, and gets the deals locked down.
That said, your partner doesn’t need to be your family member. It needs to be someone you trust who is just as motivated as you are to close deals and help others. Many people avoid finding a partner because they are worried about giving away half of their profits.
When you work with the right partner, your volume will go up, they will handle the aspects of the business that you don’t like, and your volume will go up exponentially.
You will be able to spend your time on the things that give you energy, which will lead to better service, happier clients, and more closed deals.
Loving What You Do
For anyone watching or listening to this podcast, it is evident that Carter is passionate about his work. You can see how every aspect of real estate excites him, especially when he is able to find solutions that truly help people.
Carter and his team aren’t just after the money, they are a true helping hand for people when they need it most.
In markets with little competition, the product and the offering are often the most important factors a prospect uses to decide what company to work with.
But in a cluttered market, with lots of competition, like today’s real estate world… credibility has grown to trump “product” as the main deciding factor to make or break your next deal.
So, what are the top 5% of real estate investors and agents doing to build more credibility in the market and make their competition irrelevant?
Trevor Mauch, CEO of Carrot, dives into specific examples and lays out his Credibility Score theory to help you determine what you should fix ASAP to build your credibility even more.
Listen to the Podcast
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Podcast Timestamps & Highlights
6:10 – What the consumer’s path to find a credible company online looks like. 10:00 – Recognizing competitors’ opportunity to move in and cloud the consumer decision process is essential. 12:00 – Example of an effective self-mailer used to build credibility.
15:15 – Marketing stages breakdown for real estate. What the most important pieces are. 17:45 – Look at your past and present marketing numbers and build credibility after the first contact from a lead. 18:50 – What it takes to build credibility into your real estate website. 22:00 – We’re in the age of trust and credibility. Everyone is online. What are you doing to cut through the clutter? 26:30 – Build a process within your business that adds credibility. 29:15 – Taking a look at Opendoor and Express Home Buyers. Two examples of companies with a good credibility strategy. 32:20 –Diving into Carrot’scredibility strategy. 33:45 –Stanford’s Web Credibility Research Center – 10 credibility score items people view on a website. 37:20 – What is the #2 most visited page on your website? 39:30 – Does your real estate website look good on mobile? And what you need to fix if it doesn’t. Use our mobile check tool. 42:40 – What does credibility mean? And how to do it so you connect with your lead more effectively. 44:00 – Using the credibility score formula and how to build credibility through social media and testimonials. 53:00 – Stacking upon the credibility score – Being picky on your website credibility. 55:00 – Using some how-to’s to beef up the overall impression of your real estate website. And the importance of controlling the conversation around your brand. 1:02:15 – Build things unique to your offerings to stand out from the online competition. Such as badges and logos. 1:04:30 – Creating the connection with credibility and working hard to go the extra mile to show you’re an expert in your market.
Not when it comes to optimizing your websites for conversion. ;-)
Constantly, we’re on the look-out for new ways to improve your (our member’s) website conversion rate. But we don’t just want to increase your conversion rate, we want to make it dead simple for you to make those conversion rate improvements.
In other words, we want to help you convert more visitors in less time.
The Carrot Credibility Bar
Here’s a look at what this credibility bar might end up looking like on your website. This is a version with a testimonial.
And here’s a version with logos.
If that ain’t enough for you, then we even have a custom version where you can add your own text and images to your heart’s desire – like we did with this block quote…
Or video…
Pretty awesome, right?
But this new feature isn’t just remarkable because the dev team here at Carrot did an amazing job designing it and making it easy for our members to use.
No. The feature is amazing for another, more important, reason.
It’s going to help you build more credibility on your website, instantly. But you don’t have to take my word for it.
ConversionXL ran an in-depth test to determine which type of social proof on a credibility bar is the most effective. They used testimonials with and without photos, logos, social sharing buttons, and a whole slew of other types of social proof.
Here’s one example.
Then, they had a control version that ran without any credibility bar.
In the end, one thing was for sure: every single variation of the page with some type of social proof performed better than the control.
And the reason is simple: when people arrive on your website for the first time, they have no reason to trust you. You have to show them that you’re trustworthy. Of course, you want to do that as quickly as possible to avoid them bouncing from your website.
This is why a front-and-center, top-of-the-page, no-scrolling-required credibility bar is so damn effective at building that necessary trust.
People see it the moment they arrive on your website and it confirms for the visitor that they can, indeed, trust you.
Just consider massive organizations like Opendoor, insurance.com, or ourselves ( :D ) that count on a credibility bar for building trust with visitors.
So, you’re probably wondering by now, What should I put on MY website’s credibility bar?
For that, there are a few different options.
Consider…
Displaying a compelling testimonial from a happy customer.
Displaying a series of logos from publications your business has been mentioned in.
Displaying a series of logos from other companies you’ve worked with.
Displaying awards your business has won.
The way you to choose to use this feature will depend on how you want to build credibility with website visitors and the kind of credibility builders you have access to.
But, to help you make an informed decision, here are the types of social proof that ConversionXL found (from the study I mentioned earlier) had the highest recall rate among participants, and thus (this part is conjecture) the highest impact.
As it turns out, testimonials were the most effective at generating website visitor recall.
Whatever type of social proof you choose, every single Carrot member should be able to make use of this feature – whether it’s through a testimonial or a series of company logos. This feature worked with our real estate agent websites as well!
Plus, a credibility bar can help you stand out from other websites online (i.e. the competition), giving you the extra edge you need in your market.
If you still don’t want to use the credibility bar, though, no worries. This feature is completely optional, so you can just leave your website as it is now if you’d rather.
In competitive real estate markets, your online credibility score—the subconscious evaluation prospects make when visiting your website—can dramatically impact your deal flow and determine whether potential clients choose to work with you.
Key Takeaways
Visual elements like clean logos, authentic local images, and properly formatted testimonials with real photos and names significantly impact your website’s credibility.
Your “About” page is typically the third most visited page on real estate websites because prospects are evaluating whether you’re the right company to solve their problem.
Every element on your website either adds to or detracts from your credibility score, including social media links that should only be included if they enhance rather than harm your professional image.
Audit your website and marketing materials to eliminate negative credibility points and strengthen positive ones—from logo clarity to content authenticity—to stand out in a crowded marketplace and earn the trust of potential clients.
But, it amplifies when you have a competitive market. When you’re in a market with a lot of competition but lack online credibility, you have lower deal flow.
When a buyer or seller has multiple choices, they often look at the agent’s or investor’s credibility.
To help you learn how to build online credibility for real estate, we’ve devised the “credibility score.”
Whenever you go to a store, whether online or in person, you go to the grocery store. You’re walking in the grocery store, and subconsciously, there are all kinds of things that you’re doing to size up that grocery store.
Is the floor clean? Are the vegetables arranged in a way that makes sense? Are they rotten, or are they good? Are the people who work there wearing good clothes, clean clothes, or something that’s a uniform that looks like they’re put together? Are they friendly? Is the signage in the grocery store in a make sense way?
All these little things stack up to create this score subconsciously in your mind. You’re probably not going to work with that grocery store because one of those things is wrong.
You’ll probably not choose not to work with the grocery just because the signage isn’t exactly clear and clean. But, when you stack up all those together, and there are these negative credibility marks, what happens is, you leave the store and you go somewhere else, and you’re not sure why sometimes.
You can’t place your finger on why you chose not to work with that company but another one, but this credibility score is subconsciously stacking up in your mind.
We’re going to walk through as an agent or an investor. How do you size your business and find your credibility score?
The first thing you need to look at is to realize people are subconsciously sizing you up, whether you think about it or not. If you’re doing what everyone else is doing, you’re probably not giving yourself many positive credibility marks.
What we’re going to be doing is looking at the website. There are a lot of different things that people are doing when they’re trying to size up your website and size up your credibility score subconsciously.
How to Build Online Credibility for Real Estate
Having Clean Logos Is Important
The first thing they will be looking at is your logo area, your logo area. Is your logo clean, or is it fuzzy? Is it pixelated? Does your logo match the colors and the branding on your website?
I know that’s a little thing, but it’s one of those things that people can go, “Well, there’s something off. I can’t place what it is, but there’s something off,” so make sure you have a very clear, clean, simple logo design that delivers the benefit or delivers the good, warm, fuzzy feeling.
Make sure that the colors on your website match up. That’s a positive credibility mark. Here are a couple of good examples.
Credibility Badges
Are you using specific badges to show that third-party processes and third-party entities vet you? For example, the Better Business Bureau.
Credibility Badges on a Carrot website
Maybe you’re a member of the local Chamber of Commerce. Or, a designation with some entity such as a CCIM in your profession is a respected designation. Those badges help in a big way. Those are all positive credibility marks.
Demo Carrot: How many deals are you losing to your competitor’s website?
Let’s say you have social proof on your site, so you have testimonials formatted correctly. Just because you have testimonials doesn’t mean that’s a positive credibility mark.
We have other content on how to format a testimonial correctly. If you format a testimonial incorrectly, it could be a negative credibility mark because if you just put a testimonial up there that has the person’s words.
Let’s say you just used their initials, TK, with no picture or other context around that testimonial. People think it’s not real, so it could detract from the credibility.
When you’re building out your testimonials, have pictures of the person or photographs of the property. Put as much of the person’s information on there. Tom, whatever, and then their location. Trevor Mauch, location Roseburg, something like that. It adds more credibility to it.
Use Real “Local” Images
Other things, the content, the pictures, all of these things stack up. Are your photographs localized?
Do you have authentic images on your website? Or are the photos stock images? In the studies, we’ve done and other studies we’ve corroborated with, stock photos don’t lend toward credibility, especially if they’re too stocky.
There are stock photos that look amazing and stock photos that look clearly like stock photos.
People look at a website and go, “I can’t connect with this website. It looks like a stock photo. Maybe I’ve seen the same photo on another website.” If you’re a Carrot member, swap all the images with local, real ones for your market.
Get rid of any stock photos of people you’ve not worked with and put pictures of people you’ve worked with. Make sure that the images look like houses that are in the area. If you’re in Phoenix, your photographs should look way different than someone up in the Northeast part of the US.
What are you doing to build a storyline and connection with your prospects?
They’re going to your about page because they’ve already probably discovered that you have a solution. You have a solution that can solve their problem. They’re already past that. They don’t need to know whether you can solve their problem.
They need to know whether you are the company they want to choose to solve their problem, so they’re going to your about page.
If you’re using social media, such as adding your Facebook link, make sure they give you positive credibility, not adverse.
If your Facebook page isn’t built out, has minimal engagement, and stock photos, that’s negative credibility. So get it off.
Don’t put that link on your website. Don’t put the link in your marketing. If you’re going to use social, use it to build your credibility. Never use it as negative or neutral credibility. It’s going to hurt you.
Optimizing Your Website For A High Credibility Score
Audit your on and offline marketing. What’s your credibility score look like?
Go through each thing subconsciously and then start to put a plus or a minus on it and add those up.
One by one, eliminate every single one of those negative credibility points.
Is it easy to read on mobile, or is it not?
Is your logo pixelated?
Does your branding match up?
Does your content make sense?
Does it look localized?
Do you have real images?
Do you have real badges?
Does your social media actually help you?
Make sure you pay attention to this. Go check out your website right now. Let us know what you found in the comment section and what you’ve found to be your biggest credibility driver.
Know you know how to build online credibility for real estate. Implement this, and let us know how it works!
So you’re getting ready to launch your online marketing campaign, but you’re probably thinking “Man, what type of website am I going to build?”
At Carrot, we have general credibility websites and we have targeted websites. Where the targeted websites are specific to a certain type of lead. It could be a motivated house seller. It could be a cash buyer. It could be a retail buyer. There could be a note seller or buyer. You get the idea. Those are very, very targeted towards a certain type of lead.
We get a lot of our clients asking us, “Why can’t I focus it all into one general credibility site?”
Or, “Is a general credibility site going to work well or perform as well as a targeted site specific for, as an example, motivated house sellers?”
Well, this video and post are going to walk you through the data and what the actual results are and what you should do depending on the type of lead you’re looking for.
So, first of all, we’ve got the general credibility site. A general credibility website is mainly focused on, just that, building general credibility for your company.
So, it could be trying to get people there to show them who you are. What types of things you’re doing. What types of things you’re doing in real estate. And it could be multiple things.
Saym, we’ve got this real estate fund and we’re flipping houses, so we buy houses. But we also sell houses and oh, by the way, did you also know that we do rent a home?” So it’s kind of “here’s who we are as a company”, and build that credibility.
You could be looking for private lenders on that website. You could be building a cash buyer list on there and selling properties. That works really well on a main company credibility website.
But it’s a lot of general stuff. It’s not really focused in on any one particular message. And it’s a split message.
Your home page might say, “Hey, we are a real estate investment solutions firm. We buy, sell and rent houses.” But you’re going to be talking about all of that stuff if you’re on the homepage.
So there’s no one focused message if you’re doing direct marketing toward that.
If you’re driving a house seller there, they’re then going to get distracted by other messages. They’re going to get distracted by the message about investments. They’re going to get distracted by the message about looking for cash buyers and private lenders.
If you’re doing direct marketing and paying money to drive people there, you don’t want to distract the message.
But the general credibility website serves a very specific purpose.
If you’re networking at your local chamber of commerce or rotary, you’re probably going to hand them the business card that drives them here. This website is then going to drive people toward your other specific target websites if you’re doing multiple things in your business.
So you might have a link that says, “Sell your house.” And it’s gonna drive to your house seller specific website, ideally. That’s what the data shows works the best.
General Credibility Website
Real Estate Website Design: Targeted Credibility Sites
On the other side, you have the targeted website. So, when we suggest that you focus on using a targeted website, it’s any time you’re actually going to be actively driving people to that website to convert as a lead.
These websites are set up for conversion.
The general credibility websites are not particularly set up for conversion. They’re going to be great on mobile and there will be landing pages on there that are set up for conversions.
But the overall path is not set up to convert at a high, high rate. It’s set up to build credibility for you.
These targeted websites are set up to convert at a high rate for one particular type of lead.
You can see the eye directors on our Carrot websites, the big buttons. The very, very focused message. If you land on a motivated house seller website with Carrot, or if you’re building one, it should be very focused on that motivated house seller. Not on cash buyers, and then rent-to-own tenants and private lenders.
Your entire website should be focusing on how you can help that seller. And that’s what will perform the best for you. It doesn’t distract them away from your messaging.
Motivated Seller Targeted Website
The website is specifically set up to convert one type of lead ideally.
So, if a motivated house seller website speaks to the seller, it’s going to convert them.
If you want to list properties for sale, then you set up another website for that to speak toward that. “Hey, we have discount properties. Join our list or see our properties here.”
Or, you can fit that into the main company site too. You can kind of pull double duty with the main company and cash buyer if you want to.
Buyers Lead Website
Pay-Per-Click Traffic
Lastly, your targeted websites are where you’re going to send all of your paid traffic.
Please do not send paid traffic to the main company website. It’s unfocused. It’s untargeted. It’s building good credibility. But then it has all these rabbit holes that your prospects can dive around and they might go down the wrong rabbit hole and not become a lead of yours.
So, they’re focused on conversion, specifically set up to focus on one type of lead. A very focused message on one type of prospect and how you can help them.
They’re sites that are optimal for paid marketing. If you’re driving paid marketing to a main company credibility website, unless you vastly adjusted it, you’re probably wasting some money.
Ending The Debate Of Credibility Sites Vs. Targeted Sites
So that’s what we would do. That kind of hopefully ends the debate, credibility site versus a targeted website and what you use in certain circumstances. Ideally, if you’ve got your main credibility website and you’re looking to generate any leads online, you’ve also got at least one targeted website for your actual marketing activities.
Join us on our other episodes of the Carrot strategy sketch because we have a lot of other topics to dive into and most are under 10 minutes. They’re going to help you get light years ahead of your competition and shave off months, if not years, on your learning curve.
Also, be sure to check out the CarrotCast, which is our weekly podcast. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you can see all of our videos before anyone else can. So, check us out and be sure to hit us up with comments and questions.
In a field with low entry barriers and many unethical operators, a credibility-focused real estate investing website is essential for standing out and convincing motivated sellers, cash buyers, and private lenders to choose your company over competitors.
Key Takeaways
Show real people behind your company through photos, names, and bios, as hiding personal information damages credibility and reduces conversion rates.
Highlight your expertise and make it easy for prospects to contact you through the “big three” contact methods: phone number, email, and mailing address.
Borrow credibility from respected sources by showcasing testimonials from established companies, logos of organizations you’ve worked with, and featuring any media mentions.
Implementing at least seven of the nine credibility-building website elements will put you ahead of 90% of your competition and significantly increase prospect trust, leading to more closed deals and business growth.
So, how do you boost your real estate investing website credibility?
Real estate investing is one of those professions where the entry barriers for new investors are so low… there are lots of unethical investment companies out there giving real estate investors a bad name.
So, how do you stand out above the crowd… and make it so that when a motivated seller, cash buyer, or private lender finds your website… they feel compelled to work with you?
First…
Importance Of Building Credibility (and how to do it with your website)
It goes without saying… that today consumers have more options than ever. If you’re a motivated seller going into foreclosure… or a private lender doing your research… one of the first things you’ll look at after you hear of a company is THEIR WEBSITE to see if they are real.
Our society is an internet society now. Just look at the phone book and newspapers… those businesses are in decline… while internet news sources and directories are on the rise. People go to the internet to research companies they’re getting ready to work with.
So, what will a private lender prospect or motivated seller see when they search for you online? Will they even visit a website? If not, people immediately think, “They don’t have a site… are they a real company?”.
If you have a website that doesn’t have the 9 elements below... that could be even worse. Is your website harming your credibility (if I had to guess, I’d say probably 60%+ are).
If people don’t feel comfortable that they want to work with you within the first 2 minutes of being on your website… odds are you’ll lose that business.
So, here are 9 ways to boost your real estate investing website credibility.
See How Carrot Works How many deals are you losing to your competitor’s website?
9 Ways to Boost Your Real Estate Investing Website Credibility
Stanford University did a study called the “Web Credibility Research” project. Stanford compiled 10 elements that your website should address that can either make or break your credibility as an investor… we’ve consolidated them into 9 elements that, without them… your credibility (and profits) are likely suffering. See how many of these your real estate investing company website is doing well:
Show that you’re real people behind your company – Most investors we work with to help them build their online presence for their real estate business are hesitant to put too much personal information on their site. They don’t want their name, picture, bio… anything… on the site. If this is you too… it’s hurting your credibility and results. Ask yourself this… do you like it when you’re on a website, and you can see the actual faces of the people behind the company? Yes, we all do. It increases conversions and leads.
Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site – A lot like #1, your website visitors land on your website with their scam detector running in full force. They want to know that they can trust you to help them solve their problem (save them from foreclosure or get better returns, etc.). How do you do that? A short bio on your site, again… a picture of you and your team (we teach our members ways to build credibility even if you haven’t done deals or don’t have a team), testimonials are a biggie, etc.
Highlight the expertise your company has – Over half of the investors, we work with feel that they don’t have enough “experience” in real estate to put on their site. But, once we dig… they usually have a lot more experience that makes them qualified to provide great solutions to buyers, sellers, and investors than they think. Anything that you feel helps you in your real estate business qualifies. One gal had never done a real estate deal herself… but she was an executive assistant to a mega investor in New York for years, was a certified Draftsman, and had managed rehabs for another investor for a couple of years… that’s an experience that should be on your website. Or, heck… even if you’re just getting started… leverage the knowledge you’ve gained in your education or your mentors’ experience for now. Bottom line… if you don’t feel you have enough experience related to being able to help your clients reach their goals… then you should rethink your decision to be an investor (or go out and get that experience).
Make it easy for people to contact you – Simple. Obvious. But overlooked. Have the “BIG THREE.” Phone number, email, and mailing address on your site. It gives people a feeling that you’re not a fly-by-night operation… and easy to get in touch with if they have a question or problem. You can get a free phone number from Google Voice, and a professional mailing address from your local mailbox store if you don’t have one.
Design your site so it looks professional and clean – Who likes to land on a website that looks like a 12-year-old made it in 1998? Find a nice clean design with lots of whitespace on the site… with crisp, clean graphics. It doesn’t have to be fancy… or flashy. In fact, flashy isn’t a good thing.
Make your site easy to use and useful – Easy to use = not too many links on your site. Give people a few options… don’t confuse them. Useful = providing great content on your website that helps your visitor solve their problem. Your motivated seller site targeted at assisting people in stopping foreclosure could have a FAQ on the foreclosure process, free guides on helping them to stop foreclosure, information on how your company works with homeowners, etc. Give them great information… it builds massive trust.
Update your website content often – Have you ever gone to a website and seen somewhere on the site where it said the last blog post was done ten months ago? Or when you read the site, and it references old, outdated information? This is a credibility killer. Update your site regularly. We teach our Carrot members our process for creating great blog posts, optimizing those posts for Google rankings, and making it so easy that you never have to think about what to write about next. It’s simple when you have the right process and system for your content. But, aim for a new blog post every week if you can… once a month minimum (not only does this help for credibility, but it also helps your search rankings and leads!)
Avoid typos and errors – Enough said.
Borrow credibility from other sources – A great way to build credibility on your site is to borrow it from other credible sources. Have you been on a website and said “As Seen On TV” or “As Seen On Google”… or a site that has a quote from a famous and respected person? That’s all “borrowed credibility.” If you work with a real estate agent from, let’s say… Century 21… get a testimonial from them and ask permission to put the Century 21 logo on the site as a “company we’ve worked with.” Can you imagine the credibility that’ll give you in a website visitor’s eyes when they see the symbols of companies they know and respect on your site?
So, how many of those 9 credibility builders for your real estate investing website are you doing on your website?
If you’re doing 5 or more… you’re ahead of the curve.
7 or more… you’re doing better than 90% of your competitors.
All 9? You’re crushing it and should be teaching this lesson alongside us :-)
Action Plan To Boost Your Real Estate Investing Website Credibility
Real estate investor websites can be a huge tool in building credibility, or they can harm your credibility. If you currently have a website, pick 3 of the 9 elements above and implement them on your website this week. If you don’t have a website, make a commitment to get online this week, but keep credibility in mind as you do so.
Of course, we’d love for you to work with Carrot (and we have many of these 9 elements already designed into our website templates), but if you’re still on the fence, here are what we consider the 10 Best Real Estate Website Builders.
Whether you want faster, deeper insights or help doing the actual work, Carrot’s AI Suite has tools that help you embrace the benefits of AI while staying in control.
The Carrot AI Suite comes with all available AI features. No picking and choosing, no nickel and diming. Just enhanced productivity at a predictable price.
The Carrot AI Suite is a $99/month add-on to your subscription. Additional charges may apply if you exceed your monthly usage limits.
AI Page Optimizations
The On-Page Insights and Full Site Audit features flag issues and warnings. Make sure every page is always optimized to keep sites performing well.
AI Lead Manager
CarrotCRM’s Autonomous Lead Manager (ALM) lets you have entire text conversations with leads without lifting a finger. The ALM asks questions and gathers info for you.
AI Lead Scoring
Identify the hottest leads and know when a lead is warming up or cooling off based on your preferred criteria. AI Lead Scoring is built into CarrotCRM.
AI Summaries
Stop wasting time reviewing lead details and past communications. CarrotCRM’s AI Summaries put all the important information right in front of you in a few sentences.
AI Call Insights
Part of the built-in Call Tracking, AI Call Insights distill every call into a transcript, quick summary, and motivation rating so you know who to follow up with first and which campaigns drive the best leads.
Usage Tracker
Monitor your AI usage each month so you don’t unexpectedly go over your limit. You’ll see a notification when you hit 75% and 100% of your monthly usage.
I tell people all the time, if Carrot only gets you one extra deal that you make $10K on, it just paid for itself for 4-8 years! But if you go through all the setup process and trainings, and actually implement everything you learn, you will get a lot more deals than that.
Jeff Filali
Want help customizing your site?
Quickstart 3.0
Carrot’s AI website builder creates a beautiful, personalized site for you out of the box. But you might want a little help taking it to the next level. That’s what Quickstart 3.0 is for!
Replace stock images with your photos
Implement Schema for advanced SEO
CRM integration
Call Tracking setup
Domain connection support
You can add Quickstart 3.0 after the site onboarding process or anytime by via chat.
CarrotPro
The ultimate Carrot website personalization experience. Start with a high performing website, then work with our team to make it your own with unique design elements and new webpage sections. If you’ve seen a Carrot site that doesn’t “look” like a Carrot site, they might be a CarrotPro member!
Deeper location page optimization
Personalized design elements
Additional credibility sections added to your site
I was nervous, but to my surprise, my new Carrot site started to immediately generate motivated seller leads… The migration of my already high SEO ranking site to Carrot was a seamless process. Carrot was sensitive to my existing high ranking long-tale URLs and did a great job making sure the migration kept my already ranking content. I closed my 1st Carrot deal within 45 days of launching the new site.
Tyler Ford
WeBuyHomesInTucson.com
Right now, with Carrot, it’s safe to say we’re averaging about 4 deals a month and our average deal is about $25,000 bucks. I never got anything from my old custom websites… You go where people are getting results. I saw people in competitive markets using Carrot, so I knew it was the platform I needed. I couldn’t survive without the SEO package.
Ryan Dossey
RE Investor | Ohio
If I could go back, I’d tell myself to take this leap sooner. Carrot didn’t just change my business; it changed my life. I’m not stuck grinding through endless cold calls anymore. Now, I’m building something real, with clients who are grateful for my help. It’s exactly the kind of business I wanted. Now, when people reach out to me, they’re truly ready to sell.
Keith Sant
Kind House Buyers
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens after I join?
Our AI website builder will ask some questions about your business (or enter your existing URL and we’ll scrape the info for you!) and build a personalized site designed for your unique business!
Customize your color palette, pick your favorite website design, connect your domain, and your site is live! You can keep personalizing your copy, images, and webpage sections with our AI tools and drag-and-drop editor until it’s perfect.
Then, join the Carrot Facebook Community for support, updates, tips… and to celebrate your wins as you generate traffic and leads!
Does Carrot “do my SEO” for me?
Carrot sites are optimized for SEO — meaning best practices and tech are already in place for you! This includes an AI-generated SEO strategy tailored to your business and SEO-optimized location pages launched right away to target all your markets. Once your site is live, you can track your progress and tweak your target keywords with Carrot’s built-in SEO tools.
If you want Carrot to “do your SEO for you,” check out our Managed SEO Services!
What if I need more than one website?
Add more sites at any time for just $29/month! Carrot members add additional sites for other lead types, industries, or locations every day.
If you have CarrotAgency, you can add sites for your clients, or have them subscribe to Carrot and give you access to their site(s).
What types of websites does Carrot offer?
Members use Carrot sites to market their real estate business and local home service businesses. Some of the most popular site types include real estate wholesale, land buying/selling, mobile home investors, HVAC, roofing, plumbing, and general contractors. But you can customize a Carrot site to target just about anyone searching for a local business!
Our sites are built on real data that tells us what performs best. It’s not just a pretty website that never generates leads. Carrot sites help you rank easily, while converting more traffic into leads. Who else has 10+ years of continuous testing and optimization?
Then we took all that data-based knowledge and created an AI website builder that generates a site designed to perform well. This isn’t a vibe-coded site built on hopes, dreams, and good intentions. It’s a powerful lead generation machine that you can launch in minutes, supported by even more AI tools and a drag-and-drop editor so you can easily make changes.
Does Carrot website pricing include hosting?
Yes, all plans come with secure and fast managed hosting. That means you don’t have to worry about updates, plugins, backups, firewalls and all that tech stuff. We’ve got it!
Can I buy a domain from Carrot?
Carrot does not sell domains. But you can connect a domain purchased from Hover, Namecheap, GoDaddy, Squarespace, or any other domain provider. Here are some best practices for choosing a domain name!
Is there a set-up fee?
No, Carrot does not charge a setup fee.
Most new Carrot members do their own setup through our automated site creation system. Our team is here to support you if you run into any issues or have questions.
You can move your existing domain to a new Carrot site. And you will want to configure that new site with your existing branding and credibility (like logo, testimonials, projects, etc).
We do not typically recommend trying to re-create an existing website on Carrot unless you are an expert and know your previous work will outperform our optimized systems.
If you have a site that already ranks well for your important keywords, please contact our team and we can discuss a Concierge Migration to help ensure a successful transition without losing your current results.
What happens if I want to cancel?
We would be bummed to see you go. But simply go into your account and request a cancellation… that’s it. If you are within 30 days we will honor our 30-day money back guarantee.
You are free to take and reuse any content you created for your site, but any content from Carrot’s Content Library or page templates cannot be reused elsewhere.
Does Carrot provide phone support?
Yes! Phone support is a feature for our premium support add-on.
If you need additional ongoing support, you can add or remove this at any time from within your account.
I started leveraging Carrot websites and not only was I able to claim the number one ranking but I get leads consistently. Carrot has become one of the biggest assets of my business.
MIKE BORGER
Oahu Home Buyers
Carrot has become the foundation to my business. If you want to rank and you want to convert leads from motivated sellers then you need Carrot because you won’t even compete without them.
Carrot Websites vs. AI Website Builders & Vibe Coding
Choose an AI website builder that knows what it’s doing.
AI website builders promise an easy, fast way to launch a website without dev skills. But if you pick the wrong one, you’ll end up with a site that looks pretty but is loaded with issues.
AI website builders aren’t inherently bad — Carrot offers one! They help people who aren’t website designers or developers quickly launch professional looking sites. But like many new technologies, they’re not a silver bullet or a magical fix.
The biggest challenge is that AI doesn’t automatically know what makes a good website or how to compellingly position your business.
Pretend you’re using AI to build a house. With a vibe coding AI website builder, it will generate something that looks like a house. It probably even includes fundamentals like doors, windows, and a roof. But what about insulation, an HVAC system, and electrical outlets in spots that make sense? Little features you wanted but forgot to mention, like a kitchen island or walk-in closets, and exactly how many bedrooms you want. Is the foundation clean and strong?
It’s the same when building a website. Many “no code” website builders don’t have a defined understanding of what makes a good website. It creates a site that looks like everything else online and might include some bare-minimum SEO. But it’s just a pretty image. To get a good website that meets your needs and performs well, you need to specify every little thing.
Carrot’s AI website builder is built on a foundational understanding of what makes a good website and core SEO and conversion optimization standards (that we’ve been testing and improving for 10+ years).
You don’t have to ask for every little thing because our AI builder already knows what’s needed and expected. It adds forms and phone numbers in the best place for conversion optimization without you asking because that’s part of its programming. It adds important pages for services, target markets, and credibility because every website should have these, even if you didn’t ask for them specifically.
Launching a website that’s going to perform well, rank in search engines, appear in AI, and generate leads isn’t only about knowing how to design and code. It’s about knowing what your website needs and the best order to put everything in. Most AI builders don’t know that, you have to explain it to them. If you don’t know, it’s not actually easier, it just feels like it is.
“AI slop” is a term for a reason. You want a functional website, not an AI slop site.
Real results with Carrot sites.
98+ desktop, 90+ mobile speeds
60% faster than custom WordPress.
30% – 50% of top Google rankings
for top target keywords.
More than 1 Million Leads
generated by Carrot websites.
Common challenges & complaints about AI website builders
Perfect Prompting
Most people think they can just tell the AI builder, “Make me a modern site for my roofing business in Sandy, OR.” You’ll get a site this way, but it won’t have the right pages, good SEO, forms and phone numbers in the right spot, explain what you do or why your company is different, meets accessibility standards, or many other very important things.
You need highly detailed prompts explaining exactly what you want on your site. If you don’t know what to ask for, your site will look fine but perform poorly.
Just a Website
You’ve vibe coded your perfect website. Now what? If you use a program like Claude, you now have to move it somewhere you can actually host and launch the site (which can be technically complicated).
If the AI builder offers hosting, you can push it live quickly, but then what? How well is it performing? Is anything broken? An AI website builder that only builds the site leaves you in the dark. To get any performance insights you need to purchase, integrate, and learn additional solutions.
Usage Limits & Costs
Every time you give an AI builder a prompt, ask it to adjust or change something, or accept a recommendation it makes, that runs an action. Depending on the builder you’re using, it’s easy to run into a usage limit or significantly drive up usage costs.
The more changes you need to make to your site to get it just right, the more it’s likely to cost or delay you.
Carrot sites are great because you can literally have a full fledged website up and running within 10 minutes. Like no joke… The best thing about Carrot websites is they take the headache out of the equation. You don’t have to figure out web hosting, WordPress, building forms, picking a theme, writing initial content, initial designs, and so much more. It just works.
Jason Moss
Carrot AI website builder vs. Other AI website builders
Each AI website builder offers a different feature set, but here are some important features and functionalities you should look for.
Designed for local lead generation
Conversion optimization built into the design
Questions that guide your site build
Solution-dependent
Quick setup
High performance site speed
Depends on base code
Secure website hosting
Solution-dependent
Improvements & innovations automatically applied to your site
Built-in website analytics
Solution-dependent
Built-in SEO tools
Solution-dependent
Free 3rd party integrations
Solution-dependent
Customer Support
Solution-dependent
Wish you could vibe code a Carrot site? You’ll be able to soon!
Carrot is combining the ease of building a site by chatting with AI with our proven frame that ensures a high-performing site built for SEO and conversion (plus our secure hosting, SEO tools, and built-in reporting).
AI website builders create pretty products quickly, but what’s under the hood and how well is it supported? Choosing a builder that’s only techonology focused without paying attention to the real-world functionality and outcome can lead to some major issues. Don’t rely so heavily on the tech that you forget the human aspect that keeps sites running and supporting your business.
Poor Site Speed
Site speed is incredibly important for search ranking and lead conversion, but your AI site builder might not pay close attention.
Simplistic SEO
“SEO optimized” usually just means page titles, meta descriptions, and a sitemap. That’s not true SEO optimization.
Not Best Practices
What pages to include, where to put forms and phone numbers … most AI website builders don’t know website conversion rate best practices.
Difficult to Update
If you use Claude or another builder that doesn’t host your site, you need to copy/paste entire code files to make updates or changes.
Limited Support
Not all AI website builders offer human-centric customer support … meaning you’re on your own if you run into an issue or have a question.
Messy Code
Continuous changes via chat can lead to messy code bases. Without engineers keeping an eye on site health, you’ll end up with bloated code.
Lost Time
You may think you’re saving money by building your site yourself … but what isn’t getting done during the hours you’re tweaking your site?
Lost Revenue
If your site has a problem you don’t know about or isn’t optimized to perform well, how many customers are you willing to lose?
Why People Prefer Carrot
[We moved away from Carrot] and not only did we waste thousands on actual spend but we lost months of leads so the real lost opportunity was even bigger. We’re back with Carrot and we’re in the top 3 search results almost every time.
Xander Cruz
CR of Maryland
One of the benefits of Carrot is that you can buy a lot of the SEO tools elsewhere, but what you’ve done is you’ve bundled it, put it all under one roof, and you’ve given us a discount on it because of that.
The search performance functionality is all under one roof. I don’t want to have to jump around everywhere to get this information. To have it all in one place is beautiful.
Tony Stewart
Property Peace
I enjoy Carrot. I think it’s very user friendly. For someone like myself that’s not very tech savvy to be able ot do what I did. I think it’s pretty cool.
Can I edit and customize my website after Carrot’s AI builder creates it?
Yes! You still have control over design and content elements of your website. Add new page sections with our drag-and-drop editor and pre-built designs, use the AI Rewrite Tool to adjust your copy, and play with the different design elements to make your site stand out.
Right now our AI website builder asks you a series of questions and produces a site for your that you can then edit and adjust.
What kind of questions does Carrot’s AI website builder ask?
It asks for details about your company like your basic business information, what locations you target, the type of customers you want, what makes your company difference, credibility drivers like reviews and ratings, then has a place for you to upload your logo and choose your color palette.
Why is Carrot’s AI website builder better than others?
Carrot has spent the past 10+ years testing and perfecting what makes a good website — one that ranks well in SEO, shows up in AI search results, and converts visitors into leads. It all comes down to having a site with good speed, credibility-building elements that show off your unique company, and putting those elements in the right order with the right CTAs.
We took all these learnings and made it the foundation of our AI website builder. The builder isn’t making things up as it goes along or only building what you tell it to. It takes your requests and maps them to Carrot’s proven website framework to produce a site that looks good, reflects your business, performs well, and converts leads. Most other AI website builders stop at “looks good.”
Does Carrot have a usage or credit limit?
There is no usage limith with Carrot’s AI website builder or with our AI Rewriting Tool that helps you optimize your site copy.
Each member also gets a monthly trial of our other AI tools (like On-Page Insights, Site Audit, and AI Call Tracking Insights). If you want to unlock more AI usage, you can add the AI Suite to your account for $99/mo. This Suite unlocks all our AI features, so you don’t have to pay for each one individually.
Why is Carrot more expensive than other website AI builders?
Because with Carrot you get more than just a website.
Not only do you get a website built on a strong peformance foundation, you also get secure hosting, managed site maintenance, and additional marketing tools like CarrotCRM, SEO tools, marketing campaign tracking tools, and built-in reporting. It’s a robust marketing hub that helps you launch a website, then helps you track how well that site, your overall marketing campaigns, and your lead-to-customer conversion is working.
Want to launch a site designed for performance? It only takes a few minutes.
It’s no secret that owning a small business is getting more difficult. With more competition, higher expenses, and clients tightening their spending, winning business is challenging.
One of the most effective ways to generate new business is with a great website. Traditional marketing methods like offline advertising, mailers, bandit signs, and even cold calling can still work. And modern approaches like being social-only have their place for some companies. But when it comes to local businesses and services, the majority of today’s consumers search online and use a business’s website to judge its credibility.
Let’s explore four data-backed reasons your local business needs a website.
Key Takeaways
People not only search online for local businesses, they use business websites to decide who to trust. Even if you’re advertising elsewhere or are social-first, having a modern website can determine if a customer works with you.
A website with easy contact options — like a clickable phone number and a short, easy-to-find form — lets you generate customers outside normal business hours.
A good website is a foundational part of appearing in AI search results.
Your website is the ideal place to showcase your work and customer reviews. Over 90% of consumers rely on reviews before making a purchase or working with a business.
I work for a company that helps local service providers launch a website, so I admittedly have a vested interest in you having a site. But statistics are also on my side. The fact of the matter is, people go online to search for local businesses. Not some people. A lot of people. Approximately 99% of consumers go online to discover local businesses. Yet 27% of small businesses think a website is irrelevant to their industry.
Those holdouts relying on recommendations, old school marketing methods, or social media platforms majorly miss out. Not only on search traffic, but on consumer trust. Having a professional-looking website lends your business credibility.
69% of consumers said a website is essential for a local business to be credible.
Businesses with websites are perceived as 41% more trustworthy than those without.
45% of consumers say businesses without websites feel less “real.”
39% report they have declined to do business with a company specifically because it lacked a website. That figure jumps to 45% among consumers ages 18-44.
If you’re a home services provider, having a website is even more important. DreamHost found that 66% of consumers said they’re more likely to hire a contractor or home service provider with a website.
Even with people continuing to ask friends for recommendations and increasingly turning to social media or AI for searches, a website remains a foundational piece of business credibility. Here’s more from DreamHost:
58% of people check a business website to confirm info they see on social or Google.
Only 35% of consumers consider working with a company recommended by AI that doesn’t have a website.
Having a good website is the second most important trust factor when judging a local business (only online reviews are more important). Social media came in third. Personal recommendations ranked fourth.
The first website was created in 1991. Google Search has been around since 1995. Automatic delivery of the Yellow Pages began phasing out in 2011. Websites aren’t a fad. They’re how people find businesses — and decide which ones to trust — as we move further into the 21st century.
2. Show Up in Local Search (SEO) & AI Search
So people are searching online. How do you make sure you show up in those searches? One of the answers is having an SEO-optimized website.
72% of small to medium-sized businesses say SEO has a medium-high impact on their business, yet only 40% said they have a dedicated website. — Bright Local
Good SEO lets you target potential customers when they’re looking for a specific solution. Here are a few tips for good SEO that will help you rank in local searches:
Be hyper local — When people conduct a local search, they don’t want a business the town over. They want a business in their town. Make sure you target these searchers by clearly including your service areas on your website. Even better, have a dedicated page for each market you serve.
Think (and speak) like a consumer — There may be a lot of technical terms in your industry, but your customers might not know them. When writing website copy, use the terms your customers are most likely to use. Essentially, speak like a human or imagine you’re describing what you do to your grandma.
Instead of talking exclusively about “buying homes in probate,” create web content explaining how you help people “sell an inherited house.”
If you’re an HVAC company, your customers might not know what a condenser is. They’re more likely to search for more generic, simple terms like “AC isn’t working” or “AC repair.”
Answer their questions upfront — When someone is looking to sell their house fast, for cash, or is looking for a home service provider, they have a lot of questions. Answer their most common questions with FAQ sections on your webpages.
Think about the questions your current customers ask you most often, these make great FAQs!
Google’s auto-suggest feature is another great place to learn what people commonly search for and the phrases they use.
These SEO best practices also help with AI search optimization.
McKinsey & Company found that 50% of consumers use AI-powered search. BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 found that use of AI tools for local recommendations grew from 6% in 2025 to 45% this year (yes, you read that right, that’s a 650% increase!). AI engines are now the third most popular source of business recommendations, with 40% of consumers trusting AI to provide business recommendations.
To be found by modern consumers, you need to be online. And the best way to control your online presence is with your own SEO and AI-optimized website.
Want help optimizing your website for local AI search? Check out Carrot’s AI Visibility Challenge, built specifically for local services businesses and real estate professionals!
3. Generate Leads & Get Customers — Even after hours
This one should seem pretty straightforward. People are looking online for a local business. Being online gives you a better chance of being found when (and where) they’re looking — especially if your site is SEO optimized.
But it’s more nuanced than that. Your business (likely) isn’t open 24/7, but that doesn’t mean people only look for service providers during normal business hours. In an emergency repair situation, someone searching for a local service provider needs to get in touch with you quickly — no matter what time of day it is. In this case, research indicates they’ll look at your star rating, read some reviews, then go to your website to verify you can solve their problem and ultimately contact you.
Or maybe someone is contemplating a kitchen remodel or a roof replacement and only has time to sit down and do research in the evenings. These people are more likely to look closely at your website and do deep research before reaching out. They may not even want to talk to someone right away and be more interested in filling out a form for a quote instead.
This is a similar situation for real estate investors wanting to attract motivated sellers. The seller may be dealing with a stressful situation and hesitant to reach out directly. Or they may have limited time to dedicate to selling a property and need to fit it in when they can … even if you’re not immediately available. Offering them a free, fast cash offer via a website form can seem like a lower-pressure option for these visitors. (And using CarrotCRM’s autoresponder feature means you can respond to them immediately, even when you’re offline.)
Without a website, you limit potential customers to only the people who know about you without an online search and those who can get ahold of you when you happen to be available.
Here are easy contact methods you should include on your website:
A clickable phone number for people on mobile devices
This is particularly important if you’re a service provider who offers 24/7 emergency services!
A contact form in the hero (top) section of your website
Our testing shows that more than 3 fields dramatically reduces the form completion rate, so keep your initial contact forms to only the information you absolutely need.
4. Build Trust
I already mentioned that people consider businesses with a modern website more trustworthy. But having a website also lets you showcase your business and really build that trust.
When a potential client comes to your site, they want to make sure you can solve their problem and that you’re legitimate. The best way to put their mind at ease is to show them who you are, the work you’ve done, your credentials, and highlight happy past customers. Your website is the perfect place to:
Show before and after photos of projects
Talk about your company’s history and ties to the local area
Show real photos of your team
Walk customers through your process
Publish licensing information
Highlight ratings from Google, BBB, and other review sites
Post local media mentions (like local news appearances or sponsorships)
Most importantly, highlight real customer reviews on your website. SQ Magazine found that 93% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase decision, with 88% trusting online reviews as much as personal recommendations. More importantly, 58% of consumers say they are willing to pay more for businesses with strong reviews!
BrightLocal puts the number of people who read online reviews for local businesses even higher — at 97%. They also found that the percentage of consumers who “always” read reviews jumped from 29% last year to 41% in 2026.
When you finish working with a client, ask for a photo with them and a testimonial. Better yet, see if they’ll talk about your company in a short video. Putting a face to the review lets people know you didn’t make it up. If you want to use Google reviews on your website, take a screenshot of the review and put it on your site as an image for the same level of legitimacy. (Pro Tip: If you’re using images of reviews, type the content of the review into the image’s alt text so it can be crawled for SEO and AI search.)
Websites are a must for today’s local businesses
There’s no escaping the internet, and companies that try to ignore the need for a business website are only hurting themselves. No matter how small your business, who you target, or what you offer, people want to check you out online before they commit. If you’re a real estate investor or a local services provider (like HVAC, contractor, electrician, plumbing, roofing, etc), having a website with good local SEO is non-negotiable.
Zippia found that 81% of consumers conduct online research about a business prior to making a purchase, with 47% seeking information specifically from the business’s website.
People want information before working with a business, and they turn to the internet to find that information. If you’re not online, your business is effectively silent.
Launching an SEO-optimized website for your local business doesn’t have to cost thousands or require technical know-how. Carrot’s AI website builder walks you through the process in minutes for less than $150/mo.
