Something BIG is Coming  Lead management is about to get a whole lot easier  Be The First to Know→

Search Results for credibility

Core Web Vitals & Page Speed – What To Do (and Not Do) with Your Website

By

Recap: The Page Experience Update is introducing Core Web Vitals to Google’s search ranking algorithm for the first time.  Core Web Vitals are a series of pagespeed scores relating to how quickly a page loads, how quickly that page is interactive, and how stable that page is visually. Google started introducing elements of this update to their algorithm in mid-June, with the goal for it to play a full role by the end of August 2021. Check out our SEO News page to learn more. Over the past several months, our Carrot Engineering Team has been identifying, optimizing, and improving features and elements that directly contribute to better user experience and site speed metrics.  As that work continues to make our sites faster and better than ever, we’ve compiled some of the most common questions, issues, and misconceptions we’ve seen as a resource for you to be ahead of the game on your end. DO Understand Testing Tools We get this question a lot: how do you test your site speed and Core Web Vitals and what tool should you use?  At Carrot, we recommend using Google’s PageSpeed Insights Tool because – regardless of which tool you choose – the most important consideration is that you be consistent.  To us, using Google’s own tool makes the most sense.  If you’re using the Chrome Browser, the Lighthouse Tool in the Developer Tools is another great option. That said, we always want to be sure that our members understand the differences and caveats between those snapshot scores provided by tools and the scores that are actually being used in Google’s algorithm. Google differentiates them into two categories: lab data and field data. Lab Data – Provided By Testing Tools Lab data is exactly what it sounds like – data collected in a lab, or in this case, a single snapshot report performed by Google’s PageSpeed Insights Tool or any other third-party testing tool.  It uses your own browser or another emulated device to load your website in a simulated environment and capture the key metrics that contribute to Core Web Vitals and Page Experience.  These scores are meant to be consistent baselines and are not necessarily reflective of actual user experience.  Just like in a real lab, you want to control for all variables when running experiments and tests on your website.  Google’s page speed tool (and most other tools) do this by loading your site on a simulated older generation smartphone with only a 3G connection to determine mobile “site speed” scores.  This is meant to represent the absolute baseline and used as a tool for debugging any performance issues with your site.  It’s useful for looking at where you can improve your scores, but it’s not useful for understanding real user experience.  Most users are on newer mobile devices with better connections and WiFi.  Their experience is better than in the simulated snapshot and contributes to field data – the real scores used by Google’s search ranking algorithm.  Field Data – Provided By Real User Experience Like we said above – field data is what Google is actually introducing to their search algorithm.  It represents the actual user experiences collected by the Chrome User Experience Report (or CrUX) when users visit your site.  Google then looks at the 75th percentile of those scores, and that’s your actual “score” used by their algorithm. Just like with Google’s more commonly-known ranking indicators, we lose visibility and transparency the closer we get to the algorithm.  So while snapshot lab data scores can be accessed whenever we feel like running a tool, user experience field data is more ambiguous and inaccessible. There are … Continued

EP 273: How to Create A Follow-Up Machine That Sells While You Sleep in 4 Steps with Mark Skowron

By

What message are you sending to your prospective leads? How are you connecting, building trust, and following up? Mark Skowron is an investor and agent who uses carefully crafted copy to close an extra deal each and every month. Today we will talk about sequencing, frequency of contact, and what you can say to build instant trust and rapport. Most importantly, you will learn how to turn a small investment of your time upfront, into a potential $240k per year in extra profits.

It’s a Low Inventory Real Estate Market Right Now – Here’s Our Solution to Getting More Listings

By

“This is much more than a web hosting company…it’s a complete marketing and training program. Carrot has helped our Real Estate Team develop a complete marketing strategy. For the first time…ever…we can see how all the pieces fit together in a cohesive marketing strategy. The results have been an increase in exposure, online leads, and the ability to measure ROI! The training, support, coaching, and customer service have been amazing.” – Tom Townsend “Carrot has impacted my business so positively! I love the property websites, landing pages, SEO rankings, blog, and overall design of the site. I also love the landing pages that I use to drive traffic from ads that I run. And my favorite is to watch the increase in Google rankings with the more relevant content we produce. Really great web host!” – Shemeika Fox That’s all for now! We’ll let you know when we’ve got more cool innovations to share that’ll help you grow your business in a scalable and realistic way.  To your success! Want to learn more about our new seller site? Check out here.

Real Estate Testimonial Tips & Examples for 2024

By

“The only way to build authority is through content.” If you’re serious about generating leads, real estate testimonials can be a key content element because they are unbiased comments that prompt visitors to give you their contact information. × × See How Carrot Works How many deals are you losing to your competitor’s website? See How Carrot Works A QUICK STUDY ON THE POWER OF PERSONALIZATION Key takeaway: 123% increase in leads for sites with personalization. We compared a batch of our CSU member’s motivated seller sites over 6 months to see the difference in the lead count. Now, there are, of course, other factors that play into site conversion. It’s also a great reminder that great-looking sites still need the personalization element to round out. We compared member sites WITHOUT personalization on the homepage (no testimonials, photos of the member, etc.) and homepages CONTAINING testimonials (1-3) and a personal photo in the about section. The result?  PROOF: 123% increase in leads for sites with personalization! Our most engaged members create the most content and get the most leads. Using real estate testimonials on your site in text or video, you introduce content that will authoritatively promote your business. You should be using real estate testimonials to help establish credibility and authority. Quality testimonials increase conversions because they aren’t looked upon as sales pitches. If they come across in an unbiased voice, they will build trust. You’re using real people to show success in your service. In the end, your testimonials will convert more visitors into buyers and sellers if you use them correctly. According to a study… “Testimonials and case studies are considered the most effective content marketing tactics.” In short, in a crowded market like today, great testimonials for real estate agents and investors formatted correctly can boost your leads and deals. They help add credibility to an untrusting world. Additionally, as those values go vertical, many aspiring wholesalers start flipping houses, making for increasingly saturated online spaces. But before panic sets in, breathe. It’s not as bad as it sounds… well, but it’s also an opportunity. It’s a chance to flex your real estate muscles, to stand head and shoulders above that semi-debilitating clutter, to be the solution rather than contribute to the problem. What I will teach you will apply whether you’re an investor, buyer, seller, or agent. I will teach you how to build credibility by leveraging testimonials that shine. Let’s dive in! What is a Real Estate Testimonial? A real estate testimonial relays a story from a current to a potential client. The shorter, the better (unless you sacrifice quality). You don’t want an hour-long testimonial. When a client has a great experience, let them share it. Get real testimonials. Potential clients experience shopping anxiety — you know, that feeling before buying something that says, “It costs too much. It’s not good enough. How do you know it’s what you want?” — and testimonials are one way of shooting down this discouraging devil. The testimonial says, “Other people have worked with this company and had a good experience. I probably will too.” Here are some examples from one of our member sites: Why are high-quality testimonials such a big deal? If used correctly, testimonials for real estate agents and investors are important for website visitors (and your conversion rate). They can… Consider that 88% of consumers claim that they read at least 10 reviews before deciding whether they can trust a company or not (and they have to trust you if they’re going to work with you) or that 88% of people trust online testimonials … Continued

30 Real Estate Agent Marketing Ideas to Win More Deals in 2024

By

You’ll agree that sifting through endless real estate agent marketing ideas is challenging. It’s tough to determine which tactics will generate the highest volume of quality leads while keeping your sanity. When people think of buying or selling a home, you want them to think of your name. You want them to give you a call. And you want them to work with YOU. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Many other real estate agents in the area are fighting for the same attention. Fortunately, you don’t have to win all the attention to dominate your market – just most of it. And the best part is… You don’t even have to leave your computer to get started. 30 Real Estate Agent Marketing Ideas to Win More Deals I will show 30 real estate agent marketing ideas for dominating your online market in this article. 1. Market Yourself on Instagram Instagram is an incredible place to share your listings and get noticed! For real estate agents, Instagram provides a whole new world of opportunity. With over one billion monthly active users on the platform, there’s no better time than now for you to join in with all these people looking at beautiful pictures daily. Whether showcasing properties or providing helpful content like tips for staging homes, something here is suited ideally for you! Learn more: 2. Create a Professional Website Why does a real estate agent need a website? Most real estate agents become a part of the online “clutter” in their markets when they toss up a website that gets lost in the shuffle. Building a focused and optimized website will help you cut through that clutter with content marketing and adding your industry expertise. A website will attract more of your favorite clients by using it as an Evergreen Marketing tool. You can reduce or eliminate relying on cold calling, direct mail, Zillow, and the marketing that’s burning you out when done right. Having a website will also… Learn more: 3. Use Facebook Live Videos Facebook’s LIVE video feature is useful for more than recording your kid’s birthday party. You can also use it to do a LIVE walkthrough of house listings you’re trying to get attention for. After all, one of the most time-consuming parts of your day is house showings, so why not show a house to your entire Facebook audience with a single LIVE video? Plus, 70% of homeowners want to list with a real estate agent who does some video marketing to sell their home. This might be your dead-simple, don’t-have-to-hire-a-professional way of integrating video marketing into your service. Just create a healthy cadence and get in front of your social media audience more regularly. The more people see your face online and hear you talk about their problems and your solutions, the more familiar your market will be with you. Video is increasingly important in content marketing for social media. More people are choosing to consume information through video. Here are some ideas for Facebook live videos to work into your real estate marketing: Learn more: 4. Post on Social Media Why do real estate agents need social media? According to the National Association of Realtors, social media has become a significant way to acquire clients and close deals. Here’s a snapshot of their report: It’s powerful. Perhaps there’s no better way to generate consistent word of mouth around your brand name and service than by staying in front of your audience. Posting on social media consistently allows you to stay in front of your audience without leaving your desk chair’s comfort. Where to post: What you … Continued

EP 269: Negotiation Mastery #3: 9 Magic Negotiation Phrases Guaranteed to Turn Sellers into Your BFFs w/ Creative Finance Junky, Pace Morby

By

I challenge you to find anyone who gives more in this industry than Pace Morby. His energy, enthusiasm, and eagerness to learn something from every transaction have helped propel his investing career in a highly competitive market. In part 3 of our series on negotiation, I sat down with Pace to talk about how he connects with clients to win more deals, even when he isn’t paying the highest price. You’ll learn what to say, what to ask, and how to show credibility even if you’ve never done a single deal.

10 Proven Techniques to Create High-Converting PPC Ads for Motivated Sellers

By

When it comes to real estate investor PPC for motivated sellers campaigns, there tends to be a lot of emphasis on the quality and content of landing pages to increase conversions. × × Ready To Get More Leads & Close Your Next Deal? Take Your Business To The Next Level Join the next Challenge Your landing page is crucial, but to motivate sellers to visit it, you must first persuade them to click on your ad. The best landing page will do little good if a seller doesn’t see it.  So, how do you make your Google PPC ads stand out from the rest of the clutter on a Google search result page?  Based on the analysis of over 50 Google Ads accounts, we identified the top 10 commonalities with the highest click-through and conversion rates. Here’s a real example of a high click-through (17.39%) converting motivated seller ad (37.50%)… After their Google search, that little ad has two to three seconds to grab the house seller’s attention. You get a small headline and a very short amount of copy to convince the seller your site is worth visiting… and that you can solve their problem. The better your ads perform, the more clicks you’ll get. The Top 3 Google PPC Ads Get 2-6% click-through rates. Whereas ads 4 and below average 1-2% On A Google Search Result Page 10 Techniques for Creating High Converting Motivated Sellers PPC Ads You want to make your ads leap off the page and pull the viewer in. (Like this Carrot member did in his ads) As quickly as possible, you need first to grab their eye; second, show them that you can likely help them, and relay a sense of credibility through the ad to make them feel great about clicking the ad to learn more. Since you only have a few lines and seconds to relay all that, your ad headline and copy need to trigger an instant response. Give motivated sellers a reason to click.  Here are some practical and ethical triggers I use when creating PPC Ads for Real Estate Investors. These triggers have helped to yield an average 5% click-through rate and an 18.2% visitor-to-lead conversion rate across Carrot PPC accounts that I manage. Use this article and our “20 Steps to Optimize Your Google PPC Campaigns” and “How to Tell If My Real Estate PPC Campaign Is Working – Setting Up Conversion Tracking” posts to hone your campaigns. 1. Ask a Question: People naturally interact with questions. Often that sense of curiosity piques our interest, and it creates an “open loop” in our minds to want to find the answer to that question. When asking a question in your ad headline, you’re triggering this curiosity and making your ad appeal to them personally. Here are a couple of ad headline examples where I used a question: Other examples of questions you can pose are… You get the idea. Get creative. 2. If Possible, Use Humor: Sometimes, this is a little harder in the real estate market. People like to laugh. If your ad headline makes them chuckle, they associate your ad with positive emotion. This creates a more receptive message. A way to do that may be… “Is Your House A Total Beater?”Sell As-Is. We’ll Pay For RepairsGet A Fair Cash Offer Todaywww.YOURURLHERE.com 3. Add Credibility Call out a BBB rating or how long you’ve been in business. Increased credibility equals increased persuasiveness of the ad overall and strengthens your brand’s quality. This can lead to a higher click-through rate. 4. Go Regional: Depending on your campaign’s demographics, using regional triggers … Continued

[Backed By Data] What is a Good Conversion Rate for Your Real Estate Investing Website?

By

You’ve probably heard the phrase “conversion rate” tossed around quite a bit over the years. And that can be a great thing if you’re testing your conversion rates… but not so good if it’s inaccurate and you follow the next “guru” advice blindly without running your tests (or for Carrot members, we do this for them). Carrot is one of the leading real estate website platforms. We are confident that our members generate 60,000+ leads per month through our platform and nearly 1.7 million sessions each month because we have such an extensive data set available to us from which to conclude. So first… let’s dive into the basics of conversion rate (specifically for a real estate investor website). Then we’ll dive into why it’s important, how to do it right, and give you a few resources we use to improve our conversion rates. What Is Conversion Rate? The “conversion rate” on your website is simply the ratio between the number of people who land on your website vs. the number of people who “convert” on your website to become a lead. That could be a cash buyer lead, motivated seller, tenant, or private lender. The “conversion rate” is pretty simple to calculate. If you have 100 visitors to that page and 15 of them put in their info on that page and opt-in as a lead for you, that is a 15% conversion rate. In other words, it’s… Conversion rate percentage = (Number of people who converted on your website / Number of visitors to your website) x 100 At Carrot, we’re constantly testing our customer’s websites to see what converts visitors best. A Test In Progress On A Carrot Members Website: This is a shot from an actual test we’re running on a motivated seller website. How Do You Find Out The Conversion Rate? There are a few ways to determine your website’s conversion rate. The easiest and most accurate is using a software tool… like the one we use… VWO.com (about $49/month and easy to use). You have to get a bit of code from the software, put it on your website (really easy to do inside a Carrot account – hit up our support if you need help), and then set up the test in the software. Let the traffic come in; it’ll tell you how many people convert as a lead. It may take you a few hours your first time to set up a test, and unless you’re getting 100 visitors to your website each month, it’s probably not worth setting up a test (it would take many, many months to come up with any real info because your traffic is so low). If you’re on a budget and are not a tech person, you can count the number of leads you had in a specific period — then look up the # of visitors in that period on your analytics and divide the two. *Or, if you’re a Carrot member… and you’re getting over 500 visitors a month to your site and 15+ leads a month, we’ll do your conversion rate and optimization testing for you! Just let us know through support.  What Is A Good Conversion Rate For A Real Estate Investors Website? One of the biggest misconceptions we hear all the time (and I once thought the same thing) about conversion rates from our members… is that there is a “normal” conversion rate for a website in our industry. I wish there were. But in reality… there are so many factors that can affect how many people convert on your website into a … Continued