As an agent, your reputation is everything. Being demonstrably good at your job – and having the satisfied clients and impressed colleagues to prove it – is what will earn you repeat customers and new business.
At one time, proving that you were the best option for consumers seeking help to sell or buy a home meant relying on your clients’ word-of-mouth network and developing a strong community presence through tactics such as yard signs or sponsoring Little League teams.
Such analog activities can still be valuable, but in 2022, you will not have a strong reputation without a well-developed online presence. And that requires Google reviews.
In the past, we’ve written about why Google reviews are a non-negotiable component of a strong digital presence:
- Agents with an average review rating of 4.0 or better appear in 350% more Google searches
- Appearing in Google searches for search terms like “real estate agents near me” only happens when agents have dozens of positive reviews
- 82% of consumers read online reviews, especially on Google, the world’s biggest search site.
So, you can imagine how interested we were by our in-house data scientists’ recent finding:
Only 23% of active Homesnap agents have five or more Google reviews, which is generally accepted as the minimum number of reviews to establish an effective Google presence.
Thought of another way: More than three-quarters of agents have a weak, ineffective online reputation.
Are you one of those agents? If you don’t have five or more Google reviews, Homesnap Pro+ can help you get your Google presence off the ground. Already have five reviews? Good start, but know that your online reputation requires continual, active management – which Pro+ provides better than any other real estate marketing solution.
Do You Have Fewer than 5 Google Reviews?
If you have fewer than five Google reviews, you need to act fast to get more reviews. Here’s why:
90% of consumer real estate searches start online, and a strong majority of those start on Google. When people search for you specifically or real estate agents in general, they are served with your and other agents’ Google Business Profiles. These profiles are filled with business information such as phone and email, recent listings and deals, business hours, an agent bio, and reviews from clients and other connections.
If you don’t have at least five reviews, your Google Business Profile will show that you’re an agent with limited experience and practically non-existent real estate bona fides – making you far less attractive to people searching for an agent. Plus, you need at least five reviews to become Google Screened and appear at the top of real estate-related searches – so people aren’t finding you online anyways.
Clearly, you need reviews, and you need them fast. You need Homesnap Pro+.
Specifically, you need to use Pro+’s One-Click Review Tool.
With the One-Click Review Tool, Pro+ agents can solicit reviews from clients, colleagues, friends, and family with the click of one button.
Pro+ agents who use the One-Click Review Tool get 3x more positive reviews than other agents, and agents who use the tool 5 times or more have an average Google rating of 4.95 – which puts them in strong contention to rank on Google local search results.
If it’s time to get Google reviews, it’s time to upgrade to Homesnap Pro+.
Do You Have 5 or More Google Reviews?
First off, congratulations. You’re in select company, and are already outstripping more than three-quarters of your competitors.
But it isn’t time to rest on your laurels.
Google is clear that individual reviews lose some of their power over time, which means that consistently soliciting and receiving positive reviews is necessary to maintain and improve your Google search rankings.
If you have numerous reviews already, you’ve likely asked for reviews from people who never responded. Following up with these connections could be valuable, but likely (and justifiably) sounds time-consuming.
With a Pro+ membership, that won’t be a problem. The One-Click Review Tool automates up to three follow-up emails to people from whom you’ve already requested a review.
Whether you have zero reviews or 30, Homesnap Pro+ will help you own Google local search results, vault you to the top of searches for real estate agents, and earn you the new leads and clients necessary to grow your business.