Your reputation in your community is critical to winning business. Your reputation encompasses recognition, referrals from past clients, and visible successes that demonstrate your reliability as a real estate agent.
In the past, these elements existed exclusively in the physical world. But times have changed. Today, your reputation depends on your online presence, too, since almost 95% of consumers check online reviews before purchasing a business service.
A poor or non-existent online reputation will undermine your hard-earned, positive real-world reputation. Google is the most trafficked search engine in the world, so having a strong Google presence and reputation is paramount for your success.
Learn the 2 steps to develop and manage your reputation on Google and how Homesnap Pro+ helps you with both.
Step 1: Establish a Presence With a Verified Google Business Profile
The first step to an effective Google reputation parallels a good in-person reputation: be present. On Google, that means a verified, complete Google Business Profile. Your Google Business Profile is the information box displayed prominently in search results — on the right side of the screen on desktop and at the top for mobile.
Given your Google Business Profile’s premier position in search results for your name, it serves as your online first impression. Your profile contains everything a buyer or seller might want to know: contact information, a business description, professional photos and videos, and your reviews and star rating. In short, your Google Business Profile stamps you as a legitimate, certified, ready-for-business agent.
For your Google Business Profile to appear as verified, Google must certify your identity and business activity with Google. This process can take weeks if you’re slogging through it on your own. Homesnap Pro+ saves you time and gets your profile live faster. All of your relevant Homesnap profile information is uploaded to Google, and your profile is verified – instantly, automatically, and with no extra effort or wasted time from you.
Step 2: Showcase Your Bona Fides With Positive, Plentiful Google Reviews
Once you have a verified Google Business Profile, the next step is to fill with compelling endorsements of your professionalism and real estate knowledge. To do that, you’ll need to showcase positive, plentiful reviews.
When people search for you, they want to read what others have to say about working with you. Do past clients recommend your services? Do friends and family members and neighbors take the time to vouch for your character? Do fellow agents consider you an upstanding part of your local agent community? If you don’t have any reviews, buyers and sellers will wonder whether the people who know you don’t have faith in you, and will be unlikely to give you their business.
Having favorable reviews on your profile does more than improve your standing with consumers who search for your profile. Positive reviews also strengthen your reputation with Google itself. After all, reviews signal to Google’s search algorithm that you’re a trusted local expert, and Google wants to display search results that give consumers the best possible local real estate agents.
If your Google Business Profile is complete and contains positive, plentiful reviews, then Google will be more likely to boost you to the top of searches such as “real estate agents near me.”
Of course, building a collection of reviews does take time and effort. You’ll need to identify your contacts, message them, and then follow up with those who don’t leave a review. Pro+ agents have an advantage here, too, with the One-Click Review Tool.
With the One-Click Review Tool, you can ask your Homesnap contacts to leave you a review, in one quick and easy click. Then, the One-Click Review Tool monitors your profile to keep track of who has and hasn’t left you a review. The One-Click Review Tool will automatically send up to 3 follow-up messages to anyone who hasn’t taken action, saving you the time, stress, and logistics of following up.
Having a strong Google reputation is essential. Pro+ makes it easier to build a Google reputation that reflects, complements, and enhances your real-life reputation. Upgrade to Pro+ today and receive a verified Google Business Profile and the assistance you need to appear at the top of real estate search results in your market.