Sunday, 31 March 2013

Mortgage website not working? You must be committing one of these 5 mistakes

Forewords:
Launching a business on internet through website and yielding good results from that website is a laborious task that requires proper homework and lots of efforts. The task becomes more laborious and tough when it comes to representing a complicated and fickle business like mortgage consultancy on internet.

I personally know various mortgage professionals who are struggling with their mortgage websites and worst is they have been unable to find the reason. This article will elaborate 5 most common mistakes that mortgage professionals make and have their money sunk.

1) Do not be a “BULL”:
yes, you read it right. Do not be a fighting bull who knows nothing but to attack the bullfighter. Websites do not work that way. Just the way you would or you had dealt with your new office in other state and prepared all the cash outflows and forecasted the inflows; websites of your mortgage consultancy needs the same attention. Hence, keep your expectations real and prepare the “ROI” and other necessary forecasting.

2) No subscription option:
let me explain this to you by drawing an analogy. Would you say good-bye a mortgage-seeker visiting your office first time without having his contact information and other important details? Never! Same way, how can you let the visitor visiting your mortgage website first time go without getting his important details.

Subscription option should be, least to say, ubiquitous on the website. You should leave no stone unturned to make sure that every visitor subscribed with the website. Whether having subscription option on every page or by offering the subscribers something exceptional; make it your top priority.

3) Inertia is equal to disaster:
is the mortgage industry in state of inertia? Definitely not! Then how come your website is inert? Speculations and news are inherent part of mortgage industry and that makes it extremely unstable and changeable. If you want your website to be the perfect representation of your business, makes sure you add new things on regular basis.

Opt for the option of buying mortgage website templates as it will make you more autonomous and you can add new content easily.

4) Neglecting the post website-creation work:
no matter how wonderful and classy website looks or how amazing functionalities it has; absence of proper marketing plan will never take it places.

I will go even bit far and say that vigorous marketing campaign is more important on cyberspace as competition is tougher. Therefore, pay proper attention to this aspect. Search engine optimization activities that you may have found clerical and not so importance are paramount and can be the make or break point.

5) Not keeping up with latest developments:
cyber space is extremely dynamic and always on evolution. Old techniques and methods, on regular basis, are being replaced by the new and contemporary ones. Therefore, make sure you have an eye on all the latest developments and innovations.

For instance, I know various mortgage brokers who think social media is for fun stuff and cannot be taken seriously. They are in dire need to understand that it can do wonder to your website and business. Another example could be growing trends of buying templates and neglecting the custom mortgage websites.

Article Resource: http://imortgagesites.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/mortgage-website-not-working-you-must-be-committing-one-of-these-5-mistakes/

Thursday, 28 March 2013

Highly effective mortgage marketing plan for mortgage professionals on budget

Marketing of a mortgage website and bringing traffic on it is certainly an enduring and difficult task. I have met various mortgage professionals in state of shock and surprise that creating a website is not even equal to getting half of the job done.

What many brokers fail to realize is that setting up a website is one thing and generating leads through website is a different ballgame altogether. Let me draw an analogy to simplify it for you. Does setting up a posh office in best locality of city guarantees you lots of clients? NO. In spite of all the money you have spent on that office; there is still a dire need of using personal contacts and launching a vibrant marketing campaign to let people know about your business and services. A website works the same way. No matter how much you have invested in the process of creating it and how fantastic is the product; strenuous marketing efforts are required to yield the desired ROI of mortgage website.

The spectrum of activities to market the website is too broad. There are unlimited marketing techniques, methods and strategies. In this article, I will highlight a relatively economical and quite effective method of marketing a mortgage website without having you paying thousands of dollars monthly fees to the webmaster which is “social media marketing”.

Social media is still being underestimated in mortgage industry. Many of my broker colleagues feel social media is the play stuff and something for non-serious activities. But let me tell you, if done well; it can do wonder for you. Rest of the article will be about a tried and tested plan to launch a highly effective and economical social media marketing campaign.

Do not open too many fronts in the beginning:

Social media is not just about face book and twitter anymore. Over the last few years, various other platforms have been introduced. I would suggest start with face book and twitter as they are the most popular ones. Once your presence has been established there, then go for other platforms. It’s also important to figure out which social media platform is pertinent to your services and it starts with identifying the target market. If you have reverse mortgage website, figure out at which platform you can find maximum of your target market.

Is it all about We-We?

Your social media activities should not smack of narcissism and arrogance. Keep it easy, light, Informative and entertaining. Intersperse your social media content with industry information and other important development and analysis on mortgage industry.

Is it one-way traffic?

The biggest benefit of social media is the interaction opportunities it provides. Be quick in your response to the queries of social media group. In the ends, it’s not about you but about the potential clients. In some cases, interaction holds utmost importance. For example, if you have a residential mortgage website; your target market will be the people buying home first time or buying second time after ages when their knowledge about mortgage has been faded. In this situation, you are likely to be engulfed with questions from mortgage seekers and timely answer will enhance their trust on you.

Article Resource: http://imortgagesites.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/highly-effective-mortgage-marketing-plan-for-mortgage-professionals-on-budget/

Sunday, 3 March 2013

Mortgage Website Not Generating Leads? Here’s a Tried and Tested Strategy

Going online and having a website is more of a need for the businesses these days than an option, and the need turns into an obligation when we talk about an industry as brutally competitive as mortgage industry. However, what most of the mortgage professionals fail to understand is that mortgage marketing and generating leads through online marketing is a lot more than setting up a mortgage website. Marketing of a business needs a proper game plan and strategy, and online mortgage marketing is no exception. Mortgage professionals struggling with their website performance and trying to chart out an online mortgage marketing plan should ask themselves 3 questions given below: is your website social enough?

Yes - a website for mortgage marketing has to be as social and good in networking as mortgage broker himself. Just the way a mortgage broker is always looking to make connections with right and important people, the website should follow the same pattern and make relevant and quality links with other websites. Whether it takes you to trade-off the links or offers some other incentives to get good links, quality back linking is essential to be in the good books of search engine's spiders.

If you think carrying out SEO activities mentioned above is a chore for you, mortgage website templates are the best options for you. Now a day, website templates have built-in SEO setup and make the search engine optimization extremely easy.

Does your website have benefit–driven content?
 
Just the way a mortgage professional with no information and solution for the customer can never win the customer's trust- a website lacking good and informative content can never generate business for you. When it comes to content, the cliché "content is king" is still very much relevant and significant for visitor as well as for search engine crawlers. Content is the one thing that can make your website stand out from the plethora of other websites. Firstly, make sure the content you are uploading is original and not stolen or borrowed from other websites. Also, avoid using jargons and use the language that visitors can relate to.

Secondly, content with identity does not just sound more credible to visitors but also preferred by search engines. For instance, blog written by company’s CEO carries more weight and likely to attract the visitor and search engine more than a blog written by a random person. Therefore, top management should contribute in website content occasionally. Same way, a website which is total clutter, unorganized and leaves visitors clueless and perplexed about which information lies where, will certainly have a higher bounce rate. A good website takes visitors to desired place/page on the website within 3 clicks. Hence, make sure the website is user friendly, informative and saves visitor's time.

Precisely, key thing is to jettison the misconception that setting up a website is all required for online mortgage marketing, and understanding the fact that it is an ongoing process.Custom mortgage websites have made the things further easy for non-techie mortgage brokers looking to market their business on internet.