Who Needs a Website?

Are you an independent agent looking to make a mark in your industry? Whether you're a loan officer, Realtor®, financial advisor, insurance agent, or any other entrepreneur, having a strong online presence is vital. While it's important to have a page on your company's website, there are significant advantages to creating and owning your own website.

Make Sure YOU Have Control with Your own Website

When you have your own website, you have full control over the content, and the look and feel. Typically, agents don’t have the access or ability to customize their page on the company site. On your own website, you can add testimonials, information about your industry, opt-in forms, blog articles, videos and more. You can tailor it specifically to highlight what sets you apart from others in your field. This gives potential clients a chance to know more about YOU and what makes YOUR services unique.

male real estate professional standing in front of house with sun behind him

Represent Your Personal Brand

Your personal brand is crucial in setting yourself apart from the competition. With your own website, you can design it according to your brand image and values. It helps create an authentic representation of who you are as an agent or entrepreneur, which builds trust and likability.

Grow Your Web Presence with Blogs and

Informational Material

Owning your website allows for flexibility for adding blogs and other relevant information about the services you offer and your industry. Regularly updating informative content not only keeps visitors engaged but also enhances search engine visibility without understanding complex SEO strategies.

In addition to having a web presence with your website, you also get the opportunity to create content which can be shared on your social media pages. One of our favorite uses of blog articles, for example, is to not only share the link on all the social pages, but also use it to create great content for an email newsletter. Sending regular email newsletters is another opportunity to reach out, educate and communicate with your target audience.

Take Control of Your SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) might sound intimidating at first, but with ownership of the site comes control over its ranking on search engines like Google. By posting regular content on relevant topics related to your field – whether that’s financial advice or real estate tips –you'll improve chances of being discovered by potential clients seeking out expertise like yours.

Website Domain History & Authority

At some point, you may leave the current company you represent. When that happens, if you ONLY have a page on their website, it will be removed and you’ve lost a marketing asset. When you have a website, you own the domain. The history associated with that domain gives you additional SEO strength. Usually called “domain authority”, your site is ranked based on this history. Plus, you won’t lose all your years of website growth. You can simply change the license and company information as required, but keep a consistent presence. Your clients will likely be familiar with your website, rather than your single page on a company website, especially if you provide value in the form of content.

Getting a Shiny, New Website

If you’re asking yourself “how do I get my own website?”, this section is for you. There are MANY tools available to help you build a beautiful website. We at Wordflirt have worked with most of them. While they sell the idea that you can create a website easily and quickly, we know better.

The truth is, building your own website can be a huge exercise in frustration and time wasted. In fact, many of our clients come to us after they’ve pulled their hair out over the difficult, time-consuming project. (Which, by the way, is time taken away from what you should be doing - building your business!)

frustrated woman working on a laptop with her head in her hands

You may fancy yourself as pretty technical and maybe you even enjoy the challenge. But once you hit a wall where you’ve literally spent HOURS trying to figure out why something is not lining up, it’s time to call a professional.

We highly recommend hiring a reputable web design company (like Wordflirt! LOL). But beware – there are some serious considerations when you hire a web design company. Here are a few:

Do they have a longstanding reputation for being a true partner for you and your business? Time and time again, we’ve had clients come to us after having a website for a year or so frustrated because their web designer is nowhere to be found. Often, they don’t even know how to regain access or control over their website. It’s very unfortunate and we are disgusted by this unprofessional behavior within our industry. Check for reviews wherever you can – Google, their website, Facebook, Yelp or other review sites. This can be quite telling if there are not many or not good reviews. Run away.
The previous tip is also true for freelancers. Hiring someone from sites like “Upwork” can be a great experience. However, many of those “professionals” disappear when you need their help. Look at their gig history and reviews before you select one.
You should also ask about access to your site. You should have login credentials in case you want to edit it yourself or wish to have someone else edit it. If the web designer doesn’t give you access, that is a red flag! Run away.
In addition to having access to your website, you should NEVER give up control of your domain. If a web designer tells you they need to take over the domain or offer to buy one for you, run away. They do NOT need to have this kind of control. Most domain companies allow the option to make someone a manager or administrator of your domain. That should be all the control they need. You MUST keep your domain safely in your name and account.
The design process should be straightforward. When we have initial conversations with new website clients, we tell them what to expect. And, we tell them what we need from them (see next section). If your web designer has the proper experience, communicating the process should be easy for you to understand and follow.

Your Role in the Website Design Process

If you’ve determined you wish to hire a professional to design your website, you will play a critical role in the success of the project.

Here is what we expect from our website design clients:

Be ready to provide ALL material to be used for the site. This includes:
- Outline of pages you want on the site
- Content for each page, including text, products/services, videos and photos. (Note: one unique aspect of working with us is that we are professional writers and can help develop the written content for you. Bonus bucks, right?!)
- Your brand information, including colors, fonts and logo
- Contact information, calendar link, social media links
- For e-commerce, you’ll need a terms of service and refund policy page
- For all other sites, you’ll need a privacy policy page
- Additional compliance verbiage for your industry/company
Example sites. We want to know what websites you like in your industry AND what sites you DON’T like. This helps us meet your expectations on the overall design.
Be available for questions, clarifications, and draft reviews.
Don’t change everything at the last minute. Should this happen, you will likely pay more in the end. We call this “scope creep” and it costs web designers their time when you make significant changes.

As you can see, you will need to provide initial help to get the ball rolling. However, once the project is in the hands of a good web designer, you can focus on other things…like your customers. From that point, your responsibility shifts from pulling your hair out to design it yourself, to simply providing feedback and approval when drafts are ready for review.

In all my years in marketing and website design, I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Our goal at Wordflirt, is to make the process easy and fun, AND deliver a beautiful new website you can be proud of. We are here for the long haul as your digital partner. Click here to see our portfolio.

Whether you hire us for your site or you don’t, one thing is certain – you and your business will benefit from having your own website. It’s an investment in your dedication to stand out in your industry and grow your bottom line.

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