FAQ Page
'Frequently Asked Questions' Page and Corresponding Real Estate Tips
The FAQ page has a two-fold purpose. First of all, we want to educate your visitors with basic information about real estate, your area, the market etc. that they need to know, and get them interacting with the site. Our second goal is to actually generate leads. We'll be using the 40-60% rule of content- make 40% of the information freely available on the site, but for the remaining 60% they will need to provide you with their basic contact information (name and email). Everybody wins!
1. Pick Your Questions
Write a list of the most common questions you as a realtor are asked. They can be general questions about real estate, specific questions about the area, opionions about the market- any topic is okay, so long as it is asked frequently. Aim for about 15-20 questions to start.
2. Write Brief Answers for Each
Write up quick answers for each of the questions you picked out. Keep it fairly concise (probably 2-4 sentences) and make sure that the question is effectively addressed.
3. Organize Your Questions
Remember how important logical organization is for the overall useability of your site! Make sure you organize your questions in a way that will be logical for your visitors and make it easy for them to find the information they will be looking for. If you are covering a wide range of material, you may want to break them up into sections according to topic (ie. The Area, Buying, Selling, Mortgage, etc.) If your questions don't happen to break into topics easily, try ordering them by popularity (most asked questions first). If all else fails, you can always fall back on good old alphabetization! You should put your list of questions directly into one of your blank Custom Pages.
Tip: Anchor tags (aka "Jump Links") and Horizontal Rules can also be a great tool to use on this page to make things easy to find! See my Domains page for an example of how you could lay it out using them.
4. Pick Out Your TOP Questions
You've got your questions, you've got your answers, and you've got them organized. Now we need to pick out the TOP questions in your list to use in your Lead Capture. These need to be big questions, ones that get asked a lot that really that require more elaboration than you can do in 2 or 3 sentences. They need to be questions that people would specifically request more information about. I would aim for 3-5 to start. You are certainly welcome to do more.
5. Write a Report for Each of your Top Questions
Write detailed answers for these questions separately. The report should be at least 2-3 paragraphs and preferably not longer than about a page. Give as much detailed information as you can to satisfy your visitor's curiosity. The answers should be entered directly into your Real Estate Tips section.
Tip: Make sure to include some kind of call to action why they need to get in touch with you (keep in mind this should relate directly to the question and should be presented in a very service-oriented, non-threatening manner).
6. Link to Your Tips Page from Your FAQ Page
The final step is to link visitors from your FAQ page directly to your Real Estate Reports page. Under each of the Top Pages, directly after the answer, create a hyperlink labled "For More Information" or something similar (a catchy call to action is preferred!)
The direct link to your Tips page is: http://YourDomain.com/free_reports.shtml.
If you need help creating a custom page, making anchor tags, adding to your reports, or anything else, give our Customer Support a quick call and have them walk you through it: 800-899-8148.
