How to Build Trust Online as a Real Estate Agent

Real estate agents can find it challenging to keep pace with online marketing in an ever-changing market. Social media best practices change, website tools age, and it’s more important than ever to distinguish yourself from the competition.

How do you stand out and build trust with potential clients when they’re searching for an agent online? Whatever niche you target, you must build a professional and engaging online presence to win over clients and make sales. Here are a few tips to help you do just that.

1. Showcase Your Credentials

This should go without saying, but showcasing your credentials online is one of the easiest ways to build immediate trust with potential clients. Professional associations, third-party reviewers and certifications all play a role in providing an objective measure of experience and good service.

For example, the National Association of Realtors and its affiliated institutes, societies and councils provide a wide range of programs and qualifications, some of which you likely already have if you decided to become an active member.

Designations, specialties and certifications acknowledge experience and expertise, so it’s in your best interest to share yours with current and potential clients. If you’ve earned a seal from Trust Guard or the Better Business Bureau, showcase those on your website and social media pages.

2. Share Credible Content

Another effective strategy includes sharing credible content with your followers. Whether you have your own array of tried-and-true tips or prefer to share ones from industry experts, you must frequently update your blog, website and social media with relevant articles and information.

Of course, content curation can be time-consuming for real estate agents. Automation and website tools can help take the pressure off finding, writing and publishing real estate listings and information on your website and social media platforms.

Page Engage allows agents to schedule relevant, engaging Facebook content ahead of time. Curated real estate articles and information on the latest trends can impress page visitors with minimal effort on your end. The tool also allows you to import listings from your MLS, so your Facebook content calendar will pretty much be a wrap.

3. Become a Local Resource

It’s important to understand the real estate industry at the regional and national levels so you can better predict price fluctuations and other trends. However, knowing the local market is even more crucial since that’s where you’ll be helping most — if not all — of your clients.

Focus on your niche and post articles that may benefit buyers and sellers within your community. Share updates about new restaurants, school fundraisers and even neighborhood crime rates to impress your followers and build trust, especially online.

4. Polish Your Voice

Once prospective clients are interested in what you have to say, they’ll want to discover more about you and what sets you apart from other real estate agents in the area. That’s why it’s important to find your unique voice and use it in all communications with followers and clients.

How do you accomplish this, exactly? Just be yourself. People want to know there’s a real person behind the screen, so lean into your quirks and let your personality shine.

On your website and business social media pages, create an inviting “About Us” page and include a brief description of yourself to provide even more information. Add a professional headshot, and you’re sure to get a few more leads.

Of course, if your voice needs a bit of polish, use Page Create to get a professionally-designed Facebook page that will add even more legitimacy to your growing business. Clean graphics, an informative description and well-planned content will help you show off your best self to potential leads.

5. Be Available

If you really want to impress potential clients, be available. You might have a busy professional life, but your clients are looking to see if they will be your top priority. Fail to respond in a reasonable timeframe — or at all — and you’ll lose customers and income.

Keep clients in the loop about changes and updates to listings. Promptly return calls, emails, texts and social media messages within your set working hours. You don’t need to lose sleep to service your clients, but you should be clear about your daily schedule and set rules for yourself on how quickly you need to respond to communications.

Communication automation tools can take the edge off if your schedule is busy. Mind your pipelines, don’t leave clients hanging, and set time blocks for daily tasks like responding to emails and making calls.

6. Gather Testimonials

More than half of sellers say an agent’s online reviews and ratings were very or extremely important when choosing an agent. Luckily, you can easily improve your ratings by gathering positive testimonials from previous clients.

Make a follow-up call to happy buyers and sellers and ask for a written or video review. In-person requests, texts and emails are acceptable, too. Share testimonials on social media or upload them to your website and create a rotating gallery to catch prospective clients’ eyes.

Also, be sure that you have a Google Business Profile set up, so that you can respond to Google reviews. This will also make it easier for potential clients to research and contact you as they buy or sell a home.

Maintaining a Trustworthy Online Presence

Trust is difficult to build and even harder to maintain. Once you develop a trustworthy reputation online, you must make a consistent and concerted effort to preserve it. Keeping your website up to date, creating credible content and becoming an expert in your field will certainly help.

However, it’s ultimately your character that will determine whether clients trust you — and whether you’ll make the sale. If you lead with kindness and integrity, you’ll almost always win, and so will everyone you work with.

Meet the Author

Evelyn Long is the editor-in-chief of Renovated, a web magazine covering real estate market trends. Her writing has been published by the National Association of REALTORS®, Insights for Professionals and other online publications.