Online Reputation Management for Real Estate Agents

Q: What is reputation management for real estate agents and companies?

Reputation management for real estate agents and real estate companies involves influencing online reviews and promoting positive content to create an overwhelmingly positive reputation for any agent or real estate professional. 49% of people who are looking to either buy or sell a home or commercial property cite trust as their #1 criteria in choosing a real estate agent. That trust can be fostered with content marketing, positive reviews, mitigation of negative reviews, search results on the first page of Google, and much more. A real estate agent’s positive reputation is central to their success, and online reputation management is key.

Q: How do I find the best real estate agent?

Real estate agents can be found online, and the best real estate agents can be identified through online reviews, social media pages, and their website. Buyers, sellers, and renters can also find real estate agents and companies on sites like Zillow, ApartmentGuide, Realtor.com, Apartment Ratings, Rent, Trulia, Apartments.com, and RentersVoice. You can get referrals from your network, ask a lender for a recommendation, interview a few agents, and ask for references. A simple Google search may also provide valuable insight into a real estate agent’s reputation.

Q: What is the importance of real estate reputation management?

According to the National Association of Realtors, 93% of home shoppers have gone online to find a new home, and 87% of buyers have used the services of a real estate agent. That means that an overwhelming majority of potential home buyers (and sellers) are turning to the internet for information about real estate agents and companies. The information they find online will heavily influence their decisions. Real estate reputation management helps a real estate agent earn the click or the call.

The three most important things about real estate are location, location, location. A close fourth, is the Internet — at least from the perspective of real estate agents, property management companies, and real estate development companies. 93 percent of consumers went online for their main source of information when looking for a new home.

How to Manage Online Reviews for Real Estate

According to the National Association of Realtors, 87 percent of buyers use a real estate agent to purchase their home. A research report prepared for Zillow found that more than a quarter (26 percent) of buyers find an agent online — Millennial and Generation X buyers are more likely to find their agent online than other demographics. Today’s consumers are looking for local knowledge and a positive reputation. You should expect that a home buyer or home seller will look at your website, your social media presence, and read online reviews. 97% of Millennials read local business reviews online. 89% of Millenials trust online reviews. The future of your business is online and online reviews are critical to the future of your business.

Reputation Rhino provides business review monitoring and review management solutions for the following popular review and customer complaint sites:

BBB Reviews
Citysearch
Consumer Affairs
Customer Lobby
Demandforce
eKomi
Facebook Reviews
Foursquare
Glassdoor
Google My Business
Insider Pages
Judy’s Book
Kudzu
MerchantCircle
PissedConsumer
PeopleClaim
ResellerRatings
Sitejabber
SuperPages
TripAdvisor
Trustpilot
Yahoo! Local
Yellow Pages (US & Canada)
Yelp

We also track niche-specific sites relevant to real estate, such as:

Apartments.com
ApartmentGuide
Apartment Ratings
RentersVoice
Rent
Trulia
Zillow

We Monitor all relevant reviews posted for your business on the most relevant business review and complaint sites daily. We provide monthly Reporting with detailed metrics so you know who is reviewing your company, when they are reviewing, what they are saying and where they are posting their reviews so you can identify and respond to trends and allocate advertising and marketing resources accordingly. We provide Review Outreach services to your existing clients and customers. We target those individuals who have had a positive experience with your company and direct these customers to leave reviews on the most visible online review sites so they can have maximum impact. We also provide a Response to all relevant reviews by our team of experienced online reputation management professionals. This personalized service allows us to act as a representative of your ORM Company to acknowledge and recognize positive reviews and escalate and resolve problems posted online in an effort to convert negative customer reviews to positive reviews.

Realtor.com

Realtor.com is the official website of the National Association of Realtors and a real estate information and realtor review platform. Consumers can browse real estate listings in their area or find a real estate agent. With 202 million visits and 60 million unique visitors monthly, Realtor.com is one of the most popular real estate websites in the world. Realtors can access their Ratings & Reviews, by logging into his or her professional dashboard, click Profile, then Ratings & Reviews. There is a Request a New Review button next to each transaction listing to send a review request email to a client.

Clients can leave a general review of your real estate services, but then they can also give a star rating for Responsiveness, Negotiation Skills, Professionalism & Communication, and Market Expertise<. Reviews posted to Realtor.com cannot easily be deleted, but agents can post a public reply.

Zillow.com

Zillow began in 2006 and is the most popular real estate website in the United States. 173 million people visit the site monthly and a staggering 8.1 billion visits in 2019. Zillow’s database includes information about 110 million U.S. homes – including homes for sale, homes for rent and homes not currently on the market. It is also a sought after resource for information about home values, rental values, and real estate agents. Former, potential or existing clients can review their real estate agent on Zillow. To submit a review of an agent on Zillow, a user must create a profile. Users are encouraged to rate agents on a five-star scale, which includes responding to whether they would recommend the agent to others; local knowledge, process expertise; responsiveness; negotiation skills; and a free text area to add additional information.

All Zillow reviews are moderated before posting and must adhere to Zillow’s Good Neighbor Policy and Review Guidelines. Any reviews that are not appropriate or violate the guidelines will usually be deleted by moderators, but agents can flag reviews for further moderator review. In addition, agents can publicly respond to any published review. Agents can sign into their Zillow account, click on their Zillow Profile and select “Request a review” to directly request reviews from satisfied clients.

How to Remove Negative Reviews

Negative online reviews have a direct impact on your real estate sales and marketing. 94% of consumers say an online review has convinced them to avoid a business. You do NOT want that business to be your business! Most review sites do not remove negative reviews unless the review is a violation of its Terms of Service, you obtain a court order or you successfully file a DMCA notice for copyright infringement. Reputation Rhino has helped remove negative reviews from the most popular review and complaint sites online. In most cases, the best way to mitigate the damage of a negative review is to develop a strategy for generating positive reviews. To learn more about how to manage online reviews contact us today and check out our Ultimate Guide to Online Reputation Management.

Social Media Management for Real Estate

Social media is a powerful tool for real estate networking and career development, new business development, continuing education, and brand awareness. According to a recent study from the National Association of Realtors, 77% of realtors actively use social media for real estate and 47% of realtors cited social media as the best source for generating high-quality leads, which is more than the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) (32%) or even the brokerage website (29%)! Facebook (97%), LinkedIn (59%) and Instagram (39%) are the most popular tools for realtors.

Reputation Rhino can help you leverage social media to gain new leads, highlight your listings, engage with your fans/followers, and share feedback from satisfied clients. Because today’s home buyers and sellers are searching online before they buy or sell a home, your social media presence has a direct impact on you and your firm’s online reputation.