"If you want to be taken seriously by clients and agents who are technologically sophisticated, it's time to set up your business e-mail address on a website domain that you own." says Bernice Ross, Real Estate coach and Inman News columnist.

"Do you still have a Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, Yahoo or Go Daddy e-mail address?  If so, it's time to upgrade to a professional e-mail address." says Ross.

Take control of your business identity:   It's important to protect your business assets "including and especially your email address, web address and business phone number," says Teresa Boardman of Inman News. You need to have your own brand by having a separate web page that links to your domain name that you own.

Ross offers some important tips on how to upgrade your business email address.   

How to choose a great domain name:  Always include the type of business you are in... real estate, homes, or properties.  Use components in your domain name that reflect what potential customers would search for.  "The people who run real estate search sites report that users generally search for real estate information by street address, city and ZIP code. Consequently, as you consider various domain names for your website or blog, it's important to consider using these components in the name you select." says Ross.

It's a challenge to choose a name because it seems like all the best ones have been taken.  Without a lot of money, you're not going to get "YourTownRealEstate.com".

"As search has changed, the real opportunity is in what is known as the long tail." says Ross. "This refers to using a longer domain name that incorporates the various pieces outlined above. For example, "AustinHighRiseCondos78747.com" or "LiveInWestlakeTexas78732.com." Each of these domain names matches how people normally search for property -- by property type, location and ZIP code.

Ross says that it's OK to have more than one domain name.  "If you specialize in more than one area, purchase a separate domain name for each one." she says. "Using the examples above, you might have "LiveInWestlake.com" as well as "WestlakeHomesForSale.com," or "WestlakeTexasHomeInfo.com."

All of these sites would reside on your main site to maximize web traffic. "The secret here is to have a different URL that takes users directly to a specific page on your site. To the user, these pages look like home pages on separate sites even though they all reside on your main site."

The next step is to create multiple e-mail addresses. Use "YourName@yourdomain.com" and do that for each domain name you have.

Don't abandon your old accounts :  "I regularly use my Gmail and Hotmail accounts," says Ross, "primarily to register on sites where I know someone will spam me. Also, these systems are great backups if your host's server goes down for maintenance, is hacked, or has some other type of issue that stops your e-mail service."

A huge challenge for team leaders is when people join and leave their team. Having your own domain allows you to control business coming in.  "When an agent leaves your team, all the e-mails coming to that address will continue to go to your site rather than to the agent who left." says Ross.

Prices for a domain name are usually less than $10 a year. A small price to pay to take control of your business brand and separate yourself from other agents on the web.

Read the full story at Inman News.

photo credit: .thana☃

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