6 Ways to Get More Real Estate Leads From Zillow and Trulia

Lead generation is a business task that the best agents dedicate time to every single day. It can take months, sometimes years, for the effort to pay off. How can you get results sooner?

Leverage your Zillow and Trulia agent profiles. They are free, easy to set up and centrally manage, and can expose your information and expertise to millions of website visitors across Zillow Group, the largest online real estate network. Once you set up your profile, there are a number of ways you can use Zillow and Trulia to get more leads.

1. Provide valuable local information

Fill your profile with information that buyers and sellers find valuable and useful. Provide information and links to things like schools, weather, local events, transportation, tips, local resources and more. It shows you are the expert in that location and—by being helpful—could result in a potential client contacting you. Once you fill in this information on Zillow, it automatically populates your Trulia profile to save you time.

Pro tip: Get creative with short videos. Many agents have confirmed that adding a personalized video to their profile has also increased their volume of contacts. Besides profiling your listings, showcase your local expertise by posting videos that include restaurant reviews, neighborhood explorations and customer testimonials.

2. Get client reviews (and not just for closed transactions)

Reviews work and you don't only have to get reviews from clients who bought or sold a home with you. Take advantage of allowing others to promote you on your profile. Let them share their experiences about you with your viewers. This is a powerful feature that works.

Pro tip: Respond to every review you get—good, bad or neutral. It helps you build a rapport with buyers and sellers who read them, and it humanizes your digital presence. Even a simple "thanks for reviewing me!" shows that you value all your clients and what they have to say.

3. Add past sales to your Zillow profile

Adding past sales has the same impact as adding client reviews. Consumers can see how active you are in their local area. Your sales history showcases your experience and can motivate leads to contact you.

Pro tip: Download the Zillow Real Estate App to stay productive and connected while running around town. Get push notifications of new contacts, add recent sales, request reviews and much more.

4. Add your listings to Zillow

By including your listings on Zillow, you'll definitely increase the volume of contacts you receive. While this may seem like a no-brainer, the reality is that Zillow is the largest real estate network on the Web. The more listings you have on Zillow, the more exposure you have, which results in more contacts and potential closings.

Pro tip: Brush up on how Zillow gets listings and how to sync them with your profile. Knowing how the process works will help you better use your listings to get maximum exposure on Zillow.

5. Share your listings, your reviews and your local market stats

Use Zillow and Trulia widget tools for your blogs and websites. Adding these Web tools to your public-facing platforms can potentially increase your contacts outside of Zillow and Trulia and give you a stronger real estate-related Web presence.

Pro tip: There is a wealth of housing information at your fingertips that you can share with clients. Zillow Research offers articles, graphs, charts—full of valuable market insights—that you can use on your blog, website, postcards, flyers and handouts.

6. Engage with local buyers and sellers using Zillow Advice

Check in regularly on Zillow advice and Trulia Voices. Enter your neighborhood, city or state and find out what's being discussed in your local community. Or, get email alerts and be notified when someone in your local area asks a questions. Connecting with prospects in your local markets will increase your contacts. Readers—not active participants—are heavily influenced by your comments, answers, and involvement in these local and important discussions.

Pro tip: Learn how consumers conduct searches on Zillow and Trulia, then participate on the forums by answering questions posed by buyers and sellers in your local area.