'Stealth' marketing pays off

Flickr photo by Nevada Tumbleweed.

One of the proven ways to generate leads from the Web is with a "stealth" Web site. The question is: Are you putting your license at risk by using this strategy?

Stealth Web sites, which are sometimes called unbranded Web sites, are designed to focus on consumers' needs. They tend to be focused on a single market niche and often have little resemblance to most other real estate Web sites.

Most stealth sites consist of a landing page where the Web visitor provides an e-mail address to automatically receive a foreclosure list or some other offer. If the person doesn't provide a correct e-mail address, that person doesn't receive the information.

Agents who use stealth sites typically have a personal Web site, too. Those who use both often find that their stealth sites are generating a greater volume of leads. To illustrate, an agent could have a stealth site that uses the URL "MyTownForeclosureList.Info" -- this site would be set up exclusively for the purpose of providing foreclosure lists to potential buyers.

The same agent could create a second site called "MyZipCodeShortSalesList.com." This site would provide a list of the short sales currently on the market. In many cases, there is little or no branding to indicate that the person hosting the site is a Realtor.

The people visiting these sites are usually more willing to provide accurate contact information. The reason? People don't want to be bombarded with drip e-mail programs from agents.

Instead, they want to remain anonymous until they are ready to buy or sell a property. Their thinking is that sites without brokerage branding are providing this information as a service rather than by a salesperson.

Is it legal to use stealth sites in your business? The answer is maybe, provided the site is set up appropriately. In some states, stealth sites are illegal. Even in states where they are legal, you must still follow the National Association of Realtors' standards of practice with respect to disclosing the following:

Standard of Practice 12-9
Realtor firm Web sites shall disclose the firm's name and state(s) of licensure in a reasonable and readily apparent manner.

Web sites of Realtors and non-member licensees affiliated with a Realtor firm shall disclose the firm's name and that Realtor's or nonmember licensee's state(s) of licensure in a reasonable and readily apparent manner (adopted January 2007).

Standard of Practice 12-10
Realtors' obligation to present a true picture in their advertising and representations to the public includes the URLs and domain names they use, and prohibits Realtors from engaging in deceptive or unauthorized framing of real estate brokerage Web sites; manipulating (e.g., presenting content developed by others) listing content in any way that produces a deceptive or misleading result; or deceptively using metatags, keywords or other devices/methods to direct, drive or divert Internet traffic, or to otherwise mislead consumers (adopted Jan. 2007). ...CONTINUED

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