Here’s an uncomfortable audit result we see over and over: a broker spends $4,000 on a website, and eighteen months later it has produced two leads — one of them a recruiter. The site isn’t broken. It’s just built for the wrong reader.
The brochure problem
Most broker websites are brochures: a headshot, a mission statement, a list of lender logos, an “apply now” button. Brochures answer the question “who are you?” But almost nobody searching the internet is asking that. They’re asking things like “how much do I need for a down payment on a $450,000 house” or “what happens to my mortgage if I get divorced.” The broker who answers those questions gets the visit — and the visit is where trust starts.
Three fixes that actually move the number
- Answer pages, not service pages. Take the ten questions you answer on the phone every week and give each one a page with a real, complete answer. Rules and numbers from primary sources — the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada is a goldmine most brokers never cite.
- One page per city you serve. Not doorway spam — a genuinely local page: the market, the typical price point, the local quirks (condo fees, well and septic, whatever applies).
- A next step smaller than “apply.” A full application is a big ask from a stranger. A rate quote, a callback, a two-question form — small asks convert.
None of this is glamorous, and that’s rather the point. The brokers whose sites produce files every month didn’t find a secret. They just decided the website’s job is to be useful before it’s persuasive.