It’s no secret that real estate agents are always looking for new ways to increase brand awareness and generate leads. The trick is finding the right resources to do that with minimal effort. Claiming your listings on Zillow is a way to enhance visibility for your clients and your business. I’ll break down how to claim a listing on Zillow, from signing up to paying for listing ads. Let’s dive in!
Step 1: Sign Up for Zillow & Create an Agent Profile
First things first, you’ll need to sign up for an account. Don’t worry; uploading all the important info to show off your skills, experience, and value as a real estate pro is free and easy. Your Zillow profile is like a mini-resume for potential leads to get to know you better. It also serves as a landing page to direct clients to your other platforms.
Here are a few items you want to include when setting up and optimizing your Zillow agent profile:
- Your professional information so buyers and sellers can immediately reach out to you
- A professional headshot that is personable and conveys trustworthiness and confidence
- Promote your brand with your real estate bio, emphasizing your background, skills, and expertise
- Include your real estate license, certifications, and designations that could ramp up your reputation
- Add your past sales to show prospective clients how active you are as an agent in the local area
- Add links to your website and social media platforms to promote brand awareness
- If you know how to speak several languages, include them in your agent profile
- Include real estate marketing videos like testimonials, neighborhood tours, and educational videos
Step 2: Find Your Listings & Access the Zillow Listing Claim Form
The listings on Zillow are populated from the multiple listing service (MLS). To find your listing, just go to the homepage and type in the address. When you find the listing, click on it to open the listing page. Then, look for a link with three dots and the word “More” on the upper right side. Click that link and choose “Claim this listing” from the drop-down box. You’ll be taken to a form to claim the house on Zillow.
Pro Tip: Once you’ve used Zillow to claim the home, if you want exclusive placement on your listings and placement on other agents’ listings, sign up for a Zillow Premier Agent (ZPA) account.
Step 3: Verify Ownership & Claim Your Zillow Listing
Before we move on to the final step, you may wonder, “What does ‘claimed’ mean on Zillow?” It means that you’re confirming you are the property’s representative. This gives you access to the home’s information on the platform, allows you to revise the listing, and links it to your Zillow agent profile. Plus, the listing will show up on your profile. Now, let’s continue.
To claim a listing on Zillow, the final step is to fill out a claim form. After clicking “Claim this listing,” you’ll see a form asking for your name and phone number. You’ll need to confirm that it’s your listing by entering the requested details and then clicking “Continue.” Your contact details and agent profile will then be automatically added to the listing—meaning your listing is now claimed on Zillow. Simple, right?!
Additional Options to Manage Your Listings
There are a few other things that you should know about managing Zillow listings to keep your profile as up-to-date and functional as possible.
Release Ownership of a Claimed Listing
If you no longer want to claim a Zillow listing because you are no longer the agent or for another reason, make sure to release the listing. Just log into your Zillow account, go to the property’s listing page, and look for the “Release ownership claim” button. Click it, and then confirm that you want to release ownership. Zillow will send you an email to confirm that you’ve released the listing.
Advertise on ZPA to Make Your Listings Exclusive
To make the most of what Zillow has to offer for visibility and connecting with leads, become a Zillow Premier Agent (ZPA). Costs vary per lead, depending on your location and agent competition in the market; however, this ensures that you have exclusive placement on your claimed listings and that your contact information is displayed on listings that aren’t yours. This can greatly improve your lead gen efforts and your overall revenue. Lead more about Zillow options by reading our Zillow Premier Agent review.
Top Reasons to Claim Zillow Listings
Zillow is the most-visited real estate website in the world, with 274.5 million visits in July 2024 alone. This means having an active and up-to-date profile will get more eyes on your business. Here are the top four benefits of claiming your Zillow listings:
You need a Zillow account but do not need an agent profile to claim a listing. However, an agent profile is a free opportunity to start a conversation with a prospective home buyer or seller by telling them more about you and sharing past sales details, experience, and client reviews.
Zillow Alternatives
While Zillow is one of the best real estate sites that could bring a lot of traffic to your listing, other website alternatives can also help increase your target niche audiences. These real estate platforms provide additional features that Zillow cannot. Check out these alternative listing websites, or use them in addition to Zillow to promote and sell your property fast.
| Realtor.com: Agents looking to market listings on social media and multiple listing sites |
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| Trulia: Most affordable pricing structure for advertising |
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| Apartments.com: Realtors managing rental properties |
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can two agents claim a sale on Zillow?
It depends. Two agents who are parties to a transaction, as the listing and buyer’s agents, each get credit for the sale. Zillow displays who the listing agent, or agents, are on the property details as “Listed by.” When an agent sells the listing, it displays their name on the property page as “Bought with.” These shared transactions also appear on each agent’s personal profile and specify if the agent represents the seller or buyer. The agents’ names are listed on the property if it is a co-listing with two agents or a team.
How do I mark a listing as pending on Zillow?
Since listings populate directly from the MLS, you do not need to mark a listing as “pending” on Zillow if the status is changed in the MLS. Once you change the status in the MLS, it will update on Zillow. Remember that it may take a day or two for the status update to reflect on the Zillow listing.
Bringing It All Together
Online marketing for real estate is here to stay, so let’s make the most of the tools we have at our fingertips to get our property listings out there and boost our overall business. Platforms like Zillow are more like partners to work with than something to battle against. When you claim a listing, it doesn’t guarantee you the top spot on the contact sidebar, but it does give you visibility and the chance to attract more leads. And if you advertise as a Zillow Premier Agent, you can be the exclusive agent for your listings.
Now that you know how to claim a listing on Zillow, how do you plan to use it to your advantage?
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