Online Real Estate Marketing

In a recent FDMA event, I’d the pleasure of meeting another South Florida Marketer, who focuses on consulting for that real estate market. After an amazing boon period in the local real estate, there has been a downturn. The slowing of the market has increased the inventory and decreased the prices. I had been particularly interested how this transformation in the market has affected her business. Much to my surprise the market shift has significantly increased the real estate marketing industry. 

During the hot period from our real estate market, houses and condominiums sold themselves. It wasn’t uncommon for bidding wars on properties or contracts on properties after standing on the marketplace for only a few hours. While this was a dream for sellers and Realtors, buyers were stuck in a frenzy to get property before someone else got it. This frenzy caused purchases without the normal research that would go into purchasing a home. The seller’s market required hardly any effort about the Realtor’s part to sell the properties. Historic 6% to 10% Realtor commissions were being slashed.

The current transfer of the marketplace back for the buyers has reignited the need for savvy real estate marketing. Buyers do much more research and are more hesitant when purchasing a house. Most real estate agents are familiar with the classic offline media channels for marketing, but a brand new breed are embracing the net and embracing most of the channels of Internet marketing. Search Engine Marketing is an extremely powerful tool for real estate marketing.

Standard MLS entries with some pictures might not be enough information for potential buyers. Even some of the familiar widgets, like the 360 degree views, are only a start. Stand alone Web sites, Mini Web sites, or multiple Web pages within a Realtor’s Site have to be constructed with plenty of information about the home. There aren’t any limits when it comes to good content. Aside from the standard property description, Realtors can include more pictures, neighborhood information, school information, local shopping, city information, along with other characteristics that may assist in the sale from the product.

Once these Webpages or sites happen to be built, there is opportunity to generate Web traffic from:
Natural Search engine optimization – Free traffic from Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, yet others
PPC Search engine marketing – Paid traffic from Pay per click, Yahoo Search engine marketing, Microsoft adCenter, yet others
Local internet search – Free and paid traffic through local site registrations and native PPC targeting
Blogs – Realtor Web logs of new properties, sold properties, along with other topics of great interest
Video Blogs – Blogs enhanced with Video in the properties
Podcasts – Realtor recordings of the available properties and their features
Newsletter / E-mail marketing – A continuing contact channel to stay in front of past, present, and future clients with the latest property information
Increased competition in a industry has the potential for a marketing boon. This is a excellent time for online marketers to pursue the real estate industry. It is also a great time for Realtors to wisely spend their marketing dollars and earn their 6% commissions about the property sales. Online marketing is a channel that has got to be embraced through the real estate market. Potential buyers are surfing the net looking for their next property. When they cannot find your home, they will find someone else’s.

The National Association of Realtors recently announced a revealing statistic: A lot more than 70 percent of home buyers are looking to the Internet to assist them to find the house of the dreams. This presents an amazing chance of real estate professionals. 

In my opinion just about all real estate professionals must have a presence on the internet. And with affordable solutions such as Office Live Small company, it’s not necessary to plunk down a
Before you start reading “HTML for Dummies” or seek your Ph.D. in “Search Engine Optimization,” think about the following tips that will help you create an online presence which will result in sales.big check to hire a webmaster.

1. Find a distinct segment

You cannot distinguish yourself in the pack if you’re a generalist. You need a niche. People prefer to purchase from niche experts, or as I prefer to give them a call, Nexperts™-business professionals who focus on a specific niche, e.g., in real estate, a particular market or property type. “Nexperts” know precisely who their audience is and they understand what they need. Customers like that. (See this article for more about Nexperts.)

If I’m within the military, I would like a broker who understands my special needs. It’s the same if I’m a huge success looking just for very high-end properties. If you’re not able to find a niche to differentiate yourself, you risk death by obscurity-both online and offline.

2. Know your audience

If you’ve read my book, “The Home Office From Hell Cure,” you know that I appear to be a broken record. But this is the best marketing tip that you can now offer: Know your audience and understand their demands. You can’t do that as a generalist because your audience is virtually everyone. But if you are a broker specializing in, say, small-office space for startup entrepreneurs, you can get to be the go-to niche expert for the subscriber base. Do your research about entrepreneurs and small startups and figure out what type of property issues they will have. You may even develop a reputation for knowing what entrepreneurs need before they are doing.

In either case, your internet site must be about your customer, their demands, and particular solutions for them-not about you, your firm, or how great you’re. Ignore this rule and your potential customers won’t come back, no matter how pretty your internet site.

3. Put yourself inside your customer’s shoes

View your Web site in the perspective of your customer. Can they review your site and think: “Thank goodness, I found this broker. She knows exactly what I need!” Remember that men are not the same as women, seniors from 30-something bankers, startups from Fortune 500 companies, and the list goes on. Your site must confer with your target audience in both style and content. If you’re not sure how to do this, hire an author to get the tone right, create catchy headlines, and deliver valuable content customers can’t easily get elsewhere.

For example, if you focus on selling condos to newly-retired seniors, you need to know their primary concerns (protecting their savings, for just one), their fears and desires (a thrilling city experience or a bucolic haven?), and what is generally necessary to close a sale with this particular demographic. You should know much more about them than their friends. That’s your job.

4. Yes, looks and usability count

If your site looks amateurish, same goes with you. If your website is hard to use, full of vague language or industry jargon, and is more about you than your site visitors, no one is. Use clear, concise, and specific language. Your website should have simple navigation as well as your contact details should be highly visible on every page. Oh, and straightforward is always better. Stay away from flashy distractions that look cool but do nothing at all to help educate, inform, and/or entertain your website visitors.

5. Get out of your office, virtually

You can attract attention by becoming area of the network. Having your name available as the real estate expert inside your particular niche will help your target audience find you. Here are a few ideas:

Write your blog (if the resolve for update this regularly seems too overwhelming, you could team up with another colleague who represents a different niche or provides a complementary service, like a large financial company);

Discuss real estate in other forums for example industry discussion boards;

Publish an e-mail newsletter;

Publish online press announcements in your site or through a service for example PR Newswire, and;

Contribute expert articles and columns for other real estate sites.

There’s a world of ways you can connected. Use as many vehicles as you can-the more your name is out there appearing in search engines, the greater you’re establishing yourself like a niche expert.

6. Be unique

Reveal that you do things differently. You will sometimes attract more attention by going from the grain. If you’re the small fish in a huge real estate pond, then stress why potential prospects should select you-because of your more personalized services, your specialized knowledge, and so on.

OK, you can purchase that copy of “101 Ways to Hyperlink Your Way to Success” now, but remember that visitors are just traffic: people coming to your site. You’re not after traffic by itself; you’re after potential clients-people who’re open to buying what you offer. No quantity of seo will help to you if you do not make it obvious you will find the products and services that the audience wants and needs.

Some of the most dramatic changes in real estate marketing have occurred using the Internet. As more prospects use the Internet for information, real estate agents should have an internet presence. There are several steps agents can take to build up their online real estate marketing. 

Step 1 – Brand yourself with your own domain. You’re the face and reputation for your real estate business so your presence on the Internet should reflect that. Owning your own domain supplies a permanent current email address and website address. This is a way to take your identity online and assistance to brand yourself and become “You.com”.

Step 2 – Understand the power of the Internet for marketing your listings. Real Estate consumers need to see pictures of properties and a popular website for this is Realtor.com. Take advantage of the six picture limit for every listing or step up and create a virtual video tour. Link to your website to supply more photos and pertinent information about the property.

Step 3 – Use social marketing websites, specifically Facebook, to connect with others and especially to allow them to contact you once they need your experience and data, Based on the National Association of Realtors “Social Networking — Facebook The best REALTORS® Guide”, “Use the “groups” application to farm neighborhoods, maintain alumni groups from your old schools (sphere) and much more! The key to marketing is to be “front of mind” once the consumer decides to purchase or sell… and Facebook makes that very easy”.

Step 4 – Create a summary of potential prospects by providing something free, that real estate consumers would find informative, on your website. Compile a list of frequently asked questions or draft an e-book concerning the steps involved in exchanging houses. Consumers will provide their name and email address in exchange for free educational information. This list can be used to send new information or perhaps a monthly newsletter that provides valuable information for that consumer.

Step 5 – Compile useful details about the city you represent and include that aimed at your website. Provide a report on parks, restaurants, comedy clubs, museums, historical sites and interesting information about the region. Use local businesses to be able to provide discounts in your website for his or her business. The web site ought to be interesting, informative and alter or increase it to entice people to come back to it again.

Step 6 – Use all the conventional marketing tactics for example direct mail marketing, brochures, business card printing, and advertisements to drive visitors to the web site. Put the website address on everything you send out and try to get it with your signature on all emails messages sent.

Step 7 – Create a PowerPoint presentation describing the way you market your customer’s properties on the web. Include specific realtor listing websites and the traffic count those site receive. Give details, about how you train with a consumer to have their house sold or find a new house, inside a brief and photogenic presentation and add it to your site.

Thanks for visiting my blog series on real estate Online marketing. This site is an ongoing chronicle of the popular blog series entitled “Real Estate Online marketing: 100 Tips in 100 Days.”
1. Overcome Internet Skepticism
This blog post discusses the need to remove people’s fears and doubts. People are paranoid online, so you have to address this inside your real estate Internet marketing program. Here’s how to go about it. (December 22, 2006)
2. Focus on Lead Capture
To profit from a real estate Internet marketing program, you have to remember to turn website traffic into website leads. Learn to turn traffic into leads, and leads into clients. (December 23, 2006)
3. Increase Website Usability
If people can’t make use of your website, they cannot do what you would like them to do. This is the number-law of excellent usability, and contains everything to do with your real estate Internet marketing success. (December 24, 2006)
4. Minimize Distraction in your Website
When people land in your website, you’ve about five seconds to capture their attention before they hit the rear button. Distraction, therefore, may be the enemy of real estate Internet marketing. (December 26, 2006)
5. Forget You Own Your site
It’s important to take a look at website once in a while to identify “holes” inside your real estate Online marketing strategy. This article lets you know how you can view your website like a stranger. (December 27, 2006)
6. Create a Resource Section
When you add valuable resources aimed at your website, you are able to attract prospects and search engines at the same time. Here’s how to pull off it. (December 29, 2006)
7. Be Active Online
Blogs. Forums. Newsletters. Articles. There are plenty of methods of you to be active online. And the different options you pursue, the better chance individuals have of finding you. (December 31, 2006)
8. Share Your News Online
Online press releases make a great addition for your real estate Online marketing program. An online press release can improve your internet search engine visibility, promote your services and more. (January 3, 2007)
9. Expand Your site
Whenever you add quality content to your website, you are making it more informative to prospects and much more appealing to search engines like google – two fundamentals of real estate Online marketing. (January 4, 2007)
10. Advance Your Internet Knowledge
The web changes constantly. To get the most from your Internet marketing program, you have to stay abreast of the most recent tools and techniques. (January 6, 2007)
11. Publish Articles Online
Article promotion is a proven way to increase your online presence. Online articles support your online program in a number of ways, raning from search engine visibility to PR. (January 9, 2007)
12. Avoid Data Blindness
I know lots of Internet marketers who focus so heavily on data that they lose sight from the big picture. They forget the whole idea of real estate Online marketing – to attract clients! (January 10, 2007)
13. Blog Regularly
A real estate blog can help support your online marketing goals in many ways. Your blog can inform readers, add size and value aimed at your website, generate leads, and search engines like google coming back to visit – all simultaneously. (January 13, 2007)
14. Blog By yourself Website
if you are about to start using Blogger, WordPress or Movable Type the very first time, it’s best to publish your blog on your own website, rather than under the blog company’s domain. Discover why (January 13, 2007)
15. Add Your Blog to Directories
If the blog directory is a niche directory focused on real estate, it’s better still because now the inbound link is pertinent to your blog. This helps your real estate Online marketing program in two ways. (January 15, 2007)
16. Integrate Your Marketing Channels
Real Estate Internet marketing should involve multiple channels. For optimum online exposure and lead generation, strive to combine as numerous offline and online marketing channels as possible. (January 16, 2007)
17. Combine Postcards together with your Website
The prior post on real estate Online marketing discussed the need for integration. In this article, I’ll provide a concrete illustration of that tactic, using real estate postcards and websites. (January 18, 2007)
18. Put Keywords Inside your Hyperlinks
Putting keywords into hyperlinks is one of the easiest on-site adjustments you can make to enhance the search engine visibility of your website or blog. Visibility is a key part of real estate Online marketing. (January 19, 2007)
19 – 23. Generating Website Leads
Website traffic is part from the real estate Online marketing equation. How you handle your traffic is another half. Below are some methods to turn web traffic into web leads. (January 23, 2007)
24. Minimize Marketing Attrition
Attrition may be the enemy of your real estate Internet marketing program. So to flourish in your marketing, you need to understand attrition, identify it and lower it. (January 25, 2007)
25. Test out Pay-per-Click
Pay-per-click programs (like Google AdWords) is one of numerous paths to look engine visibility. These programs can also be an ideal way to grow your real estate Online marketing strategy. (January 29, 2007)
26. Collaborate With other people
Everyone has weaknesses. And that’s okay. Bt when it comes to marketing, weaknesses must be identified, addressed and eliminated – as soon as possible. (January 31, 2007)
27. Paint Your Cow Purple
I’ve know a number of agents who have more business than they can handle. They all have one thing in keeping. They do something using their real estate Internet marketing which makes me say, “Wow, such a good idea!” (February 3, 2007)
28. Write One Page Per Keyword
Internet search engine visibility is a huge part of the real estate Online marketing equation. And one of the simplest ways you improve your website’s visibility is as simple as writing keyword-rich content. (February 5, 2007)
29. Design for People
A well-designed website increases the chance that visitors follows the road you want them to follow, and take the actions you want them to take. So design goes hand-in-hand with real estate Online marketing. (February 7, 2007)
30 – 40. Eleven Marketing Tips in One
This combined posts is the result of me having to play catch-up. Hey, it takes place. Here are eleven Internet marketing tips wrapped into one big post. Enjoy! (February 11, 2007)
41. Use Your Most effective Tool
Whether you understand it or otherwise, you possess an extremely powerful marketing tool available. With no, it isn’t your site or a software program. (February 14, 2007)
42. Brush Up On “Do Not Call” Laws
Whether you understand it or otherwise, you have an extremely powerful advertising tool at your disposal. And no, it’s not your site or a piece of software. (February 14, 2007)
43. Acquire Inbound Links
There are lots of factors that bring about a website’s search engine results positioning / visibility. Inbound links are one of the biggest factors. Find out why! (February 21, 2007)
44. Hunt for Links Wisely
We simply discussed the significance of backlinks in real estate Online marketing. But how do you get links? Here are a few time-saving tips. (February 21, 2007)
45. Launch Website #2
Climax a more advanced Online marketing tip, launching a second website can double your web exposure. Here’s how you can do it. (February 27, 2007)
46. Keep the Integrity
The anonymous nature from the Internet lures some Internet marketers into a dark realm of spam, deceit and trickery. Avoid this realm! (February 28, 2007)
47. Upload a Sitemap
If a internet search engine finds your XML sitemap file, there is a pretty good possibility it will find, crawl and index (record) all of your webpages. (February 28, 2007)
48. Get the Real Estate Blog Book
I’m able to recommend this book without hesitation because I understand what it can do for the real estate Online marketing program. (March 4, 2007)
50. Use What You have
One of the biggest challenges real estate agents have using their marketing is how you can distinguish themselves. (March 13, 2007)
51. Know Your competitors
Understanding the levels of competition are the initial step to success with real estate Internet marketing. Here are some tips to think about. (March 21, 2007)
52. Add Your site to Inman Wiki
If you’re not sure what a wiki is, and just how you can use it for marketing purposes, check out this article about the Inman wiki. (March 21, 2007)
53. Increase your Web Presence
These days, a real estate website alone is not enough to ensure maximum success online. You’ll need a web presence. And you will learn about it within this brief article. (March 27, 2007)
54. Know Your internet Analytics
Web analytics is an Internet marketing term with broad application. But it basically boils down to information about your website visitors. And tracking the way in which people use your real estate website may be the first step to web marketing success. (March 27, 2007)
55. Spread Yourself Over the Web
By increasing the plethora of possibilities people can find you online, you are also helping the “pool” of prospects you need to work with. (March 31, 2007)
56. Differentiate SEO from Lead Generation
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a traffic generator. It’s not a lead generator. Once you know this fundamental difference, you will be better equipped for Internet marketing success. (April 18, 2007)
57. Practice Lead Generation Online
We simply discussed the difference between SEO and website lead generation. Here are some tips to generating more leads out of your real estate website. (April 20, 2007)
58. Think As an Internet Publisher
If you’re serious about your internet marketing success (and that i assume you’re since you’re looking over this tutorial), gradually alter think like an Internet publisher. This short article explains why. (May 2, 2007)
59. Produce a Squidoo Lens
Squidoo is a website that allows its users to create pages around a particular topic, hobby or passion. What does this relate to online marketing for real estate agents? Read on to discover. (May 16, 2007)
60. Submit articles to Home Buying Institute
If you’re able to produce a real estate article like the sample articles on the guidelines page, and you would like a hyperlink at home Buying Institute aimed at your website …. you can send us your best work! (May 17, 2007)
61. Learn the 5 Laws of Lead Generation
Okay, so they are not really laws. More like guidelines. But regardless, if you apply these phones your Internet marketing program, you’ll enjoy more prospecting as a result. (May 23, 2007)
62. Address Popular Topics
If people in your town are looking for local information related to home foreclosures, mortgage refinancing, mortgage applications, home sales statistics, or details about that new highway moving in … why not provide them with it? (June 22, 2007)
63. Improve your Onsite Conversions
A real estate website that does not make conversions is a real estate website that serves very little business function. So here are 10 methods for you to increase onsite conversions. (January 14, 2008)
64. Test out Chat Programs
Chat programs are an often overlooked method of generating leads online. However these programs can be very effective when used properly, so I’ve dedicated this entire article towards the subject. (May 26, 2008)
65. Grant Special Access for Prospecting
What’s you’d a password-protected area of your site that offered exclusive content? For instance, you may offer basic listings on the public part of the website, however, you offer enhanced listing data and virtual tours within the “Members Only” portion of the site. (June 21, 2008)
66. Beef Up Your Blog With These Content Ideas
Adding new content for your blog on a regular basis is a great way to pull in additional web traffic. And if your site has certain lead generation approaches to place, you are able to convert some of the people extra visitors into clients. Here are 21 ideas to keep. (September 27, 2008)
67. Get More Exposure for the Online Listings
When you increase the number of individuals who call at your real estate listings, you also boost the probability of sales. Here are some techniques will boost the visibility of the online listings. (October 4, 2008)
68. Create an Automated Prospecting System via the Web
Did you know you can change your real estate website right into a self-sufficient marketing machine? I speak from experience when I say that you could. Here are a few online prospecting tips to help you do just that. (October 9, 2008)
69. Make use of this SEO Scenario to enhance Your Google Rankings
In this Internet marketing article, I’ll explain what I would do to achieve first-page Google rankings in a competitive real estate market. Follow this sort of strategy, and you will achieve similar success for your own personel website. (November 4, 2008)
70. Adjust Your Marketing Strategy for that New Economy
Have you made any changes for your real estate marketing strategy within the wake of the 2009 recession? Otherwise, you might like to consider some of the ideas discussed in this article. (November 8, 2008)
71. Develop Your internet Quite happy with a search engine optimization Focus
This blog post includes an instructional video on writing website content. Specifically, it shows you how they are driving more qualified people to your real estate site with SEO content strategies. (November 17, 2008)
72. Generate More Internet Leads With this particular Q&A Strategy
Within this Online marketing lesson, I’ll let you know how you can produce a steady stream of free leads using your real estate website or blog, using one of my very own blogs as a real-world example. (November 24, 2008)
73. Use Google Maps to create Your website More Useful
Did you know you may use Google Maps in your web site to display your home listings, open houses along with other important locations? It’s true, and it’s easier than you might think. This tutorial explains how to get it done. (November 26, 2008)
74. Increase Your Web Traffic With one of these 9 Techniques
This lesson offers much more tips for boosting your website traffic. I use many of these same techniques on my own site, and trust me — they work. (February 16, 2009)
75. Generate (Much more) Internet Leads With These 17 Steps
Most real estate agents will agree with me when I say you can never have sufficient leads. Because without them, you have no business. Within this marketing lesson, I’ll give you 17 strategies for producing more inquiries online. This really is must-read material for just about any agent.