Posts Tagged ‘lead capture’
Increase Website Traffic Through SEO Optimized IDX
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011You probably pay a lot for your IDX service, but have you ever wondered if you are getting as much out of it as possible? Many agents don’t realize that proper and strategic use of your IDX integration can not only make your site more engaging to the visitor, but increase your traffic and search engine ranking as well. You just need to take four steps…
Four Steps to Getting the Most from Your IDX
Search engines, are constantly crawling sites, looking and comparing information to determine the best results to return to users searching for a particular set of keywords. By using a few simple strategies, you can leverage your IDX for content:
Step #1: Ensure your IDX resides on your site.
Most do this now because of the high demand for it, but if you don’t start from this premise, the rest of this article is a moot point for you. When it does, then every individual listing in the MLS can be viewed as a page of content on your site – and this is the central crux of the matter.
To see how many pages you are being credited for, try this… In a Google search, type site:yourdomain (in the example below, site:onlinedominance.com). In light gray writing at the top of the page, you will see the words “About ______ results returned.” So Google finds 1,340 pages of unique content associated with Online DominanceTM.
You can get “content credit” for all those listings in your MLS, provided you follow the next steps.
Step #2: Create predefined searches and install them on your site.
Having just a form for people to fill in with their search preferences, while vital, is not sufficient for this purpose because search engines are just an algorithm and are not interested in completing preference forms. So, if you want the search engine to see your content, you have to make sure the data from the MLS is being actively pulled onto your site. By creating predefined searches, such as by price, location, or even type of property, you are setting up a stream of constantly linked data of every listing that falls within those parameters.
Step #3: Create unique content describing that search
One of the more recent “gotchas” initiated by Google is an update that finds “low quality” pages, which is basically information it determines is syndicated from one source to many different sites. So, unfortunately for you, this means you can’t have just the predefined search. But you can end run this by taking the time to write a paragraph or two of custom content and add targeted title tags, so when the search engine indexes the page it may see some syndicated material but this will be offset by the unique content.
OK, you’re almost there!
Step #4: Link often and well
If you want the search engine to think a page is valuable, you have to treat it as if it IS valuable. So, every time you write something that relates to one of these searches, for instance a blog post about a recent upswing in sales in a certain price range in your market, include a link to that predefined search result page.
How this Helps Get Traffic to Your Site
So I know right now you are saying “Sure, I understand how to strategize the IDX, but what about the traffic and visitor engagement?”
Well, when the search engines find more pages of relevant content that is frequently updated, it helps your page ranking. Also, having lots of related third party sites (such as Trulia, Active Rain, etc.) link back to multiple points on your site helps not only ranking but the likelihood of people finding you. Finally, since every listing is viewed as a page on your site, searches on specific addresses (like when someone drives by and sees a yard sign) will yield your site as a result, so you don’t have to rely on over-used or highly competed for keywords.
As to customer engagement, people love the convenience and instant gratification of being able to see properties in the ranges or categories they prefer with the click of a button. Often, they aren’t sure exactly what they are looking for until they see some results, and having to go back and adjust information in a search form can be a bother. You will get more clicks on saved searches that then allow the user to sift and sort their specifics from there.
A Few Words of Advice
You have the step by step plan to get your IDX SEO optimized, and as always the next step is to implement. But be aware of a few more things before you do!
- Do Not Sock Google – Google is like the referee in a game, it watches to see if you are playing by the rules, and will throw the red card at any suspected foul punch. So, if you had say, 30 pages on your site one day and then next had 20,000, what do you think will happen? That’s right! So, pick the top 2 or 3 searches you think would be most effective in your area, and start adding those, going through all 4 steps to get them strategized. Add slowly to make your results most effective.
- Use the language your users use – People will tend to type search terms that they use in natural language. Name your predefined searches that same way to increase the match rate and hence your page position.
- Get a help in executing this over time – This is the perfect kind of task, low-level and long term, to get a VA to help you execute. Set up the process, set your priorities, and give a VA marching orders. You will see the results as they are added to your site, while freeing you up from worrying about maintaining the flow of information.
So, there you have it! Make sure you are getting the most out of your IDX’s capabilities when it comes to site traffic and visitor engagement by consistently initiating these strategies over time. The best thing is, since that IDX resides on your site, it will all be for your greater good!
Special thanks to Brad Carroll of Dakno Marketing for his contributions to this article.
Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He’s dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.OnlineDominance.com and Facebook page at Facebook.com/OnlineDominance
This article is reprinted in its entirety from the October 2011 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright © 2011. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark of RUSSER Communications.
Use Facebook Ads to Target Your Market!
Friday, August 26th, 2011
Creating a dynamic marketing strategy for social media is an effective way to build a strong base of potential clients.
Once we build our clients’ social media sites and post great content on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ for a few weeks, we take some time to build up their fan base. Whether it is inviting all of our clients’ personal friends to “like” the page or running an incentive or contest, it is our job as Real Estate Virtual Assistants to go above and beyond just posting to a page. We also have to focus on getting our clients the fans they need to start interacting and getting business.
One of the things your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can do is to create a custom Facebook ad that announces the page and helps get more fans. Facebook makes this very easy due to its incredibly targeted marketing strategies. The more criteria you give, the more targeted your ad becomes.
You can target your ad to a group as small as 100 people if you use the target criteria to its fullest potential. This is appealing because you can insure that you’re targeting people who would be your ideal client. Now, Facebook has even offered brand-new targeting criteria: the zip code! Here are some of the other demographics you have to choose from:
Geographic Location: You can target by city and state, country, and you can even specify how many miles outside your targeted city you want to target. Facebook has recently gone a step farther by including zip codes in their geographic targeting! This makes it easier for you to fine-tune your targeting so that your ad only reaches the zip codes you want it to. It helps narrow down your target demographic.
Personal Interests, Professions, and Workplaces: Do you specialize in golf communities? Try targeting people who have “golf” listed as a Facebook interest. It’s possible. You can also target people in certain professions or who work for certain companies. If you live by a few hospitals, and therefore have a lot of doctors in your community, use that when you’re placing your ad. The narrower you make the target demographic, the more likely it is that the people who would be potential clients would see your ad.
Education, Marital Status, and Gender: Do you only want to target married couples? Would it be hard for someone to afford a home in your area without a college degree? Believe it or not, these are factors that you should consider when placing a Facebook ad. You can target people based on what you know about your community. Believe it or not, the more you specific you make your demographic, the more it shows you know your client base, and the more likely you are to see interested leads come from your ad.
As Real Estate Virtual Assistants, it is our job to help you get the most out of your social media presence. A very effective way to build your fan base and market your brand is through Facebook ads. With these targeted components, including the brand-new zip code demographic, you can narrow down your demographic and run an effective ad.
If you need help getting your ad up and running, or just want some help getting up on Facebook, ask your Real Estate Virtual Assistant to help!
Contact Carrie
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How to Create Dynamic Contact Forms & Calls to Action on Your Website!
Friday, April 29th, 2011
Have you ever visited a real estate website that resembles an in your face used car commercial with flashing graphics, neon colors and every sentence competing for your attention all at once? You immediately feel the urge to click off the page and avoid being pressured to “act NOW!”
On the other hand, there are those websites that seem somewhat mysterious and finding any type of contact information feels like a treasure hunt with a dead end. After a minute of trying to figure out where the real estate agent is located or attempting to contact them to ask them a question about a property, you give up and find another more user friendly site.
So where’s the middle ground? How can you grab your audiences attention without “yelling” at them? How can you provide clear information in a compelling way?
There are two simple elements that can completely change how visitors view your website: contact forms and calls to action. Let’s take a quick look.
Contact Forms
Gone are the days of merely having your phone number and email posted somewhere on your home page. Today’s consumer wants to have an easier way to contact you. Consequently, the contact form has become a staple of cutting edge real estate websites.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1. A clear, easily accessible contact page. This should be a tab on your website that is easy to find.
2. This contact page will be a fill-in form that will feed directly to your email inbox.
3. You can also put your contact information on this page, but your main focus will be the contact form.
4. State clearly near the top or bottom of the contact form that their information will be kept confidential to make them feel at ease and built trust.
5. To make it even easier, a link at the bottom of each page of your website to your contact page will allow for even more immediate interaction.
Calls to Action
Our culture has become so used to the responsiveness of social media sites that they come to expect the same thing from a website. While you may not be able to respond right away once someone has filled out a form, you can give the feeling that your site is just as interactive.
Calls to Action are words that encourage readers to take action. You’ve all heard of them, but sometimes taking the time to get to the basics allows you to look at something from a fresh perspective. Imagine if you were visiting your site. What type of call to action would catch your eye and make you take time to fill out your information?
Here are a few key elements for creating effective Calls to Action:
1. Action words will instinctively draw in your readers. Words like subscribe, call, view now, search, etc… will provide a definitive action.
2. Offer an incentive. People will not freely give out their personal information, so a “trade” will make it easier to evoke a response. Provide a free market analysis, e-book of your community, or anything else you feel would interest your audience.
3. Graphical buttons are great for calls to action. Create buttons that complement the look of your site, but still stand out on the page.
4. Limit the number of calls to action. If you have too many on your site, visitors will get overwhelmed with the amount of choices. Three to five is usually an ideal amount as it offers variety, but keeps your calls to action from crowding up your site.
5. Keep it simple, yet creative. A short phrase or sentence will draw the reader in and will force you to choose your words wisely. Creativity in the graphic and wording will be the most effective call to action.
While often overlooked on a website, these two elements are essential for creating a website that reaches out to today’s audience. If you have more questions about creating a contact form or calls to action for your website, or need someone to create them for you; let your Real Estate Virtual Assistant know!
Contact Carrie
Visit us Online at RealSupportInc.com
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Turn Online Contacts into Clients in 2011!
Friday, December 24th, 2010
We’re gearing up for 2011 and are sure you’re doing the same! What are some of your goals for the coming year? The slower winter months are a great time to strategize and build your marketing plan and begin implementing it as soon as possible.
You’ve probably embarked on your boosting your online presence over the past year and may have mixed emotions on how it’s going. From social media and blogging to a great custom website; you’ve put in the time, energy and money but may not be seeing the results you anticipated.
One of the trickiest things we run into as Real Estate Virtual Assistants is showing the power of social media, blogging and an overall solid online presence to our clients. While creating relationships is priceless, people want to see the hard facts of their online activity.
As of right now, however, you won’t be able to get a print out of the success of your online presence. It can be hard to transition from the data you can pull from the MLS about your current market and your success rate. All the facts are right at your fingertips and you’re never wondering how you’re doing. Online networking is different.
So, while you can’t just pull a report of the success of your website, blog or social media activity; there are some key things you can do to transition your online contact into leads. Star Hall, who is an international speaker, publicist, author and social networking expert, came up with seven tips for helping to accomplish this in the coming year.
1. Focus on Generosity- While you’re not giving away your services for free, you can be generous with the information you provide. Whether you’re blogging about current real estate trends and your community, or have great content on your website that is truly helpful to people; generosity is key. As they go to your site or blog and see that your goal is to help people; they’ll be more likely to trust you to be a great Real Estate agent.
2. Use the 3/3 Rule- So, you want to be generous, but don’t want to miss out on business. Use the simple 3/3 rule which is to only offer 3 calls or emails at 3 minute each per person. After that, it’s time to offer your services and request their business.
3. Don’t Act Desperate- While you want to be a “go getter”, you never want to come across as desperate. Be sincere in how you interact with your online contacts, and they’ll see that you want to help them and are not counting on them for your survival.
4. Do a SPAM Check- This is important to do for yourself- you don’t want to come across as a SPAMMER to potential clients. In this case SPAM stands for: Sales Pitching After Meeting. If you interact with an online contact, you have to set up guidelines for yourself in when to “sell” yourself. The key is building some rapport with the contact and not just pushing your services. They will quickly write you off if they feel they’re being pushed into something.
5. Have a Communication Plan in Place- It’s vital to have a plan for keeping the communication open with your new contacts. One of the best ways is through a customized drip email campaign where contacts are receiving weekly or bi-weekly emails that are bringing them relevant and customized Real Estate information. This will keep you in front of them as well as being generous about providing them with free information.
6. Build Your Social Proof- As we just touched on in our blog Raving Reviews, people want to know what others think about you and your services. Have a testimonial page on your website or post them on social sites such as LinkedIn.
7. Just Be Yourself- It sounds simple enough, but it will make a difference in your work. If you are constantly trying to be someone else such as an agent who excels at landing speaking engagements, or those who enjoy creating videos for their website or blog; if it’s not your style, you’ll quickly burn out trying to keep up. Find your strengths and run with them! Being true to yourself will allow online contacts to see your personality and be able to more fully trust that they know what type of agent you are.
These 7 tips should help point you in the right direction for gaining more clients in 2011! Carve out some time within the next three weeks to really evaluate where you were in 2010 and where you want to be in 2011. Come up with a plan and the steps to get there.
Don’t give up on your online presence because of its’ ambiguous nature, but continue to build relationships into the new year and you’ll begin to see results. Whether you’re being referred through your online contacts or start to stand out as an excellent resource in your community; these long lasting results will come with patience and persistence.
Wishing you all the best for the holidays and the New Year!
Carrie Gable and the team at RealSupport, Inc. are our “VA Quick Tip” columnists offering expertise in real estate marketing, technology and more. RealSupport’s office and team of 9 full-time staff members is located near Chicago, IL. Their successful team works virtually for many top real estate agents and brokers nationwide. Pioneers in the Real Estate Virtual Assistant industry, RealSupport offers marketing, branding, website and logo design, listing marketing, lead generation, technical support, transaction management, social networking, blogging and much more… Just ask!
Contact Carrie
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Code to Your Online Success
Saturday, December 11th, 2010
In case you didn’t notice, there is a whole crop of young, willing and able real estate buyers that seem to have their head buried in their smartphones. Gen-Y prefers texting over talking and their phone IS their world. Here’s a way to get their attention and business —fast!
QR Codes to the Rescue
Think of QR (Quick Response) codes as a two dimensional bar code that can contain just about any kind of information and be read instantly from any number of free smartphone apps. The opportunities for real estate marketing are nearly endless since one of the main uses of QR codes is to embed URLS that when scanned will take the phone user to wherever the URL was pointing (i.e. your Website, listing detail information, etc.) They effectively turn anything (including paper) they are printed on into an active and trackable hyperlink.
QR codes were invented in Japan by a subsidiary of the Toyota Motor Corporation to help identify car parts. Once people recognized their flexibility of encoding links to the Web, they took off big time in Japan and other Asian countries. In fact, you will find QR codes plastered on billboards, signs, storefronts and just about any place you look in all the major Japanese cities.
Here is where you can find free QR Code Reader apps for your smartphone (by smartphone type):
- iPhone QR reader app search
- BlackBerry QR reader app search
- Droid QR reader app search
- iTunes
- BlackBerry App World
- Android Market
There really are only two issues to consider when incorporating QR codes into your marketing: a) how to create them, and b) where to place them for maximum exposure and impact.
Create QR Codes Instantly for Free
If you do a Google search on QR code generators you will find literally dozens of sites that will create them for you at no cost. My favorite is a site called BeeTagg QR Generator which allows you to create any number of QR codes in different formats for free. When you first land on this page you can enter the URL of the page you want your code to go to and choose the type of code it generates (make sure you have the QR Code selected and uncheck “Optimize size”). Then just hit the “Go” button and you will instantly see your code with download options like this:
Now this next part is very important. Of the six different download options shown, there are only two you will typically work with. Gif if you plan on placing the code on a Webpage or email and Eps if you plan on using it in print. Gif images are the smallest file sizes for this kind of image and are ideal for placement in Webpages. However, they are not good for print or other media because they don’t scale well. That is, they get blurry or pixelated if you try to blow them up beyond their original size and will become unreadable by the smartphone apps.
Eps file formats are ideal for print media because they can scale to any size (including 16 foot billboards) without any loss of fidelity. The key here is to use the appropriate QR code image type for the right kind of application.
GEEK TIP: here’s a quick shortcut you can use to place a QR code on any page of your Website (with the code pointing to that page) just by including the following Javascript in your HTML code where you want the QR code to show up on the page:
<script src=”http://s3.amazonaws.com/dakno-qr/qr.js”;font-size: 9pt; font-family: “Arial”,”sans-serif”; color: rgb(64, 64, 64);”>
The resulting QR code image will point to the page it is on. Unless you are comfortable working with HTML code it is probably better to give this to your Web designer to implement.
Where to Use QR Codes For Maximum Impact
In addition to placing a page-specific QR code on every page of your Website there are many innovative ways you can incorporate them into your marketing. Here are just some ideas that came out of a recent brainstorming exercise for QR code use:
- Put them on your sign riders pointing to your Website with the details for that listing (NOTE: make sure the QR code on the sign rider is at least 10” x 10” so it can be scanned from the comfort of a prospect’s car)
- Print ad with a QR pointing to a YouTube video of you walking thru your latest listing;
- Put a QR code decal on your car that points to your Website, or better yet, an irresistible offer on your Website (again, make sure it is at least 10” x 10” so it can be scanned easily by other drivers.);
- If it is winter, develop a QR code on the sign rider and link it to photos or a video of the house when the landscaping is in full bloom in spring;
- Sponsor a local team and put the QR code pointing to your Website on their uniforms;
- Give away t-shirts with QR code that points to your site;
- If send out calendars each year, put a QR code pointing to your Website on every page;
- QR code open house scavenger hunt. Put a QR code in ad or web ad of open house where the QR code on each house maps you to the next house. Have to read them all to get to the prize at the final house —great for brokers open tour;
- Put a QR code pointing to your Website on the back of your business card.
QR Code Best Practices
Now before you go hog-wild with QR codes and start plastering them on every available surface (digital or otherwise), here are some best practices that will help you get the most out of these cute little smudges:
- Tell them what it is – since QR codes are still very leading-edge in this country it is a good idea to provide additional info that explains to the less-techy consumers just what they are. Here’s an example of what shows up on every page of my Websites that include QR codes:
Just click on the link in the image at left and see how it takes you to a page that fully explains what QR codes are and their benefits to the consumer.
- Point to something worthwhile – make sure that whatever your QR code points to provides real value to the consumer. Ideally, the landing page has a specific call to action and lead capture mechanism.
- Make sure your QR codes are readable – make them big enough for the context they will be used. This means about 175 pixels x 175 pixels for Web pages and email, 10” x 10” for outdoor use (sign riders and car decals) and huge for billboards.
- Track your QR code traffic – you can easily track your Website traffic that is generated by people scanning QR codes. If you are using a Web analytics program like Google Analytics it is easy to track QR code traffic by adding just a bit of text after the URL you are pointing to before generating the code. For example:
http://www.myrealestatewebsite.com/?source=QR_printad
Where the highlighted part was added before generating the code. Your analytics package will show any traffic specifically coming from people scanning the QR codes in your print ads. There is nothing magic or special about the text that comes after “/?source=”, you can make it anything you want —just make sure there are no spaces and that it effectively describes where the code was embedded.
At this point you might be thinking: “Is this QR code thing really necessary for my business?” and the answer of course is no, it’s not. However, if you want to be a leader in your marketplace and really catch the attention and business of the up and coming Gen-Y buyers, then yes it is.
Implementing QR codes is not about being a geek, it’s about staying up with your customers and serving them in the way they expect. After all, that is what business is all about, isn’t it.
NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors (unless he/they are directly involved with the creation and/or improvement of a vendor service or product), and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.
Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He’s dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.russer.com
This article is reprinted in its entirety from the December 2010 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright © 2010. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark of RUSSER Communications.
Putting the “WOW!” Into Web Engagement
Monday, November 29th, 2010
When a prospect lands on your Website they are going to a) bounce right out; b) take your information and leave; c) become engaged. Only one of these outcomes is going to make you money from the Web. Clearly, the more engaging your site, the more likely it will turn casual visitors into closed transactions. Now there is an unbelievably easy way to make almost anything on your Website very engaging and unique.
MapsAlive is a very clever online service that let’s you take any kind of image (maps, photos, floor plans, diagrams, etc.) and turn them into highly interactive elements in just minutes without any technical knowledge. You really can’t appreciate the full breadth of what is possible until you view the recent Online Dominance Live Group Coaching session video (click image above) we had where MapsAlive co-founder Janice Kenyon do several live demonstrations. Also in this video you will see how incredibly versatile this service is and that its application to your business is limited only by your imagination.
Interactivity Challenge…
Here’s your chance to take this great new resource, try it out and set yourself apart without spending a dime and WIN —here’s how:
- View the video above for ideas.
- Sign up for the MapsAlive 30 Day Free Trial – no credit card required, and you have full functionality. Just go to http://www.mapsalive.com/User/SignUp.aspx
- Create something interactive using MapsAlive – it doesn’t need to be placed on your Website, just make note of its URL
- Post the link to your MapsAlive creation on Facebook – post your link on the Online Dominance Facebook page.
- Get your Facebook friends to “like” your post – send a request to all your real estate friends to “Like” your MapsAlive entry (they will thank you for turning them on to MapsAlive as well) CLICK HERE for an example of the request you can send them.
VERY IMPORTANT: the person with the most “likes” on their post (by Friday December 3rd at 9:00 pm EST) will win a full year’s worth of MapsAlive access via their Plus account (a $99 value!).
You know I share a lot of great ideas with you in this blog. Here’s your opportunity to try one out without risk or cost and very little time investment. The only ideas that have value are the ones that you put into practice —snooze you lose!
NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors (unless he/they are directly involved with the creation and/or improvement of a vendor service or product), and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.
The Importance of Capturing Leads
Friday, November 12th, 2010
Well, you don’t want to hold them hostage, but you’d certainly like to capture them! When thinking about your website, you may wonder who (if anyone at all) stops by and how effective your website really is. Wouldn’t it be great to get a list of the visitors that stop by your site, especially those that are truly serious about buying or selling a home?
Now, we know lead capturing is nothing new, but we wanted to revisit the topic and give you some creative ways to ensure you don’t miss out on a great opportunity. You may have a fantastic custom website which is very appealing. Potential clients may click around, view homes for sale, use the area resources page, get information on buying or selling in your area and get a free market report. They may click over to your real estate blog, read about the things going on in your city and find great real estate related information. Going back to your website they view all the homes you’ve sold and read your bio. They’re still considering buying or selling, so they decide not to contact you since they’re just tossing the idea around. And they’re gone.
They’ve gotten all the information they need from you and know key facts about your business and who you are, but you are left with nothing. Is your website effective? Is it being utilized to its fullest potential? Nope.
So, here’s the deal. Not everything on your website can be “free.” If you want to capture the leads that visit your site, you need to do an exchange. People understand that it’s a basic point of business to give something in order to get something and the same rule applies to your website. This can make clients nervous as they feel that potential clients will “catch on” that you’re trying to get their information and simply won’t come back.
The best way to go about it is to be up front. Wherever you decide to put the lead capture on your site, let them know why you want their information. Something as simple as, “Sign up to receive a free market report! We’ll also send you a monthly update of the current market to keep you posted on what’s happening in the City Real Estate Market!” This lets them know that you do want to send them other useful information and how often they can expect to get an email. They’ll appreciate knowing up front what they’re getting into which will also help build trust in who you are as an agent.
You want to be sure what you’re offering them is attractive! They want to know it’s’ worth taking the time to input their email and receive future emails from you. Here are a few creative irresistible ideas on what you can offer – whether real estate related or not!
- Free Market Report
- Top 10 Things to Do in Your City
- Free Home Search
- Coupon for a Free Cup of Coffee (This will generate even more interaction and is a nice way to say ‘thank you’ for stopping by!)
- Free Guide for First Time Home Buyers
The list goes on and on! Capturing leads that come to your website is crucial as it can turn visitors into clients. If you have questions about incorporating effective lead captures onto your website; let us know. As a team of real estate virtual assistants, we’d love to help you turn more visitors into clients! If you have a lead capture system that is effective, feel free to share your success stories!
Contact Carrie
Visit us Online at RealSupportInc.com
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Seven Qualities of a High-Performance Website
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
The vast majority of real estate sales associate Websites fail miserably to come anywhere close to achieving their full business-producing potential online. Typically these sites fail in a number of different ways. Here is a powerful way you can self assess your own site to see what works, what doesn’t and what to do about it…
It’s Not Just About Driving Traffic
Driving traffic to your site is easy. Getting visitors to engage and convert into serious clients is not. In fact there are seven major qualities that your site needs to get right before it can be a fully productive online presence:
- Targeting & Branding – This is how well your site is targeted and differentiates itself to a specific niche market. Less than 2% of all real estate Websites are targeted. In their attempt to “speak to everyone” they end up talking to no one.
- Design – Just because a site is beautiful doesn’t mean it will be effective (just ask any agent who has spent thousands on a “beautiful” site only to see it not produce a dime of new business). Design needs to take into account many factors including being consistent with the nature of your target market and branding.
- Copy & Content – The primary purpose of you copy and content is to engage the visitor and effectively answer the question “What’s in it for me?” from their perspective. It has been my experience that most real estate Web copy fails completely in this respect.
- Interactivity / Ability to Engage – Information, even great information is not enough. Your content needs to engineered to maximize engagement via irresistible offers.
- Navigation – Ease of use and consistency are the hallmarks of good Website navigation.
- “Internet Empowered Consumer” Friendliness – Reassurances of privacy throughout your site and explicitly not requiring consumers to reveal who they are when they complete a form are crucial for your visitors to feel safe and secure when using your site.
- Promotion & Tracking – How your site is promoted depends upon its target market focus. Keep in mind that some target markets will NOT use search engines to find your site.
NOTE: You can self-assess your own Website for these qualities by downloading a 40 Point Website Assessment form I use to evaluate agent sites. Just go to www.Facebook.com/OnlineDominance and click the “Cool Tools” tab at the top and follow the instructions on the assessment form.
Don’t Bother Calling a Web Designer –Yet
There is no such thing as perfect, only a constant state of refinement to continually improve a Website’s ability to generate business and differentiate you from your competition. It takes many months of planning before you even THINK about talking to a Web designer. Unfortunately, this is the exact opposite approach used by most people in the business.
Even the most gifted designer cannot make an effective Website that scores high in all of the above categories until you give them your written plan and vision for dominating a particular niche. Think of it this way: 90% planning, 10% building and execution. Once you give them your plan, the building of the site is actually fairly straightforward.
Here are some sites that score very high on the above mentioned assessment:
- www.DowntownLivingMiami.com
- www.ChevyChaseLiving.com
- FortSill.GoArmyHomes.com
- www.IntownLivingAtlanta.com
- www.SellingCantonHomes.com
- www.MilitaryMove.ca
- www.GotDreamNeedHome.com
Each of the above sites are highly targeted and required 3 – 6 months of intense planning before their owners even spoke to a Web designer. Take a few moments to examine each one carefully and you will see why they all score so high on the Website Assessment.
Improving your site’s performance starts with determining what its weaknesses are and then taking very well thought out and committed action to correct them, one at a time.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: another version of this article was first published in REALTOR Magazine Online a couple of weeks back. Despite the warning above about not seeking out a Web designer prior to planning your site, apparently that is what many people who read this article did. In speaking with Bobby Carroll of Dakno (the design firm for all of the above sites) he said their phone “rang off the hook” with agents wanting sites “just like the ones in the article”. Another example of how people look but don’t see and read but don’t get it…
How to Generate 10,000 Page Views In One Month
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
It is very rare indeed when something comes along that works as advertised. Here is an incredibly powerful, quick and easy tool that will turn your listings into lead generation monsters…
Craigslist the Smart Way
ListingsToLeads.com is a service that automates most of the process of posting your listings on Craigslist in a way that generate results, big time. The sad fact is that most REALTOR’s attempts to use Craigslist to generate leads from their listings fail miserably. Scott Pierce, CEO and Founder of ListingsToLeads.com is a Craigslist Guru that figure out the formula for consistent lead generation results, which includes:
- High-impact HTML ad templates – which can be customized with your brand look and feel;
- Compelling Call-To-Action Landing Pages – essentially a powerful and proven lead capture system;
- Best Practices – for posting your Craigslist ads for maximum exposure and impact.
I Lied…
I have to confess that the title of this post is a little off —the case study detailed in the video below actually had over 12,000 page views in the last 31 days as a result of using Craigslist ads.
Just click the video image below to view a 1 hour full-screen video that includes a case study of how Linda Jefferson of GoArmyHomes.com was able to generate over 12,000 page views in just one month advertising only 31 listings on Craigslist. BTW, she also receive three lead phone calls this past weekend alone asking to see homes just from these ads…
This is one of those things that if you don’t use it, well you are leaving major money on the table —period!
NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors (unless he/they are directly involved with the creation and/or improvement of a vendor service or product), and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.
Maximize Profits Through Hyper-Targeted Facebook Advertising
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Imagine if you could advertise your services in such a way that only those who are most likely interested would even see the ads. And better yet, you only paid for when they acted on those ads. Sounds a lot better than traditional print advertising doesn’t it? This is what “hyper-targeted” advertising is all about and nowhere is the opportunity greater for this than on Facebook and yet few people in the real estate industry have taken advantage of it.
Facebook vs. Google
Facebook is huge with close to a half a billion members and continuing to grow rapidly each month. What makes the advertising potential so great however is that by the very nature of the data found in “personal profiles”, Facebook has amassed incredible demographic and psychographic information on its members that is the envy of even companies like Google. This information includes personal likes, dislikes, affiliations, interests and so on. It doesn’t stop there however because Facebook also has the ability (and the necessary funding) to cross tabulate their internal member information with purchased third party data like magazine subscription information, group membership affiliation, etc which allows them to further refine their targeting ability.
When Google serves up ads to users of its search engine, the ads typically are targeted based only upon the search query because that’s limit of Google’s knowledge about that particular consumer. Whereas when Facebook serves up ads to members, it knows far more about the member and can show ads (on the right side of the page) that are tremendously more targeted and hence more likely to convert. And Facebook ads can leverage built-in “social proof” to add credibility and increase conversion rates since your ads can show who else of the viewer’s Facebook friends have interacted with you or your services. Also, the amount of time an average member spends on Facebook eclipses even the most avid searcher on Google.
Like Google Adwords, you can pay for Facebook ads either as Pay-Per-Click (PPC – recommended in most cases) or per 1,000 impressions (CPM). The process of setting up, managing and tracking your Facebook ads is very straightforward. And frankly, no one does a better job of explaining it than Facebook. Just go to http://www.facebook.com/advertising to review the steps and best practices. (TIP: Facebook suggests ad pricing to best reach your defined ad target. Let’s just say they can be a bit biased about this. Experiment using PPC values that start out about 10% less than suggested and then continue to lower your bid amounts until you see a significant drop off in impressions. This strategy can save you a lot of money!)
Now let’s take a look at all the ways you can use this high-powered advertising rifle to grow your business…
Hyper-Targeting for Hyper-Growth
The ways in which you can use Facebook advertising to grow your business and differentiate yourself are limited only by your imagination. The following came out of a recent brainstorming session with my Online Dominance students. To help organize these ideas, I’ve broken them down into categories:
- Win New Listings – show your prospective sellers how you can advertise their listings on Facebook and receive literally thousands (if not tens of thousands) of impressions. Chances are very good that none of your competitors are doing this and it will help you stand out considerably.
- Sell Targeted Listings – if your listing is unique or fits a particular profile (e.g. Florida waterfront property) you can create an ad that is shown only to those who would likely have interest in this including “snow birds” from other areas that have a proven track record of purchasing this type of property.
- Property Tours – advertise just about any kind of tour you can imagine (the more out of the box the better) to targeted Facebook members in your area. Here are just some ideas that came up for this:
- Riding horse property tours
- Bicycle property tours
- Waterfront property tours ending in a wine-tasting party
- Luxury high-rise condo bedroom tours
- Boat tours of waterfront properties
- Golf course / property tours that include short presentations by the golf pros at each course
- Foreclosure property tours, or pre-foreclosure tours (with the permission of the owners of course.)
- Seminars – either in person or Webinar-based. There are tons of possibilities here including:
- Investor seminars
- Foreclosure / Short-sale seminars
- Invest with IRA funds seminars
- First-time Buyer seminars
- How to get around today’s mortgage maze seminars
- How to prepare your home for sale seminars.
- Community Involvement – you can advertise your community involvement by getting local people to participate. For example:
- Charity food drives
- Client appreciation parties
- Neighborhood block parties
- Irresistible Offers – if you Website has irresistible offers, using Facebook ads is a powerful way to drive targeted traffic to take advantage of them.
Advertising without targeting is just taking shots in the dark. Your chances of actually hitting something are pretty slim. Advertising without the ability to measure your ROI is just throwing money at something and hoping it sticks. Neither are a viable way to grow business profitably. Facebook on the other hand offers a convenient, inexpensive way to hyper-target your advertising dollars and almost instantly measure the results. And the good news for you is that very few real estate professionals have even started taking advantage of this potential. Now is your chance to grow your business in a way that will have your competitors guessing and you smiling, all the way to the bank.
NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors (unless he/they are directly involved with the creation and/or improvement of a vendor service or product), and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.
Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He’s dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.russer.com
This article is reprinted in its entirety from the June 2010 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright © 2010. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark of RUSSER Communications.
