Archive for Real Estate Websites
Real Estate Websites: The Parable of SEO
· CommentsI am continually amazed by the fact that people who have real estate websites, those who help people build real estate websites, and 
people who do SEO for a living, all seem to have a limitless capacity for arguing over what should be done to get websites ranked well in search engine results.
I think it’s important to keep in mind that in the world of SEO (search engine optimization), there is no concensus. It reminds me of the parable about the blind men who wanted to “see” an elephant. Here’s the short version:
The Blind Men Describe an Elephant
- The first blind man felt the elephant’s broad side and said: “The elephant is very much like a wall”
- The Second felt the elephant’s trunk and said: “The elephant is very much like a spear”
- The Third touched the elephant’s trunk and said: “The elephant is very much like a snake”
- The Fourth reached out to the elephant’s knee and said: “The elephant is very much like a tree”
- The Fifth felt the elephant’s ear and said “The elephant is very much like a fan”
- The Sixth grasped the elephant’s tail and said: “The elephant is very much like a rope”
You’ll find a very similar situation in SEO discussions. There are some things that – I don’t think I even dare say everyone – almost everyone agrees on.
But, everyone involved also forms their opinions or theories based on their own experience. Some people say you must blog. In my experience, that’s not true, by the way. Other people say linking is key, and the list goes on.
I think that each person touches a different part of the SEO equation, just like the blind men with the elephant, and latches on to something that worked for them. Then, many of those people decide that the technique they latched on to is the final answer. The silver bullet that is going to shoot everyone who follows along to the #1 spot on Google for their keyword phrases.
Keep in mind that it just ain’t so.
This whole problem stems from the fact that the search engines themselves carefully guard their algorithms for ranking sites. In the absence of clear direction, we all run about trying to make sense of the SEO universe.
So, the next time you see SEO experts arguing, or you read someone’s rant about blogging being the only way to have a successful Internet presence, take ALL of it with a grain of salt.
As a whole, real estate websites are notoriously ill-prepared to be ranked on the search engines. There’s a lot of opportunity out there to drive traffic to your website by being found on the search engines.
Whether you’re doing your own SEO or hiring someone to do it for you, do your due diligence. Evaluate the advice you get and do what makes sense to you, or hire a company you trust.
Remember, once you’ve achieved ranking and have traffic to your site, the next thing you’ll need to concentrate on is turning traffic into leads.
So, don’t expend all your energy on the SEO wars!!!
Learn more about real estate website SEO and link building.
What To Do When SEO Doesn’t Fit Your Budget
· CommentsSearch Engine Optimization (SEO) is the best way to drive traffic to your real estate website.
Given the state of the economy, outsourcing SEO can be beyond reach. But, if you recognize that you really need to be increasing your Internet presence now, there’s an alternative you might want to evaluate.
Compass Internet Systems and U.S. Bank have teamed up to provide financing for SEO work. I don’t know what the interest rate is, but you can check out the announcement on RISMedia.
If getting your website to the top of the search engine results page is one of your goals, this may be an opportunity for you to achieve that goal sooner rather than later.
Using Images to Optimize Your Website
· CommentsThis guest post was written by Sam Chapman who markets Austin Real Estate
If you have a real estate website and want to attract buyers, you will probably have visitors from outside your area. I have attracted many buyers to my Austin Real Estate website and I have yet to sell a home to a local who found me on the internet. Most visitors are from outside of Austin and most of these are actually from outside Texas.
So one thing I have done in order for people understand Austin was to create several photo albums on my site. If you want to do this, take your own photos – respect intellectual property rights and never use anyone else’s photos without permission.
When you load photos, make sure to add appropriate alt image text. This is the text that shows up when you hover a mouse over a photo on a web page (if the alt text exists). Search engines can recognize that an image is on a web page, but can’t tell what it is. Alt text gives the search engines an idea of what the image is showing. The other important thing about alt image text is that it gets your keywords on the page.
Another thing you can do is upload photos to Flickr.com. When you upload a photo, create a good title using appropriate keywords. Write a good description using keywords and use appropriate tags. If you do this well, you can optimize the images to be found for your search terms. You can even point to a page on your website using html with the link embedded in appropriate anchor text.
The links from Flickr are nofollow now, but that’s not a problem. I doubt there would have been much link juice. However, if your images are good and get found, you may get clickthroughs to your site and that drives traffic. Click to see one of the Lake Travis photos I just posted. You will see the title, tag, description and embedded link back to my website. By the way, if you click on my Lake Travis Photos link, look around a while. The Lake Travis area doesn’t look anything like what people expect Texas to be like.
One thing I noticed is that if you use html to embed an address in anchor text, Flickr sometimes does something strange when you save the description. It replaces the http with a #. You need to go in and edit that and save again in order for the link to work. Otherwise, anyone clicking the link just stays on that photo on Flickr.
After your images have been on your website and Flickr for a while, some should be picked up by Google Images. The pages the images are on will show your web address, but it won’t be a live link. However, if someone clicks on an image, it sends the visitor to your website – more traffic.
So get out and take some photographs and get to work!
Last week I talked a little bit about the use of drip email in converting leads, and I want to continue that discussion. And, it would be great if some people join in, too! I know there are folks out there who have questions about converting leads, and others who are really successful at converting leads. Share your knowledge! Leave a comment or contact me to write a guest post.
In working with clients, I hear a lot about how people are trying to convert leads. And, there are a lot of approaches out there that just don’t work. And, it’s not surprising. I rarely hear from real estate agents who have taken sales courses. And, to some, “sales” is a dirty word, but that’s the subject for another post.
In thinking about the process of converting leads to clients, I came up with the following five steps you need to address. These aren’t all-inclusive, but it will start to define some of the problems and issues.
1. Follow Up Fast - That’s on everyone’s list, but it’s worth repeating, because You Can’t Convert a Lead You Don’t Respond To! And, I hear all kinds of reasons why people don’t follow up fast. The reasons range from they were busy and forgot about the email notifying them of the lead, to they didn’t think the lead was “good enough”. Maybe the person didn’t leave a telephone number, or didn’t ask a reasonable question, or indicate what they wanted.
It’s amazing how often I’ll notice leads in someone’s back office, then congratulate the person on the leads they’re getting. The agent often doesn’t even know they received a lead. Or, sometimes I’ll ask what happened when they followed up with Joe Smith who filled out a form on their site yesterday. The pregnant pause tells the story.
2. Treat Every Lead As If They’re Already a Client – For some reason, a lot of agents don’t seem to relate to Internet leads. They’re fine when they’re talking to someone in person, and often have an excellent “close rate” in that situation.
The important point here is that you need to develop a mindset that allows you to treat every lead you get from any source as if they’re already a client. As you’re following up with that lead, think of how you would work with them if they were sitting in front of you.
3. Make It Easy to Start a Dialogue – Consider the typical mindset of an Internet lead. They’re do it yourself folks. They’re out on the Internet researching a real estate purchase or sale. The likelihood that they’re going to buy or sell in the immediate future is low. Your goal should be to start a dialogue. So what if someone didn’t leave a telephone number? You can still start a dialogue via email.
And, this is where creating the mindset in #2 above is important. Think of someone (a lead) stopping by your office. Would you hand them a flyer about home buying or selling and then walk away? I don’t think so. So, why would you respond to an Internet lead with a drip email campaign?
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There’s one thing I often find missing on real estate websites: very visible privacy policies. Your privacy policy on your website should be very easily accessible.
Start with A Visible Privacy Policy
Sometimes your real estate website vendor will help you out with a privacy policy. For example, Point2 Agent websites come equipped with a standard Privacy Policy. That policy can also be edited by the individual website owner. A link to the policy statement is accessible at the bottom of every page.
If you don’t have a Privacy Policy built into your website, it’s pretty easy to put one together. Just go to any search engine and search for the phrase privacy policy. You’ll find page after page of privacy policies published by the top sites on the Internet to use as examples.
Having a Privacy Policy is a good start. However, it’s very likely that very few of the visitors to your site will take the time to search out the policy.
Then, Encourage Quality Leads
Quality leads are more likely to come from someone who is comfortable with the fact that you care about the privacy of their contact information and other data they may provide to you. The best way to make sure your site visitors know you care is to put a notice right above every form you have on your site.
Some people think that putting a privacy statement right before their contact forms looks messy. I’ve had several long discussions with clients, trying to convince them that their website visitors care about privacy, and that the privacy statement will have a beneficial impact on the responses they get.
Think of it like shoes. Shoes make your feet look a bit more “busy”, but they get you where you want to go.
You might be interested to know that Michael Russer, one of my favorite real estate Internet gurus also feels strongly about privacy. In fact, he published an article about it this month on Realtor.org. Russer notes his favorite form policy statement in the article. He also puts a link to the Privacy Policy along with the disclaimer. If you have a detailed privacy policy tailored to you and your visitors, that would be a good idea.
Here’s the one I often use:
- We value your privacy. The information you entrust to us will be kept confidential. Your contact information will never be sold to or shared with a third party. There is no obligation.
I think the confidentiality issue is another key. There are times when a site visitor may be providing you with information about the value of their home (for a free CMA) or the type of home they are looking for (for email listing updates). To me, it’s important that the visitor know that any information they provide will not end up being the topic of your conversation over lunch.
Regardless of the exact wording of a Privacy Policy or a contact form disclaimer, having both on your real estate website will make your visitors much more comfortable. So, don’t keep them a secret!
