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JUNE, 2005
REAL ESTATE
RESULTS NEWSLETTER
The newsletter this
month includes 1) an overview of a new marketing
alternative called "Pay Per Call", 2) A brief
description of basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques, and
3) Why you should visit real estate
forums.
CONSIDER THIS EXCITING NEW MARKETING ALTERNATIVE
Pay Per Call
is a new concept in online advertising. You are probably familiar
with Pay Per Click The Pay Per Call version works in a similar
manner. You set up a very brief advertisement, choose a service area so
that you only get calls from areas that you serve, choose a business category
and a bid price. The bid price is the amount you are willing to pay per
telephone call. You can also set up a budget -- for
example, putting a cap on the amount you will be billed each
month.
If you have the capability
to have your telephone manned consistently, this could be an exceptionally
good advertising tool. You can use the service even if you don't have
a website, although a website provides excellent tools for staying in touch with
prospects, and letting them get to know you better. It also provides a
"safe" place for prospects to search the MLS since your contact information is
the only contact information they see. You can avoid losing one of
your prospects to another agent because they used the other agent's site
for MLS searches!
For more information, review
this article
by Michael Russer. And, you can visit the website of the key vendor
for this service, Ingenio.
BASIC
SEO
Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) is a hot topic for anyone who has a website.
There is an amazing number of articles and lots of information about SEO on the
Internet. However, if you want a very simple explanation
of some basics, here's mine:
-
Search engines look for
relevancy as a key part of the algorithm for determining how your site ranks on
search engine result pages (SERPs). Very simply, then, you need to make
sure that you put your targeted keywords in the Title, Description, and Keywords
meta tags in each page's header.
-
Place those same keywords
in strategic locations within the text on the page.
-
Choose your keywords
carefully, and optimize your pages for only 1-3 keywords.
-
Establish an on-going link
campaign. Your site needs to have as many "backlinks" as you can
find. A backlink refers to a link from someone else's site to yours.
It is a link back to your site, or a backlink
Send me an e-mail or call
me at 770-631-2735 for assistance with optimizing your site or establishing
a link campaign. You can also visit the Website page on BuildRealEstateResults.com.
If you are a
do-it-yourselfer, take advantage of this free SEO tutorial, written by
Morgan Carey AKA "SEO Guy".
REAL ESTATE
FORUMS
Have you ever visited a Real
Estate Forum? If not, you might want to try it.  The forums provide opportunities for you to learn from
other agents and brokers, discuss marketing ideas, share your knowledge,
find link partners, establish referral arrangements to and from agents in
particular geographic areas, and the list goes on.
There are two forums I find
particularly helpful. Real
Estate Webmasters and National
Real Estate Forum. If you're not familiar with forums, here are some
tips:
-
Do some reading before you
start responding. You'll get a feel for the types of things that are being
discussed, and which forum categories contain discussions that interest
you.
-
Create a signature in the
forum profile. You can include links to your website, which also gives you
some backlinks.
-
Once your signature is
created, post a message in the Introductions category so that
the other forum members can get to know you.
Here's an example of the
type of information you might find. Did you know that the NAR and
Lowe's have a special offer for REALTORS? You can sign up
with Lowe's to offer discount coupons to your buyers and sellers. Visit
the Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs) page at the Lowe's site to learn more about it. And,
you can take a look at the message thread at the National
Real Estate Forum. In forum talk, a "message thread" is a link on the
forum that contains all the comments related to a specific topic that was
started by one of the forum members.
Until next month, Happy
Marketing. If you have questions,
or ideas for future newsletters, please feel free to
contact
me!
Kathleen Allardyce
Getting It Write,
Inc.
770-631-2735
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