Remember when you were looking for a home....before you became a real estate agent?  You didn't just buy a house, did you?  Your first criteria was the neighborhood, right?  If you did not like the neighborhood, chances are you did not even go into the home the agent selected for you.

Don't forget that fact now that you are an agent, especially when it comes to your Web site.  Most sites have information on the home which, usually, is somewhat weak: photos and some "brick and mortar" information about the house (number of bedrooms, number of baths...basically MLS information) and that's it.  Very few sites have anything about the neighborhood.

One site that does is Martin Bouma's.  Martin, of Keller Williams Realty, Washtenaw County, MI, is a top agent who uses today's technology extensively in his business and is one of my CyberStars®.  Here is an article he submitted for my new eBook of CyberStar® tips.  Note his complete system of showcasing the neighborhood, a system that includes digital video, YouTube, Yahoo Video, Vimeo, neighborhood Web pages on his site, and even postcard mailing.

"The Bouma Group creates neighborhood and condo profiles centering on a video of the community. First, we photograph the neighborhood, taking shots of the entrance, different home styles and elevations, common areas, parks, recreation facilities, ponds and any other points of interest in the community.  We then use Windows Movie Maker software to create a slide show type video.  We add a music track, a variety of transitions between frames and text with contact information for our team.  The video is then given the name of the complex, followed by the city and state, i.e., 'Liberty Pointe Condos, Ann Arbor, MI 48103.'

"Once the video is created and saved, we upload it through TubeMogul to YouTube, Yahoo Video and Vimeo.  We like TubeMogul because you only have to upload the video once and it provides viewer statistical data for each site in one place.  You will first need to create profiles on each of the sites before uploading to TubeMogul.  You can see an example of a video on YouTube here.

"We then create web pages that highlight the subdivision or complex.  The first page is added to our personal website, www.bouma.com, and includes a short description of the community, amenities, standard features, a map, photos, and the video.  We use a lot of keywords and links back to pages within our site for optimum SEO.  An example of a neighborhood page can be found here.

"Next, a page is added to our blog at www.bouma.com/blog.  This page includes a representative photo, a description of the complex, location, amenities, a current market report, and the video.  We also use a lot of keywords, but this time our link backs are to our main website at www.bouma.com.  An example of a blog page can be found here.

"Finally, we create and send a postcard to the community to let them know that their subdivision has been highlighted on our blog.  This drives traffic to our blog, which in turn drives traffic to our website."

Featuring neighborhoods as well as homes pays off, as Martin knows.  Hopefully, there are some ideas here that will help you improve your site when it comes to this important factor in getting more of your listings sold! 

It's a great day here on the lake in Reston...hope it's a great day wherever you are, too!