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The Flypaper Of Real Estate

By
Real Estate Agent with The Overton Group, LLC Pitt & Carteret County NC 213723 Broker

 

   This post is to ask for advise rather than give.

   My dilemna: I have been really putting a focus on learning more about getting web presence and have so much to learn. My mind spins with all the information available and all the different avenues one can choose to take to build credibility and a strong base for attracting both buyers and sellers to my "flypaper". It is easy for me to get distracted and lose focus of the task at hand.

  • I wonder if it is better to find a niche and work hard establishing great , steady content to blog and web pages or is building linking better ?
  •  Is RSS important and well, what does it actually do ?
  •  Is Google really king and is it worth worrying so much about anymore?
  • I feel like I am covering the basics and getting an audience- at least good hits BUT what is it that makes them stick, and come back ?
  • How often should I freshen up website content ?
  • Is it ok to blog on ActiveRain but also post it elsewhere or is that double dipping and a no-no?

              Essentially I want you to tell me ....what is your flypaper made of ????

                           

 

 Michele Connors, Broker In Charge  CRS, ABR
Coldwell Banker First Realty Newport
The Gateway to Carteret County and The Crystal Coast
6923 Highway 70 East, Suite I, Newport, NC 28570
 (252) 223-3333 (office phone)   (800) 396-7772 (toll free) 
DIRECT 252 342 7066

Posted by

 

michele connors move to greenville nc

 

        Michele Connors

Broker Realtor Advisor

 The Overton Group LLC - Eastern NC

Pitt County to 

Carteret Co.

 

  Buy and Sell with Michele.. 

Your Eastern NC Real Estate Expert

252-342-7066

ConnorsTeam@gmail.com

 

     

 

Michele Connors - Agent with The Overton Group LLC  Pitt Co. &

                                        

 

michele connors 252-342-7066 

 

 


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Comments (82)

Ryan Hukill - Edmond
405home @ ERA Courtyard - Edmond, OK
Realtor, Team Lead

Wow, Suzanne & Jim have quite a debate going here. I think I'll chime in. I have a template site that I spend a lot of time & energy on customizing. I feel I've done a great job of setting myself apart from the crowd, however, I'm fully aware that having a template site limits me somewhat. For me, it has nothing to do with owning vs renting, but rather that I don't have as much control over the layout and the coding of the site as I would with a fully custom site. The main limitations I experience have to do with SEO and certain features I'd like to be able to use. One day I will step up to paying an expert to design and maintain a more versatile site for me, but until then, I'm very happy with the site I have and it is generating income for me. It fit my needs at the time I built it and is continuing to do so, but is still somewhat limited.

Fact is, there is no right or wrong answer here, so bantering back & forth isn't going to prove one person right and one wrong. Different sites serve different purposes and offer different things so it's a matter of what is the best fit for a particular agent at a particular time. IMO, for a newer agent with limited resources, a template site is a great place to start until they get a real feel for what they want in a custom site.

Jun 27, 2007 10:25 AM
Suzanne Stephens
Stephens Design - Battle Ground, WA
Real Estate Website Design

Ryan, I explored A La Mode sites a few weeks ago when I had a prospective client who wanted me to redesign hers; I finally decided that there was so little that I could do with her site that it wouldn't be worth her money or my time.

In truth, until about a year ago I would have thought the same of all template sites, but someone from Point2Agent contacted me and asked me to consider designing on that platform. I was skeptical at first, but over time I've become more and more impressed with it, especially as I've figured out lots of workarounds for the few limitations I've discovered.

If you are interested in learning more about how extensively Point2Agent sites can be customized, I've been carrying on a long conversation with Cathy Tishhouse in the Point2Agent group

By the way, I sure miss my TarHeel days when I could get a gorgeous tan like Michele's! This Southern girl sure dislikes Washington State weather!!!

Suzanne 

Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Design Partner
http://www.SuzStephens.com
Jun 27, 2007 11:10 AM
Elaine Reese, REALTOR® in central Ohio
Real Living HER, Powell Ohio - Powell, OH

I have a site from Homeseekers.com (Realigent) since 1999. I've customized it quite a bit over the years. It's very easy for me to change things around and requires very little time to do so. However, as Ryan said, it does have its SEO limitations and that is due to the automatic list of keywords they submit which in some cases are inappropriate for my market, plus they don't have alt tags attached to some of their images, so that downgrades it.

But consumers tell me they love using it because it's easy to "get around", has lots of info for them vs promotion of ME, and I don't require them to register. Once I finish getting my WordPress blog done, I believe it will do what the web site can't. But they'll both work in tandem.

Jun 27, 2007 11:56 AM
Suzanne Stephens
Stephens Design - Battle Ground, WA
Real Estate Website Design

Elaine, there's really no need to be concerned about Homeseekers.com's automatic list of keywords if you're referring to the keywords in the keyword meta tag. None of the major search engines have used them since at least 2002. The keywords in your body text within your pages are much more important, as are the title tags. I posted a blog about keyword meta tags that may interest you a few days ago. Keyword meta tags are so irrelevant that my site ranks at or near the top of search results for relevant keyphrases, in spite of having no keyword meta tags at all.

Suzanne

Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Design Partner
http://www.SuzStephens.com

 

Jun 27, 2007 12:22 PM
Michele Connors
The Overton Group, LLC Pitt & Carteret County - Greenville, NC
Your Eastern North Carolina Realtor

We're ona roll---I am learning here..Thanks everyone for the open discussion. No right or wrong, just personal opinion and preferences- EXACTLY what I wanted...I can decide for myself once I hear the pros, cons..etc....  :-)  

Anyone parked out there with a question >>>?

Jun 27, 2007 12:35 PM
Elaine Reese, REALTOR® in central Ohio
Real Living HER, Powell Ohio - Powell, OH
Suzanne: I just checked out your AR profile. I was surprised given your profession. You might want to check out mine.
Jun 27, 2007 03:24 PM
Christy Powers
Keller Williams Coastal Area Partners - Pooler, GA
Pooler, Savannah Real Estate Agent
Wow....lots of great answers. I am still learning myself. Thank you for asking. And Thanks to all that answered.
Jun 27, 2007 03:37 PM
Suzanne Stephens
Stephens Design - Battle Ground, WA
Real Estate Website Design

Elain, heh heh, it looks like we're both marketing animals from way back when, though perhaps from opposite sides of the desk. I got pulled back in for a second phase of real estate design when my son became a broker in the NC mountains, though my background is mostly in ad agency and graphic design studio work. My husband is a former ad agency art director and illustrator too, though for the past 20 years or so he has specialized in album cover design.

You'll probably understand better than most why I so frequently recommend Michael Russer's real estate marketing classes to real estate agents. His "Clicks to Closes" teleconference is like Marketing 101 in ten hours. Very, very sharp guy.

Jun 27, 2007 03:38 PM
Elaine Reese, REALTOR® in central Ohio
Real Living HER, Powell Ohio - Powell, OH
Michele ... back to your 'flypaper' post, I wrote a couple posts that might help you think through your strategies for your business - who your audience should bewhat niche you might want to target - which might assist you in further answering your questions.
Jun 28, 2007 01:01 AM
Michele Connors
The Overton Group, LLC Pitt & Carteret County - Greenville, NC
Your Eastern North Carolina Realtor
Elaine, I appreciate the help and so does the "Parking Lot! " 
Jun 28, 2007 02:15 AM
Michele Connors
The Overton Group, LLC Pitt & Carteret County - Greenville, NC
Your Eastern North Carolina Realtor

Thanks for the two Links Elaine...LOVED the analogy you gave with the shelf to cart ...it really makes marketing sense . Thanks!

We brand ourselves by how we market ourselves. We capture the audience by relevance of needs.

Jun 28, 2007 02:21 AM
Suzanne Stephens
Stephens Design - Battle Ground, WA
Real Estate Website Design

If any of you are interested in learning more about marketing strategies for real estate agents similar to those Elaine has described, "Mr. Internet®" Michael Russer teaches a 10 week teleconference course, "Clicks to Closes®", specifically aimed at developing marketing strategies for Web sites. He is a proponent of niche marketing and of developing a unique selling proposition (USP), similar to the CCD Elaine described, as well as an Irresistible Offer® designed to compel a site visitor to contact the agent right away. I have several clients who've used Michael's methods to great success (and Michael refers me as his preferred Point2Agent designer). Contact me if you would like me to c send you an order form that will give you a $200 saving over his regular $497 fee for the course.

Suzanne

Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Design Partner
http://www.SuzStephens.com

 

Jun 28, 2007 03:23 AM
Jordan M. Mackey
Overland Park Real Estate (No association with Inc) - Overland Park, KS
Overland Park Real Estate ::
Suzanne can you pull back on the marketing promotions a little bit.  ;-)  Its ok to promote yourself, but GEESH!  Start your own post my dear about P2A...  By the way Suzanne you have some very VERY beautifully designed sites.!
Jun 28, 2007 03:37 AM
Laura Warden Nordin
Century 21 Camco Realty - Albuquerque, NM
30-year Top Producer in Greater ABQ Real Estate

My ideas:

  1. Find a niche and make sure your website really serves it, by providing useful information, maps, statistics, resources, etc., but especially make sure you:
  2. Have a really useful property search for your niche market
  3. Blog a lot, on Active Rain, with posts relevant to your niche. It's rally helped me. A recent buyer who came directly from my website tole me last weekend " No matter how I search online, all the results take me to your website." ActiveRain has helped a lot with that.
Jun 28, 2007 06:18 AM
Michele Connors
The Overton Group, LLC Pitt & Carteret County - Greenville, NC
Your Eastern North Carolina Realtor

Laura, two nice posts by you..thanks for sharing. Niche is certainly a word that keep being reinforced.

Glad to have your input on what works for you.

 

Jun 28, 2007 06:22 AM
Jon Mitchell
Classic Property Management - Santa Clarita, CA
I usually come back to the blogs that can make me laugh while still conveying useful information.  If someone is too dry then I might still pop in for good content, but I wouldn't be a regular.
Jun 28, 2007 10:07 AM
Michele Connors
The Overton Group, LLC Pitt & Carteret County - Greenville, NC
Your Eastern North Carolina Realtor

Hi Jonathan---I am a bit like that...we can get cookie cutter info anywhere. I prefer to see a personality convey and i have written my web as a conversation in the third sense and more informal.  I will be trying to focus on a new niche and learn rss....This has been an exciting featured post for me and I think some great debate has taken place. I am very appreciative of everyone joining in to talk it over.  Isnt that the meaning behind active rain ?

 

Jun 28, 2007 11:25 AM
Adrian Alvarado
MGR Real Estate Inc. - Ontario, CA
Inland Empire Real Estate
The internet is becoming king as far as consumers doing their research before working with an agent. With all the info at their hands we as agents must figure out how to stick out amongst millions of web pages and I have no idea how to do it. Key words and marketing will get you everywhere.
Jun 28, 2007 02:54 PM
Mesa, Arizona Real Estate Mesa Arizona Realtor
Homes Arizona Real Estate LLC - Mesa, AZ
AzLadyInRed

Michelle: Wow, great post. I've bookmarked this to review all of the comments. Thanks a bunch....

Well, I decided to read everything, the comments, follow the links, etc. Very nice! As an FYI for everyone with a template site? My first: Homes.com, my second: AA, my third, customized - though not very good. Homes.com sold out, and then AA sold out to the same buyer. Homes.com - lots of problems along the way, but I still keep it. I "rent" the space. My AA site? I paid about $1500 to "customize" it which I would love to have on my custom site. I am learning lots of good stuff here. Thanks guys.

Jul 01, 2007 11:25 AM
Michele Connors
The Overton Group, LLC Pitt & Carteret County - Greenville, NC
Your Eastern North Carolina Realtor
Terri- this post really excited me as well. Thanks for your feedback- I have an AA and a free point 2 just for listings....I am happy w/ AA just want guidance on all the tech stuff "behind" the pages. I think we got plenty of great advise here!
Jul 01, 2007 11:27 PM