Real Estate Blog - Do you necessarily have to be at the tippy- top of Google to get business?

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Do you necessarily have to be at the tippy- top of Google to get business?

Now I'm not an expert at this but I must be doing something right. I was very surprised by the results I was getting. When you go to a store to purchase something.... I am sure you do not always go to the first place you see...you look for a second or third possibility. Or like going to the doctor for a second opinion?

Interesting thing happened to me in the last month. I received two calls from a few blogs I wrote on localism. The first person called me and said he was looking for a town-home to rent in Weston Florida. He said he was recently divorced and his ex wife and children were living in Weston so he did not want to keep commuting from Miami. I asked him how he found me...he said "I was searching Google for rentals in Weston Florida and I read about you and thought I would give you the opportunity."He said he didn't even find me at the top ...he found me in the middle. Everything worked out great...he even rented one of my listings.

The next guy called me on a Sunday night at 9:45 pm. He asked me if I listed rental property in Weston. I completely obliged. I also asked him where he found me. He said he found me on Google. He also said I was not at the very top but somewhere on the second page. He told the reason he chose to call me was he also liked reading a few of my posts and also because one of the other he was considering had some sort of complaints on them and because I was the only one who answered their phone. Remember that this is not about this particular success story....but the concept of using the search engines to get noticed and to what caliber.

Basically what I am trying to say is.... "yes"....it is important to be at the top but if you can't answer the call then who do you think the consumer will want to work with?

Posted by Neal Bloom-Realtor ® Assoc.-CRS-Weston FL on 09/05/2007 08:44 PM

Comments (48)

google, townhome to rent, weston florida, weston, rentals in weston florida, neal the real deal bloom, localism

Originally posted at: Weston Florida Real Estate Blog, Neal"The Real Deal"Bloom : Do you necessarily have to be at the tippy- top of Google to get business?

Post is included in group: Weston FL Homes For Sale

48 Comments on Do you necessarily have to be at the tippy- top of Google to get business?

SEP

2007

Neal, It's amazing how participating in this forum will help your business, I also get calls every day because of Active Rain...keep blogging.

Neal - way to go. Congratulations. I have had si,ilar situations. Being on page 1 is not necessailry needed. Thanks for sharing your successes.

Jeff

Neal... great points. While I think it would be just grand to be on the front page of google in all of my markets, I understand that lacking professionalism won't make it a strong placement. A combination of great customer service and google placement would be incredible. Although, just great customer service would make google placement not needed. Referrals don't come from google, they come from people.

Amen brother...keep that phone on to reward the work you do! Great job Neal!

Neal, great job, congratulations! When you do a search on google do you pick the first placement to contact? Just curious? I know I look thru several over the course of two or three pages.

WooHoo to you buddy! And yes, answering the phone is the other half of the job....when blogging for business.

With the help of Bill Gassett, I know now how to get to the 1st page of Google. Over the past 2 weeks, I gotten 2 internet leads and 1 call for a listing Friday night. AR really works!

Now if we could just get those dad gum consumers to realize that just because their antiquated agents who list alot in their neighborhood does not mean they know how to attract buyers to those listings.

Neal - that's awesome! You gotta answer the phone! It's fun being "found"!

Neal, it has been a while since I check myself out on Google, but the last time I checked I was not at the top either and I have gotten calls so I guess you might be right.

By the way I thought I was the only nut to answer my cell phone that late at night. Glad to see I have some company :)

Neal, this is a great point. I read somewhere that internet consumers these days want an answer in 30-60 minutes. I think its less than that because if they try to contact you and they are unsuccessful they are going to keep trying until they reach someone. You can get business before making it to the top of Google. But you really need a system in place to handle the business or its all for nothing.

Neal - # 1 is i, but I will take whatever # gets my phone to ring. Good for you, Neal!

Neal- congratulations, on both writing posts that brought you business, and answering your phone! Sometimes the bottom line is that personal connection, even if it's 9:45 at night. Nice job :)

I am showing property tomorrow to an out of state buyer who complimented me on my internet presence. Active Rain is what she was referring to.

SEP

2007

Neal - I find that some of my best leads come from searches where I am on page 2 or 3 - I thought it was odd... but maybe it is more true for others too....people that are truly looking are willing to browse to find the right person I guess - congrats on your success

Neal,

I hadn't even compose my first blog, when someone Googled "loan officer bellinghan" and my ActiveRain page was near the top of the Google search. The couple were teachers in China, looking at getting a loan for a home in Bellingham, WA.

I need to keep active with blogging to keep on the first page of Google search returns. Yes, it's better on top!

My phone rings 7/24. I have an 800 # that boasts 24hr info...... if it rings, I answer it!

Congrats on your leads, Neal!

Neal, excellent information for us. I don't think it is necessary to be on page 1, as most consumers look at the first couple of pages. I know I do when searching. Something catches my eye and I click to read.

I hate answering my phone........unless I recognize the number. If they leave a message I call right back, as I get so many ad placement and sales calls. If they don't leave a message I know it was one of those.

Neal - Great points. This is why getting to the top with blogging is more effective than pay-per-click. If you are this dedicated to giving something back in the way of your blog, you are more likely to be ready to help when it finally pays off. I've also noticed that a lot of the places where I show up, there aren't a lot of agents around me, it's mostly bigger companies, which still doesn't bring a consumer any closer to finding what they're looking for (an individual agent). Congrats on getting the business.

Pam,

The more you keep writing about the area...the more exposure we seem to get.

Jeff,

You know better than I ...I read all your localism posts...you must be a millionaire by now:)

Steve,

Exactly ...you are talking to people...not statistics.

Leah,

Amen Amen...sista!

David,

That is the point I am trying to make...I wonder what the survey would come up with.

Sally,

True...but the concept of the search is what I really am getting at. It is not about the success..its about how we got there.

Lori,

If you stop writing to localism and the area you want to target...you probably will drift downward.

Shannon,

Thanks for stopping by and reading. Not sure I get what you mean:)

Neil,

Good for you, for getting the business, now I think Google is Google, any Google is good Google I say :0)

Tom Weiss

Linda,

Well if you don't answer the phone then what is the use to be at the top or anywhere for that matter?

George,

No...you are not the only nut. I know some agents refuse to answer after a certain time and that's their business..if my phone is on..then why not answer it...you never know if it is a good lead.

Kimberly,

Exactly! What is the point of being anywhere if you do not act by talking to the consumer that you are drawing to you!

Paula,

You are number one...keep it up!

Randy,

I know you do market reports just like I do...the seem to really draw the consumers to us more than just the articles we write.

Thesa,

So you see it is true...third page baby!

Michael,

It's kind of weird how it works..maybe it is the mood the google people are in that day:)

Nancy,

I do not have the 800# but I do shut the phone off about 10pm most nights.

Missy,

Why have a phone if you don't like to answer it? Sometimes I do the same but sometimes they won't leave a message and move onto the next person. That is a chance you take.

Adam,

I guess it is all about the key rich words you use. Interesting concept.

Tom,

I would also like to be somewhere on Yahoo as well..some people still search there as well.

I am one of those people where it is impossible to take every call. I never answer in appointments or while on the other line. I do have plenty of people who leave me messages and I will return the call promptly and they get excited :) It is seriously the luck of the draw sometimes when I am able to answer or am sitting right in front of the computer as their email comes in.

Neal: Great success stories! It is amazing how prospects find us on the Internet but it is exciting when they do. I know if we keep at this we will get most of our new business from our blogging efforts. It just keeps getting better!

Good Morning Neal,
Everyone cannot be on page 1, though we all would certainly like to be number 1 on page 1 for sure. As long as people are finding me and calling me, that is what is important to me. AR definitely is improving my exposure.

Good post.

Neil,

Good idea! Yahoo is great advertisement area.. Not Bad.

Tom Weiss

Great observations, Neil. I've been unable to break into the top few on G in my area (at least for the "big" search terms) but do get regular inquiries. Another cool thing is that our blog posts get us ranked in all kinds of tangential ways which people do search for, like "rentals", "historic", "buyers" etc etc.

Great blog i always thought you needed to be on top but you have been getting alot of calls regardless. KEEP IT UP!!!!!

Neal that's great...I think as long as you get noticed your are doing it right. I haven't wrote anything to localism in a while. I have been writing on my business blog more on local stuff. Google loves wordpress too. I can't say I have recieved calls yet from it, but people are finding it.

I write more technical gadgety stuff here. I need to post to localism more often...just not enough time in the day.

Neal, congratulations! What a great piece. I am waiting for my phone to start ringing again.

Hi Cynthia,

Like I said I 'm not too concerned if I'm not on the top of the page...as long as the consumer reads about me then they can decide. If they tell me they see someone above me but they do not even interact then what is the sense..they will just go down the list until they grab the right person...like me:)

Tom,

Any exposure is going to get you business...yahoo seems not to be used by as many as google. I personally like yahoo too.

Jeff,

All I can say is it is great to at the top but if you do not act then all you get is the name there.

Steve,

Of course or you won't get paid if I don't:)

Bob,

Sometimes when I learn something new and it works later on...I always tell people I didn't even know for sure what I was doing:)

Hi Diane,

Good to hear from you again....I hope some realize that they do not have to get intimidated if they are fighting to reach the top...hey I always want to be the top of the list but it sometimes is hard to keep up.

SEP

2007

I'm with you on the importance of answering the phone. My heaviest phone time is AFTER 4:00pm on Sundays' ... after people have been driving by homes.

SEP

2007

Neal-I dont ever look past the first page of Google but I guess others do. Today is Sunday, 7:50 pm and my wifes phone just rang. It was an agent that was calling back to give my wife the LB combo for a listing. My wife had called the agent this morning at 9:00 to get that combo because she had a last minute buyer that wanted to look at homes today. They would go out to look at open houses and a few other vacant properties that had a LB. In Hawaii, the traditional open houses are on Sunday from 2-5. Needless to say, the agent called back about 3 hours too late (and 11 hours after my wife called her) so her property was not going to be seen by the buyer.

The thing that infuriates me about this is okay, maybe its the weekend but if you have listings and you know that Sunday is the main day for people to look at homes, you better get off your lazy _ _ _ and answer your phone or return a call more promptly. If only the sellers that employ these agents knew what their representation was really like.........

On the other hand, there were many great agents that answered their phone even though it was Sunday. Hats off to the agents that make the Realtor Logo stand tall and look good! Aloha,

David Kucic RA, GRI, ABR, AHWD, e-PRO
First Sergeant, USA (Retired)
Tropic Lightning Real Estate, Oahu, Hawaii

Neal,

people are not stupid that is a proof of that ! :) We always look 1, 2, 3 or 4 pages when we are looking for information, at least that's what I do and you know what ? sometimes you can find very great information in the 3 , 4 or even 5th page, some people do not focus to promote their knowlege or their thoughts, just they write or tthey try to share it, but many do not know how to make them appear on the first or at least 2nd pages on google, msn. or yahoo.

we always learn, but that's good to know that, congratulations my friend.

Ray Saenz

Elaine,

Sometimes I just do not answer the phone..there is a time for peace and quiet and the clients have to understan that we have lives too..but sometimes my sense tells me to answer it and I have gotten a few good responses from that.

David,

Life doesn't end on the first page..if that was the case then google would not provide the extra pages if they weren't viewable. Try it you'll like it.

Ray,

Like I said to David..there is life after the first page.

Good points and very interesting post , Neal.
Congrats on picking up more business from your localism content and by answering your phone! Amazing how it all comes back to availability and professionalism every time.

Jo-Anne,

You snooze...then you lose.....:)

Thanks for the info again Neal. I will definitely consider these thoughts in light of my newest online marketing campaign. Paying top-dollar for a mention on a Number 1 google site might not be the best option..... hmmmm.

Richard,

Not that it is bad to be on top...I just do not think it is always necessary..there is not law that states that if the consumer doesn't see you on top that they can't go look at the next page..after all-when you go to the DR. sometimes you get a second opinion or bids on jobs for example.

Neal,

100% agree, but the problem is that many people just take the first page, just a few of us look furthe.

Ray Saenz

Great job....it really does pay off to keep blogging....not only is it fun but there are added perks:-)

Ray,

I agree with you as well but I think maybe it depends on how much time they have to search and patience to read..it is very hard to analyze people and what they are thinking. How many times did you wonder why a person decided to use another Realtor(R)? and never know why..

Jeanette,

Honestly I like the fun part and never had much Internet presence nd still managed to do business so I guess some hard work helped.

Great story, Neal.

I was so happy to help a client who found me because of a localism post I did on manufactured homes.

At the time, I wasn't at the top of the search results at all...but the content made the difference.

JAN

2008

Joey,

Sorry I missed this comment...I have been told many times it was not the top of google it was just being found on google and bypassed other people over me.

Joey,

Sorry I missed this comment...I have been told many times it was not the top of google it was just being found on google and bypassed other people over me.

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