Real Estate Blog - When Google Ads Are A Waste of Money

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When Google Ads Are A Waste of Money

Hits, uniques, clicks, impressions, page views, Google page rank ... but the measure you'll never see in any web logs ... leads.

How many leads is your site generating? That's what matters.

Of course traffic is important. If nobody sees your site, then nobody is going to call. But you can waste plenty of time building a site and even paying for traffic -- and still get nothing.

Here's an example: reexpert.org

It appears they recently started an ad campaign because their traffic rank suddenly jumped (COMPETE.COM), but if you view their home page, it still says (and blinking no less) "Sorry, this page is under construction" They didn't even finish the About Us or Contact Us sections! (TIP: Never put apologies for undone pages on your website. If something isn't done, don't publish it)

I don't know who they are and I don't mean to be picking on them, but this is exactly what you don't want to do. Load your site full of meaningful content and do it one day at a time. Take the ActiveRain approach and start awarding yourself points for building YOUR domain.

Posted by E.Kasey Kasemodel - Dexter, Mi - Tech Advice on 09/19/2007 08:43 AM

Comments (8)

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8 Comments on When Google Ads Are A Waste of Money

Great post - thank you for sharing it with the Active Rain community.

Keep'em coming!

09/19/2007 08:49 AM

by Orlando Homes Armando Rodriguez Real Estate & Mortgage Broker-GRI (QUEST REALTY SERVICES)

I think that you have given sound advice. Generating leads is one thing, A lead can be a click or it can be an inquiry. If you buid content and provide value, you may get fewer leads, but more should convert to clients.

09/19/2007 09:08 AM

by M & T Bank

excellent point, I see a lot of sites that need not even exist...IMO

Best regards from Charlottesville!

Charles McDonald

09/19/2007 09:15 AM

by Charles McDonald / Your Trusted Broker for Charlottesville Real Estate (RE/MAX Assured Properties)

Just one more item on this... I wasn't meaning to imply that REexpert.org is not following a sound business model. If they are purchasing page 5 traffic for 10 cents per click, then converting 1:100 and selling that email address to an agent for $15, it's a good business model!

Here's an example based on some data we pulled a few months ago. This is market value for search terms "Ann Arbor" + "Real Estate"

1. Ann Arbor Real Estate  - http://awebster.yourkwagent.com  ($5.00)
2. Ann Arbor Real Estate      http://realestatepal.com  ($4.00)
3. Your Ann Arbor, MI Real Estate    http://homesofannarbor.com  ($2.70)
4. Ann Arbor, Michigan Real Estate     http://kathytoth.com  ($2.64)
5. Ann Arbor, Michigan Real Estate Search    http://annarborhomelistings.com  ($2.63)
6. Ann Arbor, Michigan Real Estate for Sale     http://clickannarbor.com ($2.61)
7. Ann Arbor Real Estate  http://thompgroup.com  $2.57)
8. Ann Arbor Condo Connection    http://annarborcondoconnection.com  ($1.02)
9. Ann Arbor, MI New Homes and Builders    http://newhomesource.com  ($0.98)
10. Ann Arbor, MI Real Estate Listings     http://reotour.com ($0.97)

This means that awebster.yourkwagent.com was paying $5 PER CLICK to be #1 in the Ann Arbor market. My point... Even if REexpert is just collecting email addresses to resell, they would still do better if their home page wasn't under construction.

09/19/2007 10:23 AM

by E.Kasey Kasemodel - Dexter, Mi - Tech Advice (API Network Corp)

Great to have your input. sorry but "there's no place like home.com is also taken. darn

09/20/2007 05:33 AM

by Karen Moorhead Ann Arbor Area Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)

I think I read someplace that google will punish you as well if they see under constuction on some of your pages.

09/20/2007 10:28 AM

by New Jersey Real Estate James Boyer Morris, Essex & Union County NJ Realtor (RE/MAX Properties Unlimited, Real Estate)

Kasey, have you looked at my site http://SearchAnnArborHouses.com

I have over 400 leads since July 4th and all my buyer agents are busy. It is a pay-per-click campaign and I get more leads from that than my other sites. I do get about 60 per month from my missycaulk.com site.

The key is nurturing the leads. They ( very few ) are ready right at that moment. For that I use a drip campaign. Thanks for the book, I will start on it soon. I would love to take you to lunch sometime, just name it.

09/20/2007 07:15 PM

by Missy Caulk Ann Arbor Real Estate (Keller Williams Ann Arbor, Michigan)

Wow. SearchAnnArborHouses.com is awesome! Excellent technology, great marketing.

09/21/2007 07:46 AM

by E.Kasey Kasemodel - Dexter, Mi - Tech Advice (API Network Corp)

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