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Time vs Money Organic or Pay-Per-Click?

Many of us have posted how we are now being found on search engines because of the exposure of Activerain. Jonathan Washburn wrote a post a few weeks ago on the Dirty Little Secret of Activerain. Go read this, if you haven't already done so.

Jonathan Washburn A really cool guy Jonathan is the CEO of Activerain and you should be subscribing to Jon's blog anyway. One particular thing that caught my eye in Jonathans post was he said, "Over 75% of the people coming to Activerain are coming from the search engines.

I recently wrote a post on how my Google results have improved 100 fold since joining Activerain in December 2006. That is the Organic search results that are achieved because of Google liking blogs, Google liking Activerain and me taking the time to learn a little about SEO from all the experts here.

Organic search results take TIME.

What does organic search mean?

Organic Searches are what people on the internet use when searching for information on a specific topic. For us in real estate it would be using terms like: Ann Arbor Real Estate, Search Houses for Sale in Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Realtor etc...

It is any search term that you want the consumer to find you on. Using key words and anchor text is critical in achieving good organic search placement. For lenders it would be using terms like Mortgage Rates in Ann Arbor Michigan. What ever key words you believe the consumer would be looking for.

Read Karen Georges Posts for more excellent advice on blogging for SEO.

If you are like me and want more buyer leads in a slow market and are no longer advertising in print media, developing a Pay-Per-Click campaign is the way to go. Pay-Per-Click, is when you sponsor an ad on a site that the consumer will type in a search term and that will take them to your site. It costs money to do this, most of the time a lot of money.

However, you only pay when the consumer clicks on your add. In the example, I used above the key words of Ann Arbor Real Estate, Homes for sale in Ann Arbor, I would set up a pay-per-click campaign with those key words and then I am charged when a consumer comes to the site and clicks on my ad. Key words cost different amounts. Ann Arbor Real Estate is a high click term, Saline Real Estate is not, Ypsilanti Real Estate is not.

If you sell in an area, that is not so large the cost per click will not be that much. Even if you live in a large metropolitan area, do you really want to bid on a term like Los Angeles Real Estate? In my opinion, (correct me if I'm wrong) but would really want to pick up a buyer that lived hours away from you ?

Find me here I am an advocate of both organic searches and pay-per-click. My experience is that both Organic and Pay-Per-Click brings buyers and sellers to me.

It is the battle of Time VS Money. There is a cost in both types of marketing.

When you are new to blogging or have a new great website, pay-per-click affords you the opportunity to hit the ground running. Sponsored ads in an pay-per-click on the search engines are the same in my opinion as running an ad in the Sunday newspaper.

Pay-per-click is faster, brings more leads and costs more. The site I use for my pay-per-click campaign is Search Ann Arbor Houses. It is managed by a company in California called Tiger Leads.

Organic search results establishes your web presence, takes time and does bring leads but not as fast.

Why should we want or care about Organic or Pay-Per-Click ? We all want traffic to our websites and blogs. We all want buyers and sellers.

Moving to Ann Arbor?

For more information on what you should be doing to get more traffic to you site watch this video by Web Pro News on Organic Searchs or Pay-Per-Click.

Posted by Missy Caulk-Ann Arbor- Realtor(R)- Ann Arbor Real Estate on 11/10/2007 04:27 PM

Comments (115)

technology, seo

Originally posted at: Ann Arbor Undressed : Time vs Money Organic or Pay-Per-Click?

115 Comments on Time vs Money Organic or Pay-Per-Click?

NOV

2007

We have chosen the non paid route. Organic is slower perhaps, but with patience you get there.

Missy,

Thanks for the info. Lots of great stuff here. I'm learning so much everyday. Keep it up.

Could you give a little more info on "tigerleads" I googled them and didn't pull up anything. I like your post, it does make me think that maybe I should look into other avenues to bring the buyers Bryan, College Station, Texas.

Key thing in anytime you spend money is to watch your returns. I did the premium placement on Yahoo. It was inexpensive, but I never seen a single click come through it. I nixed it. I hope you have a good return on your ads.

Bob and Carolin, they both work, just depends on what your needs are.

Peggy, I learn tons here too!! This is where I learned the most on SEO and applied most of it.

Stephanie, I'll email you off line, I am not advertising here, just an example of how my PPC works.

Bob. YES I have a great ROI, or I would have dropped it like a hot potato. I tried the yahoo. thing too the leads were junk. I finally found a site that works and been using it for a year.

Missy,

I have already started to see better results from my involvement in Active Rain. I will subscribe to Jon's blog today, thank you.

It seems that with Google and Yahoo pay per clicks that you get tons of clicks, but not much in results. I almost think that employees of those companies simply go and click on your ads just to run up the bill.

Missy,

Thanks for the link to Jonathan's blog. Would you believe that I haven't subscribed yet? Shame on me. Anyway, the info here is great info and I appreciate the post.

Excellent post Missy!! I have never used PPC and not sure how it would work for my very limited market. I'm afraid if I did I would get too many buyers calling me then I would actually have to work for living. Made me shiver just thinking about it:)

Rob, having a "sticky site" makes a huge difference. But, I don't think they do that, maybe I'm nieve but the UPI is tracked and I get the leads so I'm not concerned.

BB, if you don't want buyers, I would not do pay-per-click at all. But, for those that do and have a good site and trust their campaign manager it is very fruitful. I have to keep my Buyer Agents busy and they are.

Dan, thanks for stopping by and commenting on the post. If it were not for activerain, I would not be on pages 1 and 2 for Google.

Andrew, glad I reminded you.

Hi Missy, I have never thought of PPC either and may take another closer look at it.

Missy... look at you, high tech girl. I am still behind the times per se. But I blog... organic style. You did a great job of breaking this down and explaining it. I think this is worth as a feature, I guess time will tell. But again, great job and colorful.

great topic and very good info..

Great post, Missy. I have been blogging for about two months and have seen my web site increase in the rankings because of the SEO articles that I have read on the Rain. I am just begun implementing a PPC program to help attract buyers from areas that my site does not rank very high.

Missy, You have a lot of great information here! So far we've gone the free route but it sure is something to think about.

Very informative, Missy! I haven't done any pay-per-click...I just didn't understand it well enough or know who to trust. If you could email me and let me know who you use for your PPC campaign, I would really appreciate it!

Jay and Monika, how about that I'll answer you both at the same time. I would recommend you only use PPC if you want buyers to follow up, and you have a good sticky site. I have tried a few and if the site is not good, where they buyers want to come back it is hard, hard, hard to convert.

Jeff, thanks for the compliment, I don't get many features so I don't think about it. If it happens it is always a nice surprise.

Jill, let me know how it goes.

Kelly, I will email you the information and you can call them.

Missy - I've always been afraid of pay per click because I was never sure how much it was going to cost me. I think I'll go check it out! Thanks for the info!

MISSY: While I'm not averse to using pay-per-click, I have started coming up very high in Google just from my blogs. I cannot believe the power of Active Rain. Anyone that doubts this would be foolish to do so. Some of my key terms have me at the very top of the first page, and it's all because of Active Rain. Another agent just found me yesterday doing an organic search, and a possible referral deal is in the pipeline. As an added bonus, I told her about Active Rain, and she will likely be joining us soon from my invite. Active Rain is a big part of my business plan for 2008 and beyond. People should also check out Katerina Gasset's post from today about how she secured $22 million worth of investment property listings because of her AR blog. Great post, Missy!

Linda, it is expensive but it brings in the buyers.

Adam, blogging is my strategy for 2008 too. As I said Activerain has got me on pages 1 and 2 in Google for every search term I would want. However, it has not got me 600 leads since July and 6 closed and 3 pending contracts and kept all my buyer agents busy. LOL. So I do both. Katerina's post was exciting and I am so happy for them. Thanks for taking the time to comment all your comments are very thoughtful.

All organic, all the time, all the way is the only way to go. Google gets it and if you get Google, you get the business.

Great post Missy.

Missy you are proving your widdgedness, great post. I don't think at the moment I can afford the pay per click, but the concept sounds great.

Missy, let me know if you have time for coffee...I would love to spend a few minutes with you if you can spare. As I always think, great blog! Pay per click...would love to discuss this is you wouldn't mind.

Offtopic note...don't read if you don't want something off topic...Warning:

Wasn't the UM game a heartbreaker???? Oh they almost did it, even with the injuries.

Missy, haven't been as active blogging recently and I see my site disappearing to the 2nd or 3rd page. I see what a powerful tool AR is. I've never used pay-per-click. Congratulations on doing such a great job.

I did Overture (now Yahoo) for several years. Got some buyers from it but not enough to warrant the cost. Then as I got "smarter" I realized a lot of those clicks were coming from other countries. Not sure how it works, but I guess they earn money by clicking on the ads. I dropped it when I began seeing results from AR and my WP blog.

However, if you're getting 600 buyers since July, that's a whole 'nother story.

Thanks for posting this very useful information, Missy, and making it so easy to understand.
I know that one of the real estate sales reps in my region, who has very high google placement, uses pay-per-click advertising and does very well with it.

Missy...

What an excellent post and topic. Thank you.

Although I know PPC would not work out for us I agree that it is definitely the way to go for those seeking out Buyer's on their sites.

I wouldn't hesitate to use it if I needed it. I would consider it to be money well spent :)

TLW...ROAR!

Missy,

How much does it genrally cost for someone like me. Now remember...I'm sooooo good looking as BB said so it might cost me more:)

Missy:

WOW! What a great post! You really showed out on this one!

I like organic foods and I prefer organic leads. They stay longer on the site and convert more often for me. Blogging will be my primary focus for new business in 2008.

Great post & info. I haven't tried PPC mainly because of the costs for Orlando and Central Florida. Also, have heard too many that have tried it, but it just cost them a lot for nothing. Granted, you definitely know your marketing & also probably have a good campaign manager.

Thanks for the info. Sunscribing to Jon's blog right now.

miro

I am looking into it as well, I need to research the costs but I have also seen the increase on my website since I joined active rain.

Organic is best for the long haul in my opinion.

I have a great SEO guy who has put and keeps me, at the top of the rankings for most searched for keywords in my area.

HI Missy - I too would like to thank you for the very easy to read post that clarifies ost things - I would appreciate it if you would email me the PPC contact info so I can check it out. Thanks!

Lenn, I know you like organic and it works for you as you are very established in Virginia and Maryland but for new agents or agents that are slow this would give me a lot of leads.

Mana, you need to just keep blogging.

TLW, "you get it" and I appreciate your comment. If agents need buyers and their sites are giving them enough then this is a great option. I know some people have been burned, I was until I found the right site and company to manage it. Now I get good leads, ( not all 600 are good ) but enough my TEAM is happy.

I use both but organic search get many more hits. You can try pay per click for some neighborhoods where few other people are and that seems to work well also. I experiment from time to time to see where things lead. Good informative blog.

Missy: Great Post! Nice way to break it down.

I train my coaching clients to go after organic because once you have it, you have it!

PPC is definitely faster, but when you stop buying, you stop getting leads.

For most of the last year, I swore off print, and did nothing but work on organic SEO / SERP

I am page one at Google and yahoo for every keyword phrase I want, and get about 500 visits a month from Google and Yahoo. A sticky and engaging web site can convert 1 in 20 to an email or phone contact. I was happy with that.

Hi Missy - thanks for breaking this down in an easy-to-understand post. My sites have always been organic, and we've noticed a big change in traffic and leads over the last month or so from both my sites and blogs. We've been working on a number of things, and they just may be starting to pay off!

PPC has always scared me a little, as I've always heard how expensive it is, that your expensives get run up when you competition keeps clicking on your ad, etc. I know several in my area that have used PPC at various times, and all have dropped it. I don't know the real scoop, but they generally have said it just didn't pay off well enough to make the expenses worth it.

I know you've been doing it awhile, as I've read some of your other posts about it. The organic results have been paying off for me for a number of years, and they're getting even better of late.

Thanks for this post - helps to understand a little more about PPC.
Ann

Karen, yes lunch or coffee would be great. I'd like to get together too.

Neal, it all depends on the cost in your area. I have no idea, they do an analytics and give you a budget with your key words, I'm sure some of the area's you sell in would be expensive but other towns not so much. WE can adjust out budget whenever we want to. I share the site with 3 RE/MAX agents in my office and the leads are on a round robin basis. I have 600 and the 2 other agents almost 500, but I do alot of viral marketing so I drive traffic to the site. Once they log on we give them a password and their own log on so they don't have to click Mr. Google again and cost us money. They are fine with that.

Jessica, I love organic too and blogging will be by primary focus in 2008, but having a TEAM I do need to supply them with more leads.

Kay, you blog alot of listings so you should come up pretty good. Blogging has helped me so much.

Elaine, 600 leads not all active at this point but many closings, pendings in Dec and all Buyer Agents are actively working and busy. In Ann Arbor buyers are where the money is right now.

Jo-Anne, thanks

Karen, but OSU is losing to Illinois. We need Mike Hart and Chad back next week, or it will be tough.

Miro, good job.

Christina, Activerain and Google is a match made in heaven.

Jim, excellent.

Eric, I use both too. One is faster and more money, one is slower and lasts longer. But, my campaigns have been going on for over a year and I have no plans to stop.

Jill, Let me know how it works out for you.

Marc, Orlando would be high per click but you would need to use it some. I use Ann Arbor but because who has ever heard of Saline, Dexter, Chelsea. But Local people have heard of those towns and they are the buyers ready to go. Physicians and residents start looking in advance to check out housing etc.

Lonn, I advocate whatever works and you obviously spent a year getting to the top, some people need more business now.

Ann, thanks for commenting and expressing what alot of people fear..... too much money and competitors clicking on the site. Tiger has it set up to see the IP address of who clicks on so if that happened they would not accept any more requests from them. Don't ask me how it works, I'm not that smart. It is not cheap, but you get what you pay for. I waisted alot of money until I found the right company to manage and give me a site that is sticky and people return too.

Courtney, I would be glad to.

Missy- A terrific post. I have not gone the PPC route I want to improve my organic SEO. Love the graphics.

Missy'

Great post and very colorfully presented!!! Thanks, Fran

Good post, I am working on both. I think google adwords is a good tool in addition to working on your website and blog. Being a newbie the adwords has helped increase our clicks in the meantime.

Jennifer, thanks for stopping by.

Fran, thanks

David and Lisa, good for you, read Bob Carney's post he just did on adwords.

That eye tracking study is very interesting as well - the golden triangle. I find I look a couple lines down on google for some reason. Of course it could be psychological because I know that the sponsored links are paid for, not sponsored because they are the best. That is what I used to think.

David and Lisa, true I think that way too but do all normal people know that? I didn't for along time. I'm happy if I'm on page 1 and 2 because most people will look at a couple of pages.

For 2008, If I were looking for buyers...I would be a listing machine and change my marketing to generate buyers...you have to be found on the net..re-evalute your marketing dollars and spend it on the net.

Something to take into consideration for sure and for now I'm on page 1 and 2 for most of my keywords...for my website, AR and outside blog. I'm pretty happy with that....

Missy - interesting video. I have seen the eyeball study before and always find it interesting. I personally never look at the right side. I usually never go past page 1 either. I am finding that to be true with my outside blog. I rank anywhere from 10-13 for albuquerque nm real estate and albuquerque real estate and yet I see maybe 10 hits a month for those terms. Being on page 2 or even at the bottom of page 1 isn't cutting it. But my traffic is doubling each month for the last 3 months. The traffic is just coming from the long tail. I am only doing organic and don't know if I will ever do ppc but who knows. I am not ruling it out.

Thanks for the info. I'm learning more everyday from Activerain!

I've had great success with organic placement but as you mention it takes a lot of time & work. I recently created a couple of pay per click accounts & am still 'testing' this approach. I'll have to report my findings at a later time. One of the problems I think of are other agents checking on their own placement & clicking on my pay per click ads.....

You offer a lot of great advice.... I already subscribe to you but I will go ahead and bookmark this one.

SEO is so wonderful. I am a baby boomer that has started from scratch with this internet technology! All I knew was that I had to establish presence in the neighborhood and AR and Localism have helped tremendously. Others will catch on to this very soon. How do we stay ahead of the curve? Thanks, Debra :-)

Susan, it probably happens but how many agents are using it in your area. I really don't get too many bogus leads, less than 2%.

Tom, cool thanks,

Paul, me too!!

Sally, great you are busy and may not need for listings.

Ashley, I know how hard you have been working and wow that is great. Thanks for the facebook message. Doubling is 3 months is fantastic.

Midori, huh ? You having way to much fun with Albert!!

Missy - this was great SEO, I think that stands for "SAVE EVERYBODY ONLINE" and I'm behind ya all the way! Awesome post, thanks for sharing that with us...You're Awesome! Bookmarked and here's your 5! Big Smile!!

Brad you are so funny, I enjoyed your music blog.

Missy, This is a good discussion & helpful in evaluating options. There's definitely pros and cons to each approach. But, the key is to work what's working. It's good to hear about your results and advise.

Nice post, Missy. We have been going back and forth with Adsense, Adwords, and PPC. We haven't done anything yet. We have moved from nonexistent to page 4 and 5 of google organically though.

This is something which I haven't really considered. It does seem that the cost is a factor. I will have to research this further. Thanks for the great information.

I used PPC (Overture and Google) a couple of years ago while optimizing for organic, but stopped when I started making page 1 for multiple websites on all the major engines from my SEO efforts. Not sure there is a huge difference in traffic, but overall leads have decreased, while quality appears to have improved.

Organic is clearly best, if it can be achieved.

That said, I will likely return to some limited PPC shortly, just to broaden exposure at low cost (if people are out there turning over rocks looking for something, figure I might as well lurk under as many rocks as I can if want to be found! . . .)

Missy I've just subscribed to Jon blog. He should have been one the 1st ones. I been thinking about same thing the last couple of days. You have clarified a couple of things for me. Always great information.

Missy,

Wonderfully information post! You've shared some great info on this one. And thanks for the link to Karen's post, I missed it before.

Like others, I've been analyzing my "organic" searches myself, and I ditto those who have had amazing results. Thanks again and congrats on the well deserved feature!

Oh, you got it wrong...not busy right now. And I'm happy with the cheap route for now until something comes through.

NOV

2007

Missy, I'm playing catch up on the Google SEO learning curve. Thanks for the tutorial. Your post is helping me understand some of the nuances. Well done and well deserved featured rating.

I know there was a study done not long ago that shows how many times people click on "PPC" as opposed to organic searches and organic won by a landslide! I do think it's important to focus on organic searches and maybe use PPC as a secondary means. I personally don't use PPC, but can see where it can supplement my SEO.

Missy- I find that if you do not really choose good keywords and long tail keywords for a PPC ad, then you are going to get leads that are not serious about buying and selling. The more general the key word the colder the lead generated from that word. That is why long tail is better. An agent who tells me they are getting tons of leads does not matter to me, because I am not interested in sifting through all the leads. I like the organic traffic we are getting and I have enough on my plate. I want that seller or buyer to pick up that phone and call me and tell me they want me to work with them and that is what I do get now! Thanks for the link to the CEO, I had no idea he had a blog or that he was the CEO. Congrats on the well deserved feature! Katerina

Just when I think I have a handle on encouraging traffic to my website along comes another great post that adds one more piece to the puzzle.

Missy, the website that you direct your traffic to through the pay-per-click, is that a website that you've had for a while? I suppose what I'm asking is this: I've had my website for 10 years. Should I create another one for that type of traffic, or should I direct it to my existing website?

BTW, congrats on your featured post! Missy, I always look forward to reading what you have to say, this one was truly above and beyond! Thank you!

Hi Missy,
AR is the most powerful tool I have found but I do have a pay for click campaign and think it is worth the money. Thanks for all the information. Jon has a blog? I'm on my way to subscribe.

Kris, no this is not my site that I have had for 9 years, this site was created just to search for homes in Washtenaw county and bring in buyer leads. Although we have got some listings from it, mostly buyers which in Michigan is what we want right now. AS far as your current web site, if it isn't broke don't fix it. Does it capture leads ? There is a big division in the real estate community over registering on a site vs giving them the data free.

I am 100% in favor of registering, 2 of my sites don't register and the leads are not good, and very few of them.

But,this is the big thing, I show them one house, with Google Maps and SAtellite Images and tons of photos. Then can have to register to see the other ( blank) of homes like these. So they do.

Then I have their email address, phone number and can nurture them until they are ready.

Missy, Great Post. Congrats on your Feature your post really deserves it. Great info as always.:-)

Katerina, you are right the key words are critical, as I said Ann Arbor is a town well known and costs the most per click, but other cities in my area do not. You are doing great, this is just to help agents that need a boost in traffic to their sites.

Cynthia, you said it correctly, it boosts the traffice, like nothing else. It is the Sunday paper for buyers and sellers who we know 80% start on the internet.

Ines, I read that study and I agree organic searches are better utilized by those of us that use the internet, but when a consumer is looking for a house depending on the ad they will go to a link. My position on organic search is fantastic since blogging on AR.

Andrew, the video is really good, if you didn't watch it... a great debate with the conclusion being both are good, which is why I posted this because I agree.

Lola, yes pros and cons in both... time vs money is the big one for me.

David and Kristen, wonderful news on moving up in the search engines.

Joan, it is costly but I make money from it with my site, not just cover my costs.

Trent, that's is what is so good about ppc, you can turn the fountain on and off.

Maria, I am NOT the expert on this, it just works for me.

Lynda, thanks for stopping by, we all need to be analyzing our placements to see how we can improve our writings.

Matthew, thank you.

Missy, thank you. This is such a nice understandable explanation for those of us who are not techies!

I've been doing a lot of reading on this. One thing that seems to keep popping up is that the longer tails have a much better RoI. Because they are more specific, they cost less and the quality is higher... and they get clicked less, but by more serious viewers.

Margaret, thanks I was trying to make is simple as I was confused for along time too.

Lane, I agree.

Missy, great use of pictures and writing. I need to get this good.

Thanks for your perspective. I had not seriously considered pay-per-click but may look into it based upon your success!

Excellent post Missy... as usual!

To be effective in organic search results it does take time/patience but it really really helps if you're able to write well and do it on a regular basis... and you might very well be one of the best. Based on the amount of traffic you can generate from a single post, I'm thinking you have Guy Kawasaki potential.

Missy: Thanks for clarifying things for me. One thing I never thought of was to show one home for "free" with all the bells and whistles then asking for registration. Food for thought...I'm going to see if this is possible with my site. I have to talk to the techies :-) Thanks again Missy.

Kase, thanks what a compliment!

Kris, let me know how it goes.

Diane, be careful and interview them. Or you can set one up yourself and try it on Google, it is easy to set up. I did it once and right away I was up there.

Danny, thanks for the comment and you write well. Seriously.

Missy - In the Raleigh market the cost of PPC is outrageous. I experimented with it over the past year. Do you think it is a better idea to focus on the smaller markets? Also do you put yourself on a strict budget?

For example Raleigh Real Estate was going for $15 a click.

I used Pay per click for a couple of years and wouldn't do it again. I have concentrated on using my money for a stronger internet presence and it has paid off big time. I also remember that some pay per click customers were overcharged. There is no way to tell if the clicks really happen or not.

Thanks for your great post. Also, thanks for reading a commenting on Three of My Active Rain Friends Have Featured Posts Today: Read and Learn

Rebecca, I heard it was 5.00 in Ann Arbor and that sounds outgrageous to me. Yes, I am on a budget, but you have to remember I have 620 leads so I know and have proof it is working. I am not paying for the click but for the AD on the Search Engines. People click it on, see my search site, register and I get the email, with their phone number, email address, and all the homes they were looking at, plus any they saved in favorites. So it is a whole system.

Susie, see my answer to Rebecca, that I am not paying for someone to click on the site, but the results of them clicking on that site. So yes, I do have a way to tell if clicks happen with this site. I have done it before with a company in Canada, and another one and no I couldn't see and didn't have results so I dropped them. Now I do have the results.

You have to trust the person running your campaign, your site must be "sticky" so they will come back or do it yourself.

Missy: Quite a few things I got out of this post. First I read the piece by Johathon and subscribed - don't know how I missed that one. Second, I do read Karen George but when I followed your link just to see if I have missed something, it was interesting. She starts all her posts with the same key words and then follows with a specific. I have read tips to tell us to pick a few and keep using them--I can see she will be found by repeating the beginning key words on all her posts. You may already know this but it was exciting to see something visually like that. Thanks.

Oops!! Forgot one thing. I have been avoiding pay per click - I tried something on Yahoo once and wasted by money. From your post, I will really consider it in the future--I am getting to the point where I can probably afford it if I get the kind of results you mentioned. Also, will you also e-mail me info on Tiger Leads.

Missy, could you email me with the actual cost, contact information for the company and what type of return you have received? Thanks.

Missy, I just love your little train. Did you have that made for you or did you do that yourself? I didn't want to read all 91 of these comments...pardon me but about how much do you pay typically for the pay per click on a given basis?

Missy - you did a great job explaining what many others have tried and not succeeded - I love the train -

Missy - I read all the comments so I can follow all your answers. I can't compete for the main searches with the big brokers in town. But if I understood you correctly, you are paying for the ad which generates leads, not for someone clicking on your ad, which may generate nothing and in fact may be another agent driving up your costs. Can I contact you off line? Thanks for the great info.

NOV

2007

Cathy,Karens post are a great tutorial, take them one at a time and implement them and you will see your organic searchs move up faster. Yes, ll email you the contact information. I spent money with Yahoo too and didn't see the results.

Lee yes in a separate email, glad to just didn't want to advertise here as that was not the purpose of the post

Gena it depends on the area and the key word term. I can change the ad budget as necessary. I share the site with 3 agents in my office and we spend about 1500.00 each. Gena, I didn't create the train, it is in a site I subscribe to, I'll email you when I remember where as this was saved in my photo and I can remember if it was a paid site or free.

Thesa,welcome back. I enjoyed the picture of you and Chris. Thanks I'm glad it was simple.

Faina are the big brokers in town buying sponsored links? In my area, they do not. Individual agents do buy the sponsored links. No, I pay per click so it is possible that someone could click and drive up my costs but I have not noticed it because of the amount of leads I get. Yes, give me a call anytime. If I was not getting the amount of leads I was then I might think that too. But, I have plenty to keep me busy.

Missy: I had coffee with a Tucson agent team last week; they refer business to me. They're spending many thousands of dollars per month on pay per click, and recently they believe that their competitors are clicking the site to drive up their costs. Is there any way of verifying something like this? (And would you email me with the company you use for PPC?) Thanks, Missy.

Mike in Tucson

Gena, here is the site. http://www.realestateclipart.com

EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT post Missy and love the graphics !! This is very informative and eye catching !

Missy - There's so much to learn and I'm grateful to you for sharing your expertise. Great post.

Missy - glad to see this was featured - excellent post as usual -excellent job!!!

NOV

2007

Great post. I have not used ppc yet but after reading this post and comments I am considering it.

NOV

2007

Hey Missy,

Been away for a while and going through my sub list bottom up. Know I could count on you for great reading.

I suggest PPC when it won't cost you alot to compete. But hands down no doubt AR has boosted my presence on the free side and I am forever loyal and thankful for that.

NOV

2007

Melissa, thanks and glad you stopped by.

Tom, thanks we are all in this together.

Cyndee, thanks for commenting.

Gita, make sure you trust the company you manages it for you, or do it yourself.

Toni, hands down I agree.

Missy, your blog confirms that you know that if you're fishing for trout you have to fish where the trout are. PPC is just another arrow in the quiver, but I've found it to be useful, not a blockbuster, but good enough to include in the mix.

Mike, I like you, I think you get it.

NOV

2007

Outstanding post Missy - it's that old delimma Time vs. Money. There is so much to learn about SEO

Tracy, there is so much to learn and we are Realtors, thank God for Activerain members sharing.

Thanks so much for the post. I am new to AR and SEO and this is a good start for me. Thanks!

Missy, thanks for sharing. We are firm believers in a balanced approach. Although we have experienced additional traffic from our posts on AR(including localism), we haven't seen the conversions yet. Putting out balanced PPC campaigns in Yahoo and Google can bring great targeted visitors while you work on getting Organic results. We find that Organic results have lower conversion rates, but hey, the are FREE :)

Krista, get blogging and be careful who you work with.

James, I agree, organic is great but for alot of leads quickly ppc works for me. Keeps my team happy.

Missy, you are SO right! I use organic and pay per click with great results! It beats any other type of advertising and ROI on the pay per click is much better than any other media..

Out of curiousity, are you doing any radio ads? There are a couple of agents in my area that are doing extensive radio ads and seem to be getting ridiculous numbers of listings...

No I don't do radio ad's. I know of one realtor that does, but she is on the station I would want to be on. My PPC works good too.

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