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Sell Condos? Do Your Own Web Work? This Is For You!

By
Real Estate Agent

 

 

West Beach

I started my business career as a plain and simple Realtor.  When I started, things were slow and I quickly found I had nothing to do with the majority of my day.  I mean there was free cell, solitaire, video poker etc. but instead, I began building my own web site. I simply couldn't afford to have a professional do it.  I guess I took the road less traveled. No offense intended to other new Realtors that choose something different to try and drum up business.

You're doing the same thing and think you may have bitten off more than you can chew.....nonsense!  You ARE up to the task and I may have something beneficial if your in the same toil I was in 2003.  Yes you, the person that is still reading this because, you too, are in condo sales somewhere in the world, do your own web design / marketing and are interested in more business.

Something important to consider while planning a hostile take over for your areas internet traffic is Search Engine Optimization.  This basically means planning your web site in a way that is most appealing to Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN etc.).  Here is the first suggestion.

Google provides approximately 75% of the ENTIRE Internets search results.  In Laymans terms, 75% of all searches done on line use Google to provide results for your search regardless of whether you're using Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari or any one else.  This should tell you that you are optimizing your site for Google and should proceed with all of your efforts keeping this in mind.  All of the searches you make for fresh ideas and answers should be implemented for Google to acknowledge them.

Something imperative to incorporate in optimizing your site is unique reliable content.  Quality content is probably the single most important characteristic of a great web site.  Quality content can't be copied from some one else in order to use on your site......I mean can you copy an article from someone else to use on your site?  Sure you can but Google knows and they don't like it.  Don't get me wrong now, addresses and names of condo complexes for example and other things like this relevant in nature will obviously be reproduced.  All I'm saying is enough of the copy/paste after the address and name.  Don't continue to copy the entire summary and just smear it everywhere.  If you're serious about your campaign, you must do things the right way.

Another important factor is structure.  Your site and its pages should be titled properly with head tags used correctly.  The images should all be named with key words and ALT tags used.  There should be approximately 10% of your pages content dedicated to your pages theme.  If you are selling sod, you would probably want words like grass, sod, fescue (that's for Les Miles....Roll Tide) etc. to constitute 10% of the overall word count.

Here is something else to think about.  Yeah it's neat when you pull up a web site and a giant house is created from scratch in front of your very eyes. Next, a blinking neon banner "Use Aaron Pugh For All Of Your Real Estate Needs" floats across the screen in tow behind a single-engine Cessna.  That’s cool alright and entirely possible, but slow to upload and while your potential client is watching the hour glass, they begin to drift.  Not good.  Yet another concern is compatibility.  Not everyone has their browser configured to allow all of this graphic chaos to unfold and may need to install additional software.  In most cases are you going to install software to find the phone number to Pizza Hut?  No.  I tell you all of that to tell you this....simple is not boring, it's informational and that's probably what they want.

These are a handful of tips for getting started.  For many of you this may seem rudimentary.  I intended this for those who are getting started.  Maybe its been suggested by your web design company that you need a giant house created upon the loading of your site and this comes in handy.  Here is the part where I invite those with a site similar to mine (which offers info for Gulf Shores Alabama Condos) to request a reciprocal link.  Please understand that I have spent hundreds of hours of my time on this particular site and I have never sold a link and will not swap with everyone who asks.  If you are interested, add your sites URL and I'll check it out.  Thanks for stopping by.

 

Comments (4)

Marco Giancola
Beachfront Realty - Miami Beach, FL
Realtor (305)608-1922, Miami Beach Florida

Hey good morning Aaron-I like your post-puts it out there plain and simple.

Jan 20, 2012 11:06 PM
Rachel Rabinowitz
Guerilla Realty - Baltimore, MD
The Baltimore Realtor

Hi Aaron,

My business plan does not include having my own website, however I thought this post was well written and highly informative. The only point I would add is that its good to have a niche market and a point-of-view, which are both evident on your website (which I visited). Of course here on active rain, you may need a few more pictures....

 

Jan 20, 2012 11:39 PM
Aaron Pugh
Gulf Shores, AL

I added a pic just for you Rachel.  Thanks for checking me out guys.

Jan 21, 2012 03:36 AM
Anonymous
Lundy

Nice article, and I like the bit of humor : Roll Tide !

I think other real estate agents may be motivated to use their spare time productivly after reading your post. Good work.

 

Jan 21, 2012 03:42 AM
#4