What's wrong with my website? Why isn't it being found?
"The role that your Web site plays in your marketing strategy is
to augment, amplify, and automate conversations about real estate."
-SCOTT SCHANG
Guest blogger and PropertyMinder's CS Engineer John Taylor breaks down
the nitty gritty for us in this exclusive guest blog post.
- Are you wondering why you are not ranking higher on Google or Bing like your competitors?
- Is your target audience not aware of you and your brand as much as you would like them to be?
- Is your website not doing its job of enticing people to start conversations with you?
- Do you find yourself feeling unsatisfied when you check how many website visitors you have per month?
- Or are you thinking about getting a website for your real estate business and want to make sure you are setting yourself up for success?
1) You're doing everything yourself.
Unless you have a lull in your real estate business, providing acurate and timely updates for your website can require time that you may not have. This problem is exacerbated by a lack of knowledge on what types of information to post to your website, and how to get exposure to it. Why create additional stress for yourself?
PropertyMinder recommends a work-smart-not-hard strategy.By attending our TechMar (SEO) training class, we can impart our knowledge to you. Stop struggling to come up with new ways to keep the website visitors' attention, and use the tools learned in this class to save your precious time!
2) Still using a template.
Templated websites are great when you're first being introduced to a new sie. However, once you're past the "new present" phase, you'll want a site that looks and feels unique. Inquire about one of PropertyMinder's semi-custom designs to spruce up your site with a fresh look. You're sure to find a greater level of interest and approval after taking the time to work with one of our designers to get your site looking incredible.
3) Nothing ever changes.
Many agents set up their websites simply for the home search capabilities. While your AccelerAgent site certainly accomodates this need, it's easy to fall into the trap of stopping there. Take advantage of PropertyMinder's unique Custom IDX feature to create an unlimited number of searches with specific criteria to fit your niche/target market. Do you consider yourself a luxury home specialist?
With a custom IDX link, your site can show luxury homes in every locale -updating automatically- without you having to lift a finger to show any new information. Save yourself time and money by allowing your website to work for you.
4) Not Understanding Your Competition.
First off, you can avoid losing clients to competitors with our exclusive Sellers Corner tool.
Do you work in an Urban area? How many real-estate agents are licensed within 30 miles of your office? 99% of agents who work in large communities still try to corner the market by using location specific keywords. Unfortunately, these agents haven't realized just how enormous the level of competition is for these types of words. A search for "Los Angeles Real Estate" displays over 478 MILLION results.
By choosing keywords that are more specific ("Bel-Air Real Estate" for example), we can dramatically reduce the level of competiton that your website faces. In the above example, changing our keyword to a specific neighborhood, reduced our competition by over 472,000,000 results. It is much easier to be found among 5 million sites than it is to be found among 50 million.
5) Missing Out on Free Exposure.
Choosing the right keywords alone will not guarantee you placement. It is just as important to use external sites to drive web traffic to your website. Use pages like Google+, Yelp, Yahoo Local, Facebook, etc. to create your business' presence on other web portals and send interested parties back to your website. Plus, these types of sites also have the side benefit of providing your existing clientele with new ways to leave you glowing reviews!
6) Search Engines Are Not Complacent.
Make sure to attend training frequently to stay appraised of the current best practices so you can modify your marketing strategy accordingly. The days of setting up a website and forgetting about it have come and gone. Google and Bing provide over 98% of all search results, and both of these providers change their ranking algorithms frequently. Due to this fact, what you learned three years ago may not still be applicable today.
7) Remember Your Site is Meant For Your Current Clients and Your Leads (NEXT Clients)
At the end of the day, the best placement in the world will not matter if your site doesn't cater to your next client. If your site is filled with nothing but keywords and generic content, a new visitor has no further motivation for staying there.
The most important factor for your website is content, so make sure you design your site with new visitors in mind. If you're unsure about a certain change or page you want to make, ask someone! Find someone in a coffee shop, garage sale, or even the mail man and have them give you their input. Not only does this serve to introduce your site to someone knew, but you also get the added benefit of knowing if you're on a good path.
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