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Real Estate Web Placement - Plan for Success - Knowledge is Key!

By Jim Crawford

Real Estate Agent with Long & Foster 0225078705

January 29, 2007 02:50 AM

Loads of agents e-mail me everyday asking how to get on top of the search engines so they can be successful in real estate. That is a tricky question, because you would have to assume the person asking first understands the nature of real estate, and sales. First of all placement or SEO that gets you on page 1 or 2 does not make anyone a success in real estate. No more than getting immense leads from a great marketing campaign. First a plan It takes the ability to recognize hot and colds leads first, and then the ability to sort them, and close the hot ones! Nurture the cool ones, and drop the cold ones. Since over 85% of our income comes from the Internet each year... I care to understand. It is easy money if you do! Think about real estate possibilities. No more cold calling, no more mailing postcards, postage, ads, classifieds, magazine ads, publication deadlines etrc...

Unless you do not care about creating a stream of income that is better than all the other prospecting, sphere of influence leads and the rest. The Internet is ON 24/7/365 GLOBALLY! Yes position changes all the time, but it takes continuous knowledge to meet the change and stay on top. But iit is worth it, and it can be done.

The problem in our industry is most claim knowledge of web positioning, and few actually possess it! Still in real estate we pay them exceptionally well! Real estate web master build great sites, but few are ever found on a search in the Internet, and they are paid well also! Many in our Industry talk about pay per click, but no one in real estate talk about "Pay per click fraud!" Which is exactly what most of pay per click is! And on all of the above, no one ever questions the price of knowledge. Knowledge is priceless, but in web placement it can be attained freely.

I have long been an advocate of Internet knowledge. All the information you need to succeed is out there. Most in real estate try to pay for services and delegate out the work, but you cannot delegate that which you do not understand.

For the Internet savvy consumer it will be easy to dismiss a boasting agent or broker and provide them their own test of web placement. We forget the Internet is consumer driven. The terms searched will be consumer terms not industry terms or "Real estate" which is a directory term.

Jim Crawford

www.AtlantaBestHomes.Com

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LLoyd Nichols

Premier Florida Realty of SWFL - Fort Myers, FL

Southwest Florida Homes By The Sea

Thanks for the great links. There si no question that more knowledge will make you more successful..but it may be a lot of work unless you pay someone to do it for you

Jan 29, 2007 03:41 PM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

First of all, 85% of my business is from the web. I am very grateful I got involved when I did. I made loads of mistakes, but learned from them. The greatest thing about understanding the www is that I can make instantanious changes. I do not have to consult, I do not pay anything, no postage, no trips to post office, no lables. We dropped our marketing to nothing. I think most people in real estate just don't get it. Thats good for us that do!

Jan 30, 2007 12:42 AM

Patricia Aulson

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOME SERVICES Verani Realty NH Real Estate - Exeter, NH

Realtor - Portsmouth NH Homes-Hampton NH Homes

Everywhere there is names, numbers, ads, papers,websites to contact for online advertising. I am confused quite frankly with so many. How does one know who is the 'RIGHT ONE' to contact for help.It's easy to get scammed these days and I'm always causious.

Patricia Aulson/REALTOR/Seacoast NH, ME & MA URL: www.patricia4realestate.com

Jan 30, 2007 02:31 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Most just want your money and a contract specifying how much a month you will commit for how many years. Once you realize it is fraudulent...and try to cancel they threaten to sue. Because I am areal estate columnist and a speaker...I get loads of calls and emails every week from agents that commited themselves to $$ each month to services that are primarily bogus. That is why I am a proponent of self education. My teaching site is a FREE self tutorial on many items and tools you can use to get to the top of the search engines. www.realestatetechcoach.com Let the buyer beware also applies to agents buying web services that they don't fully understand.

Jim Crawford

Jan 30, 2007 08:24 AM

Roberta Murphy

San Diego Previews Real Estate - Carlsbad, CA

Carlsbad Real Estate and Homes

Jim: I hate to think of the millions blown each year by agents hoping these solicitors and resellers can solve their business issues.

Jan 30, 2007 02:00 PM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Well I hear a lot of the personal horror stories up front! The fees are incredible! And they can npt get out of the contract. A few years ago I used to use some words on Microsoft. They were legitimate. Whem Microsoft ended the plan a year later, a lot of bogus companies got involved. I got suckered in. I did a lot of quick research on the net, and did a stop payment on my charge cards. Then I tracked the owner of the domain in Baltimore MD. I then contacted the state attorney General, and notified them.

In the meantime I copied and pulled down all their site where they made claims that they were operating under a license from MICROSOFT. And then I contacted Microsoft legal department and shared with them what I had found.

Many agents I know lost thousands. Some 20K+ ! I lost nothing, but have a valuable respect for doing lot of research before leaping into anything! That is why I really do not endorse anything unless I am a satisfied user.

Jim Crawford

Jan 30, 2007 02:17 PM

Darryl Glade

RE/MAX N.O. Properties - New Orleans, LA

New Orleans Real Estate

Jim, great blog...but even better comments! Thank you for responding to so many comments. I learned alot!

Jan 30, 2007 02:18 PM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Glad to assist! There is a great group of professional agents here on ActiveRain! That is what makes it so interesting!

Jim

Jan 30, 2007 02:21 PM

Lauren Corna

Archway Realty, LLC - Southlake, TX

Broker

Jim- Thank you for your post !! It's awesome !!

Jan 31, 2007 12:32 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Thanks, but it is people like yourself that are awesome. This ActiveRain community is all about professionalism, and aspirations of raising the benchmark of performance both in our lives, and those we serve! That is what is most awesome!

Jan 31, 2007 01:42 AM

eSource Agent Google Qualified Company

eSourceAgent.com - Roseville, CA

Jim,

PPC Fraud not nearly the issue it was a year ago - three years ago forget it - it was horrible. You are right in that it is an issue - enough so that we built our own fraud detection system that sits on top of our PPC campaigns. I would be curious to know what PPC systems you are speaking of or just talking about all of them in general - content sites or search ads?

Content sites are notoriously fraudulant - you can create a site ad an advertising affiliate like Google or Yahoo and then you make money when visitors click on the ads. Did not take people long to figure out they could make money through fraudulent clicks. I remember the days when people would create sites with conent ads on them then hire people to surf the net clicking on ads that were on there sites.

If you look at the major engines you will find that there definition of fraud might not be what ours is. For instance if a prospect was looking for homes "anytown real estate" and they clicked on an ad. You would pay for that - now suppose that same person clicked back and typed in "anytown, ca homes" and clicked your ad again. To the SE's that is a valid chargeable click. What you see on your Stat report is the same person clicked in twice in a short period of time - I don't want to pay for that.

Click fraud is not nearly the concern for experienced advertisers as it has been in the past - if you are doing PPC and you dont have secondary filters and the time to call the SE's and file a click fraud report then don't use the content sites only use search - you can opt out of content advertising.

Mar 23, 2007 06:24 AM

Jim Kimmons

San Leon, TX

Mark:

I'm also Google Certified and agree with you. The first thing I advise is to turn off content search. Then I have my clients (I don't do PPC consulting or management unless part of an overall internet program.) use phrase and tighter matching to bring only the most focused clicks. When compared to newspapers, homes magazines, refrigerator magnets, post cards and all the other things we spend billions on each year, PPC is perhaps the most effective marketing mechanism in existence.

Jim Kimmons
http://realestate.about.com

Mar 23, 2007 10:03 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

I still know more agents in this business that have been taken to the cleaners with Pay Per Click! I guess they would raise a stink about it, but many are not even in the business anymore. I know becuase I receive letter after letter every week about it for years! Perhaps they are to blame for not having enough knowledge about the subject, and spend their money like drunken sailors without any return. Real estate agents for the most part do not make that type of money across the board to any pay per click that will actually keep their head above water. If they understood the value of SEO, and natural web placement...they would double their returns in closed business coming directly from the Internet. Most of the participants in Active Rain are real estate agents, they reap no profit whatsoever from consulting, web services or web placement. We make our money from closing real estate sales. I have not spent, and will not spend one cent on PPC. It is a total waste. That is strictly my opinion.

Mar 23, 2007 11:21 AM

eSource Agent Google Qualified Company

eSourceAgent.com - Roseville, CA

Jim C:

Knowledge is the key! I agree - I too know more do-it-yourself advertisers that have been taken to the cleaners (not just real estate but other services as well) The risk for a typical agent practicing DIY PPC is much higher than than risk of DIY SEO. PPC involves a cotrollable process from search -ad copy - landing page - conversion/direct response copy - capture techniques. I realize both PPC and SEO cost money / time if all you have is time then SEO all the way! You will be way ahead of the game because most agents don't have time to do SEO either. We do the same things for our business - we rank high for certian keywords -- We also PPC. I realize their is a balance - but the bottom line is always that - if you don't see any ROI on your advertising then change it or don't do it at all.

As far as Knowledge being the key - you said in your blog that - " 'Pay per click fraud!' Which is exactly what most of pay per click is! " my response is -- in my experience I have dealt with a little fraud but far from "most" - again stay away from the content network unless you understand the type of traffic you will receive from it.

Mar 26, 2007 04:39 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

The difference is that you are a professional. You have integrity and know what you are doing. I'm sure unlike others, you can offer testimonials, results, and closed income from your services, Other agents that sign on the dotted line with unscrupulous PPC and SEO abusers that get agents on the hook for bills that are only enriching the PPC. The real measure of success will eventually mean more closed business. I do not like to even comment on specific companies, because I do not want to get sued. I get loads of emails about this all the time...I guess it has become a hot button.

Have you seen some of the new PPC fraud that is floating our there? The next time I come across it I should copy the link, and post it. The best way I can describe it is a gateway or hallway type of page. They may even have a link or url to one of my sites...when you click on it, it takes you to a totally different site. It may be for a cluster of group terms for one real estate market, but all it does is goes round and round for the one site. However, it is not to the site you are clicking on, it is for another site only, It is sort of the Rubik's Cube of Internet searches. A maze without end. Another way to describe it is like the end-of the Internet site that was there years ago...with no way out! Links that go nowhere, except for the click! I am sure someone is making a fortune off of it, and unfortunately someone is paying dearly for it.

Mar 26, 2007 06:54 AM

eSource Agent Google Qualified Company

eSourceAgent.com - Roseville, CA

Jim,

Yes I have seen something like those sites recently -- in fact I have seen some sites by very large Internet companies that I think is on the edge. For instance, I think showing paid ads on parked domains is a bent business practive - and large companies do it and advertisiers for the most part don't realize it. There are ways to stay away from that garbage. Yes many agents have been "HAD" by Internet marketing companies claiming to provide real SEO/PPC services when they don't provide much value at all. They make it sound so good - even gaurantee the results.

Thanks for all the great information!

Mar 26, 2007 10:52 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Anytime. Years ago MSN ruled the search engine world. They were the player as the default search engine. For one year they offered a real program called "Keywords!" You Could Purchase Keywords, or keyword phrases, It was a very nominal cost of about $40 per keyword/phrase. So I purchased items like "Atlanta Luxury Homes" "Atlanta golf homes" "Atlanta homes for sale!" You were number # 1 in the search engine for the queried results, not as a paid, or apart from ...almost with a star or an asterisk! Then MSN abruptly ended the program exactly 1 year after they started it. Then came the fraud! $500 for a phrase, and they were selling malware, and viruses that you showed up # 1 but only on your own computer! I know agents that signed on to this and went for over 25K! All fraud!

Mar 26, 2007 02:59 PM

Tony Gallegos

Cognicorp Mortgage Banking Advisory - Marietta, GA

It is so important individuals as well as companies have a business plan. It is critical for real estate and mortgage professionals to realize they are their own business upon themselves. Great post.

Jul 05, 2007 07:39 AM

Frank Rubi

Frank Rubi Real Estate, LLC - Metairie, LA

FrankRubiRealEstate.com

Jim, your shared knowledge and experience has help me greatly. Thanks. I also agree, in order to be a checker you must know what and how to check. Your point about the webmaster is well taken. I wish I would have started many years ago. Great post as usual.

Jul 05, 2007 07:58 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Tony I agree, most persons in real estate just have a license.

Frank Rubi We are never too old to learn The challange wiht the Internet is that it change is constant. We have to open our eyes, and fasten our seatbelts

Jul 05, 2007 08:45 AM