Like you, I resisted pay per click for some time, but now that I used it for awhile, I'm pleased with the results and the cost. I'm only with google, haven't tried yahoo yet.

Grant. Thanks for the post.  Many disciplines in real estate, all equally important to their business owners, are competing for the same search results.  The thing that complicates matters for example may be the words a consumer may type in Google for a realtor vs and apprasier vs a loan officer could be relatively the same.  Your example of Real Estate in Frisco holds true.  All disciplines will be reflected in the results in the search.

Pay Per Clicks is one of many tactics that needs to be in play for successful search results. 

AR blogs, while I have seen your recent comments, need to be informative and of value.  Not neccessarily a race to the top of the points list.  But, as I have witnessed sometimes we simply can't help ourselves...

Being new to AR I am starting to conclude that it could be:

1. About a new group attempting to establish themselves and/or an older group attempting to hold onto a space they've been in for a while.
2. That ‘new' bloggers tend to be a bit more aggressive at first  than more experienced ones.

Then of course we can't lose sight of the fact that the web has a very long memory. Our written word and effort to market ourselves becomes a permanent part of the web.

Thanks again for your post.  Let's click, pay, and post!

 -Meg 

I'm glad its working for you.  I'm considering adding it to my marketing mix.

PPC hasn't been effective for me.  It did get a lot of web site traffic, a few email inquiries and fewer telephone inquiries but it didn't seem to find the real motivated buyers or sellers.  I am very pleased that you are having success with it.  I may try it again in the future, but I'll have to reason out a real strategy to find the motivated consumers.

I do fairly well with Google Adwords, but my greatest numbers come from organic positioning of my site in the Google result for my keywords.  I am usually on the first page of results for Memphis Real Estate, and those who surf sites seem to think mine is the most user friendly.

Yahoo Ads are another story.  I get very few click throughs, and i hardly show up at all in yahoo searches.  My SEO gurus cannot figure it out.

So as a result, over 80% of my search engine hits are from google.  Of my total hits, over 50% are the result of visitors typing in the direct url - It pays to advertise your url everywhere.

joe spake

www.spake.com

I have used pay per click as a new agent.  Seems like a great tool.  Problem was my personal website did not have a way for people to put in there information so I could capture a lead. Now my website is geting reworked and I plan on going back to pay per click.

Hey guys

Can you baby step me through the whole pay per click concept? Where do I begin? How much does it cost?...

diva decor design

Home Staging Services

I wouldn't bother with paying for clicks until I knew I had mastered two other important elements: 1) that my site was good enough to keep visitors on it for a while and 2) I had a drip campaign in place to keep in touch with those visitors over the next 18 - 24 months. That being said, PPC is definitely something to use in the marketing mix.

Thanks Grant, I have wondered about pay per click but just haven't jumped over that divide yet.  I have the opposite problem of Joe Spake.  I rank on the first page of Yahoo in my market area but can't beg a spot on Google.

One thing that really helped me with Yahoo is that I started posting all my listings on Craig's List and Google business with all my ads having a link back to my personal website.  This took my from the 10th page on Yahoo to the 1st page of Yahoo within 3 weeks!  I was really amazed.  Now if I could only crack the Google nut!

kind of a back burner idea i have been wanting to try.......

i am glad that is working for you.

I don't think there is enough accountability.  The number of 'clicks' charged to my ADWORD account do not, repeat, do not coincide with the webpage monitoring statistics. I am being charged for more clicks than are being recorded.

It's like getting 7/8ths of a gallon of gas but paying for 1 gallon. Suggestions?

David - I ran an adword campaign several years ago for my auction site and have to agree. I have had one now for over a year with Superpages and what a waste of $20.00 a month. I am convinced a $12.00 ad in the paper will get you better exposure with unsuspecting domain names. Fly under the radar of the seller or buyer, don't let them think they are being SOLD on something.

Example. - http://www.VIPBestBuys.com/ and http://www.FREEAreaHomeLists.com/ just to name a couple I own.

Grant,

I have been using PPC on Google and Yahoo for about 6 months and it is working well. Choosing the right keywords is so important. Followup is very important as well. Good luck.

John

www.metrodetroitpropertysearch.com