Google Adwords is a hot venue for generating motivated home seller leads. You need to be a player.
Home sellers start their journey on the internet. Hop on Google Trends, type in “sell my house”, and observe Google assigns this query a 100 rating – the maximum score for “commonly searched topics.”
Dreaming of a pipeline full of motivated home sellers? The question is not whether you need search engine marketing, rather, how you will do search engine marketing. When weighing the value of search engine vs. direct-mail leads, think about inbound v. outbound marketing: people who query Google about selling their house are without prompt considering selling. Direct-mail can work, but since you are soliciting the response, there are more tire-kickers.
Two avenues exist for representation on the Search Engine Results Page: Google Adwords (pay to show your advertisement) and Search Engine Optimization (“organically” rank without paying). SEO takes a long time. Age of domain is a huge factor. Google will not rank a new site. Organic rankings require sweat equity. Blogs, backlinks, use social signals on a daily basis. Organic rankings don’t cost dollars like paid advertising, so of course it’s a worthy long-term endeavor. My website targeting leads that need to sell fast in Florida, has taken two years of to crack page one on core search queries.
Let’s face it: we can’t wait around for years. We need to make money yesterday. Google Adwords let’s you get to the top of the Search Engine Results Page immediately. For the uninitiated, here’s a quick run-down how it works: (1) design an advertisement, (2) choose “keywords” that trigger your advertisement to show, i.e. an “impression”, (3) set an amount you’d like to “bid” on those keywords; (4) you are charged when your ad gets clicked. You create different “campaigns” that contain “ad groups” to organize your account. Google than does a “bidding” among competitors seeking to rank for the same keywords in deciding whose ads will show. The two factors in the bidding are the amount you bid as well as the relevance score for each “keyword.”
This is all very intimidating to start, particularly on a limited budget – but it shouldn’t be. You have absolute control over spend. The Adwords account is free to set-up and you can set initial bids at pennies. You only pay when your ad is clicked. Google’s “Adwords Help Center” is user friendly with clear explanations. Google provides free phone support with a knowledgeable account manager who are quite generous with their time. For example, I’m running an A/B test with WisePops – I e-mailed my account rep yesterday to set up a conference call regarding tracking conversions, and meeting is set-up for Monday morning. Don’t forget: you can also do paid Ads on Bing. Although Bing has less search volume, there is also less competition and cheaper clicks.
Jumping in the Google Adwords game is a great way for instant motivated seller leads. Just make sure to rely on Google Support or others experienced in designing your marketing plan!
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