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Can your real estate website be found?

Almost everyone in real estate has a website, some are home made like my AtlantaBestHomes.Com others are very professional, and cost upwards of thousands of dollars. It doesn't matter what type of real estate website you have...it only matters if the consumer can find your site easily. Lets call this the #1 page rule. Consumers will very seldom if ever dig very deeper into search results to find something better. Chances are they will stay on the first page of results for a particular search query. There is only a 20% chance they will pick a paid ad, or a sponsored result. On that page will usually be only 10 results, unless the preferences were changed. Most users do not change the defaults.

At the current time, Google is still the most widely used search engine, but MSN's new Live is growing in popularity according to all my web statistics. Yahoo, Ask, AOL are much small players in the popular search engines companies.

If a client types in Atlanta homes for sale, Atlanta homes... and other consumer searches on Google?

If a client types in Atlanta homes for sale, Atlanta homes... and other consumer searches on MSN?

If a client types in Atlanta homes for sale, Atlanta homes... and other consumer searches on ASK?

If you are easily found you will get some business from the web, your sellers will sell their homes quicker, you will receive more inquiries about listing homes for sale, and you will get relocation business... provided your website loads fairly quick, has content that consumers are looking for, and your phone will ring if you have phone numbers on your web page! If your site cannot be found easily, you will have to drive your traffic their by ads, mailings, and marketing which kind of defeats the entire Internet marketing thing.

If you do show up on Page 1 of a search, chances are you can also demonstrate to home sellers the popularity of your site for various search terms which may directly impact the marketing visibility of their home. Such as their subdivision of Windward homes for sale in Alpharetta or Loudoun Virginia Homesfor a county and so on. If you are not found, you are like the Atheist at the funeral. all dressed up and no place to go! Your marketing visibility be easily demonstrated live, or in print! Be careful, you have to know what you are doing, because most of the sellers today are very tech savvy.

RE/MAX Greater Atlanta 770-238-0122 Direct

Or 888-992-5546 Toll Free Office

Atlanta Real Estate & Atlanta Homes for Sale

Posted by Jim Crawford ~ Atlanta Real Estate-ABR E-PRO on 03/17/2007 11:08 PM

Comments (15)

real estate seo, real estate web marketing, seo real estate, real estate search engines, internet marketing for real estate, internet marketing

Originally posted at: Atlanta Real Estate | Atlanta Housing News for Real Estate: Can your real estate website be found?

This post has been included in Georgia Information

15 Comments on Can your real estate website be found?

MAR

2007

Good points, with that being sale does it matter if you are 1,2, or 3 on the xxxxx town real estate. Do you think there is a difference or will most people look at the first couple and choose one. Eric

Then what makes them choose one.

MAR

2007

It does not have to be #1. I've not been #1 for a while, but I am in top 5 onp age one of most searches. I find the top of page one is better than bottom.

I find that being on the first search page is important, but not necessarily #1. Many searchers will see that the top few are conglomerates - homegain, etc. - and go down to the individual agents.

Even if you are on the first page, I think you should still supplement this by your marketing.

Good Points. Being in the top 5 listings on the results page (before a person has to start scrolling to see other results) is what they call in the newspaper world being "above the fold". There have been studies done on how many more visitors go to the #1 site listed on a page showing 10 results vs. the #9 site on that same page. All will get visitors, but the sites displayed "above the fold" will get more. Furthermore, search engine studies have also been done on search habits too. Women usually will not go past Page 1 of the search results, while guys and "geeks" will go out as far as Page 3 of 10 listings each. If they are not getting the results they had hoped for, then that person will try a new search or go to a different search engine and try there. So your site must really be found in the Top 30 for your targeted search phrase(s) to really draw in visitors from the search engines.

And Sharon is correct too. Search engines can only be counted on for no more than about 50% to 60% of your visitors. So your off-line marketing efforts (flyers, postcards, business cards, etc. all displaying your web address) are equally important in driving traffic to your web site. But if you are not in the Top 30 results, your off-line marketing is having to do virtually all of the work to drive in visitors! How many people can you personally tell you have a web site?

Sharon You are absolutely correct! It is about being visible towards the top of the page, then the eyes will quickly scan to where they will go.

Hey Win! Thanks for all the good information. You are a man to be reckoned with for all the knowledge you have and share!

I find it is always good to be found under several searches. Most agents focus on just a few, and are not very creative. However, most buyers do not just search for "Vanilla Ice Cream!" We need to acknowledge that there is more than one flavor of ice cream, so are there different terms for real estate needs. One phrase cannot capture all. We have to think like a consumer and head them off at the pass!

Also, I find it is very important to have my phone numbers on the tops of pages. It is logical because a page loads from the top down. Viewers will also not drill down to find our how to contact you. They are lazy.

Jim,

Thanks for all the great info - I'm a rookie on SEOs and have paid for most my internet marketing though PPC but even I can see that that is a short term strategy. I am learning lots on Active Rain.

It's also great to get to know someone from your area. We often give referrals to the Atlanta area being the hub of the southeast and often a place local people relocate too.

Wish me luck as I work my way up the "page food chain" - Looking forward to seeing you at the top :-)!

Thanks to Active Rain and my posts to localism, my rankings have greatly improved. I am not on page 1 but I now rank on page 2 for either my website or my blogs on the local area. Before I started doing this I was ranking so poorly I couldn't even find my website in the SERPS.

Rita

Cyndee, we all start out as rookies on the web! Ween yourself from the PPC. Most of it is fraud. It is like a crack addiction you do not get indexed any higher, and when you stop paying you fall in ranking. Work on the Search Engine Optimization.

Rita, I've noticed a big difference also. Parially because ActiveRain is a seperate domain referring to another. It is efective. Great for networking also!

Some companies have a polilcy of not allowing the agent to have a web site and that can be a problem. However, my active rain profile comes up on page 1 - so thank you to active rain! I am hoping that some drops will fall my way.

Hi Joan!

You wrote -
"Some companies have a polilcy of not allowing the agent to have a web site and that can be a problem."

You must be kidding! Are you saying that your broker doesn't allow you to have a web site? I certainly hope that isn't the case!

If that is, are you an employee or an independent contractor? If the later, doesn't the company get part of the brokerage fees that you generate? Then why would the firm want to restrict your ability to generate those? Duh!

As a real estate broker in Virginia for 31 years and a manager for several real estate firms, I don't believe a company can restrict an "independent contractor" as to how they operate or where they advertise... as long as the agent is complying with the state's rules & regulations (including advertising being supervised by the broker) and the NAR Code of Ethics. Any restriction might be considered a restraint of trade in how an agent chooses to market yourself and conduct your business. Should a broker have a policy denying you the ability to market your individual services - even as an exclusive buyer agent to possible buyers - in any ethical and legal fashion you choose (including having your own web site), then perhaps it is time to move on. A broker works for you, the agent - not the other way around. Now some brokers would just love to try to make their agents be completely dependent on them for all of their business, but that is just not the case and won't last very long before the agents wise up.

In 2007, I don't think we still have "indentured servants" anymore. Ha!

Well stateWin. I agree. As an independant sub-contractor they cannot. You are not an employee. If that was my brokers policy, I'd find a new broker. That raises another question about a broker competing with his agents...I am not a big fan of that either.

I never tire of learning about ways to get my website more traffic. Thank you for the wonderful post.

You're more than welcome. The only problems is that it changes a lot! :)

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