WHY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS IDENTIFY YOUR LISTINGS BY ZIP CODE, AS WELL AS BY STREET ADDRESS, CITY & STATE

Are you uploading your listings to the Web by street address?  Or are you using a description like "three bedroom starter home close to downtown"?

The "three bedroom starter home" tag would make a great subheading for your listing.  But if you want to lead with something that will be found by search engines, upload and title your listings by address.

DON'T FORGET TO ADD THE PROPERTY'S ZIP CODE TO THE LISTING TITLE. 

WHY?

BECAUSE SO FEW AGENTS AND BROKERS ARE DOING IT.

Here's the result of a Google search for "(zip code) real estate"

[Image of Google search for "54850 real estate" showing Madeline Island Realty listings in postitions four, five and six on page one.]

More and more listing aggregators are using zip code as a primary search criterion.

If it provides searchers with another way to find your listings, what's the harm in trying this strategy?

[Please Note - Before you comment or write me to say that I'm "wasting time" doing this, you may notice that Trulia and HotPads are making an extra effort to optimize the terms "(zip code) real estate" for zip codes all over the United States.]