(this post is a guest blog post from Bob Stewart, ActiveRain Community Evangelist)
Recently, I shared some ideas with a group of KW Trainers. In our short webinar, we discussed some practical ways that an E-edge user can leverage the tools on their E-edge website when they are creating content for their real estate business.
We briefly started the conversation by discussing some of the most effective types of blog posts that an associate could create for their business. In that brief discussion, I spoke about writing blog posts, or creating content on your website that focuses on very specific places or areas in your market, namely specific subdivions and condo complexes. If you are interested in getting a more thorough explanation of how to create a piece of content of this nature, you can should check out our blogging blueprint series where we focus on creating this type of content and give detailed examples of how to create this kind of post. In addition, we also offer a blueprint you can use to create your own hyper local content (hyper local means about something very specific in your market, like a subdivision or condo complex)
In the class, I used this post as an example of a very thorough post of this nature. Katrina writes about the Bavarian Village Condos and follows our blueprint very close. Her post is the first organic search result in Google when you search for: Bavarian Village Condos Anchorage
Someone Can Find The Post, Now What?
Once someone finds Katrina's blog post, it's important that she make sure there are ample opportunities for that consumer to be led to Katrina's e-edge website. The first opportunity to create a connection between her piece of content (meaning her blog post about Bavarian Village Condos) and her website is by creating a link in the body of her content that links back to a page on her website that actually shows listings in the Bavarian Village Condos.
Let's assume you know how to create a link. The question then becomes, to where on my site do I actually link?
We create a link to a page that gives the consumer exactly what they wanted, condos for sale in that specific building (or at the very least, in the immediate area). In this video, I show how someone can manipulate the search fields on your e-edge site to create a URL you can use to link to a very specific place on your website, showing listings in a very specific area.
How to Create a Community Served Page on Your Market Leader Website
The ability to create community served pages on your Market Leader website is one of the most underutilized features, in my opinion. With a little bit of effort, you can create pages on your E-edge site that have the ability to rank in the search engines and lead to more traffic to your site.
As a strategy, the best thing you can do when creating 'community served' pages on your E-edge website, is to create these pages for every subdivision and condo complex in your market. Why? Because the competition to rank in the search engines at this very specific level is much less fierce.
Here is a video showing you how to create a community served page on your E-edge website
Where to Find The Search Widget Functionality on Your eEdge Pro
In the class, we discussed using a search widget from your eEdge pro account and placing the search widget out in different locations on the internet. Most any site that allows you to embed HTML would be a candidate to which to add the search widget.
The search widget itself looks like this:
When added to a site that allows HTML of this nature, the widget itself becomes interactive and allows someone on that page to search for homes and be taken directly to the results of the search on your eEdge website.
In order find the code, simply navigate to 'admin' drop down from the main header navigation and then select 'website' from the drop down menu. Once you do that, there is an option on the left hand side of the page for 'Search Widget'. By clicking that link, you are brought to a page that shows you three different styles and sizes of widget, as well as gives you the code for each of the widgets. Simply highlight the code, copy it, then paste it out there anywhere that allows you to add HTML code.
A few examples would be your blogger blog, your ActiveRain blog, your Wordpress blog......or even another website you may support in your business that doesn't have listings being displayed on the site.
Use 'SiteStream' Lead Routing Technology To Manage All Your Leads in One Place
In our class, I talked about how to use a feature in eEdge called 'SiteStream'....although you might not actually see it referred to as that on the site. On your eEdge database, this will be called 'Leads'.
The purpose of this tool is to allow you to manage all of your leads in one centralized place. If you use Trulia, REALTOR.com, Zillow, ActiveRain, or RealtyNow.com you can funnel contacts and leads from each of these places directly into your eEdge database, without the hassle of having to create a new contact each time one of these places sends you an email letting you know you have a new lead.
In the video below, I show you where to find this cool tool and then how to use it on Trulia and ActiveRain.
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