Internet marketing and promotion for estate agents
Overview
The marketing of property can often get out of control.
Advertising salesman have grown rich peddling to Estate Agents
who know that they have to keep a high profile in the area.
Glossy brochure or radio, billboard or press, community sponsorship
or directory listings? The choice is endless. The internet
provides an alternative:- an intelligent well targeted, service
that ensures decision makers know about your services. Building
a web site without harnessing the power of search engines
is pointless. Only your best friends will know it exists.
Due to the sheer number of web pages competing for attention
on the Internet, estate agents need to make sure that their
web site is easy to find. Users may select a search engine
based on the proximity of a search button, the ease of use,
the quality of the results they receive, or its popularity.
Knowing how to attract search engines to your web site is
extremely important, since most people depend on search engines
to find information. Effective promotion delivers the right
information to the right people at the right time Online advertising
or internet advertising offers an inexpensive sales channel
direct to 'Property Search' consumers worldwide. Free advertising
does not exist and many an advertising agency have made healthy
profits from designing web sites for property companies.
Problems
If your site appears in the first 10 search results, you
have a prominent web presence. If your site does not show
up you will have further expense as to gain this competitive
edge, some search engines invite site owners to purchase or
bid on key words that pertain to their web site. There are
hundreds of search engines on the Internet. They will all
accept web sites if they are correctly submitted. They all
have different rules to judge the sites position on the results
that it returns to searchers. Announcement and listing services
allow you to submit a site simultaneously to many search engines
and services that list web sites. Many of these services are
free but not effective. Sadly, web sites built without addressing
the search engines' requirements are destined to online oblivion.
Solution
Web positioning, or search engine positioning, is one of
the most preferred marketing strategies for websites. It is
especially very popular among small and medium sized businesses
that are under a strict budget and in need of such inexpensive
sources of traffic to their websites. It is believed that
over 95% of traffic comes from search engines and directories
such as AltaVista, Google, Yahoo, Northern Light, Lycos, Excite,
DMOZ, etc. If users are searching for information, products,
or services online, they use a search engine/directory. And
according to a Compaq study, 68% of 500 million users looked
only at the first page of the results drawn by a search engine.
Therefore, if your website ranks in the top 10 positions of
major search engines/directories, you can and you will attract
hundreds or even thousands of new visitors to your website
every month. More importantly, if web positioning is done
carefully, your site will attract very targeted visitors who
are more likely to be customers or recipients of the services
that your business is offering. Most of the search engines
do not charge you for submitting your site, but a few engines
do charge you a one-time fee for submission.
Site Overhaul
The ultimate goal of every web site is to be included in
the first 10 search results. But how do you accomplish this?
Generally speaking search engines read and memorise the words
on a web page. If the word that the "searcher" enters
into the query is not on the page, no match results and the
page will not be listed. However each search engine uses different
techniques for its searches. Search engines may look for titles,
content, keywords and descriptions (as included in HTML "META
tags") or some combination of the above. Once the content
has been developed, the search engines use algorithms to rank
the pages by generating a Confidence or Relevance Factor that
is displayed as a percentage or points with the search results.
The Relevance Factor is determined by how many times a word
is used in a document and how it is used. Ranking also may
be determined by a site reviewer or by the number of web sites
that link to your web site, indicating its credibility or
popularity. More on Developing Searchable Pages
Branding
Your starting point to increase estate sales is your target
area, its perceived image, its investment potential and its
strategic location. Collate the type and size of accommodation
available, local schools and Council information to help to
build an in-depth profile of your particular niche. Your knowledge
of the market helps determine the areas and the sectors of
the local economy to be targeted and high-lighted in order
to increase your sales Once you know who your audience is,
you need to package yourself so that you appeal to them. Just
like a product your business will need a strong image that
can develop into a well-known and trusted on line brand name.
Positioning has to do with the position that people place
you in when they think about you compared to other Estate
Agents. You need to define your business so that consumers
will hold you in their minds in the position that you expect.
It must not be left to chance. You do it by proper packaging
and branding . Why offer 'all property related services' when
you can write out and describe your skills, services, features
and benefits? If you really were a consumer product on a supermarket
shelf, what colour would your package be? That may help you
decide your on line identity. More on Positioning Analysis
Site Submissions
When submitting a site, be patient. Due to volume and backlog
some search engines can take 6 weeks or more to get a site
listed. Others will show up in a couple of days. Do not be
discouraged if a page does not show up immediately. Submit
several key "entry point" pages of your site to
search engines. Submit the Table of Contents or Sitemap. Prepare
a brief site description and include it with the submission.
Update your pages and resubmit for each alteration. Each time
the "Last Updated" date changes, your site is eligible
for new indexing. Establish reciprocal links with sites that
are indexed by commercial search engines, such as your Council's
home page, to be included in their indexing run. Become an
information hub or a recognised source for good links, and
the search engines will come to you. More on Site Submissions
Targeted Promotions
If you are a relatively new Estate Agent on a commission
split with your competitors operating in a depressed area
you will have difficulty positioning yourself in the Luxury
Home market. However, if you grew up with horses and know
everything equestrian you might successfully position yourself
in the Horse Property market. Or maybe you grew up on a lake
or the sea-side and still live there. You might well package
yourself in the Retirement or Waterside Property market While
you're at it, why not create your very own slogan or tag line
to match your positioning? Next, you have to begin publicising
your new image to consumers. Especially on your web site.
For your plan, write down all the reasons you can think of
that a consumer can gain by contacting you instead of some
"generalist" or "me-too" Estate Agents.
More on Targeted Promotions
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