Well I have been learning more than I ever thought I would about SEO… Not its not Senior Event Opportunities… Its a magically term known as Search Engine Optimization. Basically if you as a real estate profession wants to weather this storm you better get “on board” with all the new, wonderful and scary technology out in internet real estate land!
Having a beautiful web site is wonderful…having clients actually go to it is wonderful…having “internet searchers” find it is MAGNIFICENT. Imagine having a party and sending out beautiful inviations and NO ONE shows up! Agents doing template web sites just have an extra $500.00 to spend. Agents like us that have a much more sophisticated web site are quickly learning that again – to weather the real estate storm- we have to go that extra mile!
I have been turned on to a new real estate web site that will work in coordination with mine on my listings – active, pending or sold, By using “key words” or words that home buyers are actually searching for on line the site magically appears on Google and connects with san-diego-coastal-homes which would be me! These blogs are great fun for me to write – but having many more internet visitors finding me is much greater FUN!
Real Estate Weathering the Storm is widely discussed in the new CAR magazine where it talks about how brokers are giving agents many new opportunities to build their client base. The “fab four” Realtor.com, Trullia, Zillow and Yahoo still have their lead generators where an agent for a hefty fees pays to “leads” (I hate that word). I have tried Trulia and even though it does send “leads” (yuk) they are often totally unrealistic as the parameters they are searching for don’t exist. NO we do not have 2 acre properties for $150,000 in the middle of San Diego. No offense but if a buyer is searching on Trulia already wouldn’t they KNOW that? Agents being fed a client for a certain listing can very likely not be familiar with the area they signed up with – only zip code available- and thus not doing that seller any good whatsoever. YIPEE you are on Trulia- but now you are talking to an agent who has never heard of the neighborhood they are inquiring about so that sellers gets the lead switched to an area the agent is familiar with. Ergo, this new system where an agent can get THEIR own listing on the front page of Google could be a really great opportunity. Weather Storm – no worries have umbrella. It’s a lot of work to get this all down but seems well worth it!
According to the CAR brokers that are generating leads for their agents on distressed properties through their relationships with banks are increasing their business by 30-40%. It’s interesting as the company they are talking about is right smack in Beverly Hills. Lots of agencies want to ignore the ugly reality of these properties coming into high end neighborhoods. It’s only just begun so let’s just treat them as regular normal sales so the seller can move on with their life!
Its a brand new world out there and aside from personal referrals agents have to continue to increase their knowledge to reinforce their brand!
