So far this spring, real estate leads have begun flowing online in spite of a slowing housing market. A developer in Lake Keowee, SC went from receiving 2-3 real estate leads per week to over 20 web requests.  It has never been a better time to find buyers online and here are a few reasons why:

Tightening lender restrictions are making the leads better. Thanks to the media, it’s becoming common knowledge that you need to have your financial stuff in order if you want to buy a home. The days of “have a pulse, get a loan” are over.  While the leads may not be as plentiful as the good ol’ days, they are, in my opinion, better qualified.

It’s no secret that internet leads may be anywhere from 3-12 months away in terms of buying a home. Therefore, lead incubation management becomes a high priority in building a pipeline of 50-60 prospects that could buy at any time. One of our clients has a buyer’s agent with 50+ prospects that check their automated listing updates at least once per week. This agent is developing quite a nice business for herself in a slow market wouldn’t you say?

The Search Factory has created a way to develop online customer relationships until your web visitors are ready to buy. Our real estate search engine marketing coaching solutions help agents, builders, brokers, and developers create online relationships through a synchronized multi-stage approach including the following 4 steps. Remember, a website is worthless if cannot be found, cannot capture a lead, and cannot track return on investment and other important statistics.

1) Advertise the real estate website on the search engines. Your site needs to be visible or else you’re wasting serious money-something you can’t afford to do if you hope to survive this market.  You must be on the first page of major search engines to be most effective.

2) Turn your website into a lead generating site. In order to succeed in the world of search engine marketing, your site must be able to capture leads. Some ideas to capture leads may be to offer a free giveaway or report on your site in exchange for an e-mail address and phone number. Gifts could include local MLS statistics or an inexpensive resource from the visitors and convention bureau. Zig Ziglar says “help other people get what they want, and you will get what you want.” Buyers want to do one thing when they go to the web, search for homes. Help them do this and provide them with “goodies” that they would give you their info for, and you’ve got a hit.

3) Manage and analyze data from search engine marketing program.  Data must be tracked and ROI calculated. A search engine marketer worth his/her salt must provide a monthly update on how your advertising campaign is performing. With our AdCoaching solutions, you receive a 30 minute coaching call once per month to analyze and enhance your online advertising program.

4) Write a customized and personal lead incubation program for your registered visitors that lasts at least 6 months, 12 months is ideal. In all lead correspondence, always give them a compelling reason to come back to your site.

Remember, the more “returning visitors” you have, the healthier your website. If 50-60% of your visitors are returning, then you have done something right. While you may not know who those returning visitors are today, know that you’re pipeline is filling with people that like using your website over and over again. If they like your site, they probably will like you to and give you a call when they are ready to move forward.
 

What’s a fair price to pay to a SEM company for help with your internet marketing campaign?  Remember, SEO is quite different than PPC or SEM. So let’s talk a little about each.

 PPC marketers typcially charge anywhere from 15-20% of the total ad spend as a fee. This is the industry standard for a company that creates, develops, maintains, and analyzes your pay per click account.  Here are some expectations you should have for that fee.

1. Expect a call once per month with detailed reports pertinent to your business. Reports should include keyword and ad performance as well as CTR percentages and impressions to name a few. The gifted marketer will help you develop trends based on your SEM campaign as well as website analytics.
2. Expect your SEM company to continue to make changes in order to enhance ad performance. Split testing several ads is a must.

SEO pricing tends to be all over the map. SEO is a different game alltogether since it’s not a precision science. There are various techniques that search marketers use to optimize your website. Some of these techniques can take 3-6 months before any fruit can be seen. You may have significant expenses invested before a return is seen. This is a tricky way to go especially in a world where we expect instant results. Here are a few rules before you walk down the winding road of SEO.

1. Always ask for references. CALL THEM! Ask questions about the company such as: Did it help you? How long before you saw results? Would you use this company again in the future? May I ask the price they quoted you?
2. Ask the company if they guarantee results. If they do, be careful. SEO is not a precise science. In my opinion, it’s impossible to guarantee a result. If they have been successful with other websites, then they would be a much safer bet.
3. How long has the company been in business? What kind of education does the marketer have that you will be working with. Will there be any type of coaching or consulting? If so, how often.

Expect to pay anywhere between $50 and $150 per hour depending on the size, overhead, and success of the agency.  In SEO, you definitely get what you pay for, but you should also ask lots of good questions before paying a premium price.

 Remember that pay per click (PPC) advertising is the only one that can produce instant results. If you have any questions about search engine marketing, please visit us online at www.TheSearchFactory.net.

There are many third party companies that can help you pick out keywords for your various search campaigns.  I have found that some of the best ideas for keyword selection can be found within your own sphere of influence.

1) Use trade magazines and journals. They are loaded with industry jargon and little niche phrases that may help you uncover a few great keywords that don’t cost a great deal for prime time positioning.

2) Set up a focus group. Make sure they have a basic understanding of the products and services you offer before sending them searching. This works well in areas such as real estate and many retail categories. Might be more difficult in companies that work with specialized products. Ex) packaging company that produces blister packaging, etc. In this case, the focus group may need to be another company you’ve developed a relationship with or is a current client. Perhaps they could be part of your focus group.

 3) Always be thinking. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had a brilliant search phrase and didn’t write it down. It passes quickly in the recesses of my mind. It literally pays to have a notebook with you to write down all your ideas. One of those ideas will make you rich someday.

Many businesses simply don’t have the budget or staff to craft a campaign. If you’re stuck, you can always leave it to the experts. A good search engine management company will spend time with your company learning it’s culture and marketing strategies. Remember that the company should constantly be tracking, split testing, and coaching you on the results.

Written by: Terry Burger, The Search Factory 

One of our Atlanta clients is going to earn over $16,000 in January using our website marketing systems in a very slow real estate market.

I was on the phone yesterday with Amy, one of the real estate team’s buyers’ agents. She said that she received a lead 3 days ago and wrote a contract that will close in January. This will be the 4th closing in January as a result of the website systems we have put in place for this company.  This team’s top agent in 2007 generated over $120,000 in commissions from internet leads that came directly to the agent’s website.  Oh and by the way, the agent only worked for 10 months.

The Atlanta  real estate marketplace has slowed dramatically the past 12 months with rising inventory, builders going bankrupt, and lenders going out of business.  The agents that seem to be surviving are the ones who are able to capture and incubate a lead over time until it is ready to close. It is estimated that 97-99% of agents do not have a lead incubation program at work. 

The team’s lead agent estimates they will close between 22-25 transactions and volume of $6.6-$7.5M as a result of the leads their website generates through The Search Factory. That will represent approximately 35-40% of the agency’s total business.

The Search Factory is a company that consults agents, brokers, builders, and developers on how to create an internet presence, capture leads, and incubate those leads until they are ready to purchase. If you would like to know more information about how we can help you achieve the results described above, please call 1-877-567-3272.

OK, so you’re a confirmed “do-it-yourself-er”. Some of us are just that way, and that’s OK. As long as you get good training upfront you’ll be fine. Make sure you hire a consultant to know that you’re doing the job right and then get after it. I will warn you, small business owners are the good at the art of distraction. Are you tweaking your PPC campaign but losing business because of it? Know your gifts, and focus on those. If you have time to manage your PPC campaign yourself, then great. But if you’re hiding behind your computer when you should be meeting with customers then hire someone to help. If you’re going to hire, then hire us! Enough preaching and shameless self promotion.

This is going to be a series of reviews on various SEO tools that you can use to enhance your business. Some of these tools are what we use at The Search Factory. As always, if you have any questions regarding what you see here, please feel free to send us an e-mail at http://www.thesearchfactory.net/contactus.htm.

 Tool #1: Keyword Spy

This is one of the best tools in the world. Want to know what keywords your competitors are bidding on? What position they are in? It’s simple with Keyword Spy. You simply type in the web address of your competitor and Keyword Spy spits out the keywords and allows you to download them to a spreadsheet. You can then upload your new keywords into your Yahoo!, Google, or MSN campaign. All this and it’s as simple to use as writing your name.

Think about it, you could spend hours of research coming up with your own keywords for your PPC campaign. And if you’re like me, you’ll wake up in the middle of the night thinking of new ones, having to write them down, and add them in the morning. Or for those neurotics out there, you’ll have to go to your computer and add them immediately-go to sleep for crying out loud!

Keyword Spy takes the guesswork out and allows you to have an upper hand in the fight for online supremacy. Like most online programs, there’s a free trial available online, give it a spin and see if you like it. As always, in order to get the full featured version, you’ll have to purchase.  Simply visit Keyword Spy and see what it can do for you.