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.

This is the question I am asked the most in a given week. The answer is not easy to pin down, but it truly comes down to your needs at the moment.

SEO, or the process of optimizing your website, can take many months for the keywords you choose to eventually show up in the search engines. Companies will charge a monthly fee based on the number of keywords you want. Identifying a reputable SEO company is difficult. You will want to interview several, making sure that they use what we call “White Hat” techniques that the search engines approve.  Some search engines will ban your site if your website uses techniques that are not above board in terms of ethical SEO. Keep in mind, once your site is optimized, it’s difficult to change the text associated with your search results placement. PPC (pay per click) advertising is somewhat opposite from SEO. You can be placed on the search engines very quickly and get a product or site up and running generally within hours. Your ads on PPC can be changed in an instant. This is particularly helpful if you want to publish sale items, special incentives, etc. (EX: A homebuilder offering a special weekend incentive like ($10,000 off existing inventory this weekend only). The flexibility that pay per click offers any profit generating business is well worth the investment. According to a recent survey, 40% of all sales conversions result from pay per click advertising. Ideally, you need a little of both. My company prefers to hand craft and perfect campaigns on the PPC level due to the ability to test and retest every detail regarding our clients’ advertising. Once you have a well crafted and effective PPC campaign, then a mix of PPC and SEO techniques can supply you with a balanced attack.  Know that my statements here will be met with controversy depending on which side of the SEO/PPC fence you’re on.  Have questions? Please call us at 877-567-3272 or visit us online at www.TheSearchFactory.net.  We’ll be happy to help you sort out what is best for your company. Sign up for our free newsletter and to be notified of upcoming search engine training.