New Jersey MLS (NJMLS) IDX Search

Search the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service IDX for a home in Northern New Jersey.  Imagine the Internet traffic you will get to your professional Real Estate website by advertising Bergen County properties and other listings of the New Jersey MLS. With RE/Advantage’s New Jersey MLS IDX search solution you can give added exposure to all your MLS listings in the New Jersey MLS and close sales easier than ever!

New Jersey MLS IDX includes such communities as:

• Alpine
• Allendale
• New Milford
• Cresskill
• Oakland
• Palisades Park
• Tenafly
• Saddle Brook
• Westwood
• Wyckoff

Since the New Jersey MLS IDX solution from RE/Advantage now gives your office listings added exposure think of the relief that will come to mind when you direct your client to use your New Jersey MLS IDX solution to search for homes. The simplicity of this listing service cannot be compared to any other; it is easy to use yet comprehensive enough to supply you and your clients will the in depth property information they need to make a decision to purchase a home with you.

RE/Advantage’s New Jersey MLS IDX solutions includes a new unified MLS feature that allows REALTORS® to display listings from multiple MLS’s all at once within the same property search.

Now more user friendly than before clients will have access to:

• Mortgage calculator
• Custom URL’s
• Property map
• Enhanced photo gallery
• Listing comparison
• and so much more!

With the a New Jersey MLS IDX search solution, prospects can filter their real estate searches to view only listings with virtual tours or view the newest listings first. In my opinion the best feature of all is the administrative panel – potential clients have the option of creating an account where they can save favorite listings and sign up to receive automated emails when a new listing is submitted to the MLS that matches their search criteria. From there you as the REALTOR® have access to contact information, therefore generating a lead.

Join the community of REALTORS® that have integrated RE/Advantage’s New Jersey MLS IDX search and increased their sphere of influence! Take charge of your marketing plan and leap ahead of your opponents with the New Jersey MLS IDX listing service.

Why wait?

If you’re going to expand your real estate business professionals agree that IDX search solutions are the way to achieve growth in your sales.

RE/Advantage supports IDX Search tools from MLS’s throughout the country.  If you would like additional information on the NJMLS IDX Search tool or an IDX solution from any other MLS please Contact Us via the Internet or call us at (877) 791-4825.

Keyword Strategy

Keywords are the fundamental backbone of your SEO strategy.  Choosing the correct keywords become vital to your overall SEO success. Long tail keywords driving hyper-local content are the REALTORS best friend.  Leveraging this can be a key to your successful SEO campaign.  Knowing your market is also important to your success.  Perhaps the most overlooked and underused concept is keyword research.  Keyword research is vital to your success but I see very few of my Real Estate clients using it.  When you research keywords you are also breaking down your market segment.  By understanding your market you can then begin to know which keywords to choose.

Using a ‘keyword analyzer’ for this task is critical.  A keyword analyzer is just as the name applies.  It is a tool that assists you in finding the right keywords to build your SEO around.  Google offers a few free ones that you can use to research which phrases are popular as well as diving into which long tail phrases might be good to use. The first keyword analyzer analyzes phrases and search volume.  The second one analyzes phrases based on specific websites.   Keyword analyzers also offer feedback into search volume, page counts, and competition among other things.

Another research technique is to see who is ranking on the keywords you would like to use.  So run some searches to see who is in the top 5 spots.

Your best course of action is to choose keywords that will generate a reasonable amount of traffic but do not have a lot of competition.  That is why long tail keywords are a popular choice as they offer both of these attributes.

Once you have some keyword phrases assembled you now want to begin to build pages around these.  Another idea is to blog about them.

A quick note about Title Tags.  Putting your keyword phrase in the Title Tag is another good idea and should always be used.

If you are an Agent a good title tag might be;

Anamda Reens – Nevada Real Estate

of if you want to be more specific

Anamda Reens – Las Vegas Nevada Real Estate

or get hyper local

John Townsen – Whispering Hills – Deer Park Maryland Homes

Some people argue on where to place the keyword text.  Some say in the beginning, i.e.

Nevada Real Estate – Anamda Reens

I am not convinced either is better and sometimes it comes down to how it looks to the reader as well.

Whatever you choose to do, a bit of preparation is always a good idea.  If you do not have the time, hire a professional to do the work.   But either way preparing is the keyword here.

Writing Better Blog Posts

Good writing is the key to any blog post or web page.  When you decide to write something keep it interesting, compelling, exciting and unique.

Here are a few ways you can enhance what you write:

1. Size Matters

Most people tend to read the first few sentences and then begin to scan your post.  So try to grab your reader in the first paragraph or two.  Also try to keep your posts short.  Writing a 3,000 word post might be a lot for a reader to digest.

2. Shorten Those Sentences

Short sentences tend to be easy to read.  Bulleted lists are another way to keep the attention of your reader.  I know sometimes you need those longer sentences but use them sparingly.

3. Repeating Is So Good

Repetition is a good thing.  It reminds the reader of your main theme and helps to set the tone throughout the article, just do not over use it.

4. Get To The Point

Don’t fluff your post to try to make the page seem full just because you think your article needs to meet some magic word count. Write concise and your audience will thank you for it and come back for more.

5. Writing Style

When I am writing a blog post, I like to write informally.  Now don’t think informal means un-professional.  Being informal helps you become more personal to your reader.

When I am writing a web page I tend to write more structured and formal.  Unlike blog post, web pages are a formal platform where you should be more structured.

6. Don’t Give It All Away

Unless you are writing a post that is detailed, your posts should poke and prod your audience.  The purpose is to have them interact with you by creating feedback, so don’t give it all away, leave room for discussion.

7. It Is All About The Benefits

Unless you are telling a story, your post should be all about the benefits.  Why is this good?  How will it help me?  By writing about the benefits of your subject you will keep your reader coming back for more.

While this is not the holy grail of copy writing, it certainly highlights some good practices.  Do you have any others you can add?

Create an Internet Resource to Service the 4 Major Personality Types of Buyers and Sellers

As a member of a Real Estate website design company too often do I see REALTORS® who are so engrossed in what they feel they’d like to see on their website that they simply look past the main reason they should be purchasing a website – to create a useful and informative resource for potential clients to search for listing and Real Estate services. I constantly hear “I” and “me” when I should be hearing “my clients would like…” and “this would be useful to the real estate buyers/seller” – so before you, as a REALTORS®, decide to purchase and provide input on a website design take a step back and remember who you are really creating that resource for!  Become the buyer or seller and provide the benefits that attract them.

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I read an interesting article on ActiveRain this morning from Loreena Yeo, Broker of Frisco TX Realtor®. She discussed the 4 major personalities of a home buyer and seller and how to service each type of person based on their individual characteristics.

Amiable buyers and sellers typically fall under the personality type of individuals that service others like, teachers, nurses, care-givers, pastors etc. They most likely will be kind-hearted and soft spoken, which means they may not be as decisive as you may want a buyer or seller to be when initiating a business transaction. What you can do to match that type of personality – be agreeable and relaxed, logical and systematic. Create your business plan with written guidelines to avoid some of the “why” questions you will most likely be confronted with. Most of all, you should have a bit more patience with this type of buyer or seller!

You website should carry complementary information such as school information, trend reporting, and tips to assist in the buying/selling process

Analytical buyers and sellers typically fall under the personality type of individuals who are highly detail oriented, very perceptive and may not follow through with a business transaction if they do not get ALL the facts. Analytical individuals could be engineers, accountants, stock brokers etc. What you can do to match that type of personality – be systematic, thorough, deliberate, and precise. Create your business plan with that is logical and accurate to avoid some of the “how” questions you will most likely be confronted with. Most of all, you should all time for evaluation on the clients side and expect to repeat yourself!

Online listing information for these people is a must so IDX certainly comes into play here.  Also housing statistics would re-enforce the need for their research.

Controlling buyers and sellers typically fall under the personality type of individuals who are objective-focused, hardworking, high energy; the risk takers! Business executives, entrepreneurs, and CEOs would fall under this personality type. What you can do to match that type of personality – be organized and concise yourself. Create your business plan with that is logical and accurate to avoid some of the “what” questions you will most likely be confronted with. Most of all remember that with this type of person always provide options AND solutions.

Similar to the above, these people also need an aggressive follow-up campaign as time is usually a critical factor.  Also strong information on the benefits of using you as a REALTOR.  These type of people usually demand a strong and experienced professional to work with.

‘The Promoter’ buyers and sellers typically fall under the personality type of individuals who enjoy the spotlight; are warm and enthusiastic. They may also be good motivators and communicators but in the same respect may talk a big game and not follow through in the end. More often than not sales people, ‘celebrities’ and prominent speakers fall into the promoter category. What you can do to match that type of personality – be enthusiastic, open and responsive right back! Develop a relationship that minimizes the buyers or sellers work and always be forthcoming. Create your business plan with that is logical and accurate to avoid some of the “who” questions you will most likely be confronted with. Most of all try to press upon the idea of how you and going to help them!

In this scenario your follow-up ability is going to be critical and personal people skills come in handy.  People of this type often like to see your past accolades so testimonials might also be helpful.

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This is why RE/Advantage develops Real Estate website layouts that are USER friendly as well as REALTOR® friendly. Our designers have incorporated a Featured Listings widget right on the Home Page of our website designs to enhance exposure of personal or office listings individual to a REALTOR® or office as well as custom layouts that are easy to navigate with community, school and listing information right at your fingertips.

Long Tail Keywords Power Hyper Local Content

Long tail keywords are the fuel that powers hyper local content for your real estate website—so why aren’t you taking advantage of it to its fullest? Long tail keywords mean hyper relevant content, which can get you more buyers/sellers and more income, read on to learn more.

So what are long tail keywords?

Long tail keywords are very specific variations of root keywords that have lower competition, are more relevant to what the user is searching for and can mean great passive traffic to your website.

What is hyper local content?

It’s content that is, just like long tail keywords, extremely targeted and extremely specific to what the visitor is looking for. Hyper local content is relevant to the visitor’s immediate area in most cases, making the content extremely relevant and valuable. That’s all well and good, but how can you use it to your advantage on your real estate website?

Putting it together…

If you run a blog or a website you should be using long tail keywords to pull in visitors and traffic from people who want hyper local content or any content that is specific to their interests and area. No matter the niche you’re in, especially if you’re in real estate where competition online is fierce, you want to use long tail keywords so you can fight in lower competition search results, get more targeted traffic and get better results—it’s just that simple. Long tail keywords get more traffic in the long run since you can rank more readily for them.

What’s a good example of a long tail word that could draw in traffic? Let’s say you’re in real estate and you want to attract more visitors to your blog or website, instead of trying to attack a high volume, high competition keyword like “real estate florida” you might want to go after a keyword like “real estate in florida keywest homes.” A keyword like this is going to have significantly lower search volume but it will be much easier to rank for and it’s also extremely targeted.

You can choose to either optimize your blog posts for the long tail keywords or simply article market with those keywords to drive traffic. Another good idea is to purchase the domain name as a long tail keyword and build the entire website around the long tail keyword. Your website can then become an authority in the niche or keyword its based around which means better traffic, ranking and it might even become the “go-to” website for your niche (if applicable).

One thing is for certain: if you use hyper local content you will have better success generating traffic and beating your competition. The more saturated the niche you’re in the more valuable using a tactic like long tail words are.

RE/Advantage builds and maintains Internet solutions for the Real Estate Industry.  Our flagship products; Agent Central Max, Board Central, and IDX 3.0 all deliver powerful tools to the Real Estate Professional.

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BING Announces partnership – 2010 is the year for local search

Microsoft’s popular new search engine, Bing, announced recently that they will team up with Localeze to power some of Microsoft’s local business listings. Localeze is a business listing service, where you can register your verified business for inclusion in their directory.

Localeze stores a variety of information about listed business, that can appear on Bing’s local business search results. It costs nothing for a business to register themselves with Localeze, and as Bing begins to integrate the Localeze database into it’s search results, businesses can get increased search engine exposure.

What’s so hot about “local” searching lately?

The search engine world is changing. There is a bog push this year for local search results. People using search engines want their results to favor results that are geographically significant to them. And the best way for global search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo to get this local business information is to team up with companies like Localeze, who specialize in the collection AND verification of local businesses. In addition to Bing, Localeze has already partnered with with other search heavy-hitters such as Google Maps®, Yahoo Local® and Yellowpages.com®

So is this good for the Real Estate Agent?

In one word, “YES”.  The Real Estate process is certainly a local transaction.  Hyper local content has favored the Real Estate Agent.  So anything that focuses around your community is good.  This is just another way to bring local search to you.  When a buyer or seller searches the Internet they typically look for an Agent or a home around a hyper local search i.e.; “Real Estate Agent Irvine CA” or “Homes in Dallas Texas”.  Real Estate fits perfectly in this situation and as the search goes more local the real estate agent will hopefully gain a bit more foot hold over the larger competitors or even the portals like REALTOR.com.

No guarantees

Now, it all sounds too easy, right? List yourself in Localeze for free and get better search engine placement. Well, not really. Your Localeze registration can help improve your exposure in localized searches, but certainly does not guarantee anything. But, since it’s free, it’s a no-brainer.

So what are you waiting for? Click here to register your business today!

RE/Advantage builds and maintains Internet solutions for the Real Estate Industry.  Our flagship products; Agent Central Max, Board Central, and IDX 3.0 all deliver powerful tools to the Real Estate Professional.