Archive for November, 2008

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2008 Report REALTOR® Technology Survey

November 28, 2008

The 2008 NAR Technology Survey is now available.  If you are using technology (and I hope your are) give this report a look.

Link to pdf (It’s 80MB)

This survey was extended to 40,000 random REALTORS® via email.  This report summarizes national findings among associate brokers, sales agents, broker-owners (no selling), broker owners (some selling), managers (no selling), and managers (some selling).  These groups account for 942 completed surveys.  This number is large enough for overall responses to be considered statistically valid.  At the 95% level of confidence, the margin of error is +/-3.16%.

The purpose of this survey is to better understand technology trends among members and their use of technology.

Social networking, technology sourcing, lead generation, relationship building, mapping, forms & contract software, transaction management, and security are key topics of the study. Through this report CRT hopes to gain a better understanding of NAR members’ opinions and needs as well as to help the general public understand the opinions and needs of NAR members.

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Template of a Web Page

November 22, 2008

Every web page created has a few common parts.  To properly optimize any page an understanding of these parts is important.

Here is what a general web page looks like in HTML.   Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the language that every web page is made out of.  Knowing what each does will help you as you optimize your pages.

Each page page has a Head and Body Section, Meta Data, text, headings, and links.

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>This is my title</TITLE>
<META name=”keywords” content=”Westwood homes, Westwood condos, real estate NJ”>
<META name=”description” content=”Real Estate in Westwood, New Jersey.  Search for homes in Bergen County”>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<H1>This is the Heading</H1>
This is text that people can see when the page is viewed in their web browser. Note that the title appears in the colored bar at the top of the window. The Meta keyword and Meta description tags are not visible.
<A HREF=”my-url-keyword-here.htm”>This is the visible link text</A>
</BODY>
</HTML>
So now let’s examine the parts:

Page Parts:

  1. Head - The area on the top of your document where the Title and META tags are used.
  2. Title – The <TITLE> tag of your Web page is probably the most important HTML tag on your page.   All the search engines consider the keywords in the title tag and generally give those keywords relevance in their ranking system.   Many search engines use the HTML <TITLE> tag as the title of your page in the search results that appear to the user. What this means to you is that this HTML tag must not only work to your advantage for keyword scoring but also must be compelling to the reader.
  3. Keywords – The purpose of this tag is to define what keywords apply to your page.   A very limited number of search engines will use this tag today, and those that do often do not consider it very important.  However it is still a good idea to include your keywords anyway.  Just don’t spam your keywords.
  4. Description – The text found in the META Description tag will be displayed to the user in the search results for many engines.  Therefore, it pays to write a good description so that you not only rank well, but so people will actually click on your link once they see it.

  5. Body – The body defines the documents’ body.  This section contains all the contents of your document (like text, images, colors, graphics, etc.).
  6. Heading Tag – Heading tags are usually displayed using a larger size of the default font. There are five levels of heading, each using a slightly smaller font size.  H1 being the biggest down to H5.
    <h1>Heading 1</h1> Heading 1
    <h2>Heading 2</h2> Heading 2
    <h3>Heading 3</h3> Heading 3
    <h4>Heading 4</h4> Heading 4
    <h5>Heading 5</h5> Heading 5

    Why Use Heading Tags?You may be wondering why heading tags are necessary at all.   You may be thinking you could achieve the same results by just enlarging the font.  Here are some things to consider:
    A) Heading tags will be recognized by browsers which don’t recognize style sheets (or use a user-defined style sheet).
    B) Heading tags are used by some search engines to identify words which are more important than the rest of the page text. The theory is that headings will sum up the topic of the page, so they are counted as important keywords.

  7. A HREF – In HTML you use the <A> tag to hyperlink to another web page.  In terms of a good web page how and where you place this link is important.  Linking keywords to specific SEO pages are your site is a good practice or linking your keywords to other outside web pages.  So if you link this keyword “Westwood Home Trenads” to a page on your website that talks about the housing market in Westwood you are making a connection between your keywords and relevant information on your website.  If you name the page you are linking to westwood-home-trends.htm you are further defining to a search engine how relevant the page is and also describing via the page name what the page is.
All of this information might be a bit daunting but keep it in mind the next time you develop your next web page.  A properly organized page not only is good for SEO, it also better organizes your website in general and makes for a better user experience.

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Posted in SEO, Tips | 3 Comments »

Is an Internet Lead Really Different?

November 16, 2008

Some people argue that an Internet lead is different than a lead coming from a more grass roots system.  Well I am one of those people.

The biggest mistake an Agent can make is to mis-handle an Internet lead.  Used properly the Internet can be a valuable asset.  An asset than can bring you a considerable amount of revenue.

The first thing you must realize is their are different types of Internet leads; those coming from forms and those coming from simple emails.

Generally a well constructed form will produce the most qualified lead.  Letting people just email an interest generally produces a poor quality lead that perhaps deters some Agents.

I am going to focus on leads generated via forms and I believe that this is where you will have the most success.

When thinking about your website you have to consider 2 things when it comes from forms;  1) The Type and 2) The Construction.

The Type

The type of form someone fills out can be an indicator on where the interest level is or at the least where your priority needs to be.  Someone requesting “School Information” versus a “Request for a Showing” would not only give you an indicator on your priorities but also how you will incubate the lead.

Good web designers always build forms with the ability to send a text page to your cell phone.  What a better way to stay connected when you are not in the office.  Imagine a HOT lead that wants to see that listing at 5pm today and you are out all day, only to find out when you get back at 6pm the prospect has gone somewhere else.

Listing leads at the minimum should ALWAYS use text paging.  Sounds obvious but I can tell you most people don’t use them.

Follow-up and incubation.  You must follow-up quickly.  Internet leads are different, they are click happy people and would be more than happy to click to someone else if left waiting.  So go ahead and follow-up quick.  Just like a lot of leads, most need incubation.  Drip Marketing is a good way to keep your name in front of a prospect but Drip Marketing is not enough today.  Social Networking is taking the world by storm.  Get a blog and create a localized presence.  Bring leads to you by creating that local presence.

The Construction

Forms can be designed in a number of ways.  Whoever your web designer is make sure these features are built in.  If not you might consider finding someone who can.

  1. Variety- One form does not fit all.  People are spurred by different stimuli and in this case the type of form.  School Information, Relocation, CMA, Listing Requests, etc. all appeal to a different type of buyer and/or seller.  Tailor your forms to the proper audience.
  2. Required Fields- Requiring information is a key to qualifying your prospect.  I would suspect the minimum about of information on any form would be Name, Phone and Email.  If someone does not want to at least provide you that the lead is generally a cold one.  But on a CMA for example I think some information about the home is in order to further qualify the lead.  This is something you need to decide.  The market also dictates this as when the market is cold we tend to be less restrictive then when it is hot.
  3. CAPTCHA- Forms should have the option of having CATPCHA turned on to curb spamming.  Not that this will get you better leads but some Agents get frustrated when they get 50 spammed leads and  1 good one.  You also have the chance of missing that lead it if is mixed up with a 100 others.
  4. Cell Phone Alerts – Just as above, stay connected even when you are not around.  Even if you have a Blackberry you can still use these alerts and assign a different tone so you know when they come in.
  5. Auto Responders – You polish your look when someone submits a form and then is presented with some related information on what they are requesting.  “Thank you for your school request.  Did you know that New Jersey schools rank….”, for example.

What ever you do, follow-up up is a critical requirement.  Follow-up also needs to be progressive.  Some markets take over a year to incubate, don’t give up and don’t get frustrated.  Quick response is often confused with consistent follow-up.  People tend to give up too early so not only do you need to be quick you need to be consistent.

Remember your prospect is busy and if you don’t reach him/her right away it does not mean the lead is dead.  After your planned follow-up, via calls and personalized emailing, keep them in a drip system or at the least contact them in the future by some sort of follow-up system. I know of clients that closed in 2 weeks but for most it was 3-9 months and often longer.   If you could close all your buyers in a week everyone would be in the Real Estate business.

Today’s websites can deliver good leads and be a consistent source of them if handled right.  Technology such as IDX can further enhance your ability to produce leads.  Be patient, be quick, and be persistent.

Good Luck

Mark Menzella
RE/Advantage

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Posted in General, Marketing Tips, Tips | 4 Comments »

KIS (Keep It Simple)

November 14, 2008

Today’s Real Estate Website has become more than just a pretty picture. With the advent of technology, the proliferation of syndicated listings, IDX, and Web 2.0 your website is can become a portal of knowledge for the home buyer.

I titled my post KIS because with this influx of technology we see a lot of websites becoming a massive accumulation of pages and images. I visited a website that had over 80 links on the home page. While that might seem good to some the average Internet user does not want to fish through all of it. Some people try to compete with Realtor.com while others choose the simple route.   Localism is probably the best chance an Agent has at becoming successful on the Internet. Stop trying to be the master of all. Instead put your efforts into becoming the authority of your marketing area or more specifically your community. Unless you are blessed with a $10,000,000 trust fund, you simply do not have enough time or money to spend on trying to master it all.

Leverage the Internet with the tools that make the most sense.

  1. A website developed by a company that specializes Agents. Get one with a good content manager so you can have the option of adding and or tweaking content.
  2. Get IDX. Bring the inventory to your website so you can have a “sticky site”. A sticky site simply refers to a site that attracts re-visits. What a better attraction than having the MLS on your website.
  3. Syndicate your listings. Let the Internet do the work for you. Choose a web developer that has syndication built in.
  4. Blog – Blogging and Social Networking are great way to distribute content and to also foster Link Popularity and Trackbacks. Having your Blog separate from your website is a good idea too. This gives your site a relationship with another authoritative site.
  5. Build Links see my post http://activerain.com/blogsview/788414/Link-Popularity.
  6. Keep the content fresh. You need to build a collection of pages about your community. Don’t be lazy and think 5 hours later you’ll have a website or blog that will be ranked #1. Keep working at it all the time. You don’t need to spend hours per day. Do it in smaller spurts.
  7. If you really want to leverage the Internet write articles that you can post on article sites.

By applying some of your time, the payoff could be big. The Internet is a constant evolving thing and your website should be too.

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Page Management Enhancement

November 14, 2008

Attention: All Agent Central Max Users

In Page Management when you click save you are no longer brought back to the Page Manager Main Screen.  Instead you will remain in the Page Editor and we will simply save the page.  You can now stay in Page Management as long as you need.  Each time you save you will also receive a message that your save was successful.

This change was 100% funded by your suggestions.  See we do really listen…

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Link Popularity

November 13, 2008

Why is Link Popularity a key in good rankings?

Search Engines are just software programs that try to rank your website based on the content they scan.  They use a series of algorithms to give your content a ranking score.  Then they compare that score to all the other websites they have in their database and display the results.  But content alone is not good enough to determine who is the most relative to a set of keywords.  They also try to analyze your link popularity and combine that rating with your content to produce a final determination of your sites relevance. Link popularity is defined by the quality and quantity of inbound and outbound links of your web page. By quality I mean the reputations of the websites that link to you, the titles of the pages that link back to you, the text used to link to your website and a few other factors.  By quantity I simply mean the number of links on the internet which point to your website and links which you point to other sites.

Want to know your link popularity, try going to Google and type this; “link: followed by your URL“.  This will return all the sites that link to you in the Google index.

How do I develop my link popularity?

Well before we discuss that lets briefly talk about the different kinds of links you can use on your site.

Inbound: This is when someone links to your website but you do not link back to them.

Reciprocal: This is when you link to someone and they link back to you.

Outbound: This is when you link to another website and they do not link back to you.  The opposite of Inbound.

Internal: These are links on your website that link to pages on your website.

I listed these in the order of importance.  Getting quality inbound links are the best route you can take but care should be taken to get links from all these types.  Consequently not only is this the order of importance it is also the order of ease.  Inbound are the hardest links to obtain.

Getting Inbound Links

The key to getting people to link to you is establishing a dominant presence.  If you become the authority in your marketing area (Westwood New Jersey) people will naturally want to link to you.

Here are a few ways you can grow your inbound links.

1) Articles: Articles are a great way not only to develop good quality content but also a great way to get good content into the search engines.  So what so I do after I write an article, you submit them to an article directory.

To find article directories, Google ‘Real Estate Article Directories’.

Wondering what to write about?  Well that is simple, write about something you know – REAL ESTATE.  Also try to focus that in your marketing area.  New Jersey Home Trends, Schools in Essex County, etc.

2) Blogs: Blogs are like virtual journal that are organized by categories.  In the beginning people used them to write diary type notes.  Now a days people are using them as a content driving presence to propel their Real Estate marketing.

Excellent places to get started in blogging are; activerain.com blogger.com or wordpress.com. These sites are all free.  They do however have some paid upgrade services.

3 ) Trackbacks/Blog Commenting: This is the easiest way to get your links out there. What you do is go to other blogs (Authority Sites) in your industry and become a regular contributor.  You can also comment blogs.   When you do comment also provide a link back to your website or blog.  The more links you have pointing back to you, the more popular you get.  Also, when you become a major contributor/commenter, people start valuing your opinion more.

4) Listing Syndication: Syndicate your listings.  By doing this you are getting inbound links out to the world and also exposing your listings to a greater audience.

Reciprocal links

Reciprocal links are another good way to gain link popularity.  You provide a link to another peer site, in return for them linking back to you.   Remember to link to relevant sites in your marketing area (maybe local businesses) and/or relevant sites in your business (appraisers, mortgage companies, real estate portals).

Outbound Links

In addition to inbound and reciprocal links you can also put a series of outbound links on your site as well.  These are not as important as the other two and should not be your primary focus.  But linking to Realtor.com, local business, or large relevant companies is a good choice too.  Most sites are OK with you linking to their home page while others require permission.  Always check the sites terms before proceeding.

Internal Links

Internal links help provide a link road map to your site.  By linking your keyword to a page relevant to that keyword you help road map to the search engines what is important in your website.  For example linking the words “Westwood Real Estate” to a page called “Westwood-real-estate.htm” with content about Westwood Real Estate shows a clear path on what you think is important relevant information on your website.

Study your competition. Google other sites in your marketing area.  One good tool to help you with this is  Webposition.com.

Remember no amount of links can replace quality, original and relevant content.

A final word of advise.

  1. When possible link to authoritative site with a good page rank
  2. Link to relevant sites

Good luck….

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Posted in Marketing Tips, SEO, Tips | 3 Comments »

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