9/12/2011
Run a Successful Consumer
Friendly Realty Website
Course #: 0011214
Learn how to Plan, Organize and Run Your Website,
how to Advertise/Promote it to Generate Traffic,
Do Better on Search Engines, & More
Instructor Craig Grant
#004486
Course Objective
By the end of this course, each student
will be able to plan, organize and run an
effective website and then once the site
is up and running be able to develop a
marketing plan to promote and drive
traffic to it & do better on search
engines.
Chapter
1
Topic
Creating a good user experience
Minutes
35
Some numbers to think about, How to plan a site, content, design & more
2
Offer Services & Generating Leads
15
Creating/Maintaining Stickiness & Generating Leads
10 minute break
3
Your website the Marketing Vehicle
30
Promoting websites for free, paid advertising & more
4
Search Engines Part 1
40
How search engines work, how to optimize your site to perform better for free
10 minute break
5
Search Engines Part 2
40
How re-register, build up your link networks, Google Maps, Site Maps & more
6
Succeeding In a Slow Market
10
Industry leaders advice on what to do during a down market especially relating to the Internet/Websites
7
E-Communication
10
How to respond to E-mail leads & How to convert them from leads to customers
8
Q & A Session
5
1
9/12/2011
Chapter 1
Creating a Good User Experience
• Some numbers to think about
• How to plan a site
• Content
• Design
• & more
Objective = By the end of this section you will be able to organize,
plan and put together a website
Why Should I Have a Website?
Because that’s where your prospective customers are!
Over 87% of all home hunters begin their search themselves online
- Source: 2009 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers
87% of leads in the real estate industry come from the Internet
- Source: 2009 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers
• Consumers typically search on their own for an average of 2-weeks
before selecting an agent
• They spend an average of 12-weeks, look at 12 properties before
purchasing (2 times as long & 3 times the properties as non-internet users)
- Source: 2009 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers
Why Should I Have a Website
Because your customers want the experience to be easy
Information Sources Used in Home Search
Internet
- 90%
Real estate agent - 88%
Yard sign
- 59%
Newspaper
- 40%
Open house
- 46%
Home Magazine - 26%
Internet is Up 30% since in 2004!
- Source:
2009 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers
Why does the Internet continue to grow?
1.Younger age of consumers involved in the RE process
2.Barrier to Entry = Lower cost of computers & Internet access
3.Ease and satisfaction consumers have using the Internet
Nearly all Internet homebuyers (96 percent) are very likely to use the
Internet the next time they purchase a home.
- New
Report Shows Gap Between Internet & Traditional Homebuyers, Blanche Evans
2
9/12/2011
Why Should I Have a Website
Because your customers want the experience to be easy
How they first learned about the home purchased:
36% real estate agent
36% the Internet
12% from yard signs
6% from a friend, neighbor or relative
5% home builders
2% a print or newspaper ad
2% directly from the seller
<1% a home book or magazine
- Source: 2009 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers
79% of Internet users eventually purchased a property through a Realtor®
Versus only 63% of non Internet users who are more than twice as likely to
buy from a builder, FSBO or a friend/acquaintance.
- Source: 2009 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers
Why Should I Have a Website
Because your customers are looking for information
you can provide them
What kind of real estate websites are buyers looking at:
Local metropolitan MLS web sites 60%
Realtor.com 46%
Real estate company sites 46%
Agent web sites, 45%
FSBO sites 17%
Local newspaper sites 9%
- Source: 2009 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers
When looking online, what were buyers looking for?
#1 looked for properties on the market
#2 wanted general info about the area & educational info
#3 were looking for an agent.
- Source: 2009 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers
Reasons Why Should I Have a Website
Because in today’s market you can’t afford not to!
Only 60% of Realtors have a personal website
Source: REALTORS® and Technology: The 2009 National Association of REALTORS® Technology Impact Survey Report
Net income of residential real estate brokers and
agents increases with use of the Internet
- Benjamin, Jud, Roth and Winkler using data from the National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Residential Real Estate Brok erages
3
9/12/2011
Creating a Good User Experience
A happy user, is a user who sticks around
Good User Experience otherwise known as Userability can be summed
up as the overall experience a user has on your site.
You want your site to be:
• Clean in design
• Easy to navigate or get around
on, minimize clicks
• Content should be pertinent,
useful and kept up to date or fresh
• Site should have stickiness
• Always make it easy for them to
contact you
• KISS
How to Plan a Website
Relax, it’s easier than you think
•
•
•
•
•
Go with a real estate website company and everything will be better and easier
Research the web, find other sites & take notes what you do/don’t like about them
Majority of the pages of your site are standard on most realtor sites, don’t be afraid
to use others ideas
Then other pages should be your USP and personalize your site to make you
stand out from your competitors.
KISS, Break it into many small easily attainable steps
Header
About Me
Local Info
Area
Info
Homed Page
Layout
Content
Area
Area
Links
Property Search
Local
Search
Statewide
IDX
My Services
Real Estate
News
Vertical navigation
Interior Shell
Layout
Vertical Navigation
Header
Content
Area
Relocation
Packet
Waterfront
Property
Relocation Contact Me
Specialist
Buyers Mortgage Sellers
Info
Info
Info
How to Prepare Content
Content is the key to your site
• Write clearly so anyone can understand you (proof read)
• Prepare content that is pertinent and useful to the user
• Your content should be an extension of your personality
and your advertising message
• Identify what is your unique proposition or benefit
• State why a prospective customer should do business
with you versus any of your competitors
4
9/12/2011
How to Prepare Content
Content is the key to your site
Some rules of thumb for writing your content are:
• Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself throughout the
site, no one reads every page
• Don’t be afraid to utilize elements of content from
other sites (especially out of market) that you like.
• Think about the content of the page you are writing
and then consider the audience of each page.
Website Design
Your website is your image for the world to see
Design Do’s
• Look for a design with Balance
• Put important information like your
contact info in easy to find locations
• Make it easy for your users to get
around on your site
• Keep consistent navigation
• Aim for between 6-18 buttons in your
primary navigation
• Minimize clicks
• Orientation – Horizontal vs. Vertical
Website Design
Your website is your image for the world to see
Design Don’ts
• Avoid overdoing animation or
strong colors
• Avoid dark backgrounds on text
heavy pages
• Avoid the DRAMA (over use of
large fonts, bolds, caps, color, etc.)
• If you have a flash intro or music,
give the user the option to skip or
turn off
Mike Smith
Realtor®
321-222-4455
E-mail Me
Example of a well balanced
graphic vs.. text design using core
page design & vertical navigation
5
9/12/2011
Chapter 2
Offering Services & Generating Leads
•Creating/Maintaining Stickiness
•Generating Leads
Objective = By the end of this chapter you will be able to set
up your site to better induce stickiness & leads.
Creating Stickiness
Give the user a reason to come back
Always try to have something on your site that changes its content and/or
appearance, especially on your home page. Some ideas include:
• Featured Property slide show
• MLS Quick Search
• Home Scout
• Display the weather
• RSS News Feeds
• Newsletters or Services
• Site Changes
Creating Stickiness
Give the user a reason to come back - Be the 1 Stop Shop!
3 Categories Your Site Has To Have:
1. Good Research/Educational Information
2. Good MLS search and data
3. Offer Services
6
9/12/2011
Offering Services = Generating Leads
Ask for leads in several different ways
• Contact Me
• Relocation Packet Request
• Local School Information
• CMA Request
• FAQ – Ask Me a Question
• Home Appraisal
• Inquire about this listing
• Find Me a Home
• Site Guest Book
• Site Registration/Home Scout
Also
• Make Sure the User Knows you are Accessible
• Make it Easy for the User to Find All of Your Contact Info
• Ask for Referrals
• Consider Buying Leads
• And more!
Chapter 3
Your Website: The Marketing Vehicle
• Promoting websites for free
• Paid online advertising options
• & more
Objective = You will be able to assess different ways to
promote your website and determine which ones fit your
marketing needs.
Having a website is like having
a billboard on the moon!
Just like in real estate location is key, if no one knows about your website, it will not be productive
7
9/12/2011
Your website the marketing vehicle
Your website is….
•
•
•
•
The least expensive way to promote you, your listings and the entire MLS.
The best way to attract out of market customers
Open 24-7, while you are closed it is working
A great way to maximize and extend other marketing efforts
Picking a domain & an e-mail address
Your contact info to the world!
A domain has no impact on where you are going to show up on a search
engine, so pick it based on marketing, what is easy to spell and remember.
Some concepts to consider:
• Your Name + RE
• Geography
• Your Marketing Slogan
Some recommendations:
• Buy multiple spellings (example the name Terry, Terri, etc.)
• Consider other extensions like .net, .info & .biz
• Get an e-mail address that ties into the domain so they work together
& it looks more professional
Picking a domain & an e-mail address
NAR Rule to Be Aware Of:
You Can Only Use the Word Realtor® in Your Domain if….:
It is combined with your legal name in the following ways:
• first name + last name + Realtor.com (or .net, .org, etc.)
• first initial + last name + Realtor.com
• Realtor + first name + last name.com
• Realtor + first initial + last name.com
• You can use punctuation to separate your name from the word Realtor®
(ex. johndoe-realtor.com or realtor-jdoe.com).
It can not be used with descriptive words (adjectives, pronouns, etc.).
The only exception to this rule is associations.
This rule does not apply to any other word such as real estate, realty, etc.
8
9/12/2011
Cross Promotion
Promote a Site at No Additional Cost
Definition of Promotion – any time you touch someone is an opportunity to
promote yourself or your product, so there are no bad ideas
Here are just a few places where you should have your website &/or e-mail
address:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Any Promotional Material
Any Advertisement
Your E-mail Signature
Incorporate into the Phone (intro or voicemail)
When Networking
Ask customers to send referrals to your site
Cross Promotion
Promote a Site at No Additional Cost
Take advantage of anything free options out there that are available to
help you promote you, your business, listings or website including:
• All free website solutions
• Many free online marketing options (temporary or permanent)
• Listing distribution, give your listings more exposure by placing them on
as many sites as possible.
These sites allow you to manually post them for free!
Oodle.com
HotPads.com
CraigsList.com
Trulia
Lycos.com
Google Base
• Realize by being in your Local MLS, Realtor.com posts listings to many
sites as well (differs by market).
Zillow, Oodle, Trulia, Move.com, Moving.com, Goolge Base, Yahoo Real Estate, Backpages.com, MySpace.com,
Military.com, Wal-mart.com, Local.com, Lycos.com, MSN.com, Excite, Juno, Netzero, Internet Broadcasting
Network (90+ tv stations), WorldNow Network (70+ tv stations)
Online Advertising
Paid Online Advertising Options
There is only one way to guarantee success on the Internet just like
anything else in life and that is to pay for it.
•
•
•
•
Banner Advertising
Search Engines – PPC Advertising
Real Estate Site Upgrades
Lead Generation Networks
9
9/12/2011
Online Advertising
Banner Advertising
Banner Advertisements = Branding
Graphic banner ads may be
annoying, but they are excellent
for building top of mind awareness
(TOMA) or branding.
Leader
Board
Half
Banner
Sky
Scraper
Great for Realtors® new to the
business, going through
market/office change or just with
identity/name recognition issues
Online Advertising
Tile Ad
Upgrade On Real Estate Site
Buying an Upgrade on a Real Estate Network
like Realtor.com, Homes.com or HomeGain
= LEADS
• Pay for your listings
• Featured Properties
Featured
Property
Upgrade
Online Advertising
Upgrade On Real Estate Site
Buying an Upgrade on a Real Estate Network
like Realtor.com, Homes.com or HomeGain
= LEADS
• Pay for your listings
• Featured Properties
• Need A Realtor Form or Featured Realtor
Find a
Realtor
Upgrade
10
9/12/2011
Online Advertising
Upgrade On Real Estate Site
Buying an Upgrade on a Real Estate Network
like Realtor.com, Homes.com or HomeGain
•
•
•
•
•
= LEADS
Pay for your listings
Featured Properties
Need A Realtor Form or Featured Realtor
Listing Display Enhancements
Contact the Agent/Link to Website
Listing
Display
Upgrade
Online Advertising
Search Engine Pay Per Click (PPC)
Pay Per Click Ads = TRAFFIC
PPC is popular because you only pay
for performance (when the ad gets
clicked on), all other exposure is free!!
Plus, you control all aspects of the
campaign including:
•
•
•
•
The exact keywords & audience you want
Your Campaign Budget
Your Cost Per Transaction or Click
You can even apply demographic &/or
geographic settings
Online Advertising
Free
Listings
Paid
Listings
Search Engine Pay Per Click (PPC)
Pay Per Click Ads = TRAFFIC
2 Main PPC Ad Networks:
Google AdWords
(Google, AOL & Google
Content Network)
Microsoft AdCenter
(Yahoo, Bing &
Content Network)
11
9/12/2011
Chapter 4
Search Engines – Part 1
How search engines work
How to optimize your site to perform better for free
Objective = You will be able to understand how search
engines work so that you can optimize or tweak your
website yourself
Search Engines
How do they work so people find me
HTML Code of the Web Page
Best Advice:
No site can be #1 at
everything, pick a
focus/set of keywords
that you want your
site to do really well
on & optimize it to do
well for those.
Content
Images
Meta Data
Links
Other
Search Engines
keywords into the text
= Put
of your website’s pages
Content
Part 1
Little Lunchtime Optimization Project
Go through the pages of your site and on pages
where it makes sense add/tweak the content to
have words that are important to you to do well on.
Note: Search engines like links that
appear within the content of the page.
They can link to other pages of your site
or out to external websites.
12
9/12/2011
Search Engines
Put keywords into the HTML code of
= your website’s pages using a silent tag
Content
Part 2
Anywhere the HTML code you can insert text
in sentence format that you don’t want to
display on the page, and by using the silent tag
around it, it is like using Invisible Ink!!
 Closes it
Little Lunchtime Optimization Project
Go to the pages you skipped in the previous project &
add keywords to the page in the HTML code by using
silent tags
Search Engines
= Put keywords into your pictures
Images
• Picture File
Names
• Alt Tags
Little Lunchtime Optimization Project
1. Rename the image files on your site (then re-upload them)
2. Insert alt tags with keywords in them for the pictures on your site
Search Engines
= Keywords, make them match
Meta Data
• Think of what the most common
word combinations are that some
one may put into a search
engine to find your site
• Change or edit the meta tags or
keywords a bit on each page of
your so that the keywords match
the content of each page.
Little Lunchtime Optimization Project
Go through the pages of your site and
add/tweak the meta tags so that the
keywords of the page match the page
content.
13
9/12/2011
Evolution of Search Engines
90’s
Keywords
00’s
Back links
Search Engines
= Links, the #1 factor!
Links
Relative Links - the evaluation of how many relevant websites your website
links to and more importantly how many link back to your website
To get a link, you have to give a link.
By exchanging Reciprocal Links both sites help each other out.
Little Lunchtime Optimization Project
Spend time trying to obtain reciprocal link exchanges (strategies to follow)
Search Engines
= Re-Register Often
Links
Re-Registration – force the search engines to periodically reassess your site
The Top 10 Search Engines Deliver Over 98%
of All Search Engine Traffic!!
Google
Yahoo
MSN/
Bing
AOL
Ask.com
AltaVista
Netscape
Snap.com
AllTheWeb
.com
GigaBlast.
com
Little Lunchtime Optimization Project
Every 6-8 weeks go to top search engines and re-submit your site.
(instructions to follow)
14
9/12/2011
Search Engines
Other Factors
Other
• Code Structure – The cleaner and more accessible the code of your site
is, the better it will do.
• Page/URL Structure – Make sure the names of your pages make sense.
Also, if you can have a Site Map (a page that is a list of all the pages of
your site), that helps as well.
•Site Traffic – While not a major factor, site traffic does impact your
site relevance score a bit
Evolution of Search Engines
90’s
Keywords
00’s
Back links
10’s
Social Online
Responsibility
Social Online Responsibility
New
• Blogs – Search Engines love blogs but the key is they must be
maintained, 80% of all Blogs are abandoned in the first 3-months!
• Social Networking
• Link Networking
• Tweeting
• Show you’re in it for the long haul, buy your domain for a long period of time
15
9/12/2011
Chapter 5
Search Engines – Part 2
• How re-register
• Build up your link networks
• Google Maps
• & more
Objective = You will be able to incorporate additional tricks
and methods to continually improve your sites search engine
ranking
Building Your Reciprocal Link Base
Who Should You Link To
1. Any realtor/brokerage that is not a local competitor
2. Anything that is related to the real estate transaction
(banks, mortgage, title, appraisal and inspection
companies, etc.)
3. Getting links (usually paid) to your site from major
sites such as Realtor.com, FAR/Fl.Living.net,
Homes.com, HomeGain.com, etc. are worth extra
value due to their high ranking in search engines
Building Your Reciprocal Link Base
How Do You Get These Links
•
•
•
•
Personal Networking
Ask for links on your site
Personal Prospecting
Web Rings
16
9/12/2011
Web Rings
http://dir.webring.com/rw?d=Business___Finance/Financial_Profe
ssionals/Real_Estate_Professionals
General Real Estate
http://dir.webring.com/rw?d=Family___Home/Home_and_Garden
General Real Estate
http://dir.webring.com/rw?d=Business___Finance/Real_Estate
General Real Estate
http://x.webring.com/hub?ring=reesring
General Real Estate
http://n.webring.com/hub?ring=americasdoorstep
General Real Estate
http://q.webring.com/hub?ring=tzalistrealestat
Brokers
http://p.webring.com/hub?ring=realestaterefer1
E-Pro
http://g.webring.com/hub?ring=epro
Ultimate Real Estate
http://i.webring.com/hub?ring=reservice&list&page=1
Home and Garden
http://e.webring.com/hub?ring=westgate
Real Estate Referral
http://o.webring.com/hub?ring=ultimaterealesta
Real Estate Referral
http://k.webring.com/hub?ring=realestateforflo
Real Estate Referral
http://i.webring.com/hub?ring=realestatereferr
Florida Real Estate
http://j.webring.com/hub?ring=internationalpro
Internacional Property
Web Rings
Link Networks
Social Networks
Paid Link Networks
http://www.realestatetraffic.com/
17
9/12/2011
Ways to Improve Your Free Listing
Re-Register Your Self Every 6-8 Weeks
You can do this yourself for free by going to the following links & filling out the forms!
Google (also covers AOL & Netscape)
http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl
or https://adwords.google.com/select/
Yahoo (also covers AltaVista, AllTheWeb.com)
http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit
or http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request/
MSN/Bing - http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx
GigaBlast.com - http://www.gigablast.com/addurl
Snap.com - http://www.snap.com/about/submit.php
(must install their ActiveX control panel to do so)
Ask.com - No need to re-register, Ask constantly searches
the Internet for links within sites
DMOZ - http://www.dmoz.org
The Top 10 Search Engines Deliver Over 98% of All Search Engine Traffic!!
Google
Yahoo
MSN/
Bing
AOL
Ask.com
AltaVista
Netscape
Snap.com
AllTheWeb
.com
GigaBlast.
com
Ways to Improve Your Free Listing
Submit Your Site For Business Listing &/or Maps
Google (also covers AOL & Netscape)
http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter?hl=
en-US&gl=US
(once logged into your Google account)
Yahoo (also covers AltaVista, AllTheWeb.com)
https://ssb.searchmarketing.yahoo.net/SSBEnroll/ad
dURL.do;jsessionid=850BAB279682A8D7A2CFD29
57F475613
MSN/Bing
https://ssl.search.live.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx
Self Promotion – The Ultimate Factor
Never forget you are your
best promoter and in the
long run you will determine
how successful your
website is!
18
9/12/2011
Chapter 6
Succeeding In A Slow Market
Industry leaders advice on what to do during a down market
especially relating to the Internet/Websites
Objective = You will be able to incorporate some ideas or
techniques that industry leaders are suggesting to help you
prosper in the current market
Succeeding in a slow market
1. Always consider yourself an independent business and think of long
term goals to help you get through short term challenges.
2. Always have as many bricks in the fire as possible. Sales is a
numbers game, so the more options you have open = the more
sales opportunities for you.
3. Look to new ways to enhance your circle of influence including
creative networking, strategic partnerships and online lead, traffic
and/or referral networks.
4. Consider your website a part of your business model and your fixed
operating costs and not an optional marketing tool or budget
5. If you need to reduce costs, look first at extraneous costs such as
phone, gas, services, etc., then to marketing, then finally to items
that are part of the core business model or fixed costs
Succeeding in a slow market
6. Utilize online tools and resources to make your
time more productive and help you prospect
and generate leads.
6.
19
9/12/2011
Succeeding in a slow market
7. When the market is slowest, online research and activity in real estate
websites is at its highest.
Succeeding in a slow market
8. Always promote during down times…the businesses that do so come out
stronger once the market picks back up due to sustained awareness,
where as businesses that pull back their marketing and “go into hiding”
risk losing any branding they have built up
Succeeding in a slow market
8. Always promote during down times…the businesses that do so come out
stronger once the market picks back up due to sustained awareness,
where as businesses that pull back their marketing and “go into hiding”
risk losing any branding they have built up
20
9/12/2011
Chapter 7
E-Communication
How to respond to E-mail leads
How to convert them from leads to customers
Objective = You will be able to properly handle e-mails
in order to earn online business
E-Communication
Q: What is the #1 Factor That
Determines Your Online Success?
A: Your Response Time!
The
Longer
You Wait
=
The Less Chance You
Have of Securing the
Business
1 hour =
12 hours =
84%
24 hours =
11%
41%
E-Communication
Do’s
• All forms of communication should be treated the
same, with prompt and professional response
• Be clear and to the point
• Be friendly and helpful, offer services
• Always include your contact information, don’t
make them hunt it down
• Always invite the recipient to come back to you
again
Don’ts
• Be careful of your tone
• Avoid your cap lock button… WRITING IN
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IS AGGRESSIVE
• Avoid overly aggressive verbs, can be
intimidating or can make you look desperate
• Avoid writing extensively in bold or colored
fonts, can get irritating to the reader
21
9/12/2011
Recap – What have we learned
• How to create a good user experience, keeping content fresh &
creating stickiness
• Planning and running a website is not as scary as you thought - KISS
• Website design – preparing content, styles, navigation, do’s and don’ts
• Your website is an extension of you the person, realtor & your
marketing
• Offer services – stand out from the pack
• Generating leads – all that really matters is results
• Promotion -, Cross Marketing, Online Advertising & Search Engines
• Search Engines – How they work, How you can Optimize Your Site
• E-Communication – how to operate in the digital world
Run a Consumer Friendly
Realty Website
Question and
Answer Period
&
Thank You Very
Much For Your Time
22