Quantcast
Channel: SEO Archives - Agent Inner Circle
Viewing all 17 articles
Browse latest View live

What SEO Experts Do When They Need to Get Found Online

June 9, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor

When people seeking your service start exploring online, they do so like you, me and everyone else. They rev up their browser, head off to a site or search engine and start searching.  Most searches are done by typing in a KEYWORD or PHRASE to a search box, clicking the search button and scanning through the resulting SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).

Since we know this is what people do, all that’s left for us to determine is WHAT the heck they are typing into that little search box.  If we can make an educated guess about that, then our job becomes more defined.  All we must do is PLANT ourselves (our service, our listing, a web site, a web page or a blog) so we show up in the SERPs where they are looking.  It’s simple if you know how; impossible if you don’t.

If you’ve heard anything about “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO), this is basically what we are discussing, but at a simplified level. You need not have any special talents to do this stuff, just the knowledge of what to do and where to do it.

The process, once clear in your mind, is rather simple.  The good news is that doing this stuff on the LOCAL level is far easier than trying to achieve a similar goal on a national or global scale.  But for you, and for your business, LOCAL is exactly where we want to be found.

So what do we need to do first?  We need to figure out what KEYWORDS or PHRASES local folks are typing into those search boxes!

WOOD WITH GORDS?

Are you good with words?  Great!  Even if you aren’t that’s OK.  There are many tools online that query actual search databases and tell us exactly what people are typing into those boxes.  To make it easier, I’ve posted a tool that is like a ONE STOP SHOP for most of your keyword research needs.  It’s located here (and it’s FREE):  http://danhollings.com/woodgords/

Another way to do quick research on top keywords is to use the Google Suggestion Tool.

This tool is now integrated into the main search toolbar on Google’s homepage.  You’ll notice when you begin typing a search phrase, before you press enter to search, suggested phrases automatically show up below.  Pay attention to these as they are high-traffic terms people search.

Here’s what you can do to get a feel for local real estate search terms…

  1. Enter “your city” and “real estate” (example = “tucson real estate”…without the quotes)
  2. Before pressing “enter” or clicking search, notice what phrases Google suggests
  3. Write these top phrases down for later use

For local search, just a little research on these general terms goes a long, long way.  But we’ll need to dive a little deeper to really uncover the specific KEYWORDS and PHRASES local homeowners, homebuyers and others may be using in their searches…

How to Find The Keywords and Phrases BUYERS and

SELLERS Are Typing Into Search Engines

1. Determine who you’re after…

  • Think of the ONE person most likely to need what your web page or service is about.
  • Erase from your mind all inside knowledge about your company, product, service, industry etc.
  • Forget all techno-babble terms only known by experts or industry insiders.

2. Jump into the mind of the person (the homeowner in need)…

  • You are not a former client, so you have no history or relationship.
  • You have a definite need, challenge, desire, question or interest (that’s why you are searching).
  • You’re about to type words into a Google search box in the hope the search results page will guide you to a solution, a service, an answer, an agent, a perfect business or site.
  • You initially seek information and/or help more so than a product or “expert.”

3. Ask Yourself…

  • What words or phrase would you type in whereby when the results came up and you saw the site title listed (and ultimately a linked page)… you’d say “BINGO” this is what I was looking for!
  • Sometimes by thinking about the “who, what, when, where, why or how” behind the searchers motivation will spark additional useful keywords and phrases.

4. You’re not done…

  • Ask others what keywords they use to find real estate information online, including:  your spouse, your Ex, your neighbor, your kids, your postman, your lawn-keeper, your pet sitter, your cousin Skippy, past clients, your bartender and anyone else you can reach out to.
  • Don’t prep them with background info, just show them your draft page, a printout, or tell them your basic goals. The less you say, the better results you’ll get.
  • Remember, people are not always good spellers… misspelled keywords can be untapped potential for traffic.

5. Explore your competition…

  • Go to Google, type in the keywords you’ve discovered and look at the top sites that return on the results page.  These sites are competing for a similar audience on a large scale – borrow from them for your local plans.
  • Go to sites you already know (from experience) that are seeking to attract the same people.  Examine what they are doing and take notes if you think you see a good idea.
  • Examine your competition’s page title, headlines and the general subjects of their web pages.

This process will give you a running start at getting your web site found by your ideal prospects.  In my next article, I’ll show you how to round out your keyword research to dominate local search results.

See you soon!

↧
Search
↧

Insider Reveals 4 Steps To Get Clients From The Web

July 6, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor

In this article, we were brainstorming initial keywords your prospects search to find you on the web.

Today, we’ll talk about PLANTING and GROWING your keyword seeds and finalizing your preparation to get found online in 4 simple steps.  Most web designers don’t even know these insider strategies…

STEP 1:  Plant Your Seeds

The first step is to create a short list of 5 to 15 “seed” keywords. Your list might look like this one to the right:

STEP 2:  Grow Your Seeds aic_1153_My_Seed_Keywords

Next, visit the Keyword Tool below and expand your list to a solid 10 to 50 keywords and phrases that have a healthy number of searches actually occurring on a monthly basis.

Don’t assume the highest search volume keywords are the best, rather, pick the ones that truly might originate from the TYPE of customer you desire.

Explore the other tools and links all found on this page as you enter your “SEEDS” one at a time:

Click here to go to the Free Keyword Tool…

As you brainstorm keywords, keep in mind that because you will be focusing on a LOCAL market, you will most likely want to add your city, state, county, and/or zip code to the keyword phrases you compile (more on this in step 4).

What’s a “healthy” number of searches you might ask?  For now, shoot for adding keywords that have several search terms above zero.  You want to make web pages around keywords (and topics) people have an interest in and actually search to find.

STEP 3:  Add ‘TAGS’ To Your Keyword List

We do need to talk for a moment about ‘TAGS’.  Not like the ones on your clothes.  The internet variety that have become so BIG in so many ways these days.  To make it quick and easy to understand, you might think of a TAG as a one or two word keyword used to CATEGORIZE what you do or what your site or web page is about.

It’s another way that people might find your business, page, blog or site.  And here’s why it’s important…

Just as you need to know (or think about in advance) the keywords that a searcher might type into a search box, you also need to know what CATEGORY or set of TAGS best classify what you do.  These TAGS will be used more to categorize blog posts, photo’s, and other social media things you do – whereas, your keywords will be associated more with your web pages or sites.

Don’t get too hung-up thinking about why this works this way, rather let’s just move forward and while we have keywords on our mind, let’s pick a small highly focuses set of categorical TAGS so we have them ready for some blog posts and social media strategies I’ll discuss in future articles.

aic_1153_My_Tags If you’ve just completed your keyword research, you can likely do this part off the top of your head.  Just think of 3 to 10 categories (one word to three words are best) that your service or site fits.

Your TAG LIST might resemble the one to the right (but please, create your own so you can be even more exacting… and localize as much as possible).

STEP 4:  Include Local Terms In Your Keywords

What are you in the middle of?

In other words, where the heck are you located?

What is your “service area”?  If you expect people to find you in a search engine or online, you have to PLANT the various “location” names, zips and spots directly into your listings and pages.

Only by doing this can the search engines know when and where to “deliver your page up” within the proper local SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

This step is critical and I have a couple of tools that will help make it very, very quick and easy.  What I want you to do now is create a list of every city, county, community, and ZIP code that is within a reasonable distance from your location.

Naturally, if it’s an area that you are NOT interested in getting calls or business from, you’ll exclude it.  Use the two tools below to create lists of areas you are most interested in (don’t stretch yourself too wide – focus in on your prime target areas):

  1. The city and zip code part can be done with this tool:

    (You need only enter your ZIP and a radius in this tool – results will show at bottom)

    http://www.5minutesite.com/local_keywords.php

  2. To help you with local county names, try this tool:

    http://www.naco.org/Content/NavigationMenu/About_Counties/
    Data_and_Demographics/Data_and_Demographics.htm

With our focused list of keywords, phrases, tags and locations in hand, we’re now ready to create web pages and blog pages that truly get found by our prime prospects.  Be on the lookout for my next article where I’ll show you how to create web pages with these local keywords, even WITHOUT a web site.

See you soon!

↧

How To Get Clients Online Without A Website

August 4, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor

How would you like to get new business from the web WITHOUT having a web site?

Sounds impossible, I know.  But stay with me for a few minutes.  I’ll show you how to get clients from the internet by posting your information at eight FREE places online that are certain to get visitors.

If you’ve been following my internet strategies for real estate professionals, and did your homework, you’ll be ready to get found online by your prime prospects.

When we last left off, I explained how to round out your list of localized KEYWORDS, TAGS, and LOCATIONS.  And now it’s time to take those lists and set up some simple web pages in various spots that get found online.

The “operative“ word in the last sentence was “VARIOUS“ and the missing word was SITE.  You first need to set up several PAGES in specific locations (you’ll find out where below).  And you can save setting up a full-blown SITE for last – if you already have a site, that’s fine, we’ll address that later.

Worry not…setting up pages online is easy.  In fact, it’s as fun as a family fishing trip…

You’re about to go fishing on a big pond called the “Internet“ but you’re not going deep, you’re staying in the shallow local waters.  Think of your PAGES as your “bait and hook“ while your SITE (or even your blog or an 800 hotline) will be your boat.  You’ll use various forms of bait and most will have a line back to your boat.

GOOD NEWS

Unlike the early years of the internet when you needed to have a programmer, a designer, and a pot of money… today, with WEB 2.0 opportunities everywhere, you can set up web pages quickly and without paying a cent.

Web 2.0 is many things by definition, but at its core is the concept that YOU are a content creator and if given the ability to add or create content on someone else’s site or system, you will.  For our purposes, this is like being handed the keys to the back door of the internet’s “bait and tackle“ shop.  We can quickly and easily create all the bait (content) we want to attract schools of prospects.  I’ll show you how in 3 easy steps…

HOW TO SET UP WEB PAGES THAT GET FOUND

EVEN WITHOUT A WEB SITE

STEP 1:  Identify the TYPE of Focused Content Pages

You need to take the localized KEYWORDS, TAGS, and LOCATIONS you compiled earlier and create very focused content that you can place on several web pages.  The content you create doesn’t need to be professionally written or “scholarly“, rather it needs to be homespun, helpful, brief, in your voice and honest.

Testimonials from third party sources and clients are great to use and are very powerful.  Everything needs to be peppered with real estate related KEYWORDS and LOCATIONS.  And if the system where you are posting your information allows you to categorize your content, then you’ll use your TAGS.

Keep in mind, the content you create should be structured to FIT the type of site where you are posting it, which means it might be in a format like one of the following:

  • A PARAGRAPH about what you do,
  • an ARTICLE about your service benefits,
  • a LIST of things you do for clients (or areas you cover, or things a homeowner might look out for),
  • a REVIEW of your business
  • a PHOTO of you performing your service,
  • a MAP of areas you cover,
  • an online “Consumer Awareness Guide,“ or
  • a testimonial VIDEO you post on YouTube.

The types of content are limited only by your creativity.  The more the better, but even a little will do.  Now let’s open the back door of the internet’s “bait and tackle“ shop and start creating our bait…

STEP 2:  Create Your Focused Content Pages

The better your content the greater impact it will have on your overall strategy.  So post quality, helpful, informative stuff and not just “promotional“ material!  If appropriate, pepper in testimonials and photos.  These items will do the selling for you.

Each system will have its own rules and recommendations…it’s worth the effort to skim through tutorials, FAQs, and policy guides to assure you maximize the potential of your content.

You can search each system for other content that might be like yours (using the keywords you have on your lists)… sometimes it’ll give you ideas.  Weave everything together naturally with KEYWORDS, TAGS, and LOCATIONS.  Don’t try to ‘stuff’ these terms into your content so it can’t be read by a human being.  That never works and can actually lower the search ranking of your content.

Important Tip:  Within your mix of content posts, you’ll want to create ONE central blog.  It will be the only place where it’s required to add additional content on a regular basis (this is covered more thoroughly in an upcoming article).  What we are seeking now are places where we can post ONCE (with perhaps only occasional updating required).

If your keyword list is larger, divide it into GROUPS (or what I call BUCKETS) and create separate content based on the focused/related keywords in each “bucket.“  Your content buckets could be information on your happy clients in the local area, why a person needs your services, or real estate how-to tips…

STEP 3:  Post Your Content Pages for Maximum Visibility

It’s time to set-up your pages and content in a few key locations.  The list below will get you started, but if you discover other prime spots (especially local spots) then merely add to this list.  Remember, the idea is to adjust or create your content to fit the environment where it will be placed.  Look around at each system that you find and add your content in the format, style or flavor of what you see on that site.

TWO GREAT PLACES TO START POSTING

YOUR CONTENT OR MEDIA

The examples below are not all real estate related on purpose…so as to expand your creativity 😉

  1. SQUIDOO
    http://www.squidoo.com/
    An example of a Squidoo LENS page for a Children’s Book:
    http://www.squidoo.com/ladybug-stuff/

  2. HUBPAGES
    http://hubpages.com/
    An example of a HUB about Real Estate Ads:
    http://hubpages.com/hub/Real_Estate_Ads

    SIX MORE PLACES TO POST
    CONTENT OR MEDIA…

  3. GOOGLE BASE
    http://base.google.com/
    An example of a GOOGLE BASE page – in this example a review of Dean Graziosi’s book:
    http://www.google.com/base/a/2575746/D4701930617138357370

  4. GOOGLE PROFILE PAGE
    http://maps.google.com/help/maps/profile/index.html
    An example of a GOOGLE PROFILE page – in this example it’s me!
    http://maps.google.com/maps/user?uid=109843529767179534196&hl=en&gl=us

  5. TUMBLR
    http://www.tumblr.com/
    An example of a TUMBLR for “to-do“ list generator:
    http://to-do-list.tumblr.com/

  6. SWIKI
    http://www.eurekster.com/
    An example of a SWIKI for real estate:
    http://real-estate-foreclosures-state-by-state-swicki.eurekster.com/

  7. FLICKR
    http://flickr.com/
    An example of MONTEL WILLIAMS using “bait“ for one of his “boats“:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/8391553@N06/503947524/

  8. YOUTUBE
    http://www.youtube.com/
    An example of a Rockin’ Cockatoo dancing to the Back Street Boys:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utkb1nOJnD4

I’ve just given you eight places to post your content, get the word out about your real estate services, and harvest new business from the internet.

You can also set up a BLOG to post regular updates.  Search engines favor blogs over regular web sites, and you’ll find out why in my next article.

And boy will it be a treat for you…keep an eye out for my next article where I’ll reveal easy ways to set up a blog completely for free.  I’ll get you up and running in minutes…

See you soon!

↧

Can Blogs Make You Money, Save You Time?

September 9, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor

Everyone these days is telling you to get a blog.  But is it right for you?  Or if you already have one…how do you avoid getting suckered in by the biggest lie involving real estate blogs?

In this article I’ll give you the skinny on how to use a blog for your real estate business…and quickly attract high-quality clients from the web.

A blog is nothing more than an easy place to post regular content on a focused topic.  Somewhat like keeping a journal, only publicly where others can see it.  And you’ll want to post more valuable stuff than just your thoughts (more on that in a minute).

Blogs have become popular for TWO primary reasons:  1) they are easy to set-up and maintain (even by non-techies), and 2) unlike a web site, a blog “talks” to various other sites and search engines in a way that creates automatic marketing and exposure for you.

Every time you make a new post to your blog, it will PING (techie-language for “talk to”) various other sites and search engines – thereby creating a “buzz” about what you are posting.

This is important because if you only have web site, you could be missing out on a lot of free traffic (and new clients) that search engines will give to regularly-updated blogs.

Search engines love the fresh content posted on blogs because it’s their job to serve up relevant and timely content to the searcher.  And if you keep you content focused on real estate in your local area, they’ll gladly reward you with a high search ranking…netting you more exposure and more business—that is, if you avoid…

The Biggest Real Estate Blog LIE Revealed…

What is the biggest lie you’ve been fed about using a blog?

That it should be about YOU!

Yes, a blog should be PERSONAL…it should give visitors a feel for your personality and uniqueness.  But its content should focus on your prospect…in this case your blog visitor.

What are they are looking for?  What real estate information did they click on your blog to find?  And how do you best help them with their real estate problems?

You become helpful to blog visitors by posting quality, local real estate information that gives them a flavor of what’s happening around them.  Especially by sharing updates on changing property values.

Keep these questions in mind to build a blog that gets noticed, gets repeat visitors, and makes you money.

Now that we’ve cleared up the confusion…can you save time by blogging or is it a waste of time?  And how do you get started – or know you’ve set up your blog to pull in clients?  I’ll show you how to get this done with the right tools in 4 simple steps…

How To Set Up A Blog in 15 Minutes…

STEP 1: Choose A Blog Platform That Is Easy To Use

If I didn’t mention it yet, rest assured, blogs are FREE!  There are several blogging systems (or ‘platforms’) you might consider, but the quickest and easiest one is…

POSTEROUS (You can learn more by going to http://posterous.com/faq)

If you can write an email to yourself, then you can have a blog!  Posterous is by far the easiest platform to use a blog.  All you do is email them and their online system posts to your blog for you.  Their service is FREE and makes your blog look professional (with no web designer fees, and no programs to learn).

Here’s an example blog post I did so you can see how my blog looks:

http://danhollings.posterous.com/twitter-invented-in-1935-who-w

Real estate blog tip: With Posterous, you can take a bunch of pictures of a new listing, email them to yourself as attachments, and Posterous will automatically put the images on your blog in a great looking “slide show”.  Talk about a huge time-saver.

Here are two other easy-to-use (and free!) blog platforms you could also investigate:

STEP 2: Set Up Your Blog To Attract  Local Prospects

What do you put on your blog before you start posting content?  As I mentioned…your blog should be about your site visitor (your prospect), but you do need to include a few tid-bits about yourself, what you do, where you do it, etc.

Here’s a checklist of initial items to add to your blog:

  • Testimonials
  • Reviews of local places
  • Helpful resources area
  • Your photo (perhaps a family photo)
  • …and a BIO about yourself (should make you sound professional and knowledgeable, but not a know-it-all or uppity expert)

CRITICALLY IMPORTANT: Add your LOCAL keywords, terms and phrases with your bio and services description, and in a natural way.  Especially your CITY and local area paired with real estate terms.

Above all, your blog should be a friendly and helpful place that visitors come for local real estate information.  You should have a way for visitors to contact you.  And also an easy-to-see OFFER to join a newsletter or get some valuable report in exchange for an email address.

Once you get a visitor’s email address… you can send them notices about updates to your blog or follow up with the information they requested, and start to build a relationship.  If you don’t offer something to visitors, they may never come back to your blog and you’ve missed out on business.

STEP 3: Post Great Content To Convert Visitors To Clients

Here’s where blogs really save you time.  If you had to add a new page to your web site every time you wanted to post news about the local real estate market, you’d have to create the page, send it to a designer (or take the time to do it yourself if you know how), and then upload it to your site.  This can take days.

If you’re using the right blog platform, all you have to do is login, write up your content, and press “send” (or “publish”)…and it’s now live to the world.

What types of content do you post do your blog?  Here are a few ideas…

  • Local (and some national) market news
  • Local events
  • Real estate tips and how-to articles

Remember to lightly pepper your posts with KEYWORDS, TAGS, and LOCATIONS with every blog post.  Yes, there are umpteen other “strategies” and things you should do to make it an “authority blog” – but you can get lost in that for weeks and my goal is to get you going.

How often should you post?  As a general rule, make a post at least once a week to maximize the full search engine benefits of blogs.

STEP 4: Add TAGS to Your Blog For Maximum Visibility

You are likely familiar with Google (as a search engine), but blogs have their own search engines.  One great blog search engine is called Technorati and if you post to your blog, you’ll likely show up in numerous such blog related sites here.

To make sure your blog shows up in the right CATEGORIES in blog-specific search engines, you can add TAGS to every new post.  These clarify what a particular post is about   Here’s a list of TAGS you can use:  Technoriti Tags

At this point you may be asking, “So what do I do with my web site?  I say forget it.  Blogs are cheaper, faster, and work better at bringing you clients from the web.

If you already have a website – use it as another place to put your business profile and give you credibility.  If you don’t have a web site – get started online with a free blog service.  Either way, your blog should be your central “hub” where people learn about you and what you can do for them.

Start implementing the 4-steps in this article and you will quickly be “up-and-running”…dominating search results for your local area, connecting with more prospects, and harvesting more business from the web – while spending a fraction of the time money most spend on traditional web sites.

Happy blogging!

↧

Beginner's Guide To Getting Clients With Twitter

October 8, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor

In this recent post, I shared with you how to get clients from the internet even without your own website.  And I gave you a list of places to post your information (eight to be exact!) that are certain to get visitors.

Today, I want to reveal the ultimate place online to connect with local prospects without needing your own site.  This ONE online destination is now the “center” of my online marketing universe.  And I’ll show you how to quickly tap into this “non-stop party of prospects”…ready to spread the word about your services…

It’s getting a lot of buzz, but few know how to truly make money from this site…

How To Leverage The Money-Making Potential of

TWITTER To Bring You Business

You may already have a Twitter account.  But there’s a good chance you’ve missed one or more of the critical steps I’m about to explain on how to set up a Twitter profile to bring you clients.

If you don’t have a Twitter account, well it’s your lucky day, because this is your chance to jump in and start profiting within the next few minutes!  Let’s get started…

STEP 1:  How To Sign-Up For Twitter In Under 5 Minutes

  • Go To http://twitter.com/  (click “Sign Up Now”)
  • COMPLETE BASIC INFORMATION (name, username password, email)

    SPECIAL INSIGHT: make your username “human/personal” NOT corporate or weird.  And even though you are allowed up to 15 characters for your username, make it as short as you possibly can (10 characters or less is optimal).  More on this in step 2…

  • DOCUMENT and SAVE your username / password.
  • SKIP the FRIENDS part for now…(select “Skip this step” at the bottom.

    You can return to SETTINGS later if you wish to do this).
  • SKIP the NEXT STEP (“Look who else is here…”  Don’t do this unless you are a celebrity freak…it’s not going to bring you business in your local market).
  • CONGRATULATIONS (your account is tweet ready – but needs tweaking).
  • Don’t Tweet yet, it’s time to set a few things up so that you don’t look like a Twidiot!
  • Click SETTINGS at top of your profile.  (https://twitter.com/account/settings)…

STEP 2:  How To Set Up Your Account Like a “Twitter Twenius”

That’s Twitter-speak for “Genius”!

You need to optimize FIVE areas of your profile on Twitter…

A. Real Name and User Name

Invest some forethought into your Twitter username.  I needs to be 15 characters or less; so make it short, memorable, relevant, personable, and easy to spell.  You will also be able to associate a 20 character (max) REAL NAME with your username.  If you are a local business or if you use an 800 hotline service, it may be possible to incorporate that phone number in the real name.  You could also categorize what you do as part of your real name.  This is a very visible part of the Twitter system…choose wisely.

EXAMPLE, I could use the following:

Real name = Dan H (800) 633-9638 -or- Dan (Web Strategy) -or- DanHollings.com

SPECIAL INSIGHT: Keep in mind that your REAL NAME is used in search results, thus it has SEO value (so think about your “keywords”).

User name = dhollings

SPECIAL INSIGHT:  Your USERNAME steals away character spaces when others want to “reTweet” you (re-post your Twitter message), thus a 10 character or less username is better, even though you are allowed a 15 characters max.

B. Location

Make sure you add your LOCATION, in other words, where on earth are you located? Unless you are intentionally hiding-out from the FBI or debt collectors, a Twitter location is highly recommended.  If you are using your account for a local business, adding a very specific location can be extremely beneficial.  People seek local connections…make it easy for them to find and follow you.

SPECIAL INSIGHT: You can also search and add people in your local area who are on Twitter by using the Advanced feature of Twitter Search.

C. “One Line Bio”

Definitely optimize your 160 character BIO which appears on the upper right of your Twitter profile page.  It does not have to be a typical bio, it can be an interesting message or statement if you prefer.  In most cases the goal of the bio line is to get the reader to think you are “follow worthy.”  Make it real, make it fun, make it interesting, make it YOU.  Literally make your bio in to Twitter “follow bait.”  If you are fishing for followers, the better the bait, the more followers you’ll catch.

SPECIAL INSIGHT: Many savvy followers find the people they want to follow by searching Twitter BIOs.  With this in mind, it makes sense to pepper your Twitter BIO with keywords and keyword phrases that will attract the type followers you seek.  After all, it’s not followers you seek, it is “targeted followers” that want to hear what you are tweeting.

D. Picture

Make your personal picture (icon) a good one – in fact, make it great!  Twitter is driven by personalities, so use a picture that expresses the “personality message” you want to get across.  Logo’s, text, and images without humans or animals are often too business-like and restrain the driving social force that propels Twitter.

E. Background

Upload a really interesting BACKGROUND (Twitter wallpaper image) under the “Design” tab of your Twitter set-up admin area.  Here are 2 great places to look for backgrounds:

  • A quick search on Google Images for “Twitter Backgrounds”, “Twitter Wallpaper”, or “Twitter Templates” will likely help.
  • You can also check out TweetBacks for several great Twitter background templates that are easily customized.

STEP 3:  How To Create a “Twitter Convincer Page” To Get Followers

Do not think that just because Twitter asks for your web address in the settings account area with the silly question, “Have a homepage or a blog?”, that this means you must put in your current web site or blog URL?  In fact, in many cases that is NOT a good idea.

To get started you can link to your web site or blog.  But what’s even better is to enter a URL to a dedicated page made specifically to greet, excite, or manifest interest from the people that will be investigating that link.  It’s literally like a landing page (what I call a “Twitter Convincer Page”) and in should be designed to get people to follow you.

SPECIAL INSIGHT:  Your “Twitter Convincer Page” can be a simple blog post (where you create a post specifically for this purpose and link to that single blog post page), it can be a dedicated page on your web site, or it can be a profile page like a Google profile page.

STEP 4:  How To “Tweet” Interesting Topics To Get Listeners and Leads

What do you tweet about (post to Twitter)?  Ah, that’s the magical part.  Now granted, what you post depends largely on your goals and purpose with Twitter, but in general this is easy… post:  interesting stuff, preferably related in some way to what you do, who you are, and what you (and your followers) are interested in.

SPECIAL INSIGHT:  It pays to be interesting to your followers, but it pays more to be interested in your followers.  Twitter is NOT a micro-advertising billboard.  However, you can let your followers know if you have a new listing or an upcoming seminar for first-time homebuyers…as long as it’s interesting to the followers you attract.

Spend some time exploring other Twitter tweets and personalities.  Listen to the conversations.  Observe and take notes.   What do you like, what don’t you like?  Try to ferment in your mind (and yes, a beer or glass of wine might actually help here) a “style” of Twittering that you like.  Maybe you find someone’s style you can mimic or perhaps you create a “mash-up” style that’s all you.

Congratulations!  Your Twitter account is set-up like a true Twitter “Twenius!”  Here’s an example of what your profile might look like… http://twitter.com/MSeiders

Set up your Twitter account today to get involved in the social media “cocktail party” going on right now in your local area to maximize your exposure and grow your income.

See you soon!

[Ed. note:  To get more money-making Twitter Tips… Follow Dan on Twitter @dhollings.  The above article is adapted from Dan’s “100 Twitter Tips” e-book.  To get access to all 100 tips along with:  1) A 90-Minute “Twenius Starter Teleseminar”, 2) A Live 60-minute “Twitter Q & A Session” and 3) A 90-Minute Intensive “Twitter For Real Estate Professionals ”Specific Training Session… click here.]

↧
↧

How to Get Found First on the Internet

May 28, 2008, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor
I Hear You Asking Yourself Already…

“What does this guy know about marketing for a local business much less the Real Estate business?”

It’s a legitimate question and one with perhaps a surprising answer… Yes, today, I’m an internet marketing guy with quite a few successful internet campaigns and projects under my belt. The mega-million dollar revenue generating campaign for “The Secret” movie is the project for which I’m most well known, but I’ve actually consulted for well over 100 companies ranging from network marketing, to small entrepreneurial businesses, to celebrity names like Jack Canfield and Montel Williams. But during my “pre-internet days” I was mostly involved in music and real estate: 1) MUSIC – My formal training is in music with over 7 years experience teaching at The University of Illinois and other educational institutions. My instrument? Classical guitar. Today I’m a music lover of jazz, classical, contemporary and world music plus I’m a composer and soundtrack guy. My works are featured at Amazon, iTunes and elsewhere and I consider music a passionate hobby; it’s certainly not a wealth generating program! Enjoy some of my music is at: www.DanManDo.com 2) REAL ESTATE – After 7 years of trying to make a living as a music teacher I transitioned into real estate. Again, we’re talking pre-internet days… yes, it’s hard to believe, but waaaaay back then people would come out of their caves and trade rocks and dinosaur bones for a better spot up on the hill… I transitioned (after much research and study) into real estate. Initially as an investor, picking up 2-flats, 4-flats, duplexes, condos and single family homes using creative financing techniques. It was during this time I learned a lot about finding, buying and selling real estate. I also became a licensed Realtor, later moving on to train real estate agents both as president of a local real estate school and conducting seminars. Even though I learned a lot about being in a sales and service business and loved it, once the internet arrived, I was wooed away by my great love: Internet Marketing! OPENING THE MARKETING LOCKBOX So, enough about me, let’s open the lockbox up on this internet stuff as it relates to YOUR business… My goal is not to teach you what you already know. My focus instead, is on tapping some of the powers and assets of the internet to help you propel your business activities and results in ways you never thought possible. In fact, I’m planning to focus in like a laser on LOCAL internet strategies because these are the strategies that will have the greatest impact on your local business. I encourage you to hang with me over this entire multi-part series until I reveal all 10 Secret Strategies. Rest assured, I plan to share some VERY CUTTING EDGE STUFF (that your competition does not know – yet) but the good news is, you do NOT need to be a rocket scientist or a computer nerd to benefit… rather, you just need the know-how, a plan, and some action. Also, here’s another FACT… thousands of real estate professionals will read these 10 strategies; but most will do absolutely nothing -OR- they’ll assume they need nothing more. Beware: real estate is a very competitive environment online and you’ll be required to pull out all the stops to get to the top. I’ll be giving you the map, but it’s YOU that must run the race. A final note before we begin: some of these strategies could fill complete books or day-long training courses all by themselves and you may find that not every strategy applies or is of interest to you right away, but if even ONE strategy helps move you toward your goals or puts money in your pocket, then we’ll both have something to smile about… agree? STRATEGY #1 Be Mindful; Become Findable Half the battle in finding customers, prospects or clients in your local area is making yourself “findable” online in the EXACT areas where your best prospects are looking. Every day, thousands of people seek local services for their homes and businesses, or they seek help in finding or selling a property or home. Many are actually desperate (or at least eager) for your service. These days, more people than you might imagine use the internet to seek their solution. According to 2007 data from The Kelsey Group recently released by AT&T, 4 out of 10 people looking for a local business or service use the internet. Did you think it might be higher? Just wait, that was last year… in coming years it will continue to soar and even move strongly into local Mobile (phone) search. (We’ll be covering this too!) It’s a fact that minute by minute, people are searching for someone to help them buy or sell a home straight away, or maybe they’re searching for a rental, or for someone to clean their carpets, do landscaping, handyman work, a painter or some other preparation which precedes a real estate need; it really doesn’t matter because the internet can deliver ANYTHING one might be looking for almost as fast as you can say GOOGLE (or YAHOO!) The interesting thing about online searchers (heads-up, I’M REVEALING A SECRET), is that they often want to use the internet like a virtual backyard fence, where they can lean over it a bit and ask a friendly neighbor for recommendations or tips (something you cannot do in The Yellow Pages or from a newspaper ad). Maybe these searchers want to do a little research first, find out what ordinary folks think about this service or that in their local area. Maybe they want to know what homes are selling for or how to “save on those darn Real Estate commissions.” What many fear most, however, is overspending, losing money, and/or getting lousy service… they don’t want to MAKE A MISTAKE. You’ve likely been in their shoes, think back… now think forward… BINGO, you have your SECRET STRATEGY #1. Believe it or not, this is perhaps THE most important secret I’ll reveal. Master this elusive 2-part strategy and the other secrets I’ll be sharing will flow like a charm… A. To do well online, FIRST you need to THINK like a customer (your ideal customer). Think what they would do, think where they might look, think what they most desire to know and who they most want to hear it from. Then PLANT YOURSELF (and your message) in those “FINDABLE” spots. B. NEXT, don’t think of the internet as an advertisement medium, rather think of it as a relationship building medium – plus a bit of a rumor mill if you like – SO… whenever possible, let OTHER people and other sites deliver your message and tell your story. Remember, searchers are leaning over the fence hoping to hear from a neighbor (or one of your existing customers) as to whether you’re any good or not (or to figure out what they should do). While this FIRST SECRET might not seem like an internet strategy, it is. This MINDSET PART of your strategy is SO important, nothing else should be done, until you’ve thought this through thoroughly. First understand the mindset of WHOM you want to find you, then think from THEIR perspective the type person, service, or answers THEY HOPE TO FIND. Then think how you can leverage OTHERS (other sites/ other people/ other companies) to help deliver your message. Whether you’re marketing a product, a service, a home or even playing the dating game, this step (or a close variation) is critical to your success. EXAMPLE: If you’re a real estate agent looking for buyers, morph yourself into THAT buyer type. If you are seeking home sellers, jump into the mind of the type of seller you hope will find you. All you must do next is plant yourself (or your message) exactly where this ideal prospect is looking and answer these questions:
  1. What is the conversation going on in their mind that you may be welcomed to participate in?
  2. What is the event in their life that you may be a welcomed part of?
  3. What is the challenge or problem they have that you may help them solve?
Discover these answers, mix in a few more internet strategies which I’ll reveal in my coming articles, and you’ll soon be winning in the internet marketing game. See you soon!

The post How to Get Found First on the Internet appeared first on Agent Inner Circle.

↧

How to Tap a Secret Source for Unlimited Clients

June 10, 2008, 10:04 am
$
0
0
Submitted by Becky Boomsma, REALTOR® (Thanks Becky. You’re now in the running for a New FLIP Video Camcorder for submitting your idea at this this link)

Not long ago we received a powerful client-generating and follow-up idea from agent Becky Boomsma. We wanted to get all the details about her idea, which has been bringing her a steady stream of clients since starting it. Here’s how she does it in her own language (along with some follow-up questions we asked her in order to get details)…

“I purchased a Home Valuation CMA Report and a pair of zip codes on the Home Page of Realtor.com. When a consumer is curious about the value of their home or a home they intend to purchase, an automated report is generated utilizing current MLS information and also sends a notification email to me to follow up with a refined market report and tips of how to make their home worth more. I am the only agent for my chosen zip codes to receive these exclusive leads and the consumer gets my photo, contact information, and recommendations on each correspondence. They also receive and automated monthly update on their inquiry. I’ve received 17 great leads in 4 months – serious leads who are searching for real estate information who are not working with another agent! Three will be ready to list within 30-60 days and I’ll be first in line for the opportunity!”

We asked Becky how an agent can get started using her system…

“To get started, call Tyler Carr at Realtor.com, 805-557-7886 and request the Featured CMA Program for your zip code(s) of choice. (You may also call your area sales rep from Realtor.com). If your requested zip code is available, you can purchase this product for a year. The rep will set the program up so that you are up and running within a day or two. You are then the agent sponsor or Featured Agent for that zip code when a seller wants to know their home’s value or a buyer wants to purchase in a particular neighborhood and enters an address within your purchased zip code. The buyer’s will receive a Market Report on the spot and then monthly thereafter, automatically. The seller receives their CMA and subsequent monthly reports, compliments of you, the Featured Agent. Tyler will also coach you on special widgets and ideas to add on your websites to attract consumers and wow them with your Featured Reports, where all contact information points to you.”

The post How to Tap a Secret Source for Unlimited Clients appeared first on Agent Inner Circle.

↧

How To Advertise Your Real Estate Website

July 2, 2008, 10:03 am
$
0
0
If you have a web site, make sure you advertise it everywhere. Besides my business card, I have it on bumper stickers, it is on the 2nd line of my return address stamp, on my email signature, on sign riders for my listings, printed on outside brochures for my sign post brochure box, and always included in any print or on line ad. I don’t show up high on a google search, but my site at www.LetsMove.net does get found and I do get leads from it. Always mention it wherever you can like I did in this tip.”
Submitted by Romie Oplinger, REALTOR® (Thanks Romie! You’re now in the running for a New FLIP Video Camcorder for submitting your idea at this link)

The post How To Advertise Your Real Estate Website appeared first on Agent Inner Circle.

↧
Search

How To Dominate Your Local Online Yellow Pages

May 27, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor

A few months back we hosted an article by one of the most prolific online marketers in the world today, Dan Hollings.  If you don’t remember, Dan spearheaded the online marketing efforts for the best-selling program, “The Secret”, which had over $200 million in sales.

We’re thrilled to announce that Dan has agreed to share a series of remarkable internet strategies with our Agent Inner Circle® Community, as a 10-part sequence, starting today.  Here’s Dan’s helpful article (with more to follow)…

As I mentioned in a previous article here on Agent Inner Circle®, understanding how your local prospect “thinks” when they do an online search is the starting point for getting found first on the internet.  (By the way, If you’d like to see my earlier article – the “first” in our 10-part sequence – simply CLICK HERE). Today, I want to continue revealing top secret internet strategies specific to real estate professionals.  And we’ll start off in a place you might not expect – how to narrow your thinking to get rapid results online… The internet, in the minds of most, is this big global network of people and computers plus a bottomless pit of information and resources so vast no human can really comprehend it. And just when you think you’re beginning to grasp the massive breadth of all this, you’re dumbfounded to discover it’s likely doubled in size, and doubled again from what you last conceived. Often in our fascination with the internet’s “bigness” and scope, we fail to realize how powerful a tool it can be on a smaller scale – locally.  It’s almost like thinking, “Hey this might be a great telescope, but lookie here, if I do it this way, it’s a great microscope!” For most real estate professionals, the internet should be a local microscope, allowing you to focus in on YOUR neck of the woods in ways, only a few years ago, were totally impossible. ADVANCED SECRET INTERNET STRATEGY “Think Local”… Imagine this: What if you could create a publicly searchable local map of all your happy clients and customers chock full of great stuff about YOU… testimonials, photos, links, videos and more. Think it might impress a potential home seller? Think you’ll get the listing? Oh, I almost forgot – What if you could do it for FREE? How do you THINK LOCAL?…

Explore First, Then Plant Yourself Right Where Your Best Prospects Are Looking…

First, discover LOCAL search.  I’ll focus for illustration purposes on Google Local, but all the major search engines offer local search results for keyword searches that are deemed “local.” Go to Google.com and type in the address of where you live   Try it with the full address, then just your street name and city/state, then just your zip. Any lights going off yet?  Something was FOUND, right?  Search engines seem to dig up something, no matter what.  But were any of the results useful?  And… Could you have been found there? Now, try clicking on the MAP option that likely appeared when you did a street address search or ZIP CODE search.  You’ll notice under the search box a TAB called “Find Businesses” – click that.  Initially, you’ll get something like the image to the right. In the search box to the left of your address, type in any business, keyword, or phrase you like.  In my example, I’ll type in what I do as my business… “Internet Strategist.” (next to location “Tucson AZ”) Quick Side Note:  Google does change how their website looks from time to time.  So you may need to click “Show search options” and select “Businesses” from the drop-down menu. As you can see, local businesses pull up on the left and at the TOP is my business (which I run from my home) called Web Services LLC. Again, any lights flashing in your head yet? Even on most other searches in my local area, my listing pulls up typically within the TOP 5 of local results.  If anyone searches by the county name where I live, or any neighboring communities… BINGO, they’ve found me. If I were in any local service business, I could easily pursue a few simple steps and PLANT myself under keywords and phrases HOMEOWNERS, BUYERS, and PROSPECTS might type in when seeking to find the agent or services they need.

And to think, the population of Tucson, AZ is over 518,956

Out of over a half million residents living in my area, Tucson, I’m thinking a few might be seeking services or help, and many (if not more) in YOUR local area are desperately trying to find you… but can YOU be found? It only gets better… Have you ever inquired what it costs to be in the local yellow pages? Pick a big number and add several ouches afterwards.  Yet, Google and other search engines will give you a BIG yellow page style ad (with your own COUPON option) for absolutely FREE.  And we are not talking for just one year – we’re talking perpetually!  FREE!
aic_1151_Web_Services_Coupon
So… you may be asking yourself, “Where exactly do I start to tap into local search?”… 1. FIRST identify the best sites to place your local business info. Here are some HELPFUL RESOURCES to get you started…
GOOGLE LOCAL http://local.google.com/
ADD YOUR BUSINESS http://www.google.com/local/add?hl=en&gl=us
YAHOO LOCAL http://local.yahoo.com/
ADD YOUR BUSINESS http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php
MSN LOCAL http://local.live.com/
ADD YOUR BUSINESS http://webapp.localeze.com/bizreg/add.aspx
OTHER LOCAL SEARCH MARKETING OPTIONS
2. NEXT, offer something of VALUE to local searchers. Think about what YOU would want to see if you were searching for a local business…
  • A “free home evaluation” coupon…
  • Free “Consumer Real Estate Guides”…
  • And, PROOF from satisfied customers
In my next article, I’ll unveil the step-by-step process SEO experts use to get found first online. See you soon!

The post How To Dominate Your Local Online Yellow Pages appeared first on Agent Inner Circle.

↧
↧

What SEO Experts Do When They Need to Get Found Online

June 9, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor
When people seeking your service start exploring online, they do so like you, me and everyone else. They rev up their browser, head off to a site or search engine and start searching.  Most searches are done by typing in a KEYWORD or PHRASE to a search box, clicking the search button and scanning through the resulting SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). Since we know this is what people do, all that’s left for us to determine is WHAT the heck they are typing into that little search box.  If we can make an educated guess about that, then our job becomes more defined.  All we must do is PLANT ourselves (our service, our listing, a web site, a web page or a blog) so we show up in the SERPs where they are looking.  It’s simple if you know how; impossible if you don’t. If you’ve heard anything about “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO), this is basically what we are discussing, but at a simplified level. You need not have any special talents to do this stuff, just the knowledge of what to do and where to do it. The process, once clear in your mind, is rather simple.  The good news is that doing this stuff on the LOCAL level is far easier than trying to achieve a similar goal on a national or global scale.  But for you, and for your business, LOCAL is exactly where we want to be found. So what do we need to do first?  We need to figure out what KEYWORDS or PHRASES local folks are typing into those search boxes!

WOOD WITH GORDS?

Are you good with words?  Great!  Even if you aren’t that’s OK.  There are many tools online that query actual search databases and tell us exactly what people are typing into those boxes.  To make it easier, I’ve posted a tool that is like a ONE STOP SHOP for most of your keyword research needs.  It’s located here (and it’s FREE):  http://danhollings.com/woodgords/ Another way to do quick research on top keywords is to use the Google Suggestion Tool. This tool is now integrated into the main search toolbar on Google’s homepage.  You’ll notice when you begin typing a search phrase, before you press enter to search, suggested phrases automatically show up below.  Pay attention to these as they are high-traffic terms people search. Here’s what you can do to get a feel for local real estate search terms…
  1. Enter “your city” and “real estate” (example = “tucson real estate”…without the quotes)
  2. Before pressing “enter” or clicking search, notice what phrases Google suggests
  3. Write these top phrases down for later use
For local search, just a little research on these general terms goes a long, long way.  But we’ll need to dive a little deeper to really uncover the specific KEYWORDS and PHRASES local homeowners, homebuyers and others may be using in their searches…

How to Find The Keywords and Phrases BUYERS and SELLERS Are Typing Into Search Engines

1. Determine who you’re after…
  • Think of the ONE person most likely to need what your web page or service is about.
  • Erase from your mind all inside knowledge about your company, product, service, industry etc.
  • Forget all techno-babble terms only known by experts or industry insiders.
2. Jump into the mind of the person (the homeowner in need)…
  • You are not a former client, so you have no history or relationship.
  • You have a definite need, challenge, desire, question or interest (that’s why you are searching).
  • You’re about to type words into a Google search box in the hope the search results page will guide you to a solution, a service, an answer, an agent, a perfect business or site.
  • You initially seek information and/or help more so than a product or “expert.”
3. Ask Yourself…
  • What words or phrase would you type in whereby when the results came up and you saw the site title listed (and ultimately a linked page)… you’d say “BINGO” this is what I was looking for!
  • Sometimes by thinking about the “who, what, when, where, why or how” behind the searchers motivation will spark additional useful keywords and phrases.
4. You’re not done…
  • Ask others what keywords they use to find real estate information online, including:  your spouse, your Ex, your neighbor, your kids, your postman, your lawn-keeper, your pet sitter, your cousin Skippy, past clients, your bartender and anyone else you can reach out to.
  • Don’t prep them with background info, just show them your draft page, a printout, or tell them your basic goals. The less you say, the better results you’ll get.
  • Remember, people are not always good spellers… misspelled keywords can be untapped potential for traffic.
5. Explore your competition…
  • Go to Google, type in the keywords you’ve discovered and look at the top sites that return on the results page.  These sites are competing for a similar audience on a large scale – borrow from them for your local plans.
  • Go to sites you already know (from experience) that are seeking to attract the same people.  Examine what they are doing and take notes if you think you see a good idea.
  • Examine your competition’s page title, headlines and the general subjects of their web pages.
This process will give you a running start at getting your web site found by your ideal prospects.  In my next article, I’ll show you how to round out your keyword research to dominate local search results. See you soon!

The post What SEO Experts Do When They Need to Get Found Online appeared first on Agent Inner Circle.

↧

Insider Reveals 4 Steps To Get Clients From The Web

July 6, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor
In this article, we were brainstorming initial keywords your prospects search to find you on the web. Today, we’ll talk about PLANTING and GROWING your keyword seeds and finalizing your preparation to get found online in 4 simple steps.  Most web designers don’t even know these insider strategies… STEP 1:  Plant Your Seeds The first step is to create a short list of 5 to 15 “seed” keywords. Your list might look like this one to the right: STEP 2:  Grow Your Seeds aic_1153_My_Seed_Keywords Next, visit the Keyword Tool below and expand your list to a solid 10 to 50 keywords and phrases that have a healthy number of searches actually occurring on a monthly basis. Don’t assume the highest search volume keywords are the best, rather, pick the ones that truly might originate from the TYPE of customer you desire. Explore the other tools and links all found on this page as you enter your “SEEDS” one at a time: Click here to go to the Free Keyword Tool… As you brainstorm keywords, keep in mind that because you will be focusing on a LOCAL market, you will most likely want to add your city, state, county, and/or zip code to the keyword phrases you compile (more on this in step 4). What’s a “healthy” number of searches you might ask?  For now, shoot for adding keywords that have several search terms above zero.  You want to make web pages around keywords (and topics) people have an interest in and actually search to find. STEP 3:  Add ‘TAGS’ To Your Keyword List We do need to talk for a moment about ‘TAGS’.  Not like the ones on your clothes.  The internet variety that have become so BIG in so many ways these days.  To make it quick and easy to understand, you might think of a TAG as a one or two word keyword used to CATEGORIZE what you do or what your site or web page is about. It’s another way that people might find your business, page, blog or site.  And here’s why it’s important… Just as you need to know (or think about in advance) the keywords that a searcher might type into a search box, you also need to know what CATEGORY or set of TAGS best classify what you do.  These TAGS will be used more to categorize blog posts, photo’s, and other social media things you do – whereas, your keywords will be associated more with your web pages or sites. Don’t get too hung-up thinking about why this works this way, rather let’s just move forward and while we have keywords on our mind, let’s pick a small highly focuses set of categorical TAGS so we have them ready for some blog posts and social media strategies I’ll discuss in future articles. aic_1153_My_Tags If you’ve just completed your keyword research, you can likely do this part off the top of your head.  Just think of 3 to 10 categories (one word to three words are best) that your service or site fits. Your TAG LIST might resemble the one to the right (but please, create your own so you can be even more exacting… and localize as much as possible).
STEP 4:  Include Local Terms In Your Keywords What are you in the middle of? In other words, where the heck are you located? What is your “service area”?  If you expect people to find you in a search engine or online, you have to PLANT the various “location” names, zips and spots directly into your listings and pages. Only by doing this can the search engines know when and where to “deliver your page up” within the proper local SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). This step is critical and I have a couple of tools that will help make it very, very quick and easy.  What I want you to do now is create a list of every city, county, community, and ZIP code that is within a reasonable distance from your location. Naturally, if it’s an area that you are NOT interested in getting calls or business from, you’ll exclude it.  Use the two tools below to create lists of areas you are most interested in (don’t stretch yourself too wide – focus in on your prime target areas):
  1. The city and zip code part can be done with this tool: (You need only enter your ZIP and a radius in this tool – results will show at bottom) http://www.5minutesite.com/local_keywords.php
  2. To help you with local county names, try this tool: http://www.naco.org/Content/NavigationMenu/About_Counties/ Data_and_Demographics/Data_and_Demographics.htm
With our focused list of keywords, phrases, tags and locations in hand, we’re now ready to create web pages and blog pages that truly get found by our prime prospects.  Be on the lookout for my next article where I’ll show you how to create web pages with these local keywords, even WITHOUT a web site. See you soon!

The post Insider Reveals 4 Steps To Get Clients From The Web appeared first on Agent Inner Circle.

↧

How To Get Clients Online Without A Website

August 4, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor
How would you like to get new business from the web WITHOUT having a web site? Sounds impossible, I know.  But stay with me for a few minutes.  I’ll show you how to get clients from the internet by posting your information at eight FREE places online that are certain to get visitors. If you’ve been following my internet strategies for real estate professionals, and did your homework, you’ll be ready to get found online by your prime prospects. When we last left off, I explained how to round out your list of localized KEYWORDS, TAGS, and LOCATIONS.  And now it’s time to take those lists and set up some simple web pages in various spots that get found online. The “operative“ word in the last sentence was “VARIOUS“ and the missing word was SITE.  You first need to set up several PAGES in specific locations (you’ll find out where below).  And you can save setting up a full-blown SITE for last – if you already have a site, that’s fine, we’ll address that later. Worry not…setting up pages online is easy.  In fact, it’s as fun as a family fishing trip… You’re about to go fishing on a big pond called the “Internet“ but you’re not going deep, you’re staying in the shallow local waters.  Think of your PAGES as your “bait and hook“ while your SITE (or even your blog or an 800 hotline) will be your boat.  You’ll use various forms of bait and most will have a line back to your boat.

GOOD NEWS

Unlike the early years of the internet when you needed to have a programmer, a designer, and a pot of money… today, with WEB 2.0 opportunities everywhere, you can set up web pages quickly and without paying a cent. Web 2.0 is many things by definition, but at its core is the concept that YOU are a content creator and if given the ability to add or create content on someone else’s site or system, you will.  For our purposes, this is like being handed the keys to the back door of the internet’s “bait and tackle“ shop.  We can quickly and easily create all the bait (content) we want to attract schools of prospects.  I’ll show you how in 3 easy steps…

HOW TO SET UP WEB PAGES THAT GET FOUND EVEN WITHOUT A WEB SITE

STEP 1:  Identify the TYPE of Focused Content Pages You need to take the localized KEYWORDS, TAGS, and LOCATIONS you compiled earlier and create very focused content that you can place on several web pages.  The content you create doesn’t need to be professionally written or “scholarly“, rather it needs to be homespun, helpful, brief, in your voice and honest. Testimonials from third party sources and clients are great to use and are very powerful.  Everything needs to be peppered with real estate related KEYWORDS and LOCATIONS.  And if the system where you are posting your information allows you to categorize your content, then you’ll use your TAGS. Keep in mind, the content you create should be structured to FIT the type of site where you are posting it, which means it might be in a format like one of the following:
  • A PARAGRAPH about what you do,
  • an ARTICLE about your service benefits,
  • a LIST of things you do for clients (or areas you cover, or things a homeowner might look out for),
  • a REVIEW of your business
  • a PHOTO of you performing your service,
  • a MAP of areas you cover,
  • an online “Consumer Awareness Guide,“ or
  • a testimonial VIDEO you post on YouTube.
The types of content are limited only by your creativity.  The more the better, but even a little will do.  Now let’s open the back door of the internet’s “bait and tackle“ shop and start creating our bait… STEP 2:  Create Your Focused Content Pages The better your content the greater impact it will have on your overall strategy.  So post quality, helpful, informative stuff and not just “promotional“ material!  If appropriate, pepper in testimonials and photos.  These items will do the selling for you. Each system will have its own rules and recommendations…it’s worth the effort to skim through tutorials, FAQs, and policy guides to assure you maximize the potential of your content. You can search each system for other content that might be like yours (using the keywords you have on your lists)… sometimes it’ll give you ideas.  Weave everything together naturally with KEYWORDS, TAGS, and LOCATIONS.  Don’t try to ‘stuff’ these terms into your content so it can’t be read by a human being.  That never works and can actually lower the search ranking of your content. Important Tip:  Within your mix of content posts, you’ll want to create ONE central blog.  It will be the only place where it’s required to add additional content on a regular basis (this is covered more thoroughly in an upcoming article).  What we are seeking now are places where we can post ONCE (with perhaps only occasional updating required). If your keyword list is larger, divide it into GROUPS (or what I call BUCKETS) and create separate content based on the focused/related keywords in each “bucket.“  Your content buckets could be information on your happy clients in the local area, why a person needs your services, or real estate how-to tips… STEP 3:  Post Your Content Pages for Maximum Visibility It’s time to set-up your pages and content in a few key locations.  The list below will get you started, but if you discover other prime spots (especially local spots) then merely add to this list.  Remember, the idea is to adjust or create your content to fit the environment where it will be placed.  Look around at each system that you find and add your content in the format, style or flavor of what you see on that site.

TWO GREAT PLACES TO START POSTING YOUR CONTENT OR MEDIA

The examples below are not all real estate related on purpose…so as to expand your creativity 😉
  1. SQUIDOO http://www.squidoo.com/ An example of a Squidoo LENS page for a Children’s Book: http://www.squidoo.com/ladybug-stuff/
  2. HUBPAGES http://hubpages.com/ An example of a HUB about Real Estate Ads: http://hubpages.com/hub/Real_Estate_Ads

    SIX MORE PLACES TO POST CONTENT OR MEDIA…

  3. GOOGLE BASE http://base.google.com/ An example of a GOOGLE BASE page – in this example a review of Dean Graziosi’s book: http://www.google.com/base/a/2575746/D4701930617138357370
  4. GOOGLE PROFILE PAGE http://maps.google.com/help/maps/profile/index.html An example of a GOOGLE PROFILE page – in this example it’s me! http://maps.google.com/maps/user?uid=109843529767179534196&hl=en&gl=us
  5. TUMBLR http://www.tumblr.com/ An example of a TUMBLR for “to-do“ list generator: http://to-do-list.tumblr.com/
  6. SWIKI http://www.eurekster.com/ An example of a SWIKI for real estate: http://real-estate-foreclosures-state-by-state-swicki.eurekster.com/
  7. FLICKR http://flickr.com/ An example of MONTEL WILLIAMS using “bait“ for one of his “boats“: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8391553@N06/503947524/
  8. YOUTUBE http://www.youtube.com/ An example of a Rockin’ Cockatoo dancing to the Back Street Boys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utkb1nOJnD4
I’ve just given you eight places to post your content, get the word out about your real estate services, and harvest new business from the internet. You can also set up a BLOG to post regular updates.  Search engines favor blogs over regular web sites, and you’ll find out why in my next article. And boy will it be a treat for you…keep an eye out for my next article where I’ll reveal easy ways to set up a blog completely for free.  I’ll get you up and running in minutes… See you soon!

The post How To Get Clients Online Without A Website appeared first on Agent Inner Circle.

↧

Can Blogs Make You Money, Save You Time?

September 9, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor
Everyone these days is telling you to get a blog.  But is it right for you?  Or if you already have one…how do you avoid getting suckered in by the biggest lie involving real estate blogs? In this article I’ll give you the skinny on how to use a blog for your real estate business…and quickly attract high-quality clients from the web. A blog is nothing more than an easy place to post regular content on a focused topic.  Somewhat like keeping a journal, only publicly where others can see it.  And you’ll want to post more valuable stuff than just your thoughts (more on that in a minute). Blogs have become popular for TWO primary reasons:  1) they are easy to set-up and maintain (even by non-techies), and 2) unlike a web site, a blog “talks” to various other sites and search engines in a way that creates automatic marketing and exposure for you. Every time you make a new post to your blog, it will PING (techie-language for “talk to”) various other sites and search engines – thereby creating a “buzz” about what you are posting. This is important because if you only have web site, you could be missing out on a lot of free traffic (and new clients) that search engines will give to regularly-updated blogs. Search engines love the fresh content posted on blogs because it’s their job to serve up relevant and timely content to the searcher.  And if you keep you content focused on real estate in your local area, they’ll gladly reward you with a high search ranking…netting you more exposure and more business—that is, if you avoid…
The Biggest Real Estate Blog LIE Revealed…
What is the biggest lie you’ve been fed about using a blog? That it should be about YOU! Yes, a blog should be PERSONAL…it should give visitors a feel for your personality and uniqueness.  But its content should focus on your prospect…in this case your blog visitor. What are they are looking for?  What real estate information did they click on your blog to find?  And how do you best help them with their real estate problems? You become helpful to blog visitors by posting quality, local real estate information that gives them a flavor of what’s happening around them.  Especially by sharing updates on changing property values. Keep these questions in mind to build a blog that gets noticed, gets repeat visitors, and makes you money. Now that we’ve cleared up the confusion…can you save time by blogging or is it a waste of time?  And how do you get started – or know you’ve set up your blog to pull in clients?  I’ll show you how to get this done with the right tools in 4 simple steps…
How To Set Up A Blog in 15 Minutes…
STEP 1: Choose A Blog Platform That Is Easy To Use If I didn’t mention it yet, rest assured, blogs are FREE!  There are several blogging systems (or ‘platforms’) you might consider, but the quickest and easiest one is… POSTEROUS (You can learn more by going to http://posterous.com/faq) If you can write an email to yourself, then you can have a blog!  Posterous is by far the easiest platform to use a blog.  All you do is email them and their online system posts to your blog for you.  Their service is FREE and makes your blog look professional (with no web designer fees, and no programs to learn). Here’s an example blog post I did so you can see how my blog looks: http://danhollings.posterous.com/twitter-invented-in-1935-who-w Real estate blog tip: With Posterous, you can take a bunch of pictures of a new listing, email them to yourself as attachments, and Posterous will automatically put the images on your blog in a great looking “slide show”.  Talk about a huge time-saver. Here are two other easy-to-use (and free!) blog platforms you could also investigate: STEP 2: Set Up Your Blog To Attract  Local Prospects What do you put on your blog before you start posting content?  As I mentioned…your blog should be about your site visitor (your prospect), but you do need to include a few tid-bits about yourself, what you do, where you do it, etc. Here’s a checklist of initial items to add to your blog:
  • Testimonials
  • Reviews of local places
  • Helpful resources area
  • Your photo (perhaps a family photo)
  • …and a BIO about yourself (should make you sound professional and knowledgeable, but not a know-it-all or uppity expert)
CRITICALLY IMPORTANT: Add your LOCAL keywords, terms and phrases with your bio and services description, and in a natural way.  Especially your CITY and local area paired with real estate terms. Above all, your blog should be a friendly and helpful place that visitors come for local real estate information.  You should have a way for visitors to contact you.  And also an easy-to-see OFFER to join a newsletter or get some valuable report in exchange for an email address. Once you get a visitor’s email address… you can send them notices about updates to your blog or follow up with the information they requested, and start to build a relationship.  If you don’t offer something to visitors, they may never come back to your blog and you’ve missed out on business. STEP 3: Post Great Content To Convert Visitors To Clients Here’s where blogs really save you time.  If you had to add a new page to your web site every time you wanted to post news about the local real estate market, you’d have to create the page, send it to a designer (or take the time to do it yourself if you know how), and then upload it to your site.  This can take days. If you’re using the right blog platform, all you have to do is login, write up your content, and press “send” (or “publish”)…and it’s now live to the world. What types of content do you post do your blog?  Here are a few ideas…
  • Local (and some national) market news
  • Local events
  • Real estate tips and how-to articles
Remember to lightly pepper your posts with KEYWORDS, TAGS, and LOCATIONS with every blog post.  Yes, there are umpteen other “strategies” and things you should do to make it an “authority blog” – but you can get lost in that for weeks and my goal is to get you going. How often should you post?  As a general rule, make a post at least once a week to maximize the full search engine benefits of blogs. STEP 4: Add TAGS to Your Blog For Maximum Visibility You are likely familiar with Google (as a search engine), but blogs have their own search engines.  One great blog search engine is called Technorati and if you post to your blog, you’ll likely show up in numerous such blog related sites here. To make sure your blog shows up in the right CATEGORIES in blog-specific search engines, you can add TAGS to every new post.  These clarify what a particular post is about   Here’s a list of TAGS you can use:  Technoriti Tags At this point you may be asking, “So what do I do with my web site?  I say forget it.  Blogs are cheaper, faster, and work better at bringing you clients from the web. If you already have a website – use it as another place to put your business profile and give you credibility.  If you don’t have a web site – get started online with a free blog service.  Either way, your blog should be your central “hub” where people learn about you and what you can do for them. Start implementing the 4-steps in this article and you will quickly be “up-and-running”…dominating search results for your local area, connecting with more prospects, and harvesting more business from the web – while spending a fraction of the time money most spend on traditional web sites. Happy blogging!

The post Can Blogs Make You Money, Save You Time? appeared first on Agent Inner Circle.

↧
↧

Beginner’s Guide To Getting Clients With Twitter

October 8, 2009, 10:04 am
$
0
0
By Dan Hollings, Internet Strategist and Contributing Editor
In this recent post, I shared with you how to get clients from the internet even without your own website.  And I gave you a list of places to post your information (eight to be exact!) that are certain to get visitors. Today, I want to reveal the ultimate place online to connect with local prospects without needing your own site.  This ONE online destination is now the “center” of my online marketing universe.  And I’ll show you how to quickly tap into this “non-stop party of prospects”…ready to spread the word about your services… It’s getting a lot of buzz, but few know how to truly make money from this site…

How To Leverage The Money-Making Potential of TWITTER To Bring You Business

You may already have a Twitter account.  But there’s a good chance you’ve missed one or more of the critical steps I’m about to explain on how to set up a Twitter profile to bring you clients. If you don’t have a Twitter account, well it’s your lucky day, because this is your chance to jump in and start profiting within the next few minutes!  Let’s get started… STEP 1:  How To Sign-Up For Twitter In Under 5 Minutes
  • Go To http://twitter.com/  (click “Sign Up Now”)
  • COMPLETE BASIC INFORMATION (name, username password, email)
    SPECIAL INSIGHT: make your username “human/personal” NOT corporate or weird.  And even though you are allowed up to 15 characters for your username, make it as short as you possibly can (10 characters or less is optimal).  More on this in step 2…
  • DOCUMENT and SAVE your username / password.
  • SKIP the FRIENDS part for now…(select “Skip this step” at the bottom. You can return to SETTINGS later if you wish to do this).
  • SKIP the NEXT STEP (“Look who else is here…”  Don’t do this unless you are a celebrity freak…it’s not going to bring you business in your local market).
  • CONGRATULATIONS (your account is tweet ready – but needs tweaking).
  • Don’t Tweet yet, it’s time to set a few things up so that you don’t look like a Twidiot!
  • Click SETTINGS at top of your profile.  (https://twitter.com/account/settings)…
STEP 2:  How To Set Up Your Account Like a “Twitter Twenius” That’s Twitter-speak for “Genius”! You need to optimize FIVE areas of your profile on Twitter… A. Real Name and User Name Invest some forethought into your Twitter username.  I needs to be 15 characters or less; so make it short, memorable, relevant, personable, and easy to spell.  You will also be able to associate a 20 character (max) REAL NAME with your username.  If you are a local business or if you use an 800 hotline service, it may be possible to incorporate that phone number in the real name.  You could also categorize what you do as part of your real name.  This is a very visible part of the Twitter system…choose wisely.
EXAMPLE, I could use the following: Real name = Dan H (800) 633-9638 -or- Dan (Web Strategy) -or- DanHollings.com
SPECIAL INSIGHT: Keep in mind that your REAL NAME is used in search results, thus it has SEO value (so think about your “keywords”).
User name = dhollings
SPECIAL INSIGHT:  Your USERNAME steals away character spaces when others want to “reTweet” you (re-post your Twitter message), thus a 10 character or less username is better, even though you are allowed a 15 characters max.
B. Location Make sure you add your LOCATION, in other words, where on earth are you located? Unless you are intentionally hiding-out from the FBI or debt collectors, a Twitter location is highly recommended.  If you are using your account for a local business, adding a very specific location can be extremely beneficial.  People seek local connections…make it easy for them to find and follow you.
SPECIAL INSIGHT: You can also search and add people in your local area who are on Twitter by using the Advanced feature of Twitter Search.
C. “One Line Bio” Definitely optimize your 160 character BIO which appears on the upper right of your Twitter profile page.  It does not have to be a typical bio, it can be an interesting message or statement if you prefer.  In most cases the goal of the bio line is to get the reader to think you are “follow worthy.”  Make it real, make it fun, make it interesting, make it YOU.  Literally make your bio in to Twitter “follow bait.”  If you are fishing for followers, the better the bait, the more followers you’ll catch.
SPECIAL INSIGHT: Many savvy followers find the people they want to follow by searching Twitter BIOs.  With this in mind, it makes sense to pepper your Twitter BIO with keywords and keyword phrases that will attract the type followers you seek.  After all, it’s not followers you seek, it is “targeted followers” that want to hear what you are tweeting.
D. Picture Make your personal picture (icon) a good one – in fact, make it great!  Twitter is driven by personalities, so use a picture that expresses the “personality message” you want to get across.  Logo’s, text, and images without humans or animals are often too business-like and restrain the driving social force that propels Twitter. E. Background Upload a really interesting BACKGROUND (Twitter wallpaper image) under the “Design” tab of your Twitter set-up admin area.  Here are 2 great places to look for backgrounds:
  • A quick search on Google Images for “Twitter Backgrounds”, “Twitter Wallpaper”, or “Twitter Templates” will likely help.
  • You can also check out TweetBacks for several great Twitter background templates that are easily customized.
STEP 3:  How To Create a “Twitter Convincer Page” To Get Followers Do not think that just because Twitter asks for your web address in the settings account area with the silly question, “Have a homepage or a blog?”, that this means you must put in your current web site or blog URL?  In fact, in many cases that is NOT a good idea. To get started you can link to your web site or blog.  But what’s even better is to enter a URL to a dedicated page made specifically to greet, excite, or manifest interest from the people that will be investigating that link.  It’s literally like a landing page (what I call a “Twitter Convincer Page”) and in should be designed to get people to follow you.
SPECIAL INSIGHT:  Your “Twitter Convincer Page” can be a simple blog post (where you create a post specifically for this purpose and link to that single blog post page), it can be a dedicated page on your web site, or it can be a profile page like a Google profile page.
STEP 4:  How To “Tweet” Interesting Topics To Get Listeners and Leads What do you tweet about (post to Twitter)?  Ah, that’s the magical part.  Now granted, what you post depends largely on your goals and purpose with Twitter, but in general this is easy… post:  interesting stuff, preferably related in some way to what you do, who you are, and what you (and your followers) are interested in.
SPECIAL INSIGHT:  It pays to be interesting to your followers, but it pays more to be interested in your followers.  Twitter is NOT a micro-advertising billboard.  However, you can let your followers know if you have a new listing or an upcoming seminar for first-time homebuyers…as long as it’s interesting to the followers you attract.
Spend some time exploring other Twitter tweets and personalities.  Listen to the conversations.  Observe and take notes.   What do you like, what don’t you like?  Try to ferment in your mind (and yes, a beer or glass of wine might actually help here) a “style” of Twittering that you like.  Maybe you find someone’s style you can mimic or perhaps you create a “mash-up” style that’s all you. Congratulations!  Your Twitter account is set-up like a true Twitter “Twenius!”  Here’s an example of what your profile might look like… http://twitter.com/MSeiders Set up your Twitter account today to get involved in the social media “cocktail party” going on right now in your local area to maximize your exposure and grow your income. See you soon! [Ed. note:  To get more money-making Twitter Tips… Follow Dan on Twitter @dhollings.  The above article is adapted from Dan’s “100 Twitter Tips” e-book.  To get access to all 100 tips along with:  1) A 90-Minute “Twenius Starter Teleseminar”, 2) A Live 60-minute “Twitter Q & A Session” and 3) A 90-Minute Intensive “Twitter For Real Estate Professionals ”Specific Training Session… click here.]

The post Beginner’s Guide To Getting Clients With Twitter appeared first on Agent Inner Circle.

↧

5 Easy Steps to Generate Referrals With Online Reviews

June 6, 2017, 7:00 pm
$
0
0

You’re heading out to dinner with your sweetie, and want to find the perfect restaurant for a romantic evening. Where do you turn? If you’re like 90% of consumers, you’re going to hop online and check out online reviews, whether on Yelp, Google, or otherwise.

Check out Michael Krisa’s video below, for additional tips and why it’s important to leave online reviews of your own:

 
 

Need more reasons to get on board with online reviews? Check out these statistics.


  • 88% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations
  • 72% Of Consumers Say That Positive Reviews Make Them Trust A Local Business More
  • 92% of users will use a local business if it has at least a 4-star listing
  • 72% of consumers will take action only after reading a positive review

Isn’t the first one surprising? What does that mean for you as a realtor?


Whether we like it or not, online consumer reviews have an impact on your business. Sites like Realtor.com, RealSatisfied, Zillow, and Yelp allow for consumer reviews, and your potential clients are likely to check you out online.


How do you help make sure those reviews work in your favor?


We have a 5-Part Plan to make sure you get the most from your reviews, and we’ll share it with you:


  1. Preview
  2. Give
  3. Guide
  4. Ask
  5. Praise

1.  Preview

Tell the client what to expect when they start working with you.  Tell them beforehand that you’re going to ask for a review and possibly referral at the end.

By clearly setting the expectations for what they can expect from you, when you ask for a review at the end, they have a benchmark.

2. Give

Give the client an easy way to review you and pick ONE site. Then, email them, with specific instructions (if you use an automated email system, make it one of your standard “after-transaction” emails).

3. Guide

Help them understand review sites when it comes time.  While consumers read reviews, don’t assume that everyone knows how to give them.

4. Ask

Ask! Just ask… over… and over… and over again. It normally requires 7-8 emails to get someone to respond.  It’s not that you’re bugging them – in fact, most people say that they were just “busy” and meant to do it.

Beyond that, if someone compliments you, make sure to ask them to leave a review on another site.

5. Praise

Last, and probably the most important, when you do get a review make sure to thank your client, and recognize them in your monthly newsletter or on social media. When others see this, they’ll be more likely to follow your star client’s example. Plus, everyone likes praise.

After you’ve gotten a great review, don’t be shy – this is a good time to remind clients that your business is based on referrals. Someone who is happy with your services will also be happy to share your name with people they know who may be looking to buy or sell a home.

Monitor Your Online Reviews

First, make sure you set up profiles on multiple sites that pertain to your business. Yelp, Angie’s List, Google Local, LinkedIn.


Now that you’re set up, how do you find reviews about you?  If you have a Google account, it’s one of the easiest ways to receive an alert when something about you is posted online: https://www.google.com/alerts


Make it a point to respond to EVERY review out there about you, especially any that are negative. Handling those in a professional, positive way can mean that potential clients may overlook a negative review.

Promote Your Reviews

As we’ve seen, reviews can be very powerful, and promoting the ones you get is critical to your marketing strategy. Add links to your review profiles on emails, your website, etc. and make it easy for your clients. After a transaction, send an email asking for an online review, or a referral. If you’re working with a business, give them a referral.

One of the best ways to get a referral is to give one. It’s the “rule of reciprocity,” if you give someone something of value they are going to want to do the same.

BE The Expectation

Don’t forget, the cornerstone of all of this is that you need to BE a stellar agent. Stand out from the pack by being great at your job and delivering on the expectations you shared in your preview.


Put in the time and effort with each client, and you’ll be rewarded with reviews, referrals, and continued business. Set up a business based on amazing service, and you’ll never be waiting holding your breath in the hopes that you’ll be profitable next month…

The post 5 Easy Steps to Generate Referrals With Online Reviews appeared first on Agent Inner Circle.

↧
Search

Generating Real Estate Leads with Video: Searchable Vs Social (Facebook or Youtube?)

April 25, 2018, 1:36 am
$
0
0

Facebook is meant for social content. YouTube is meant for searchable content.  Pretty simple, right?

However, I see real estate agent after agent wonder why certain videos don’t perform well on Facebook, or maybe they fail to understand the value in YouTube. After all – if you’re posting your videos to Facebook, why bother with Youtube?

To their defense, I have to admit I didn’t understand it either, until last month.

 

It came after interviewing Karin Carr on my podcast, Onion Juice Podcast.  Karin, a REALTOR, explained how she closed six transactions in the last three months just from her YouTube Channel.  You have to hear how – listen to the Episode by clicking here. 

So what is she doing that others are not?

She understands and embraces Searchable Vs. Social Content. In fact, she doesn’t even share her YouTube videos on Facebook or any other social media platform! Wait.. what the what!!?

Here is how she looks at it:

A real estate “how to” video, real estate market report video, community video, or a first time buyer seminar video, for example, are all made for YouTube – where it is searchable. People who need this video are searching for it.

People on Facebook are generally there to be entertained not taught to about real estate. It would be like giving a first-time buyer seminar to an audience that is expecting to watch a reality tv show, concert, or sporting event.

All of these are made for Facebook: a video that asks for people’s opinion, a vlog that is entertaining, a house remodel show (like you would see on HGTV), a promo for a new listing, or a drone video. These are the right focus when the platform is social, where content is entertaining and generates engagement.

These are more for Youtube: a how-to video about how to stage your home for sale, a real estate report for recent home sales in your target (niche) area, a training video for what to expect when purchasing your first home. Focus on educational and searchable content for a platform focused on education and training.

Again – For YouTube create content that is educational and is searchable. For Facebook create content that is entertaining and engaging.

Do that and you’ll see your numbers improve.

Another way to look at it, as Jerry Potter said on the Onion Juice Facebook Group  – “Creating searchable content is for people ready to buy/sell right now. Creating social content is for building relationships with people that will be ready to buy/sell a year from now. They’re both important, and both will have a much higher ROI if you know the difference.”

Are you following me so far?  

Want to geek out some more and dig deeper into searchable content so you can break through on YouTube? Keep reading it’s about to get deep!

Here are 5 things you need to know about searchable (Youtube) content :

#1 Treat YouTube like a search engine, not like a social media platform.

This means you can use content to target a specific audience. For example, one video might target local homeowners looking to sell, while another might target local buyers looking for homes in your area or out of town buyers. Your content, title, tags, and keywords will all have an effect on how people find this content.

YouTube is often said to be the second largest search engine in the world after Google itself. Every day, people watch hundreds of millions of hours of video on YouTube, generating billions of views. Having a strong YouTube presence can have an incredible impact on your brand reach and will give you the chance to engage with the millions of visitors of using the platform.

YouTube is owned by Google. In real estate, we all know how hard it is to get ranked on the first page of Google because of syndication sites like Zillow, Trulia, or Realtor.com. However, Google will often sprinkle one or two videos into the first page when it thinks that the videos are highly relevant to a person’s search – And these videos come straight from YouTube. So the biggest benefit of creating YouTube videos is definitely SEO.

#2 Understand YouTube is a search engine that uses a specific algorithm you can follow.

When it comes to ranking YouTube content, TJ Kelly is the man with a plan. TJ manages Mxt Media, a Real Estate SEO and marketing agency outside Boston. I recently interview him on the Onion Juice Podcast and have hired him to help me with the launch of my YouTube plan. (listen to this episode here).

When YouTube first launched, part of the algorithm was based on views. The more views your video got, the higher it ranked. Now, YouTube uses a different approach. While they still count aggregate views they do so in conjunction with engagement metrics, which include number of seconds viewed, comments, likes and social shares.

TJ said before, it was better to pump out a ton of videos with less focus on content. Now, it’s better to create content-rich videos that drive user engagement.

The other factor is the total amount of minutes and seconds your video has been viewed. This is not per user, but overall. Therefore, having longer videos will add more seconds to your count and increase your rankings.

Yes, LONGER VIDEOS, you read that correctly!

#3 The three P’s of YouTube: Proof, Preview, Proof

The first 15 seconds will determine if a viewer will stay engaged, which TJ says is critical.

TJ recommends using the PPP method when producing content for YouTube.

Here’s what that looks like…

Preview: First, give the viewer a hint of what the video is all about as soon as the video starts.

Proof: Then, establish proof that you know what you’re talking about and can deliver on the topic.

Preview: Finally, reiterate what the video is about, this time adding a specific detail that the viewer will learn.

#4 SAY your keywords in the video

The latest algorithmic changes to Google’s search engines now take into consideration a more dynamic field of content types. As such, videos, images and transcriptions are now “crawl-able.”

Anything you say in a video (especially one that includes subtitles and annotations) can technically impact your ranking signals.

Putting your keyword into the title of your video while also saying your keyword throughout the video is a great way to drive home the point of what your video accomplishes, to both viewers and search engines.

In line with Google’s shift toward natural language search and high-relevancy content, matching auditory keywords within a video with those utilized in video titles signals that you’re not spamming users and that your video follows through on its title.

#5 – Customize video thumbnails

A newer differentiator that is becoming more common on YouTube is creative video thumbnails. Just last year, thumbnails were static images, but they now automatically animate when cursors hover over them.

If your video is featured on page 1, it’s likely facing stiff competition from other videos that may better serve viewer intent. So how do you get users to click on your video despite being ranked lower?

The key is to make a great first impression by having a customized thumbnail that stands out visually from everything else on the page.

Customization can take many forms, including appealing color schemes dynamic banners or design patterns, and Intuitive splash screen/video title combinations.

Again, please do yourself a favor. If you are producing videos for YouTube, focus on searchable content and don’t expect these videos to be the highest performers on Facebook. Maybe think about a different, entertaining take on a video you create for Youtube, and test that one out on Facebook instead of reposting the exact Youtube video. It will be interesting to see the difference- if you try this, share your results with us by commenting on this article! We’d love to hear from real estate agents trying this out for themselves. 

↧

Is “SEO” Right For You?

August 19, 2020, 1:00 am
$
0
0

As a real estate agent, you’ve probably heard the term “SEO” (Search Engine Optimization) but it’s such a complex topic to navigate, it’s easy to lose track of where the real value is and how you should incorporate it into your business.

In basic terms, SEO is how people find you on the Internet. When done correctly, SEO can generate an unlimited source of new business… but an in-depth SEO strategy is not for every business, and if it isn’t right for yours, you can easily sink a ton of time and money into efforts that will never pay off.

I’m sure you’re thinking, “If it’s such a great source of business, why isn’t it for everyone? Is it for me?”

The Biggest Challenge

When determining if SEO is right for you, it really comes down to choosing one of two paths, and I’ll explain why.

In many ways, the largest benefit of SEO is also the biggest challenge: everyone is there. Both clients and competition flood the online landscape, and according to a NAR study, 100% of home buyers and sellers used the Internet to search before taking action. That’s 100% of your clients! Search engines have also evolved the longer they’ve been around, combining mature technology with a huge market means that there’s already a lot of competition. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any space for you though, but it does mean that you’ll need to put some time (and possibly money) into the right efforts.

So, which path should you take?

A Tale of Two Roads 

Road 1: As we saw, 100% of your clients are using search in some fashion before working with you. So, at the very least you need to show up online when your clients invariably search for properties in your market, or when they search for you directly. This isn’t overly challenging and doesn’t require much to maintain. However, this strategy doesn’t consistently bring you new clients, it will only ensure you don’t lose the business you’re already driving from other avenues.

Road 2 (the road less traveled): If you’re looking to drive new business from your online presence, the payoff is enormous, but it’s going to take some time and consistent work on your end.   

It’s not enough to drive business with SEO by creating a lot of content upfront. What most people don’t know is that can actually hurt your website. These days, Google is using every piece of data available to find and rank content, including how consistently you post, to how engaged people are that visit your site, to whether the content includes video with it. So, writing content about every neighborhood in your area and posting it all at once to your website would really be a disservice to your SEO ranking. Instead, making a commitment to write an in depth editorial on each neighborhood on your site every 1-2 weeks, will enable search engines to find you based on a broader set of criteria (this also gives you a great opportunity for continued promotion on social media.)

While individual neighborhood descriptions can be a great way to start, they’re not nearly enough to build a high traffic site around. In reality, you need to find a topic you’re passionate about that also helps your target audience. This can be anything from real estate advice (for a very specific audience) to the best restaurants in your city. The key is that you consistently put out new content around a single theme that your audience finds interesting and valuable.

Time To Pick

So, which option sounds best to you? Remember, there’s no wrong answer here. You can only focus on so many sources of business at once and it’s totally acceptable to run a basic ‘business card’ style website without focusing on SEO. However, if you’re already putting out content, or want to pursue new lead sources consistently, SEO could be a great source of business for you.

Either way, you’ll want to start with the basics so you show up in searches for your name, your business name, and maybe a few specific search terms related to your business. Now, I’m going to dive into the next steps if you’re interested in taking your SEO game up a notch!

Road 1: The Basics

First and foremost, focus on Google. As of April, 2020 Google controlled 86% of the global market share. So much of the market in fact, that other search engines are forced to follow a majority of Google’s protocols. Essentially, if you’re doing well on Google, you’ll do well on other search engines a majority of the time.

Start by opening an ‘incognito window’ in Google Chrome, and then running a search for your name and business name. (If you try to search within a regular browsing window, your search results will be skewed as your own website is more likely to show up based on sites you usually frequent.) 

What did you find? If your website isn’t on the first page of the search results, you probably either need to update your existing website, or work with another vendor to build a new one.

Once you have at least a basic website in order, you’ll want to set up Google My Business and Google Search Console. 

Google My Business is what allows you (as a business) to show up to the right of a Google Search, with your specific business information (shown below). This is a great way to stand out against other REALTORS® and gives people an easy way to contact you without having to go to your website.

Last but not least, setup Google Search Console. This tool allows you to monitor any errors on your website, view analytics for how you’re performing on Google, and research keywords you may want to show up for in searches.

This is about as far as it makes sense to go if you’re not ready to take the second road and only want a basic website for you and your business (remember, there is nothing wrong with this).

Going Advanced

If you’re going to commit to creating content and building an audience with SEO, it’s probably time to consult with an expert. SEO is constantly evolving at a pace that makes it difficult to keep up with, even if you dedicate all of your time to it. What’s worse is that a number of Google’s updates make previously effective SEO practices counterproductive. So, when it comes to the technical aspects, you’ll need to be aware of the most recent and up-coming changes to the SEO landscape and will probably want to hand it off.

When it comes to content creation on the other hand, I would make sure you stay central to the process. It’s totally acceptable to hire a ghostwriter, but you’ll want to come up with or approve the content ideas, and do a final edit on everything you’re putting out. If your content doesn’t feel genuine, or speak to your audience, Google knows that and factors this into your search ranking.

A Word of Caution

Whatever your path, I wish you the best of luck. My only warning would be that you don’t try to capitalize on the benefits of SEO without fully understanding the journey you must travel down on that second path. I’ve seen way too many agents who believe that Google can bring them business without any continued work. While that may have been the case years ago, the market has become so saturated and competitive, and search engines have become so intelligent, that’s just not the case anymore.

↧
↧
Viewing all 17 articles
Browse latest View live
More Pages to Explore .....
Search

Latest Images

New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo...

New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo...

April 22, 2024, 6:00 am
Ukraine bans military from online gambling amid addiction concerns

Ukraine bans military from online gambling amid addiction concerns

April 22, 2024, 5:17 am
ಮಂಡ್ಯದಿಂದ ಸುಮಲತಾ ದೂರ; ಹೆಚ್‌ಡಿಕೆ ಪರ ಪ್ರಚಾರಕ್ಕಿಳಿಯದ ಸಂಸದೆ –ಬರ್ತಾರೆ ನೋಡೋಣ ಎಂದ...

ಮಂಡ್ಯದಿಂದ ಸುಮಲತಾ ದೂರ; ಹೆಚ್‌ಡಿಕೆ ಪರ ಪ್ರಚಾರಕ್ಕಿಳಿಯದ ಸಂಸದೆ –ಬರ್ತಾರೆ ನೋಡೋಣ ಎಂದ...

April 20, 2024, 8:08 pm
OCBC Bank Singapore Offers Up to 2.8% p.a. Fixed Deposit Promotion from 21...

OCBC Bank Singapore Offers Up to 2.8% p.a. Fixed Deposit Promotion from 21...

April 20, 2024, 12:38 pm
National Poetry Month 2024: Maxine Starr

National Poetry Month 2024: Maxine Starr

April 19, 2024, 9:56 am
Vegan Chicken Pot Pie

Vegan Chicken Pot Pie

April 19, 2024, 9:18 am
Firefox UX: On Purpose: Collectively Defining Our Team’s Mission Statement

Firefox UX: On Purpose: Collectively Defining Our Team’s Mission Statement

April 19, 2024, 7:03 am
New $4.5 million East Bay trail path will connect bicyclists, pedestrians to...

New $4.5 million East Bay trail path will connect bicyclists, pedestrians to...

April 18, 2024, 11:05 am
Photographer Gifts for Clients / Print Packaging / 4x6 Photo Box by...

Photographer Gifts for Clients / Print Packaging / 4x6 Photo Box by...

April 17, 2024, 6:48 pm
Deepfake Video of Aamir Khan circulates Online

Deepfake Video of Aamir Khan circulates Online

April 17, 2024, 3:07 am