Real Estate Marketing SEO Blog

Real Estate Optimization Myth #7

The Continuing Series: Real Estate Optimization Myths:
If you just get rankings and Traffic you will be Successful

Refer to SEO Myth #8 for an in depth reason why high SERPs and Traffic are not be all and end all to your success on line.

In short, the idea is to get more sales. A Search ranking is but one possibility for visitors. Lots of search rankings are lots more possibilities for visitors. Underline possibility.

I have had plenty of number one phrases in the engines that have not produced traffic. Seemingly great competitive phrases. And I have had lots of traffic that produced nothing as far as leads.

So I have found it more useful to look at traffic as a percentage of leads or as a ratio.

I call this the "Tootsie Roll Pop metric". You remember those commercials right? " How many licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?"

Well, think of your lead machine from the Tootsie Roll Pop Ratio: "How many visitors does it take you to get to a lead"?

Look at your trend over the past year. We have noticed that it is taking more licks (visitors) to get to a buyer or seller lead of late. Is it the market, the holidays, or both?

This is much more useful a metric than tracking weather your site ranks for a bunch of search phrases or not.

1. PageRank & Metatags are everything
2. A top ten position will solve all your sales problems
3. SEO is metatag manipulation
4. Content is King
5. The engines love blogs more than regular webpages
6. Get ranked for the top 20 most voluminous words and you will be successful
7. If you just get rankings and Traffic you will be Successful
8. SEO is the single most important action  you can do for your website
9. Its all about more links!
10. There are magical shortcuts to getting SEO traffic

Big Money

I just caught an interesting post on Business Week:

While the top quarter or so is making good money, there's a huge army of Realtors at the bottom who would make more money with a full-time job at McDonald's. Nearly a third earned under $25,000 in 2004, according to a National Association of Realtors study. Here's the complete breakdown of the 2004 survey:

Real Estate SEO Myth #8

So my new year resolution is to finish this post out ;-)

The 10 Myths about Real Estate SEO Continued:
#8  SEO is the single most important action you can do for your website.

Years ago I wrote an Ebook called the 5 steps to Online Real Estate Success.

The whole premise of the book was that your online success cannot come from just a high Search Engine Results Page/Position (SERP). As I have kiddingly quipped, "A high SERP and 50 Cents will get you a cup of coffee".

The idea of the book was that you have to start with the end in mind? So why have a web site or presence at all? Instead of following the herd, ask yourself that question.

The Ultimate Goal of a Website?

To get a lead? Or better yet a sale? Or how about an ongoing flow of business for years to come!

So where does that on line generated sale come from? Good Follow up.

On the Illusion of Bubbles

One out of every 115 people, and if you deduct kids, one out of every 85 adults in the U.S. is now licensed to sell real estate.

So we have an over abundance of agents. Walk your dog around the block and you are sure to run into a few competitors. Or are they?

Just because you have an over abunddance of realty licensees does not mean they are transacting. In fact, most of them are noise in the way of your deal.

On the Bubble Meisters

I cannot figure out why these blogs on a real estate bubble have cropped up all over the web.

Its almost like they are invested in a big real estate bust. But why? Are they secretely hoping real estate falls so people put their money in stock? Are they shills put out by Shearson Lehman or Merrill Lynch?

Who are these guys? And why are they hell bent on proving real estate is a bust?

Newspapers Are the Preferred Medium for Affluent Empty Nesters

This reminds me of the conflicting health information that is out there. Eggs are bad, then they are good for you type thing. More importantly, I think it shows the diversity of niches that an agent can target. However, before you  jump back into that cholesterol rich newspaper ad campaign, the subhead of the report says:

Newspapers & Internet Dominate Media Interests Of Empty Nesters

From Media Audit:

The seventeen million empty nesters in the 87 markets surveyed regularly by The Media Audit are 45 or older and very affluent, indexing about 100 points above the market average of 100 in almost every income category beyond $50,000.

Annual household income categories and indexes are:

• $50,000 - $74,999, index 221
• $75,000 - $99,999, index 202
• $100,000 - $149,999, index 196
• $150,000 or more, index 179

Bob Jordan, president of International Demographics, Inc., notes that "The media habits of the affluent empty nesters are dominated by newspapers and the Internet." According to the report, more than 27 percent spend an hour or more each day reading a newspaper (index 159) and 38.7 percent spend 430 minutes or more each week on the Internet (index 107). Radio, television and direct mail all index at less than 100 with the affluent empty nesters.

Almost one fifth of the people who plan on spending more than $30,000 for their next automobile are affluent empty nesters, 50% more than the average. And those who ate out at least four times during the last two weeks (at a sit-down restaurant) also index at 152.

Other findings from the report include:

• 35% (index 123) of the affluent empty nesters plan to take an ocean cruise during the next 2-3 years
• 33.9% (index 130) visited a gambling casino at least once during the past year
• More than 37% (index 114) made five or more purchases on the Internet during the past year
• 20.1% (index 114) made 12 or more purchases on the Internet.
• Approximately 62.8% (index 104) spend $100 or more weekly at the supermarket
• 33.6 percent (index 100) spend $150 or more there.

Merry Christmas!

A Real Merry Christmas!