Real Estate Marketing Blog

The Challenge With Pay Per Click

Click fraud is making a come back. Not that it never went away. False clicks on Google Ads,  Yahoo ads, and MSN is proving to have at least 10% of its hits to be fraudulent. This according to Fair Isaac's, which is close to estimates  by Click Forensics of San Antonio.

This isn't just your peeved competitor across the hallway or street. This is big business involving automated computer programs or teams of over seas scam artists who repeatedly click on ad links with no intention of buying anything.

In case, it isn't obvious, you must realize that because Google is the worlds largest Advertising agency, they really do not have any financial incentive to let this get out. They may not even care to stop the bad clicks.

This problem is pervasive amongst the top three engines, and one would think the bad news would be bad for business.

However, if they can't fix it, then they have to play in the world of "plausible deniability". Claiming that they take every action to keep clicks legitimate. Never admitting there is a problem..

Hotbot

Hey do you go far enough back on the web to remember HotBot?

I was just checking my logs and what do I see? A referral from Hotbot. Those of you old timers will remember that was when metatags and a few links could get you a ton of traffic. Since then the bulk of optimization moved from on page, to off page. Meaning links.

For instantce, did you know with a title tag and enough links you could be number one for any position? Regardless of your on page SEO/content?

Lesson of the day: Get Links!

Socially un-Social

Pew Internet and American Life Project just released their report on technology users.

This just after I finished my 7 Blog Myths series and warned about getting too giddy over technology.

Half of all American adults are only occasional users of modern information gadgetry, while 8% are avid participants in all that digital life has to offer.

And oh by the way, that half, is the easiest to sell. They are not like technology enthusiasts whom Pew calls Omnivores (full Geek), Connectors (see technology as tools of communication), Productivity Enhancers. Those occasional users are not the one who is going to drive you nuts asking for more and more information. They will typically make an intuitive decision based on initial impressions. The other half (you and I) will consider, and then reconsider most of our buying decisions.

John Horrigan, Pew's associate director, said he started the survey believing that the more gadgets people have, the more they are likely to embrace technology and use so-called Web 2.0 applications for generating and sharing content with the world.

"Once we got done, we were surprised to find the tensions within groups of users with information technology," Horrigan said.

As the Blog Myths series showed, remember that there is a vast majority of people who despite they hype make their buying decision offline.

I know that smacks against the commonly thrown stat that 80% of home buyers come online to make a home purchase. But, if you dig deep you will find that they may come online initially. But the decision is often made offline.Online is about information gathering.

It is when they come online intially that you need to capture them directly or at least indirectly with your information. The web is your capture and courtship tool.

"Virtual Assistant "

The qustions shouldn't be "What can a Virtual Assistant do for me", it should be "What CAN'T a Virtual Assistant do for me?"  Yes, it's a little cliche, but, oh so true.

Virtual Assistants (V.A.'s) have been around since the early 1990's and are gaining popularity in successful North American businesses daily.   Used by large firms down to one-man shows, the usefulness of a V.A. becomes clear almost instantaneously.  A V.A. can be used for a vast amount of different projects and industries, and for the time only you need, which makes them highly valuable and an affordable way to get the job done (which is often jobs that you don't personally want to do!). 

One of the more popular industries that many V.A.'s  work within successfully is Real Estate.  One V.A., Suzanne Roy, from Jensen Beach, FL, has been working for both top producing and fresh out of the can Realtors since 2001.  Within this time, she has become an expert in her field, specializing in advertising, lead management and website maintenance for her long-term clients throughout North America.

Before becoming a V.A., Suzanne was an executive assistant for 17 years in many different industries (irronically, none of which were Real Estate).  In 2000 she had had her second son and was finding that the cost to put her children into daycare almost ate up her entire paycheck.  She had just moved to Florida and found that Real Estate was the place to be.  So within a few months, Suzanne gained inside knowledge on how Real Estate "worked" from a Real Estate Agent friend, who soon became her first client.  From there Suzanne gained her Certified Real Estate Support Specialist (CRESS) certification, among passing other V.A. courses, and quickly took on new clients around North America.   Now she can not only stay at home and be there for her growing children, but she can make a living doing something that she loves.

If you would like to learn more about V.A.'s and how they can help you virtually make a valuable difference to your business, please contact Suzanne Roy at 941-720-4707 or via email at vawork@vawork.com. 

Suzanne Roy
Direct Phone: 941-720-4707
Facsimile: 772-225-6020

Opportunity Knocks Twice

About 6 months ago I endorsed a program called Stompernet.

At the time it was backed by Andy Jenkins and Brad fallon, two extremely successful online marketers, fully knowledgeable in SEO and ecommerce stratgies and tactics.

The program was $800 and too pricey for many. But fully worth it. I have been part of this program and have watched Stompernet hire a faculty of teachers, many of which I have paid huge dollars to get their advice.

It isn't just for ecommerce either. They have Realtors that have used their new found knowledge to dominate their marktplaces.

Here's the deal with stomper net:

They are pening their doors again today.

You can either sign up today for full price and I'm sure receive some killer "fast action" bonuses...

Or you can join the email waiting list today and be first in line when they open up their $1 trial offer in a few days; joining the email list does not obligate you to join the $1 offer, it just puts you in the front of the line.

You really should do one or the other...

I highly recommend their teachings and always enjoy their content.

$1 trial offer (no committment to even pay the $1) click here:
http://www.stompernet.net/jvp/aw.aspx?B=9&A=41

Full price offer - get in today before it sells out again - Click here:
http://www.stompernet.net/jvp/aw.aspx?B=10&A=41

Social Distortion

Digg

Digg is a Social Bookmarking site whereby readers bookmark stories that rises and falls based on reader votes.

Well some smarty pants decided to post the password to be able to crack HD DVD's.

The move comes four months after hackers first poked a hole in AACS (Advanced Access Content System), the complex encryption scheme used to protect HD DVD and Blu-ray Discs. In the interim, they've been able to decrypt HD DVD movies and, theoretically, upload them to file-sharing networks.

The "Internet" freaked out at Digg for allowing a post of such illegal proportions to get thru. Meanwhile, "Do no Evil Google" is supposedly looking into killing thousands of pages that reference this crack.

So, let me see. Tell people to chose what they think is important, and then tell them they can't.