We Go TorMor

Often real estate professionals don’t like learning technology because there are words that seem so foreign. You know our buyers and sellers probably feel the same way when all of us speak to them as well. So just like all of us helping our buyers and sellers with an understanding of real estate lingo, we thought we should have a chapter dedicated to technology definitions. If there is something you think we should define, please let us know. This e-book will be updated regularly to keep up with technology. Let us know what you think is missing and we’ll add it!

1. SEO - Search Engine Optimization - This is a big buzzword these days. This is about is building your website, pages, and blog information so search engines can find it easily. This is partially art and partially science. You don’t need to become an SEO expert in order to make money from your website in real estate although it helps to know how it all happens.
2. SEM - Search Engine Marketing. Search Engine Marketing is a total concept of online marketing that includes skills and practices like SEO.
3. SERP - The search engine results page.
4. URL - Universal Resource Locator - This is what is commonly referred to as a web address. Everyone on the Internet has one. If you don’t buy a domain name your URL is just a bunch of numbers like 208.15.5.128. We have domain names because these numbers are confusing . Read the rest of this entry »

Well you become the expert without having to say it. You know all those folks who have PhD’s that are always publishing papers in journals and the like? Well that helps define them as experts in their field. We all want to be experts in our field of real estate and a great way to do it is through blogging. People who read your blog will come to the conclusion that you are the expert and people like to work with experts. The great part about blogging is that it is FREE!

So again how does this work with SEO and SEM?

We define all abbreviations in the definition chapter. Well it works because you are generating content which is the single best place to start for success online. If you combine content with using the right words in your blogs you will have great success. We don’t want you to worry about the words that you use. It is far more important to just write content but what you can do is use keywords over time. The best words to use are ones that you are already using in your Google Adwords, Overture, or the ones people using to find you. If you don’t know what these words are read the Google Analytics chapter and you will have words in a hurry.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. If you can get it for free, take it ! - This is one of the truly great things about the Internet. You literally can get things for free. Our favorite tool for free blogging is www.blogger.com. All you have to do is have a free Google g-mail account. You can be up and running in literally minutes.
2. Have your own domain for your blog - Today there is no reason you shouldn’t own your own domain, URL, and web address for your blog. It costs less than $10 for the entire year. Remember you can always buy at www.topagentdomains.com and it’s cheaper than GoDaddy.com so go to www.topagentdomains.com and buy something for your blog. What kind of domain name should you buy? Go to the chapter on rules for domain names and follow those rules. They are a great guide to follow.
3. It’s not about you! - This is a very important rule for blogging. If you just spend time talking about yourself, how great you are, and how awesome your service is, you will have two people reading your blog and that would be your mom and grandma. You’ve probably already sold them homes so let’s get a broader audience. You want to write about what is going on in your market, what is going on at the national level, what it takes to sell a home, etc. The topics that you can write about are limitless. All that knowledge in your head needs to be shared. Read the rest of this entry »

By now I am sure that everyone has heard of blogs or blogging. How many people are making money from blogging? The real answer is not that many yet. Blogging is defined by dictionary.com as “To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog”. To most I would think this still doesn’t begin to explain blogging. Blogging is a conversation that you can have online. It is not a conversation that you would have with one person but really with thousands of people. Imagine you could have a conversation all at the same time with these people, similar to a conference call. What do you think would happen if you could communicate with thousands all at the same time? Do you think you might be able to generate some business that way? You are now starting down the right path. So why does a chapter on blogging belong in a book about search engine optimization? Blogging is one the easiest and fastest ways to get content onto the web. In fact there are many free tools out there that allow you to start a blog. Most of these tools have relatively simple interfaces that allow you to add content as long as you can type and you are familiar with an interface like Microsoft Word™.

By now we hope you are interested. Let’s look into the details of blogging and some rules. By now you should know we always have rules or at least call them strong suggestions so you don’t get “slammed” on the Internet speedway.

22. You have sound on your website
23. You have video on your website
24. You have phone numbers on your website where people can call and hear a recorded message about an item of value and it tracks their number
25. You have at least 10 text links on your home page that aren’t your side navigation to other areas of your website
26. You give away the MLS (IDX) or listings in your area for FREE without requiring someone to sign up
27. You have a way for sellers to request the value of their home
28. You bold at least one key word(s) that people search for each page of content you have
29. When you write a new page of content the keyword you are targeting is no more than 3% of the content on the new page
30. You have a sitemap
31. You link to a new real estate professional in another state every month
32. The pictures in your website are original
33. You accurately document at least 70% of the areas of your city that you work in
34. You have Google Adwords running ads to drive traffic to your website
35. You have Overture running ads to drive traffic to your website
36. You have inserted Google Analytics code on every page of your website Read the rest of this entry »

So you think you have the ultimate website? Hopefully you got some useful information out of the last chapter. We thought most people find checklists easy to do and if you slowly take different portions of the list you can get your website to the level you want to in no time at all. By the way this isn’t one of those lists that will stay the same forever so check back for updates and make sure every time you add another page all the items are checked off before you give your final approval. These 25 items will hands down make sure your website is performing at the highest level so you can have more leads than you know what to do with.

Overall

1. Your domain is not longer than 4 words
2. You have registered your website with Google™ manually
3. You have registered your website with Yahoo®
4. You have registered your website with Dmoz
5. You have registered your website with MSN®
6. You have not registered multiple domain names pointing to the same website
7. You have calls to action at multiple points to your website
8. You have listed your website with at least 5 different unique real estate directories
9. There is not a single page in your entire website with the Title of “Untitled” Read the rest of this entry »

So this is an SEO guide and we are talking about putting testimonials up on your website? It might sound strange but this is the truth. Remember we are not trying to tell every realtor to be an SEO genius who can build a great website. We want to help you create a customer experience that allows more clients to contact you and because of that gets you more business. I mean after all isn’t that what it is all about.

So getting your visitors to read, and better yet hear, what your past clients had to say about you is key. We always recommend getting as many testimonials as you can from your clients. People like to know, or think they know you, before they call you or fill out your form. One of the best ways is to create a page where you have testimonials. This is a great way to keep people on your website for longer. Read the rest of this entry »