SEO and the Internet future for Real Estate
Posted in Real Estate Trends By Bruce Wagg, Sunday, April 19, 2009.In speaking with many of my fellow Realtors, I am amazed how many of them have a website yet never receive a lead or phone call from that website. It's the whole "if a tree falls in the forest" thing. If you have a website and nobody ever visits it, does it really exist? The answer is probably NO because they are visiting your competitors website instead. These figures have recently come out and it speaks volumes as to the future of Real Estate and the internet.
32% of buyers found the home they purchased on the Internet. Agents still top the list at 34%. Newspaper ads and home book magazines accounted for only 4%.
87% of home buyers begin their home search on the Internet.
More than 90% of buyers 44 years old or younger used the Internet as a source during their home search.
The Internet was used 'frequently' by 69% of home buyers; newspapers were used 'frequently' by 15% of home buyers
The Internet was deemed 'useful' by 81% of home buyers; newspaper ads were deemed 'useful' by 29% of home buyers
Now not every agent will have time or inclination to join social networking sites, optimize the content of their site, Blog, Twitter, Squidoo, etc. but for the few that do, the results will be an increase in phone calls and work. Take some time to evaluate your web presence and ask yourself "Am I keeping up or falling behind?"
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Submitted by Justin Britt on April 20, 2009 - 1:33pm.
Aloha Bruce,
What you say makes a lot of sense, and over at Hawaii Life Real Estate services, we've believed that the future of real estate has been, and will continue to be, the Internet for a long time.
One thing that I'd like to add, and a mistake I see often, is "call to action". There are many real estate sites that rank well in Search Engines, but they don't give a reason for site visitors to contact them.
Getting people to your website is step one. Conversion rates are something else that you should work hard on.
--
Justin Britt
Head-Web-Head
Hawaii Life Real Estate Services, LLC
www.HawaiiLife.com
Submitted by Tim O'Keefe on April 20, 2009 - 4:29pm.
Justin-
Conversion is the most important element that the vast majority of Real Estate websites are either not willing to consider, or simply think is bad.
It is why most will waste their time in the social sphere. Never understanding how the elements mesh.
Not asking for a sale at least once is simply a recipe for disaster. And those that fail to ask in one way or the other are doomed for failure.
So that was a long winded way of saying agreed!
Tim
http://www.HouseBlogger.com
http://www.SpiderWorkz.com
Submitted by Bruce Wagg on April 21, 2009 - 12:52pm.
It is critical to 'capture' a e-mail address or phone number from web visitors for a direct follow up. A 2% rate of leads to closes is considered OK in this business. That's one out of 50. I expect much better of myself.
Bruce Wagg
Oakland Real Estate | Alameda Real Estate
Submitted by Bo Gilbert, MIRM on April 28, 2009 - 5:47am.
These are great stats. It is surprising how many real estate agents, home builders and developers do not focus more of their marketing budget on the Internet. I had one agent tell me their broker company's buyers don't come from the Internet. My suggestion is that maybe that should be a sign. How many buyers would you have if more did?
Bo Gilbert, MIRM
www.mrelevan ce.com -