a. Introduction to Real Estate SEO
Learn the absolute basics of search engine optimization (SEO) for the real estate industry; the definitions, terminology and even why you should bother to focus on search engine optimization and positioning as a real estate agent.
When search engines look to retrieve information, their biggest consideration is the text on the web site. This includes text that is both visible and invisible.
Although your web site may be filled with text, if it is not properly instituted, the engines won’t recognize it so your 10,000 word web site, might as well be virtually blank.
Even if you have a visually stunning site that includes audio, videos and cool graphics, the engines won’t see all of your hard work and instead may skip your site and return with one of your competitor’s sites to display at the top of the search results page.
Text in this sense means more than the letters used when designing your copy. In order for the search engines to see your site, it needs to be in HTML coding.
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and this is what the search engine spiders see when they crawl around the net, indexing pages.
Don’t worry, it sounds a lot more complicated than it is. Search engines and spiders will be discussed more in Chapter 4, but for now it’s important to introduce you to the terms used in SEO.
Using HTML means adding tags to the title and body of your website so that the engines can find it. For example, if the title of your page is Any Realtor in Any State, in HTML the search engines would see,
Any Realtor in Any State<title>. </p>
<p>Without those tags, the page title is invisible to the search engines. This is why it’s imperative that you include these tags so that the search engines will recognize the title of your page. The same holds true for the content. </p>
<p>You’re competitor’s site may seem plain compared to yours but if it has utilized the proper type of text, then in the virtual “eyes” of the search engines it is lit up in neon and chosen for the coveted first page of search results. </p>
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<div class="archive_title"><a href="http://www.salientmarketing.com/resource-category/seo-guides-for/seo-for-real-estate-agents/intro-to-seo/web-site-links/">Web Site Links</a></div>
<div class="archive_content"><p>Links to your web site are another important aspect of SEO. Links increase your exposure to the search engines, leading to them to your web site and also giving them more information about the type of business your web site reflects. </p>
<p>Because of that the inbound links to your site need to be related to real estate. For example, property appraisers who you do business with can add a link to your site on their web page. </p>
<p>Both categories have to do with real estate values and real estate in general. This adds another layer of exposure to your site and more visibility that the search engines will notice.</p>
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<div class="archive_title"><a href="http://www.salientmarketing.com/resource-category/seo-guides-for/seo-for-real-estate-agents/intro-to-seo/web-site-popularity/">Web Site Popularity</a></div>
<div class="archive_content"><p>The popularity of a website is a key focus of SEO. Naturally you want your web site to be a popular tool for your clients. While this is important to please the people who view your web site, it’s more important to please the search engines that bring your site to the attention of the viewer. </p>
<p>Search engines use algorithms to rank pages. Those pages with the highest ranking appear at the top of the search result page, while those with the lowest end up at the back of the line.</p>
<p>The algorithms are based on a number of factors such as links, keywords, page titles and age of the website and its popularity, not necessarily in that order. </p>
<p>Each search engine has its own system of page rankings and the defining algorithms used are top secret. If you are not well versed in SEO, you are virtually just rolling the dice when it comes to getting exposure for your web site. </p>
<p>Taking the time to employ SEO can substantially increase your odds of better exposure, not just to your clients but to the search engines where it really counts. </p>
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<div class="archive_title"><a href="http://www.salientmarketing.com/resource-category/seo-guides-for/seo-for-real-estate-agents/intro-to-seo/why-bother-with-seo/">Why Bother With SEO</a></div>
<div class="archive_content"><p>You may be thinking to yourself that SEO is going to take a lot of effort to be effective and you are absolutely right. So, why should you even bother?</p>
<p>After all, your sales are pretty good and your referrals are more than enough to keep your profits up so why fix what isn’t broken?</p>
<p>Think about it this way; as a real estate professional it’s important for you to keep up with the trends in your field.</p>
<p>This includes real estate laws, housing values, property taxes, popular neighborhoods and knowing the best school districts. All of this information is subject to change at any given time so it’s important for you to remain current.</p>
<p>The same way that important factors change in the real estate industry, they are also changing in how society goes about seeking the services that they need.</p>
<p>Before, they may have pulled out the yellow pages but now they sit down at their PCs to search for what they want. Even if you don’t see the need to make sure that your web site is highly visible in search results, you can bet your competition does.</p>
<p>It’s great to have referrals that help you to gain new clients, but those clients still need to be converted. Prior to the internet when a client referred a friend to you, they may have asked for your phone number.</p>
<p>Now they want to know if you have a website and what the address is. We are now living in a tech society and today’s technology negates the need for clients to come and sit in your office for a face to face to discuss their real estate needs.</p>
<p>At some point they may have to but initially, they try to find out what they can on the Internet. They’re busy and want to be able to shop around from the comfort of their own homes. They are also savvier and will use the Internet to compare what you are offering to what your competitors are offering.</p>
<p>If they pull a search and your competitor’s site comes up and yours doesn’t, this gives the appearance that your agency is not technologically up to date.</p>
<p>This may make them wonder how up to date you are in your knowledge of current trends in real estate and lead them to use your competitor instead of you.</p>
<p>Remember what you had to do to get your license? The classes required to learn all there was to know on an intellectual level and then the training that followed to teach you proper sales techniques. Real estate is an ever changing industry.</p>
<p>Between whether it’s a buyer’s market or a sellers market, changes in laws and taxes, you have to keep up with the trends. This is why many states or provinces require you to take continuing education classes, so that you will be well informed.</p>
<p>Consider learning about SEO as another needed form of education that will enhance all of your knowledge and help you to become even more of a success.</p>
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<div class="archive_title"><a href="http://www.salientmarketing.com/resource-category/seo-guides-for/seo-for-real-estate-agents/intro-to-seo/why-not-just-use-pay-per-click-ads/">Why Not Just Use Pay-Per-Click Ads?</a></div>
<div class="archive_content"><p>Pay Per Click ads, or PPC, are those in which you pay a search engine a per click fee to recognize your ad which is then placed under the sponsored listings section of a search results page.</p>
<p>Each time a person clicks on the ad, you pay a fee to that engine. As previously discussed, popular key words are important in the search process.</p>
<p>Advertisers craft their ads using these key words and bid on how much they will pay to the search engine each time the ad is accessed by those searching the web.</p>
<p>Using Pay Per Click ads may seem a whole lot easier than learning and applying the other various SEO techniques. There are a lot of benefits to using PPC ads, including placement at a highly visual area on the search results page.</p>
<p>Another great benefit is that you can also exclude keywords and phrases. For example if your company does not handle apartment or house rentals, you can exclude the keyword “rental” when you submit your ad under “houses”. This will help to further target your specific audience.</p>
<p>On the same token, if your company does handle rentals, you can also use what’s known as broad matching that will allow renters to access your site as well as those looking to buy and sell homes.</p>
<p>While the benefits of PPC can’t be denied, this type of service may not be for you. A big reason for this is because some Internet users accidentally click on the ads.</p>
<p>That means you get to pay for their mistake. Another reason to not use it is because there is no guarantee that they will be converted to a client even if they purposefully click on your ad. Remember that Internet searchers are looking to compare.</p>
<p>They can click on your ad and then compare it to a competitor’s and decide to go with them. That means your competitor gets the business and you still get the bill.</p>
<p>If your company’s advertising budget is small, then PPC ads should be considered carefully prior to enlisting their use. It’s not much different than investing in the stock market.</p>
<p>If you can’t afford to lose the money then steer clear of it. There are other low cost SEO techniques that you can take advantage of that will not take a huge bite out of your small budget.</p>
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