The dirty secret that no one wants to tell real estate brokers
You know that 90% of home buyers start their search online.
And most buyers first ‘make contact’ while looking at real estate and related information at a website.
And they often find the website they make contact from by searching related keywords at websites like Google.
Now Google “Your market area Homes for Sale” like “Danville, CA Homes for Sale”. Do you notice that for the most part, it is aggregator sites like Realtor.com, Trulia.com, Homegain.com and then a few agents that are always coming up at the top of the page?
If you are not on the first page, prospects looking for real estate in your area are not going to find you by the most popular way that people find agents these days.
Do you notice that not a lot of broker offices come up at all?
The aggregator sites are using your information to attract website searchers to get prospect and lead information that they then sell back into your market!
They are using your information to help your competition, or anyone that will pay the going rate for real estate leads that day.
Internet lead’s come from 3 sources:
1.SEO is when people find you from Google, Yahoo, etc.
2. SEM is that plus all the other ways people find you on the Internet.
3. Referral Traffic is when people get to your website from another website that is linked to your website (your listings are probably being used by others here as well!)
Two equations will simplify closing business from Online Marketing:
1. More Content = More SEO/SEM/Referral Traffic = More Leads
2. More Leads + Good Business Practices = More Closings
Search Facts:
1. Content underlies SEO, SEM and referral website traffic (lead sources).
2. Rich listing data and local area and market information is the best and most searched for content on the Internet.
Rich Listing Data is the detailed information about your listings that only exist on the listing broker and agent website vs. the basic information sent out via IDX to the MLS and every other website on the Internet. You own the most seached for information already!
3. The local broker has access to biggest total combination of Rich Listing Data (detailed property information, pictures, virtual tours, documents, etc) and local information vs. either the corporate office or any agent in their office.
The broker can put ALL of the office listing’s Rich Listing Data on their website (potentially dozens and hundreds), vs. agents only have their own listings (most likely in the single digits.
Putting it all together:
SEO is one part content and one part code.
By properly integrating the marketing of your listing’s along with local and market information, a local broker can FAR surpass any corporate office or agent in SEO, SEM and website referral incoming traffic.
The good news is that local brokers are also in the best position to CONVERT those incoming leads.
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