Realtor Website Content Ideas

Please have a safe and fun-filled weekend with your family, friends and loved ones.

Anyone can tell you what Google is looking for with regards to site rankings BUT are they right? We honestly cannot say that we know exactly what goes into their algorithm, same with Yahoo and all the rest, but we  can say we know what works. 

Here’s what I know works:

On page optimization

• Name your pictures with keywords (ALT tags)
• Have concise yet targeted Title and Description tags for each page that are consistent with the content on the page
• Optimize graphics to a manageable size – to say no more than 20 KB – smaller than that is better
• Write your own content – content is KING!!
• Use keywords in your anchor text or hyperlinks – ex:  Custom Real Estate Website Design
• Use keywords in your content without sounding redundant (hard part)
• Add content to your site – You don’t have to go crazy with it, but if you spent an hour every two months on your site, you’d be ahead of the curve

Off Page Optimization

• List your site on the search engines (actually this will happen anyways but it’s still best to do it for a new site)
• Get reciprocal or one-way (better) links from local businesses or submit to directories (online phonebooks)
• Market yourself through your social media sites – (This is a subject unto itself)
• Put your website address on all of your marketing material (this may sound obvious, but I can tell you it does not always happen and is another subject that will be addressed)
• If you can, post your link anytime you can, be it a blog, a forum, your company site, community sites etc.

Summary

OK, there is W A Y more to talk about than this, but these are the things that work for sure and I know I’ll need to articulate further on the other subjects soon.  Every time I take it for granted that most people know these things, I’m quickly reminded that I’m wrong.  Please forgive the vanilla post, but sometimes it’s best to start with the basics and expound from there.

Have a good weekend!

Again I was looking for something on the WEB that basically had me chasing my tail.  My family and I used to vacation at a spot in Manistique, Michigan called Charlie’s. Now this was 30 years ago, so I looked up Charlie’s Resort, Manistique,  Michigan and found our old spot.  There’s new ownership but the place looks the same and immediately brought back a lot of memories.  So where am I going with this?

Before I started searching for Charlie’s, I was looking for cabin rentals in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Indiana just for starters.  I was looking for a clean beach, almost blue water, and something economical.  And guess what I found?  Not much of anything that was helping me make a decision.  I spent hours surfing, researching and again was wondering why a REALTOR wouldn’t have some info on best places to vacation in their hometowns. 

Certainly there are agents in Manistique, Michigan – why wouldn’t they have some input on where the best places are to go? 

If you are looking for content ideas, stick to what you know and love.  If you like to fish, put some of the better places to drop a line in – if you like to hike, where do you suggest are the best places?  How about golfing, canoeing, amusement parks, dunes, campgrounds, reviews, pictures?  There’s so much that you can do with your site that will drive traffic – WHICH will INCREASE your position on the search engines. 

Just a few more ideas for your site and again, if it’s something you truly enjoy you’ll continue to write about it.  And don’t forget those pictures!

Just yesterday I was Googling Best Beaches in Illinois and guess what I found?  Not much – almost nothing of any value – SO – After nearly two hours of searching I’m thinking why doesn’t a local REALTOR have this on their site?  Well, one did – an agent in Naperville, IL.  

I’ve been meaning to research more fun stuff for our clients’ sites and this is certainly one of those topics that would work on a REALTOR site.  On top of that, what about best water parks in your area or skate parks – sledding, skiing, tubing in the winter – where can I rent a boat for a day?

Why I am I bringing this up?  YOU are the expert in your area and these sorts of searches will net you a customer some day if you take the time to put these up on your site.  Most REALTOR sites, ours included, are a great start for your business, but they really need to be further customized for your geographic niches. If you really want to make a splash (no pun) – put up the hours of operation, your own take on a beach or any of the aforementioned topics, heck, how about some pictures?  Again, once you’ve done this, it’s done, and this will pay you off down the road.

Now – time to look up which cities/villages in my area have the lowest taxes!  (You try looking this one up and see what kind of results you come up with)

If you need more ideas for your REALTOR or Real Estate site, just contact us, we’ve got some dandies!

 This is what your website may be asking you. 

The number one complaint from website owners is “I’m not getting any leads” – To that I will always ask – What have you done to your site to attract leads?

If you have one of those out-of-the-box canned websites and you’ve not changed anything, then that is certainly something you need to change.  Start with the homepage of the site and use this “Real Estate” to tell your viewer how you can help them or how you have helped others – maybe put your marketing plan there.  The point is, change this page if you haven’t.

The next thing we suggest is start with your preferred geographic location to do business.  If you live in Winnetka, you probably want to do business in Winnetka or something close by.  This is where you start.  You cannot conquer the entire North Shore until you can conquer one city or village first.  As I’d mentioned before too, create interior pages written by you, about the markets that you serve and optimize those pages for those markets. 

You are competing against hundreds of REALTORS in your area most likely.  Start with one place and one niche market.  EX:  Bartlett Illinois Residential Real Estate

After doing a quick search, I found that the first four organic listings were portals like Yahoo Real Estate, Trulia and Homes.com BUT #5 was an agent and in fact, the only agent on the first page for that search.  I’ll bet anything she gets leads from her site with that ranking and the way the site is written, even though it’s a template site, she changed some of the text on that page.

A little of this work will pay you off down the road and once it’s done, it’s done!

Amazing, the English language, isn’t it?  I gave a class yesterday to a local Coldwell Banker office and as usual, had a great time.  I love teaching and offering agents, not only information, but some helpful motivational ideas that may help. 

Writing is not something most people or REALTORS like to do, that’s for sure.  BUT – in order to move up the search engines (at least this is one free way) you really need to have some custom content on your site.

 I’ve seen countless agent sites that have the EXACT same homepage text from those template companies.  So, just to throw out a few ideas for anyone struggling to find content ideas here are a few that I presented yesterday:

For the homepage – Most people are here to search for homes, but in order to get them there from the search engines, try to incorporate some text into that page about your local market, where you services are offered, any niches that you serve and of course, real estate keywords.  NOW – that’s just a  couple of paragraphs of filler, in my opinion. 

What I would suggest is to jot down how you can BETTER serve your prospect than your competitors or perhaps show your marketing plan and how that has worked over the years. A great thing to have up there are testimonials, and if you are WAY ahead of the curve, put up video testimonials.  (I’m just starting on this myself)

Ideas for your internal pages might be:

Golf Course Reviews
Worthwhile Coupons or links to hard to find deals
Recipes have been done to death, but if you have a rockin’ recipe for Raspberry Red Pepper Roast – nothing wrong with that
Travel Deals
The best service companies you’ve worked with
School Activities
Local government links
Utility links or numbers
ISP reviews
Software Reviews
Info on Subdivisions
New Developments (those are not so easy to find anymore because of the dip in the market)
Tax rates for cities
Restaurant Reviews
Awesome Beaches in the Area
Upcoming concerts or city events
Write about one town and then another

I mean, there are a million things that you could put on your site but I think it’s always best to stick to what you like or love to do.  Make it relevant, topical and representative geographically to your market.  If you a horse lover, bring that out, if you dig surfing, let it rip.  Just be yourself and I’ve found that works for us.

Just remember, the only way to finish a job, is to start it.  And you can’t write 50 pages unless you can write the first one.  If you can spend 4 hours a YEAR on your website, you’d be doing more than most of your competition in real estate. This is unfortunately, very true.

More coming soon!

It’s been a while and boy have things changed.  Here’s what I find to be working for us on the WEB.

Narrow your Focus

First off – If you had to step out the door every day, where would want to be showing homes or taking listings?  Many agents that we work with are trying to capture leads from their website for very broad search terms and the competition is so fierce now as so many agents have websites.  Example:  Chicago Residential Real Estate – Northwest Suburban Real Estate.

Now these are about as broad of search terms as there is for Real Estate, but what I’m getting at is suggesting that you narrow that focus from Chicago to a neighborhood, or a condo building or buildings.  Now this can be done in many ways but what we suggest is adding separate pages to your site completely focused on one neighborhood or town, buildings or niche. 

This is the tricky part – you have to write something about your chosen area. Copying and pasting from another site really does not help your site achieve higher organic placement, so you have to put the pen to paper and write something about your area.  Why live there?  What’s going on in the area?  What kind of resale can you expect?  What are the market stats for that area?  Couple this with optimizing the page for this market and you will ascend the search engines.  The title tag, ALT tags and description tags for those respective pages should all be consistent with that niche neighborhood or market. 

We had a new client that wanted first page placement for a development in the suburbs – and we got her there within 8 weeks by writing content indicative of her being the “expert” in that area and by changing the aforementioned tags.  This will work.

So instead of trying to capture leads from Buffalo Grove Real Estate – drill down to developments, subdivisions and you will find that people search this way and hopefully, you can convert some of these leads into life-long clients. Unless of course, you are one of the few on the first page.

If you have any questions about Search Engine Optimization, narrowing your focus or websites in general, please feel free to give us a call.  We live and breathe this stuff and will happily work with you towards capturing some real leads. We also can provide custom written content for your website if you are not a big fan of writing.

We are also offering complimentary seminars covering the latest Real Estate Branding and Marketing techniques utilizing current technology and niche marketing.  If you have a specific topic that you would like to cover please let us know – I am a teacher and the emphasis is always on the teaching….

The best thing about using these methods is that almost all of them cost nothing! 

The seminars will cover:

• NAR Trends and Prospect Feedback
• Video Commercials
• Video Sharing
• Viral Marketing
• Interactivity and Artificial Intelligence
• Social Networking and their websites
• Targeted Marketing on the WEB

If you would like to schedule a class that will cover these topics, please email us or call to schedule the class.  You can even see some of our Powerpoint presentations at www.IHelpAgents.com.

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you! 

I’m excited to present our new Realtor’s blog with information on SEO, website tips, content ideas and so much more. Stay tuned!