Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Create Quality One Way Links to Your Real Estate Website For FREE

You may or may not know that Website Directory Submission is quickly becoming a very popular and easy way to get quality, one way links to your website.


These kind of links are exactly what the search engines are looking for. The websites with more quality, one way links are typically the sites that rank the highest, period.


With that said, there are several websites dircetory submission programs on the market. The best and easiest to use is a new program created by Brad Callen, called Directory Submitter.


The software currently contains around 1700 website directories, all free. It is the most straightforward program that we've come across, in that all you need to do is:


1. Input your website details (i.e. title, description, URL, etc.) into the software


2. Click on the directory you want to submit to

And then the program will automatically fill in your website details. Then,
you simply click the submit button and your website is instantly submitted to the directory. Then, you can move to the next directory, go through the list, and by the time you're finished you'll have roughly 1500 one way links pointing to your website.


I can't think of an easier way to get links. Of course, if you're going to get links this quickly, it's important to vary your website title (anchor text) every 20-30 links or so, to make things look more natural to the search engines.


You can do this very easily via Directory Submitter when you create your project in the beginning.


The software is constantly being updated and there is an incredible community of users established that all work together to make the software better and better, so you know you're getting great value for the money.


To check out the software, click on the following link:

Directory Submitter Software.

And remember, this is a free software, isn't that awesome? Once you checked it out, post a comment and let me know what you think about it.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Real Estate Marketing Online - Give yourself a local edge

When marketing our real estate services on the web we might forget how important it is to stay not only global but also local in our efforts. Even though some prospects will be relocating from other areas of the country, there are still plenty of people who are just looking to move within the same area. And even relocting people will most likely check out local services and search for local businesses.

Local web advertising is also very important for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, especially that now in many cases Google puts their top Google local results at the top of local keyword searches (i.e. you city real estate).

There are several ways that you can ensure that potential buyers and sellers find you before everyone else by using local web advertising.

1. Google Local

Google Local is a free tool that promotes your business and adds instant credibility. It is similar to an online “Yellow Pages” service available to people searching for nearby businesses. If you want to appear in the search results, you must have your business added to the directory.

Go to http://local.google.com.

At the bottom left, click on the “Add/Edit Your Business” link. Follow the prompts to add your business.

To weed out bogus postings and online-only businesses without a physical, local location, Google will send you a postcard with an activation code. Be certain you supplied a physical address where you actually check your mail. With the postcard and activation code in hand, come back to this site and enter your code. Your real estate business will now appear in searches, like those in “maps.google.com”.

Make sure you add your website URL as well so that interested prospects can visit your website for more info.

To make your listing stand out even more, you can add a coupon for your business listing, such as a "free home evaluation" or a "$500 rebate for buyers". Coupons will appear alongside your business listing on Google Maps. Adding coupons to your listing in Google Maps will bring new customers to you. The better savings you offer, the more customers you'll gain.


2. Yahoo Local

Similar to Google Local, Yahoo also has a site to list businesses.

Go to http://local.yahoo.com.

At the bottom center of the page, click on “Add/edit a business”. Choose the type of listing you would like to add. To use the free listing, click on the “Basic” option. Sign in to Yahoo! (create an account if you don’t already have one), and follow the prompts.


That's it. With 5 minutes work you just gave yourself a better shot at generating more real estate leads for absolutely free.

Any thoughts?

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Best Real Estate Website - Is there such a thing?

When I started out with marketing my real estate services online, I started looking for the "best real estate website" out there and see how I can create something similar.

At that point I thought that really pretty and flashy websites were probably the best... Since then I know that it's not about the looks and the prettiness about the website. It's about CONTENT!

The "Best Real Estate Website" is the one that generates lots of new business for you, lot of new buyer and sellers leads.

For this, you definitely need 2 things:

1. You need to please potential buyers and sellers.
2. You need to please the search engines.

So how can you go about it:

1. To please potential sellers and buyers, you need to give them what they are looking for: HOUSES! According to the National Association of Realtors 2006 Research, 96% of people were looking for homes when they went online. Only 3 % were looking for a real estate agent... So, get those listings out there and show them to potential buyers. Or better yet, gove them full MLS access in return for their e-mail address.

2. To please the search engines, you need to optimize each and every page separately for keywords that potential buyers and sellers actually search for. You can use the 15 point search engine optimization list in Real Estate Internet Marketing Formula, or you can hire a professional to do it for you.

You can also use Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, articles, press releases, social networking sites, podcasts and videos to be more relevant to consumers and to catapult your site to the top of the search engines. More on these in later posts...

If you are looking for a real estate website that can help you do a great job, you can check out Rapid Listings.

Do you want to share your experience regarding real estate websites?

Welcome to Real Estate Marketing Insider!

Real estate marketing is changing.... Whether or not you want it, real estate is moving online...

So I decided to create a blog where I can share my ideas and thoughts about internet marketing for real estate agents.

I am a practicing realtor in Northern Virginia and I have been getting a 100% of my clients online (and of course referrals and repeat business from satisfied clients who originally came to me through the internet). My real estate website is not fancy but it generates about 30-50 leads a week, which is more than I know what to do with... I know you can alwasy refer them out for a nice bonus commission check! :)

So what can you expect from my blog? Great question… glad you asked! Every week, I will share updates about internet marketing as it relates to real estate agents. Cutting edge industry updates. Tips and tricks that I successfully use to generate free leads online...

So once again, welcome and please check back on a regular basis for new Internet marketing strategies and ideas that you can start using to explode generating leads on the Internet!