Realtor® Web Marketing Strategies
Top 10 Myths of Real Estate Search Marketing
1. It is impossible to get to the top of the search engines.
False. It is very possible to get to the top of the search results for your market area with a bit of hard work and determination. Once you get to the top, you should see a marked increase in calls coming directly from Google, Yahoo and MSN.
2. I will not generate leads until I am number one for "my city real estate."
False. Even when you are not at the top of search results for main keyword phrases such as "City Realtor" or "City Real Estate," you can still start receiving email leads and phone calls as a result of your search rankings. This is because when your site is optimized for search correctly, it should turn up in several more obscure and specific keyword searches.
3. The leads you get from the search engines are bogus.
False. Our clients are getting leads straight from their websites' positions in Google that are extremely viable. In fact, Sharon Mays says that 32% of her business came from her website last year. The leads generated from your website when it is properly optimized are far more credible and less expensive than any other lead generation technique available to Real Estate Agents today.
4. It only takes a little while to get to the top of search results.
False. How quickly your website gets to the top of the search results depends on a variety of factors such as, your competition for the keyword phrase, your websites age, the content included on your website, the algorithm Google uses at the time.
5. Every website has potential to make it to the top of search results.
False. Most Realtor Websites on the web today are not good candidates for top search results (unless the owner opts for Pay-Per-Click). this is because a website must be built to properly communicate with search engine crawlers. Many real estate professionals are not yet educated in the necessity of sound SEO website infrastructure.
6. Submitting a website to search engines is a good SEO practice.
False. Submitting to search engines is an archaic method of search engine optimization that is no longer needed because the search engines of today have crawlers with the capability of finding your search engine on its own. You should question any company that offers to submit your website to search engines. Though many real estate agents are not yet aware that this is an obsolete practice, any website provider worth its salt already knows the uselessness of it.
7. Content is not necessary to achieve top rankings.
False. Textual content is a number one requirement for on-site search engine optimization. Without it, you are toast! Search engines can only read text, so if the keyword phrase is not on your website, your site will not show up in search results. What's more, Google gives more credit to those sites with more relevant content. Good, relevant content will boost your rankings immensely.
8. Keywords in your meta tags are all that's needed for SEO.
False. Meta tags are a major part of on-page search engine optimization, however, not to the extent that they used to be. It's important to have a good, keyword-rich title that accurately describes the content within the web page as well as a good description and a few keywords. Beyond that, adding too many keywords to the meta tags is considered keyword stuffing and can get you banned from search results altogether.
9. It is easy to get to the top of search engine results.
False. It is not easy to get to the top of search engine results. It takes skill and knowledge and a commitment to ever improving the quality of your website. Beware of anyone who tries to tell you it is easy and can be done quickly! As a general rule, SEO takes time, patience and a little bit of cash. The results, however, are very worth it.
10. Search engine optimization can be done after my website is built.
False. Most websites fail when it comes to search engine optimization, unless they are built from conception to be optimized. This is because SEO starts from the day you name your website, build your pages and write your content. Waiting until after your site is built to optimize it is like waiting until after your cake is done to make it chocolate.
The Marketing Shop.com specializes in providing valuable full-service website marketing services that take the stress off the Real Estate Agent. Give us a call for a Free Consultation today. 214-680-6177
