Posted by admin in Search Engine Optimization is no longer the most cost effective way to generate leads. Social media marketing can produce more powerful effects for faster, quicker and cheaper than traditional SEO. Furthermore, social marketing boosts SEO efforts, whereas SEO by itself does not directly boost social media marketing. The best web marketing option for real estate agents and small businesses is a strategy of integrating SEO measures into a sound social media campaign.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a good practice, but due to the expense, difficulty and time-restrictions of getting to the top of search engines, it is no longer the best or most cost-effective means for lead generation for the real estate agent or small business. SEO is not obsolete by any means, however, it does have disadvantages:
Google Sandbox
New websites are often put into the “Google Sandbox” which limits the ability of new sites to achieve page-1 rankings for a specified length of time, depending on the market area. Typically the Google Sandbox or “Trustbox” as it is sometimes called lasts from six months to two years. Reference: Google Sandbox.
Social media marketing has no barriers to reaching your goals, except time and your own efforts.There is nothing stopping you from becoming well-known and loved by those in the area you serve, except you.
Top Rankings Takes Years to Achieve
Depending on your market, SEO can take years to achieve, even if the area is not very competitive and no one is doing SEO. The rankings of your website are arbitrary, based upon algorthyms and Google’s ultimate will. Be prepared to wait at least a year, maybe two or three to achieve top rankings for the harder search phrases including words such as “real estate” and “homes.” Reference: SEO Strategy.
Social media marketing and lead generation is quick, easy and highly effective. No other time in the history of marketing ahs it been so easy to reach a target market with the message of your brand. the only barriers for you is your own time and determination to get your name out there, as well as your skill in effectively reaching and bonding with those you want to reach.
SEO is Labor Intensive
Getting top search results in some markets is heinous, requiring a great deal of work without any guarantees of positioning. The work, while requiring technical knowledge and intense-follow-up, is actually menial and unchallenging. Reference: SEO
Social media marketing is labor intensive, but not nearly as difficult as SEO, and social media marketing is fun because it involves you becoming famous within your target market, and engaging with other fun people.
SEO is Expensive
Achieving top search results is beneficial in the long run, however, achieving high rankings is an expensive endeavor, again with no guarantees. The skill-level needed to run your SEO efforts is high and not cheap. Some competitive markets can cost as much as $2,000 per month for up to a year or more, just to get top rankings. Reference: SEO Book
Social media marketing has a learning curve, but you can reach your target market for far less than with a traditional SEO campaign, plus, your social media efforts actually boost the rankings of your site. Social media marketing is virtually free, although there is some cost in content generation, training and your time.
SEO is Competitive
There are some agents who do nothing all day except build the rankings for their websites, while passing out leads to their staff members or selling their leads elsewhere. If you don’t have the time to do SEO all day, or the money to pay someone to do it for you, then you may be out of luck. Some markets, of course, are more competitive than others. Some sites that got started earlier with SEO, or are larger such as Trulia and Zillow have an unfair advantage and special deals with search engines. Reference: SearchEngineGuide.
Social media marketing is also competive, but in a different way, and with a bigger pay-off long term. It’s easier to stand out from the crowd if you use creative content and engagement practices. There is nothing stopping you from engaging and being seen within your target market through social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook.
SEO Can be Temporary
You can work for years on the SEO of your website, then stop working on it and experience decline in your rankings.
Social media marketing is more of a full-branding and marketing strategy, where the efforts you make to bond with your target market last as long as people remember you.
SEO Rankings are at the Whim of Google.
No one can guarantee to get you top rankings in Google because it is against Google’s Guidelines for Webmasters. Google can change their algorthyms at any time at whim, and does not give anyone notice as to what it is doing at all. You are at the mercy of Google when you rely only on SEO to achieve website success. Resource: Google Website.
Google Bans & Give Penalties Without Warning
If your SEO is not conducted in a way that is natural (which is relatively impossible, unless your a well-known star or big-business), then you can get penalized, dunked and even banned from search results. Resource: Search Engine Journal.
Social media marketing sites do not care how well known you become, and have have no reason to ban, dunk or penalize you for being friendly and getting to know people–in fact, social media sites thrive on your participation!
SEO Doesn’t Work in All Markets or Seasons
SEO is only good if the market is good and the time of year is right because it is dependent on people looking for what you sell in the search query box. If the market is down, no one is looking for houses, and your SEO efforts will flounder due to lack-of-funds. If you stop SEO in a down market, all the effort and expense you put in will go down the drain because you need to keep doing SEO to stay competitive.
Social media marketing pays off in good markets and bad and at all times of year. When you use appropriate measures for marketing through social media, you can pick up business in good times or bad, and you’re doing good whether people are buying or not. Social media is about name recognition, fame and celebrity. It’s about becoming the name on everyone’s mind.
SEO Reaches a Limited Audience
SEO only reaches those who type in specific keywords, and that is if your website is properly ranking on page one. It is reactive, only available when people are looking for properties.
Social media marketing reaches people in your local area who may be interested in buying a home or property today or in the future. It is a pro-active approach that befriends and bonds with those in your target market BEFORE they are looking for homes. It’s a known fact that people will do business with people they know and like. Social media helps you get to know those in your area, better and more intimately than ever before in the history of mankind.
SEO is Impersonal
SEO requires no personality whatsoever, it is all dependent on the keywords. It’s more difficult to bond with people on a straight SEO site because there are no personal aspects that draw them there. Your website becomes merely a tool to help users.
Social media marketing helps you to get one-on-one with those in your target market and share your life with them. You can bond with others, and develop long lasting friendships with people you once called “customers.”
While I do not condem SEO, I do say there is a better more cost effective way to generate leads for real estate agents and small businesses today. A way that has very few barriers to entry, that’s inexpensive, fun and produces exponential results. Proper use of social media marketing will help you not only reach those in your target market, but also with their friends, and their friends friends and so on–through viral marketing inherent to social media networking. I fully recommend doing SEO, don’t abandon it completely, however, spend 75% of your web marketing efforts on getting social, and becomeing a celebrity in your marketplace.
If you are interested in learning more about SEO and Social Media Marketing, contact social media coach, consultant, trainer and speaker, dotJenna today. http://www.themarketingshop.com/
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