The goal of marketing for realtors is to get people to be aware and interested in the properties you’re selling. Doing this effectively requires a little legwork on the web, but trust us when we say that it’s worth the effort. Today, we are going to provide a few tips on internet marketing for realtors that will help you get more attention, leads and sales.
1 – Get Listed; Get Found
Internet marketing for realtors is all about spreading awareness and making sure you’re easily found in the right places. Getting found in search engines like Google is one of the best ways to boost your presence, but reaching the 1st page in search results can be a long, work-intensive process. You need to branch out and make sure your prospects can find you through other sources on the web.
Use a tool like Yext to find where you’re listed and where you aren’t. You don’t have to pay for their service, but their free scanner tool is invaluable. You may find, possibly to your surprise, that your business is already listed in numerous places, such as Google Maps. That’s because many of these local business directories get their data from numerous data centers and automatically generate business listings.
However, that doesn’t mean your job is finished, because you want to claim your listings and enhance them with as much information and content as you can add. Claiming your listings is simple (if time-consuming). You generally visit the listing page, and you will have an option to claim as a business owner. Often what follows is either an automated phone or post card verification process. You typically have to enter in a pin number received through either of these two methods. Once claimed, you own your listing. Add photos, videos, information, links — anything and everything you can think of. Don’t hesitate to post photos or video walkthroughs of your properties.
Remember that the top local business directories carry a lot of clout in search engines. A claimed listing can theoretically rank very high in Google, which will greatly boost your visibility.
Quick Tip: Be sure to also get listed on popular real estate websites such as Trulia. 31 million users browse Trulia each month. Gain exposure by adding your listings and possibly advertising via premium listings, which boosts your listings to 1st in search results. One might also consider advertising on Zillow, which boasts half a billion visitors every month.
2 – Guest Blog
Guest blogging is highly recommended when it comes to marketing for realtors. Another way to gain exposure and awareness is through the blogosphere. In addition to your own blogging efforts, you can offer to contribute articles to popular blogs within your industry. You may already be aware of some, but if you aren’t, there are a few tricks you can use to find relevant blogs.
Perform a Google search for the following (feel free to include your target cities after “real estate”):
• real estate “write for us”
• real estate “become a contributor”
• real estate inurl:guest
These are search operators that will help you find real estate-themed websites that accept guest contributions.
When it comes to guest posts, you want to focus on providing the most useful, informative content you can. Don’t worry so much about promoting yourself. If you provide content of value, then the leads will come naturally — perhaps not at first, but eventually you’ll see a noticeable change.
Typically, when guest posting, a blog will allow you to write your own bio and include a link to your website. Links are an important factor for search engine rankings, but don’t try to stick a keyword in the anchor text. Let the blog’s webmaster decide how to link to your website, so the link is natural and won’t get you in trouble with Google’s anti-spam algorithms.
Quick Tip: Not confident in your writing abilities? Check out Copyblogger, the web’s authority on writing high quality content. You’ll learn a lot from their guides on copywriting.
3 – Interact via Social Media
Seemingly everyone these days knows about Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. If you don’t already have active profiles on these social networks, you know you should. Uploading interesting and useful content on social networks is one of the best ways to attract awareness and engagement for your brand. The aforementioned social networks are all quite similar. You create or share updates that will be viewed by your audience. These can include text, videos, photos, links and hashtags. While it is important to update your social profiles frequently, try to make sure you have something truly interesting to share when you do. Perhaps you’ve written or found an interesting article or funny image. Share it as you would on your own personal social media pages. It’s important to keep a personal touch when it comes to social media interaction — just posting boilerplate sales pitches and promos really won’t garner you much attention. Plus, it’s a really lame and uncreative way to approach to marketing for realtors.
LinkedIn, Google+ and Facebook also have real estate-themed “groups” that one can join. As a member of these groups, you can share photos, participate in discussions and try to meet and greet interested parties. Social communities and groups highly effective tools in internet marketing for realtors that should not be overlooked.
Moreover, social networks like Houzz are especially popular in internet marketing for realtors, because it lets real estate agents post attractive photos of your properties, interior/exterior design ideas, and user polls that are great for drumming up engagement and interest. Pinterest can also be used to “pin” attractive photos of your real estate properties that may inspire others to reach out to you.
Quick Tip: Facebook allows app integration that can allow you to post your listings right on your Facebook page. Your followers can browse all of your properties right on Facebook.
Marketing for realtors is about showing what you’ve got to a wide audience. Take the time to broaden your presence on local directories and social media networks. Spend even more time engaging on these social networks and contributing the best content you can create/find via social media and guest blogging. You will find yourself gathering a following over time, and it will ultimately turn into new leads and sales in the long run.
The goal of marketing for realtors is to get people to be aware and interested in the properties you’re selling. Doing this effectively requires a little legwork on the web, but trust us when we say that it’s worth the effort. Today, we are going to provide a few tips on internet marketing for realtors that will help you get more attention, leads and sales.
1 – Get Listed; Get Found
Internet marketing for realtors is all about spreading awareness and making sure you’re easily found in the right places. Getting found in search engines like Google is one of the best ways to boost your presence, but reaching the 1st page in search results can be a long, work-intensive process. You need to branch out and make sure your prospects can find you through other sources on the web.
Use a tool like Yext to find where you’re listed and where you aren’t. You don’t have to pay for their service, but their free scanner tool is invaluable. You may find, possibly to your surprise, that your business is already listed in numerous places, such as Google Maps. That’s because many of these local business directories get their data from numerous data centers and automatically generate business listings.
However, that doesn’t mean your job is finished, because you want to claim your listings and enhance them with as much information and content as you can add. Claiming your listings is simple (if time-consuming). You generally visit the listing page, and you will have an option to claim as a business owner. Often what follows is either an automated phone or post card verification process. You typically have to enter in a pin number received through either of these two methods. Once claimed, you own your listing. Add photos, videos, information, links — anything and everything you can think of. Don’t hesitate to post photos or video walkthroughs of your properties.
Remember that the top local business directories carry a lot of clout in search engines. A claimed listing can theoretically rank very high in Google, which will greatly boost your visibility.
Quick Tip: Be sure to also get listed on popular real estate websites such as Trulia. 31 million users browse Trulia each month. Gain exposure by adding your listings and possibly advertising via premium listings, which boosts your listings to 1st in search results. One might also consider advertising on Zillow, which boasts half a billion visitors every month.
2 – Guest Blog
Guest blogging is highly recommended when it comes to marketing for realtors. Another way to gain exposure and awareness is through the blogosphere. In addition to your own blogging efforts, you can offer to contribute articles to popular blogs within your industry. You may already be aware of some, but if you aren’t, there are a few tricks you can use to find relevant blogs.
Perform a Google search for the following (feel free to include your target cities after “real estate”):
• real estate “write for us”
• real estate “become a contributor”
• real estate inurl:guest
These are search operators that will help you find real estate-themed websites that accept guest contributions.
When it comes to guest posts, you want to focus on providing the most useful, informative content you can. Don’t worry so much about promoting yourself. If you provide content of value, then the leads will come naturally — perhaps not at first, but eventually you’ll see a noticeable change.
Typically, when guest posting, a blog will allow you to write your own bio and include a link to your website. Links are an important factor for search engine rankings, but don’t try to stick a keyword in the anchor text. Let the blog’s webmaster decide how to link to your website, so the link is natural and won’t get you in trouble with Google’s anti-spam algorithms.
Quick Tip: Not confident in your writing abilities? Check out Copyblogger, the web’s authority on writing high quality content. You’ll learn a lot from their guides on copywriting.
3 – Interact via Social Media
Seemingly everyone these days knows about Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. If you don’t already have active profiles on these social networks, you know you should. Uploading interesting and useful content on social networks is one of the best ways to attract awareness and engagement for your brand. The aforementioned social networks are all quite similar. You create or share updates that will be viewed by your audience. These can include text, videos, photos, links and hashtags. While it is important to update your social profiles frequently, try to make sure you have something truly interesting to share when you do. Perhaps you’ve written or found an interesting article or funny image. Share it as you would on your own personal social media pages. It’s important to keep a personal touch when it comes to social media interaction — just posting boilerplate sales pitches and promos really won’t garner you much attention. Plus, it’s a really lame and uncreative way to approach to marketing for realtors.
LinkedIn, Google+ and Facebook also have real estate-themed “groups” that one can join. As a member of these groups, you can share photos, participate in discussions and try to meet and greet interested parties. Social communities and groups highly effective tools in internet marketing for realtors that should not be overlooked.
Moreover, social networks like Houzz are especially popular in internet marketing for realtors, because it lets real estate agents post attractive photos of your properties, interior/exterior design ideas, and user polls that are great for drumming up engagement and interest. Pinterest can also be used to “pin” attractive photos of your real estate properties that may inspire others to reach out to you.
Quick Tip: Facebook allows app integration that can allow you to post your listings right on your Facebook page. Your followers can browse all of your properties right on Facebook.
Marketing for realtors is about showing what you’ve got to a wide audience. Take the time to broaden your presence on local directories and social media networks. Spend even more time engaging on these social networks and contributing the best content you can create/find via social media and guest blogging. You will find yourself gathering a following over time, and it will ultimately turn into new leads and sales in the long run.