3 Ways to Know Your Real Estate Online Presence Stinks
When I hear people talk about websites and getting “Found Online” the word I hear the most is CONTENT. Yes, it is all about content, but I will take it a step further. It is all about Optimized Content. Having good content on your website or blog is great but it has to be properly optimized so that the search engines like Yahoo, Google, and Bing can find it, and then give it rank so when you search in that little box your website appears and someone who is looking for information can click on your site. By far the best platform (in my opinion) is WordPress. WordPress is a content management system that makes it very easy to blog on your website. 48% of the top 100 blogs in the world use WordPress. This site is also built on Word-press. In the Real Estate business it really comes down to marketing. Getting in front of people with your Value Proposition. With so much competition on the Internet for what you do it is very important to have the right SEO plugins for your Real Estate WordPress blog. Here are my personal favorites that I recommend you install for the proper optimization.
1. WordPress SEO by Yoast
This is by far one of the best plugins you can install for your Real Estate WordPress blog. This plugin is a like a “guide” that helps you create Focus Keywords or Phrases that you can populate throughout the content. My focus keyword for this blog is Real Estate WordPress Blog. This plugin also tells you when your blog is partially or fully optimized and what you can do to make it even more optimized. I would characterize it as SEO 101 for beginners but is also very powerful. I would recommend this plugin as an immediate install when you have your Real Estate WordPress blog up and running.
2. All-in-One SEO Pack
This is another kick butt WordPress plugin with many SEO features. Some of the key items is that it automatically optimizes titles for search engines and generates meta tags. So if you are blogging about your Farm/Subdivision it will help you get found and ranked so when consumers are looking for homes for sale in the sub or general information you come up. This plugin also supports Google Analytics and helps you to avoid “duplicate content.” Remember…the search engines like fresh and NEW content.
3. SEO Friendly Images
Having good images on your blog that are named properly with your focus keyword or phrase is very important. If you market to South Riding in Virginia and you look up information on Google about it…you might hit the “Images” button on the top so you can see what homes look like. This great plugin for your Real Estate WordPress blog automatically adds proper alt and title attributes to ALL of your images improving traffic from search engines. This is HUGE! Basically it describes to the search engines your images which are otherwise unreadable.
4. Google XML Sitemaps
The XML Sitemap plugin will generate a map if you will, so that the search engines can FIND your site. Think of it as shooting a flare into the air every time you post a blog and the search engines see this flare and run over to your site to analyze it. The best thing this plugin does is immediately notifies the search engines the second you post your blog to the world. This shortens the time it takes for your blog/website to become relevant to Google.
You might wonder what all of this has to do with your Real Estate marketing? EVERYTHING! Over 90% of consumers start their home buying/selling search online and 80% will choose the first agent they find that can answer their questions and solve their problems. This should scare you. In today’s world of Real Estate it is about being where people are looking at the exact moment they have a need for what you do. If you can be found and relevant online in Real Estate you will be successful .
Want to Set up a Marketing Appointment?
If you are reading this and thinking that you need training or other help with your Real Estate marketing then you are in luck. As the Director of Sales/Marketing for Stewart Title in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area I work with Realtors every day helping them grow their business. Please fill out the form below and I will contact you shortly for a marketing appointment. Also, be sure to fill out the “Subscribe to my Blog” button at the top right and you will get fresh content to your email inbox.
Director of Sales/Marketing at Stewart Title
My name is Wade Vander Molen and I am the Director of Sales and Marketing for Stewart Title in Northern Virginia/Washington DC.I work with Real Estate agents and Mortgage Lenders helping them grow their business with Outbound and Inbound marketing strategies. If you wish to meet and set up an appointment call me at 480-203-6452 or email at wvander@stewart.com
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