Home of unlimited opportunity. Traffic is Good! (when it comes to your website)

Home of unlimited opportunity.Home of unlimited opportunity.

Traffic is Good!(when it comes to your website)


*Prep for This Week’s Session*

To accommodate different audiences, this session includes basic and advanced information. – If your group consists of mostly beginners, include all

slides in your workshop. – If your group is mostly more advanced, skip slides 5-

18.

Make color copies of the handout, one per associate, for the activity on slide 39.

*Delete this slide before presenting *


In our last Make Your Connections session we looked at how to get noticed online (in a good way):

•Rising to the top on Google

•How you appear online

•Becoming a trusted advisor

•Turning online networking into face-to-face opportunities

Picking Up Where We Left Off…


Today we’ll explore more proactive ways of generating business online – by driving traffic

to your website.

Today’s Make Your Connections Session


So Why is the Internet So Important? Why Do I Need a

Website?

Source: National Association of REALTORS, 2008 Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers

87% of 2008 Home Buyers used the

internet in their home search!

By the way…you don’t just need a web site – you need an IDX website. We’ll cover that in

a few minutes.


How Did Buyers Find Their Home?

34%32%

15%

7% 7%

3%2%

1%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

2008

Real estate agent

Internet

Yard sign/open house sign

Friend, relative or neighbor

Home builder or their agent

Print newspaper advertisement

Directly from sellers

Home book or magazine

32% of Buyers found the home they purchased online

34% of buyers found the home they purchased through a real estate agent

Buyers are more likely to find the homes they purchase via the Internet than newspapers,

magazines and yard signs combined!Source: NAR’s 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers


Internet Listings Drive Offline ActionBuyers who find home listings online take offline action to move forward in the home

buying process

Actions Taken After Finding Listing Online

Source: National Association of REALTORS, 2008 Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers

77%

63%

27%24%

9% 9%6% 4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Drove byor vieweda home

Walkedthrough a

home

Found aagent

Requestedmore info

Mortgageinfo

Contactedbuilder

Applied fora

mortgage

Found amortgage

lender

All Buyers

Source: NAR’s 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers


Let’s all get on the same page with some internet

terms . . .


Internet Terms

• SEO• Metatags• Keywords• Social Networking• IDX

Brought to you buy:


SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via "natural“ or “organic” (non-paid) search results.

Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it "ranks," the more searchers will visit that site.


Organic (Non-Organic (Non-Paid)Paid)

Paid Paid SearchSearch


Search Results• Search behavior of Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL

users were assessed in a recent search engine study performed by search engine marketing firm iProspect.

• 61% of Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL users selected an organic, non-paid search result over a paid search result.


Meta Tags

Meta tags are hidden sections of code you enter onto your Web pages that allow the search engines to know what your page is about and index it.

I’ll show you an example in a few minutes.


KeywordsIn a search engine, a keyword is the term or phrase you type in order to begin an online search.

In website programming language, these are words you enter into your meta tags that describe your page. When someone goes to a search engine and types in one or more of those keywords, your page will be among the pages they are shown.

Examples:“Morristown homes for sale”“Middletown NJ homes for sale”


Social Networking

An online community of people who are socializing with each other via a particular website.

It’s the practice of growing the number of one's business and/or social contacts by networking with others.


Some Social Networking Sites

Facebook – connect and communicate with your network of friends, family, business associates, etc.

Blogger - free blogging site (blog=web log or diary)

YouTube – for posting videos Craigslist – post and search classified ads LinkedIn – geared towards business

people Twitter – allows for short real-time

conversations and information sharing


IDX

IDX stands for "Internet Data Exchange," commonly called Broker Reciprocity.

Under the IDX real estate system, brokers give consent to display each others’ listings on the Internet.

To show other broker’s listings on your personal website, you must have an IDX site.


If you don’t have a personal IDX website, consider hiring someone to create one for you.

If you already have one, that’s great!

Either way…let’s look at how you can generate lots of traffic on your site.


Top 10 Things to do to Drive Traffic

1. Get one local market domain name and a second one with your personal name

2. Purchase an IDX website

3. Embed local keywords throughout your site

4. Post local data that customers will value

5. Do some basic SEO



6. Promote/advertise your URL on all marketing materials/email

7. Advertise your URL to your local neighborhoods

8. Leverage free sites to promote yourself and your website

9. Submit your URL to search engines10.Use social networking sites


First, Know Why They Come

What’s the number one reason consumers go to the web when it comes to real estate?

LISTINGS


#1 Get Two Domain Names

First domain name – your local market niche:• Must have keywords that reflect your local market niche (such as

Princeton-Townhouses.com)• If domain name you want is taken, add hyphens between the words

(such as Princeton-Townhouses.com)• Use .com (not .net) – it is most recognized• To purchase: www.godaddy.com ($9.99/year)

Second domain name – your name:• Must contain your personal name so you’re easily found• Should only contain your personal name (such as JohnSmith.com,

not JohnSmithagent.com)• Use .com (not .net) – it is most recognized


Byram Office

276 Route 206 Andover, NJ 07821

Office Phone Number 973-347-4900

Mobile: (973) 534-3065

Direct: (908) 852-7659

Fax: (908) 573-3007

Email: [email protected]


#2 Purchase an IDX Website


#3 Embed Local Keywords

Put relevant, local keywords throughout the programming language of your site:

•#1 objective is for you to increase the likelihood that your site will appear in organic search results•Design of your website should be centered around those relevant, local keywords so that your site is among the organic search results

Home of unlimited opportunity.Home of unlimited opportunity.Click to next slide


#4 Post Local Data

Give people a reason to keep visiting your site!

•Post current, local neighborhood data that local residents will value•Posting that local data will demonstrate that you are the neighborhood specialist


#4 Post Local Data


#4 Post Local Data


#5 Do Some Basic SEO – Title Tags and Meta Tags

Title tag is the most important:•Create a descriptive title with 5-8 words for each page - should contain your name and keywords•Use only 2-5 keywords per page

Write a description and keyword metatag: •The description should be 1-2 sentences describing the content of the webpage using the main keywords and key phrases on the page.


Here’s what the programming language looks like “behind the scenes.” Look how often “Sparta NJ” and “homes for sale” appear.

Keywords:

Title tag:

Description tag: Click to next slide


#6 Add Your URL to all Marketing Materials/Emails

• Include your URL on all iMail, stationery, cards, and literature.

• Promote your URL using traditional media - include your URL in any display or classified ads you purchase - magazines, newspapers, yellow pages, etc.

• Have it on your business card, door hangers and Open House flyers


#6 Add your URL to your Email Signature Line

Remind your leads and customers that you have a web site and are active online. Invite them to it every time through your email signature:

Heather Ryker-MillingWeichert Realtors Sales AssociateHome - 908-852-7659Cell - 973-534-3065Visit me at www.heathermilling.com


#7 Advertise Your URL to Local Neighborhoods

Now that you have created your online presence and added your URL to marketing materials…get the word out!

•Send your IMAIL/marketing materials•Put out your door hangers•Disseminate as many marketing materials with your URL as you can


#8 Leverage FREE sites to Promote Yourself and Your

WebsiteHere are some free sites you can use to promote yourself and your website.

– Craigslist– Postlets– Facebook– ActiveRain– city-data.comCAUTION: To avoid REC fines, follow Weichert, Realtors

Advertising Policy & Procedure on Weichert University


#9 Submit Your Website URL to Search Engines

Note: Make sure your website has the following before you submit your website.

–Local, relevant keywords in the programming language

–Homepage has rich, relevant content for the market you service

–Homepage title is consistent with your keywords and contains your name


#9 Submit Your Website URL to Search Engines

Submit your website once a quarter:Yahoo.com - To submit your site URL:http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit Google.com - To submit your site URL:http://www.google.com/submit_content.html


#10 Use Social Networking Sites


Activity: Identify the Top 10

• Here is a Weichert associate’s web site that successfully utilizes some of the tips we just reviewed.

• Take a copy and circle as many of the “top 10” items you can find.

• I’ll give you 3 minutes, then we’ll discuss as a group. Here’s a reminder of the top 10…



1. Get one local market domain name and a second with your personal name2. Purchase an IDX website3. Embed local keywords throughout your site4. Post local data that customers will value5. Do some basic SEO6. Promote/advertise your URL on all marketing materials/email7. Advertise your URL to your local neighborhoods8. Leverage free sites to promote yourself and your website9. Submit your URL to search engines10. Use social networking sites


Debrief: Identify the Top 10

Let’s see how many of the top 10 you were able to identify.

Let’s start with #1 on the list and work down to #10.

Home of unlimited opportunity. Traffic is Good! (when it comes to your website)

Documents

home search

home of unlimited opportunity

home listings

website slide

profile of home buyers

online search

sellers slide

sale slide