Real Estate Agent Website Design: IDX, RETS, SEO & SMM Marketing
The Key To Successful Real Estate Marketing Is A System
The 90% Rule: Your Real Estate Agent Website Design & SEO Needs To Be 100%
According to a joint study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Google, 90% of all new home purchases will use an online search for their next home. You read that correctly 90%. Here’s another one of those mind-numbing statistics for you. According to a recent study by Chikta, 88% of all Google users STOP on the 1st PAGE.
This study on internet usage to buy a new home is from two very trusted names in the Real Estate world. And it explains why the marketing considerations of websites for realtors are so critical. When you think about the traffic or potential traffic that your site could garner your business, you want to ensure you have the best real estate website available. We have custom IDX solutions that will make every listing on the MLS work for you. Finally, as an IDX provider for your site, we can make your listing flow to social media and other advertising channels, giving you a seamless online marketing program.
Real Estate Agent Website Design & Development Means Location, Location, Location – On Google!
If you’re a Realtor or a real estate agent, this should speak volumes to you and your marketing plan. Here’s the Cliff Notes version of it: 1) I better have a good website, and 2) I need to do everything that I can get on the first page of Google. Simple enough. Simple enough to understand, yes. But, this is not so simple to do.
SEO For Realtors
I’m starting with this abbreviation first and working backward. SEO stands for search engine optimization. This “optimization” is having Google-like and ranking your website above your competitors. It is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT aspects of having a site, and little else will matter if you fail to be ranked on Google. If you need a reminder of just how important this is, reread the opening statement.
When the term SEO is used, it refers to “organic” search engine optimization. That means, instead of “paying” Google for an ad (PPC or Pay Per Click), you structure your website so that Google rewards you by giving you a high ranking. There are many nuances to Google’s methods for which sites are rewarded and punished, but specific methodologies have proved very successful at getting Google to do both! This expertise is why you want to be very careful about whom you choose to provide these services to you. The internet is full of rogue companies for SEO services. These companies may get your website banned from Google for life!
Here’s some more great news! There is no playbook. Google is all the time changing its algorithm on how it ranks sites. It often turns not only the factors to rank sites but the weighting of each element, etc. It is very complicated. And it takes an ongoing commitment to do well at it. The “ongoing nature” of this commitment means expensive! Pure and simple, SEO is costly concerning TIME and MONEY.
SEO for Real Estate Agents Equals Google Success
A significant factor of Google Success for your Realty business will be identifying profitable areas or specialties (a particular neighborhood, a specific city, or a specialty like foreclosures, for example). That’s where our unique programming capabilities and marketing expertise can help. Unlike many website development companies where a design company builds your website and then chooses an off shelve solution like IDX Broker or Diverse Solution for your listings, we are a custom programming firm. We develop your MLS (IDX) Listings directly into your website where your website can derive the maximum benefit (see an example of integrated listings here now Google: Regatta Point Lake Murray or Regatta Pointe Irmo SC, etc….). This methodology helps Google discover and rank your pages by directly pulling relevant and current listings from the MLS onto your website!
Success over the long term will require ongoing content to be added to your website and implementing local SEO strategies (Learn about local SEO here). We make this as painless as possible by editing, indexing, and helping with the “technical writing,”; but it will require an ongoing commitment from you (time). We will need about 1-2 articles (300+ words about the focus area you want to rank well for). Then, we will edit the title (for Google), identify the keywords, and handle the submissions to Google. This effort takes time on our part, which equates to money for you. How much time and money obviously depends on the competitive nature of your chosen search engine (focus area). Sometimes the job can be done for $40-50 a month per term. Sometimes it will take hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month to move the search engine needle. But, we will give you an honest appraisal of what it will take to be effective and the cost of doing it. A word of caution here — no one can guarantee a first page or #1 ranking on Google, period. But, we can give you both methodology and measurement tools so that we can monitor it and judge our effectiveness.
IDX WEBSITES & RETS Feeds: Customized Listings & Results
We can build a customized website that allows you to choose the critical areas for how you do business. And, whether it’s an interactive map or a particular search capability, if it’s in the MLS (and they allow vendors to access it), we can include it on your website. We can “create” areas unique to your site (by combining streets, cities, resorts, etc……) to give your users a unique experience. Most importantly, we can create a website that will allow your website user to prefer your site over all the other competing websites out there (to see our unique websites and designs, click here).
Award Winning Real Estate Websites
Ready to make your mark in the booming real estate industry? Let’s talk! What have you got to lose? Our initial consultation and website review are free. And, no matter what, you will gain incredibly valuable insights about your current online marketing.
Let’s get started!
If you’re looking for a reliable and experienced partner to help you create the perfect website for a local business, look no further. We are the top website design company locally in Columbia, Lexington, Greenville, and Charleston, SC.
Related Links:
