Using the Internet as a tool for finding real estate for sale
and/or a real estate agent can be a rewarding technique or a
frustrating experience. There are hundreds of thousands of real
estate agents and brokers who have websites and often thousands
in the larger metro areas and many hundreds in the smaller
markets. The number of real estate related websites have grown
considerably over the past several years with the high volume of
real estate sales and new agents entering the business.

Agent Websites – Many real estate agents have their own
websites and their usefulness varies with the success and
experience of the agents and their webmasters. Most will display
the listings from the particular agent (if any) and sometimes
will also display other listings that may or may not be listings
of the agent. If no listings are displayed, the agent may be a
buyer’s agent or has no current listing active. The website may
also have a feature to search for active MLS (Multiple Listing
Service) listings. The search features can vary widely depending
on the website provider/builder. Some websites restrict use to
individuals who have registered with the agent and others permit
unlimited use without registration. Those agents requiring
registration typically use the information provided for
follow-up contact either via telephone, mail or email. Other
agent websites provide contact forms, chat lines and other means
for follow-up communications. The timeliness and quality of
responses can vary widely. The attrition rate for agents is
high, often over 80% during their first year so many websites
may be active but have been abandoned by their owners. Other
active agents are remiss in checking for messages and requests
go unanswered for days or weeks.

Broker Websites – Most real estate brokers
(international, national, regional and local) maintain websites.
They normally have property search features by area and often
will have individual real estate agent access information. Some
may limit the MLS information provided to the listings of the
given real estate broker, others will display any active MLS
listing within the given area, county, state or country.

Builder/Developer Websites – Most residential real estate
builders and developers maintain websites. These websites may be
specific to a sub-division being built or generic for the
regional and nationwide builders with access to specific
cities/states and the sub-divisions being developed. Usefulness
varies considerably with many providing detailed information on
house designs, available inventory, contact information and site
sales office hours.

Real Estate Related Referral Websites – There has been a
proliferation of real estate referral websites offering
individuals with agent referrals for a given area once they have
been provided details of your contact information, whether
interested in buying or selling and the specifics on the area
and home. Referral real estate websites typically have real
estate agents subscribers who pay fees for referrals. These fees
may be based on a per lead cost to the agent, a monthly fee to
the agent for a specific number of leads or a percentage of the
real estate commission paid if the lead culminates in a sale.
Typically the only criteria for an agent to utilize these
referral services is that the agent is legally licensed to do
business in their state.

Real Estate Listing Websites – There are a number of
national real estate websites providing limited listing
information and varying degrees of specificity in search
criteria. Some are more user friendly then others. Some have
real estate agent/broker fee paid subscription services to
highlight listings and or selected agents/brokers.

http://www.realtor.com – http://www.living.net -
http://realestate.yahoo.com

Search Engines – SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an
obsession for most webmasters and real estate agents. Simply
stated, real estate agents, brokers, builders and referral
companies want to be in the first page or two of search results
so that the individual web surfer will be directed to their
website. These individuals and firms may be paying significant
fees to firms offering first or second page placement on a given
search engine. The major search engines such as Google, Yahoo,
MSN and hundreds of others use different algorithms to determine
how websites get ranked and their order of placement on the
results pages. To make it even more interesting/confusing, the
big search engines also offer websites owners various
sponsorship page positioning on a fee basis albeit they identify
the sites as such.

http://www.google.com – http://www.yahoo.com -
http://www.msn.com

Tips to Make Your Real Estate Search a Rewarding One!

1. Most major search engines have basic and advanced search
options and provide information and directions for using them.
Take five extra minutes and learn how to use the advanced
functions and you’ll be happy you did!

2. Learn as much as possible about the region, state, city and
neighborhood you are interested in to maximize your search
results.

3. Be specific in your search criteria. The more general and
generic the search, the less pertinent the results will be.

4. All search engines are not alike! Use more than one when
conducting a search, as the results will vary greatly.

Once you are seriously considering buying or selling residential
real estate direct your search to finding an experienced agent
that is responsive and has your best interests in mind. Then
have your real estate agent do the digging into the market to
present the listings and homes you will be most interested in.

Real estate on the internet has become an online phenomenon.
There is a generally accepted trend online, that people will “research globally, but shop locally”. This is especially true for real estate. That’s why it is important for your website to be seen. There is also a recognizable pattern online that, most real estate customers use the first realtor they contact. As a realtor I’m sure that you have said to yourself “hey, I know those people, why did they list with that realtor instead of me”. Chances are, that is the first realtor that they came across.
Real estate online is so hot that Google is talking about creating a whole separate Google directory just for real estate. Yahoo already has a “lead buying” program just for realtors. HomeGain is reporting a record 5.5 million visitors to their website in the first part of 2006. Many of my clients have already gone through the process of buying leads at Yahoo and other real estate “lead capture” portals. Most of these lead buying programs can be expensive to join and the leads can also be pricey. I have spoken with many realtors all over the country that participate or, have participated in these programs. I hear good and bad things about these programs. However it is my opinion that you should spend your money on marketing your website and then all the leads that you get are yours to keep. Technology, especially the internet has forever changed the way people search for real estate and how they contact local realtors. The National Association of Realtors 2004 survey of home buyers tells us that 71% of home buyers used the internet to start the search for their new home. That is up from 62% in 2003.
Ok, so you know all of this. You have a website, now what?
How do your prospective customers find your real estate website and do business with you. There are two ways. One is “SEO” (search engine optimization) and the other is SEM (search engine marketing). Let’s look at the differences between these two and how they affect you and your real estate business.
SEO, “search engine optimization” is the application of several techniques to help a website rank higher in the “natural” search results.
To begin with let’s talk about “meta tags”. Meta tags are the first things that the search engines will read when visiting your website. Here are the main meta tags that you need to improve if you want to “optimize” your website.
They are your “title tag”, your “description tag” and your “keyword tag”.
Ok, so how do you find the meta tags on your website? You can check your meta tags by going to your website, at the top of the internet explorer window click on “view” and scroll down to “view “source”. A new window will open and you should see something like meta name=”description” meta name=”keywords”.
Let’s begin with your “title tag”, is also known as your “page title”. For example, on many websites if you click on the “about us” link or, the “contact us” link, that’s what you will see displayed at the top of the browser window in the blue bar. It is also known as your “anchor text”.
Search engines read like we do, from left to right and top to bottom of the page. Your “anchor text” is one of the first things that the search engine will read on your website. Your “anchor text” is what is displayed when your website is listed in the natural search results. It is the first thing your potential customers will read when they do a search. Your anchor text should include one or, two of your best keywords. For example: “Pittsford Real Estate 10 Years of Experience” or, “Professional Full Time Realtor, Pittsford”.
So, your title tag is both your page title and your anchor text. Again this is the first thing that your customers will read when reading the title of your search listing.
It should not say “welcome to my website” or “Joe bob’s website”. This is the first thing that your customers will read. It is your first opportunity to catch their attention. Using keywords like “Real Estate” and “Realtor” will tell the search engines that your page is about real estate. Even better, if you are a realtor in Pittsford, it will see the keyword Pittsford and display your website to anyone typing in “Pittsford real estate”.
Next, is your “description tag”. This tag provides the description that you see right under the anchor text. Most search engines will display about two sentences as a description. Both your anchor text and your description should include several of your best keywords.
Speaking of keywords. The next tag that we will talk about is your “keyword Tag”.
Keywords are important! Keywords are what describe your real estate services. Keywords are what people use to search for your website. And, keywords are what the search engines use to determine if they will display your website to someone searching for your real estate services. Including ten to fifteen of your best keywords into the meta tag keyword section of your website can help your page rank and can help people find your website.
So how do you know what keywords are searched for most often? There are many free keyword tools on the internet. Go to your favorite search engine and type in “keyword selector tool”. When you find a free keyword tool that suites you, type in a keyword phrase to see how many times it was searched last month. All the results that you get using this tool are tabulated by the month. Play around with different combinations and you will find that there are specific keyword phrases that are searched more than others. Those are the keyword phrases that you want to use as keywords in the meta tag keyword section of your website. For example, try “Pittsford realtor” or “real estate Pittsford” or try misspelling the word real estate. For example try, “Pittsford real estate”. Yes, misspellings count and can be used as a keyword in your meta tags.
Mike Alves is the Owner of http://www.Marketing4Leads.com
My only business is marketing realtor websites.
I create, publish and manage pay per click campaigns on Google full time, for real estate agents all over the U.S. I can start sending new real estate customers to your website in 48 hours.