If you aren’t listing properties owned by a bank then having buyers to take to them can be one of the greatest businesses you will ever have. The key is to make sure you have the right scripts to turn any buyer into a motivated and ready to go buyer.

This call is going to be jammed with information. Sign-up early to get your access to the call.

Go to http://www.buyerscriptscall.com/ to sign-up for the call. We are going to be covering some stuff that will help all agents close more business.

Are you willing to invest some time and money into finding out what you need to do in order to make this a reality for you?

What if you could spend 8 hours of time learning not just what to do but some How To of real estate marketing on the Internet? Shortly James and I are going to be having an 8 hour event on Internet Lead Generation. We are going to spend 8 hours helping 40 real estate professionals who want to take their Internet presence to the next level do just that.

Are you ready for the next phase of your website or blog where you actually get leads each and every day? If you are and you also want to find out:

• What scripts to use to get leads from the Internet to meet with you
• What kind of e-mails to send to leads that dont’ have phone numbers to get them to give you a phone number
• Find out what calls to action you need to make on your website in order to make people feel obligated to give you their information

We are going to be covering all of this and more at our upcoming event. The thing is we have only enough seats for 40 dedicated real estate professionals and they are filling up fast. How can you reserve yourself a seat?

Go directly to www.OnlineRealEstateSuccess.com/Seminar to reserve your space know. You can pay online and guarantee you will have a spot for yourself and the other individuals who are ready and prepared for that next level.

While you are there make sure you sign up for our free real estate e-book so you can take your real estate internet marketing to the next level.

You can access it at www.InternetRealEstateSuccess.com and catch up on our latest posts. You can also take a look at our latest work on our coaching program at www.OnlineRealEstateSuccess.com/Members.

If you haven’t yet signed up for the Google Webmaster Tools(it is FREE ), here are a couple of ways you can check to see what Google knows about your website:

• Pages in Google Index:Type “site:http://www.yourwebsite.com” in the search box of Google – This will show you how many of your pages are indexed by Google.  Hopefully as you have been adding pages this number grows!
• What sites are linking to my front page:Type “link:http://www.yourwebsite.com” in the search box of Google and you will be able to see the number of websites that currently link to you.  Great value in those websites that link to you so this is another key metric that you will want to see increase.
• What does Google think my website looks like?- This is the cached version that Google has stored about your website.  Type: “cache: http://www.yourwebsite.com” and you will see what your site looks like according to Google and the date that they last updated this view.

These tools that Google provides are a wonderful way to keep track of how your efforts of page creation and search optimization are progressing.  If you sign up for the Google Webmaster Tools you can also be notified by Google in case you have a violation of their rules, pretty handy!

1. Use testimonials in specific areas of your website – If you helped a client purchase a property in a specific area of town have them give you a testimonial about their experience and request for information in that area. Then put that testimonial in that area. My brother did that for one of his recent purchases with a client in the area. You can see it over at Long Beach Homes. A visitor checking for information will see how someone got help in that specific area which will make them feel more comfortable.
2. Use testimonials for specific problems – ever had a client thank you for helping them and tell you that it was because you referred them to a great lender or you had a great website? Use those testimonials to address the questions that are in the minds of your customers before they were your customers.
3. E-mail out your testimonials to your prospects – nothing helps ease fear by knowing someone just went through what you are about to do and it went well for them so let your prospects know that you are working with people who have the same fear.
4. Have a large testimonial page – readers like content and nothing is better on a website than having more content. The more the better they say. It is true that you can’t have too many testimonials. You can’t have too many people telling others about your services so make sure you have a page with all of your testimonials in one place.
5. Use Pictures – Audio is great but pictures are worth a thousand words right? So make sure you have a picture that matches up with those great audio testimonials. You want to make sure people can see themselves in the people you have helped so make sure you get as many of your clients as possible to give you an audio testimonial.

Think about those items as you gather your audio testimonials. You helped your clients and they are going to be happy to help you in return so give them that chance and make sure that you can capture that excitment on your website.

I thought today I would uncover the myth that it is not always about being number one. Most of us are competitive by our very nature and we strive to be number one. Especially in real estate where awards are given for being the “Top Producer” we strive to be number one in the office, region, or even the MLS. But with Google Adwords and placing your ads carefully it isn’t always about being number one. Remember the goal when you use pay per click advertising should be this:

“Acquire the greatest amount of leads possible for the fewest dollars spent”

James and I are constantly looking at how we can lower the cost of our leads in both organic and paid ads. In fact in 2007 we lowered our spending on the Internet by 10% and increased the leads we received by 3%!

So what location is the best location to have? Well let’s look at a sample Google result page and see why maybe we wouldn’t want to be first.

The graphic image is from advertisers who advertise on the search term “santa monica homes”. Santa Monica is a city within Los Angeles County and is located with prime ocean views and expensive real estate. So can anyone see a problem with being number 1 for a search phrase like “Santa Monica Homes”? From our tests being number one on a search phrase like “Santa Monica Homes”(full disclosure we do not advertise on this term but have advertised on similar phrases) has had the following issues:

1. The current cost of being number 1 - many different advertisers may want to advertise on a phrase like this because it is not difficult to come up with. A person typing this search phrase may not be looking for a home to purchase but maybe to rent, maybe home improvement, maybe a friends house. The phrase is too broad to know for a fact.
2. The cost to stay number 1 – Let’s face it when you are number one people want your spot and they are willing to pay to get above you. This does nothing more than increase your cost.
3. The clicks don’t generate quality visitors – being number 1 generally means you are going to get the most clicks but we aren’t in the click business we want the clicks that turn into leads and spot number 1 can often be impulse visitors not the serious ones.
4. It goes through your budget faster – since we don’t have unlimited budgets being number 1 and paying the most often results in a daily or monthly budget not going as far as it would if you were at spot 3 or 4.

The old adage of location, location, location applies to the placement of your Google Adwords ads. It doesn’t mean you have to be number 1. In fact our results have shown that we increase our leads by 23.5% and our cost is lower by 12.5% by being at spots 3 or 4 so make sure you track your results and in the case of pay per click advertising it doesn’t always pay to be number 1!

I found the title to be the most powerful aspect of this BLOG post.  Without a powerful title you could be writing the next war and peace in a BLOG post and no one would ever know. So what should you consider when creating a title for a web page or a BLOG?  Let’s consider the following:

• Will my title stand out if it were among 10 other BLOG posts?
• If my title was returned in the SERPs(Search Enginge Results Pages) would I click on it?
• Do I have an opportunity to use keywords in my title?
• Is it thought provoking?

Just thinking about these simple questions can bring you to brainstorm on a powerful title.  A powerful title is essential in your real estate internet marketing efforts so you can be rewarded with visitors for all of your hard work creating posts.

So before you hit submit on your next blog post think about if you didn’t know anything about your topic but wanted to learn more would your title cause you to click. Make sure you put yourself in the place of the visitor who is literlly thursting for knowledge. Will your title draw them in and will the post quench their thirst? 

After all if you take the time to write a post, it sure would be nice if people read it!

1. Make sure the domain name is easy to spell – this might seem obvious but it is not. If your city is hard to spell that is one thing but be careful of buying domain names for every street in your city especially the hard to spell ones.
2. Make sure the name is obvious to your visitor – Many agents buy domain names of their own names which is fine but not as their primary marketing source. You want to make sure that you use a domain name that describes the purpose of the website such as www.LovelySantaMonicaHomes.com. This domain clearly states that the website or blog is about lovely homes in the city of Santa Monica.
3. Try and get a .com or .net whenever possible- while there are other choices for the end of a domain name such as .info, .org, .mobi it is still preferred to have .com or .net at the end of your domain name.
4. Avoid “-’ whenever possible – All the good domain names are not taken and it is best to avoid “-” as it may be difficult for a visitor to remember or even type. It makes it more difficult to communicate when speaking to someone as well.
5. Try and keep the domain name to 4 words or less – The shorter the real estate domain name the easier it is to say, spell, display, & remember. This means that sometimes you have to get creative in how you choose your name but it is well worth it to have a great domain name that you can use in your marketing.
6. Use your city or area name whenever possible – it makes it much easier for the user to remember your area if it is in the domain name. If there is a common nick name for your city that is also a great way to integrate it into one of your choices. For example: www.HomesinBigEasy.com would be a choice for a real estate professional in New Orleans. Remember though that the nickname has to be very well known or it might not work for you.
7. Choose one you know you are going to use – This is my new rule because I bought real estate domain names that I was eventually going to use not ones that I needed at the moment. Use your money wisely and buy domain names that you can either use in your paid advertising, current listings, or websites that you have today or the very near future.

In all make sure you choose a domain name or multiple real estate domain names that you know you can use effectively to generate response from your consumers that causes them to request more information. Good luck and happy selection of your next real estate domain name!

Here are some tips to break down the fears of content creation so you can start succeeding with your real estate SEO efforts.

1. Develop a list of keywords that relate to your website’s focus.  You can do this by asking friends what they would search for or dig really deep into what is being searched on using a product like WordTracker. Try going beyond just “my area real estate”.
2. Create Content! It sounds obvious but most real estate professionals use a stock website and never speak about the area they service. Take time to write powerful website content that is engaging and uses calls to action.  Your pages can be simple 250-400 words is a nice full page.
3. Write for people, not search engines.  This will take the stress out of writing.  If you write about the area you operate in, you will inevitably communicate your energy and be using keywords (most often without even knowing it!).  Write for your audience as they are the ones that can buy or sell.

Along with these tips, remember, just keep doing it!  Most people stop updating their website and if you stop updating, the major search engines don’t see the need in revisiting you very often.  Simple updates, whether they be monthly or weekly will have major benefits.

1. Frequent updates keep people coming back- if users know that you continue to update your blog then they will return and look for the new information that you posted.
2. Search engines like frequent updates – search engines will also figure out that you update your site regularly and will visit you regularly to see what kind of new information you are posting and where it fits within the world wide web of information.
3. You can count it as marketing- blogs are of course indirect marketing for real estate professionals that demonstrates expertise without saying it directly. A real estate blog should be part of your on-line marketing efforts and since you change your ads every month updating your blog should be part of your routine.
4. More updates = more chances at leads – the more updates that you have will cause more people to visit you and give you a great chance at leads which can turn into customers you can help.
5. It will demonstrate expertise to your community – everyone can appreciate someone who sticks with a regular schedule and regularly helps people. By you posting useful information people will notice it and appreciate your time and effort and reward you with their business.
6. It will provide traffic to your website- If you link to your main website from your blog you can generate direct and focused traffic to your website from your blog.

Since it is still January it is a nice time to set a goal of updating your real estate blog once a week for the rest of the year. You will be surprised at what kind results it will produce for you.