Agent Directory Websites are Worthless

There are probably hundreds of websites out there claiming to be one of the top nationwide directories of real estate agents.

I just got an e-mail spam from one of these directories: www.proreagent.com

So, I did a lookup to see how many agents they listed for my town, Menifee, California. Only one agent, for "James Morrell".

I know there's at least fifty that make Menifee their headquarters.

This is why people don't use online directories. They're incomplete, and often times outdated. Even Yahoo downplays its website directory. That's proof that people don't put faith into them anymore.

But what about SEO value? Aren't website directories good for a backlink? Not really. The only directories that will help you are those with editorial oversight. For example, a directory of my favorite real estate blogs has value, because each link is a reflection of my personal opinion. But an agent directory, where any agent can be listed (if they pay money, or reciprocate a link), has no editorial oversight, and therefore transfer zero PR value.

Google remains a "popularity based" search engine. It looks for outbound links that were establised with some level of opinion. The links on an agent directory, however, do not reflect personal opinion.

Let's go back to "James Morrell", the lone real estate agent that appeared in the directory I mentioned above. I did a Google search for...

"James Morrell" menifee

I got 139 search results. I reviewed the first 30 results, and visited each page. Of those pages, only 8 of them pointed a link to James Morrell's website (www.jamorhomes.com).

Now, I ran a backlink search on Google for...

link:http://www.jamorhomes.com/

Nothing showed up!

So despite having at least 8 webpages linking to his website, he's not getting backlink value from any of them! These webpages were a mixture of agent directories and MLS listings, and Google didn't find any of them worth a toot.

So, don't bother participating with online agent directories. You're wasting money, and/or giving away your PR value.

Instead, work on getting links from blogs. Google loves blogs. Look for personal blogs, independent blogs, blogs where every outbound link was made from a blogger's opinion.

Business Looking Websites Look Too Cold

I just a received an e-mail from one of my web hosts, telling me that 90% of website visitors will not buy, nor enter credit card info, if the website doesn't look "business like".

They sent this to me because they're offering professional design services.

I contend that while it's great to have a "business" looking website, more often than not, they come out looking cold, corporate, and cookie cutter. And in that case, they look no different than a thousand other business looking websites.

How do you maintain the professional and business-like appearance of a website, and make it feel warm, personal, and fuzzy? Well, you emphasize your human-side. Since what you're marketing is primarily yourself, add some personal touches to bring out the "you" in your website.

Here are some tips...

• Show a photo of yourself - It's said that each picture contains a thousand words. Nothing shows your human-side better than a glossy. This is the most easiest website design strategy, and the most powerful. See my article, "Put Your Photo on Your Website".



• Sign Your Name - When you write an article, be it tips on selling a home, or a background of your experience, always put your name at the bottom. Just enter something like, " - Jane Smith, Realtor", on a separate line, at the end of the article. Having that name there tells the reader that you actually wrote this. If that sounds kinda moronic, consider the average citizen is inundated with sales copy every day, from junk mail, spam, phone solicitors, commercials, and so on. Everything ends up looking and sounding the same. Just by putting your name at the end makes the entire article look personal.



• Write in the First Person - Since you're primarily marketing your skills, write as if you're talking to someone face to face. Make heavy use of words like, "I" and "my". But also make heavy use of "you" and "your". These words reinforce the personal aspect of your website.



• Keep it simple - You can't bring out your personal side if there too many things on your homepage competing for attention. Statistics show that a whopping 50% of all Internet users spend less than 5 SECONDS evaulating a website they've never seen before. You've got 5 seconds to convince these people to stay longer. A simple, clutter-free design, will help channel their eyes to your most important selling points.
  
  Here's an interesting study. Go to Google's homepage, and notice how simple it is. Because of the simple, clutter-free design, your eyes are drawn to the search form. Now visit Yahoo's homepage, which happens to be Google's biggest competitor. Notice how cluttered it is? Your eyes end up moving all over the page. If you want people to notice your strongest selling point, remove everything else, and show them just that.



• Include success stories - I don't see many real estate agent sites with a dedicated page for "success stories". This would be like a page displaying the homes you've helped sell or purchase. Include a small photo of yourself and your client celebrating a successful transaction, along with a sentence or two about the transaction. Of course, get your client's permission first, but what a great way to portray the human-side of your business.

Put Your Photo on Your Website

It amazes me that there are still so many real estate agent websites that don't display a photograph of the real estate agent.

It's very important that potential customers be able to see what you look like.

The principle is pretty simple. People want to see what they're buying. If you're a real estate agent, then what you're selling is YOU. People want to know what you look like because it factors into their comfort level.

If you were a homeseller, trying to sort through a hundred other agents working the same area, then there are probably at least fifty agents that look professional, business like, and confident. And with so many agents having nearly the same credentials, it's going to come down to physical appearances as the deciding factor.

It comes down to trust. Your website won't accomplish much if it can't convince your audience that they can trust you. You've got to at least show a photo of yourself to build trust.

Think about this blog you're reading now. This blog is largely about me. It's about my experiences and recommendations. Before you can feel convinced about what I have to say, you need to more about me. A photo of me, is part of that solution.

So, go find a good photo of yourself, stick it on your website, and feel good knowing that you did something productive today.

Keyword Variation and Keyword Volume

You've probably heard enough times that your top keywords in a domain name makes a big difference towards a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

It's certainly true.

In the field of real estate, there are two primary keywords that you can use:

• real estate


• homes

While many real estate professionals often look for something like, "phoenixrealestate" or "phoenix-real-estate", don't count out the word "homes". Statistics show that homebuyers are more likely to search Google using the "homes" keyword than the "real estate" keyword.

The reason why is because "homes" has more variants than "real estate".

For example, here is a list of actual phrases that were searched on Google for my hometown of Menifee, CA...

menifee real estate (average)
menifee ca real estate (low)

menifee homes (average)
homes in menifee (low)
menifee ca homes (low)
menifee homes for sale (low)
homes for sale in menifee (low)
homes for rent in menifee (low)
homes for sale in menifee ca (low)
homes in menifee ca (low)
homes in menifee california (low)
new homes in menifee (low)
new homes in menifee ca (low)
new homes menifee (low)
new homes menifee ca (low)

This information comes from Google's keyword frequency tool.

Notice that "real estate" has only two variants for Menifee, CA, but "homes" has thirteen variants.

What this means is that if you choose a domain name containing the words "menifee" and "homes", your pages are more likely to appear when someone runs a search for homes in your locality. Conversely, with the "menifee real estate" phrase, there are far fewer variants, and therefore, greater search competition.

As the list above shows, people don't all search for the same exact phrase. They use different words, including plural forms, passive forms. If you choose to optimize on the keyword with the most variants, your pages will have a greater chance of appearing on Google's search results pages.

You can increase that chance simply by publishing lots of pages. Each page you publish is like another chance that your site will appear on a search result.

It's not necessary that your site appear #1 on Google for the most hottest keyphrase, but that at least one of your pages appear on the first page of Google, for any variation of that keyphrase. The more variation available to that keyphrase, the greater the chance that one of your pages will show up.

Imagine if you work the Menifee, CA real estate market, and at least one of your pages appeared on the first page of Google, for ANY phrase that included the words "menifee homes"? That's domination!

It starts with a good domain name, and I think a good domain name for real estate professionals is one that uses the word "homes" plus the name of your area (menifee, tahoe, dallas, etc.).

Here are some examples...

• dallashomesonline.net


• oaklandhomeslive.com


• homesinclevelandohio.org


• menifee-homes-realty.com

I don't know if these domain names are available, I didn't check. But it's just to illustrate what I'm talking about.

While keyword volume is always a good consideraton, I contend that "keyword variation" is a better consideration. Look for keywords that carry lots of variation. You'll do better.

No Sale, No Fee Contract?

Dominic James, who describes himself as a property specialist in the UK, released a new report explaining why real estate agents charge such high fees, and explains why his model, "No Sale, No Fee" is much better.

He claims that the circumstances are now right to change the way people sell their homes. The popularity of the internet makes his new model possible.

I'm not sure I agree.

Having done Internet marketing now for years, I'm not seeing the Internet as an effective transaction tool. It's certainly good for marketing properties and creating leads, but not for transacting real estate. People still want a real live human being to do transacting for them.

I realize that Dominic's "No Sale, No Fee" method still involves a real live human being, but when homesellers learn that this agent won't be paid if their house doesn't sell sends the message that this agent is going abandon them if it doesn't sell right away.

The issue is trust. Selling a home involves hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's serious business, and one that is tied to time. People don't want to experiment with a newfangled business relationship under such circumstances. People want something they know, understand, and recognize. That's why the 6% fee arrangement continues to thrive.

Not to say that Dominic James has a bad business model. I'm sure he's done his homework. But he'll continue to work in a sphere that attracts a very specific demographic. The idea of his model being ready for global domination, is off the mark at this point.

Given time, however, I'm sure new fee arrangements will succeed. The Internet will certainly play a bigger role as time moves on.

Creating Leads with Free Videos

Prudential Georgia Realty has released a brief eight minute video discussing the metro Atlanta housing market. The video, which will be updated on a quarterly basis, can be viewed on their promotional website...
http://www.atlantarealestate2007.com/

The video features Dan Forsman, Prudential Georgia President and CEO, talking about the Atlanta market forecast for Q4 2007, and more importantly, why you should buy properties from Dan.

I think it's a great idea. Though, the fact that it's only available on the Internet, will greatly limit Dan's audience.

Why not package the video on DVD's, and mail them out? Imagine homeowners in Atlanta receiving a DVD in the mail labeled, "Atlanta Real Estate Market for 4th Quarter 2007". They'll watch it. For one, getting a DVD in the mail is way more exciting than getting a brochure, and two, everyone wants to know if their property is appreciating.

Use your website to build a mailing list. Create a "free offer" on your website to give away this video. Ask the visitor to submit their name, address, and phone number. Then mail them the DVD.

Anyone requesting the DVD is obviously a lead you can follow up on.

Buying a Foreclosure Home

I've been finding a lot of material on the Internet lately about foreclosures on the rise. And while that's bad news for many homeowners who lost their homes, it's also great news for people wanting a great deal on a property.

Stefan West is a real estate broker working the Inland Empire of California, specifically the Menifee Valley area. Menifee Valley is among the top 1% of areas (by zip code) experiencing the most foreclosures.

West recently published an article providing tips on buying a foreclosure home, "Foreclosure Homes in Menifee, CA".

I have to admit, I wish I had the money to buy a foreclosure home. I'm seeing some great deals. Banks are wanting to unload on these debts and get some money back.

The Menifee Valley market will certainly bounce back. The population in SoCal is still growing by leaps and bounds, because this area is still producing more jobs.

For example, I read a blog post from another Realtor about a nearly 3,000 square foot foreclosure home, with 5-bedrooms, in Menifee, and recently built. The bank was asking for $250,000! She had a family wanting to buy it, but at the last moment, backed out, saying that it was going to present hardship for them. Her argument was that it was such a great deal, that you OUGHT to find ways to trim your expenses and buy this. It's sure to make a profit in about five years.

Menifee Real Estate Blog

One of the problems that real estate professionals face with launching a blog is that they can't attract loyal readers, that is, they only attract visitors in the market for buying or selling a property.

The reason why that's an issue is because a real estate professional can't develop a relationship with their audience. Their audience doesn't know them; the audience has only seen their website for the first time, and doesn't visit again.

Pat Kitano, who writes the real estate blog, "Transparent RE", describes the same problem in an article here...
http://transparentre.com/....hyperlocal-content.aspx

So, I've tried to solve that problem by introducing a "1-2" punch, with the launch of my new real estate blog "Menifee Homes"...

http://homes.menifee247.com

What makes it different than most, is that it's a sister blog to my Menifee news blog, "Menifee 24/7".

Menifee 24/7 publishes news and announcements of what's going on my in local community of Menifee, CA. It has attracted a steadily growing audience of local residents. These residents are also very much interested in the real estate market because many of them are home owners in a market that saw a crazy rise in appreciation, and is now seeing a crazy rise foreclosures.

By introducing a sister real estate blog, "Menifee Homes", I can use the same audience to build a real estate audience.

I recruited a few local real estate agents and brokers to write the content for me. I've given their names, photos, and contact info prominent placement on the blog, and allowed them sign each article they post with their name, contact, and website link.

The bottom line is that these real estate agents and brokers are writing to a loyal audience that revisits the blog reguarly to read new content, and are able to establish their own "brand" within the community.

I'm able to get a benefit from this because it not only attracts new readers to my Menifee 24/7 blog, but I can also monetize it with AdSense.