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Creative New Ideas for Your Website This week's marketing tip gives some suggestions for enhancements to your website, with FABULOUS examples of our clients who have made the MOST of the tools available in the Virtual Office. These changes will not only give your site some PIZAZZ... they will help you get better results in the search engines AND keep the people visiting your site there for a longer period of time. What do search engines and consumers consider as content? Search engines are very clear that content is considered TEXT on pages that exist within your site. The search engines like to see text that is relevant to your site (i.e. real estate related) and your community. What is not content? Content is not a photo OR a link to another website. You've always heard us preach that "Content is King" in the search engines. The more content you have (most of it should be relevant to real estate, the areas in which you do business, and your general business focus) the better your site will tend to be positioned in the search engines. When you site was first created, we provided you with a lot of basic content to get you started. Now it's time to add more pages that are relevant to your area of business. The content can include both real estate and non-real estate related information. Custom Community Pages Showcase Your Knowledge of the Area One idea that has been quite successful for many of our clients is adding pages with photos and information about local communities. Check out the following websites for some great examples: www.realestatemanhattanbeach.com - Dan Byers worked extensively with his Page Manager to add content to his website. Click on the Neighborhoods button in middle of Dan's home page. Dan's neighborhood pages indicate his wide-ranging knowledge of the Manhattan Beach real estate market. Although you may not want to spend as much time on your pages as Dan, you can use his work as an example for your own community pages. www.tucsonhouses4you.com - Julie Nellis had a creative and helpful idea for visitors to the Arizona area. Click on AZ Site Seeing on Julie's navigation bar. As you can see this is a great looking site-seeing page that includes photos of area attractions. Julie provided an extensive resource for visitors new to the area, and she can use this page as a referral for all of her clients and prospects, driving more traffic to her website. With the Page Manager program, you can create something similar for your area and add content that will help you in the search engines. More examples of content rich sites: www.realestate-orlando.net - Click on Testimonials to see a creative use of the Testimonials program! www.torellirealty.com - Click on "Costa Mesa Chat" for a fun and informational page about community events. YOU could create a page including all the different attractions in your area. Identify something that makes YOUR area special, and set up a page to highlight the features (mountains, parks, beaches, hiking trails, cool places to visit, etc.) Special Interest Pages Make YOU More Interesting Do you golf? Create a page with pictures of you and family or friends golfing in one of your local golf courses with links to Golf websites. Display a few funny Golf jokes and add a form that asks visitors to send you more to add to the collection. This is a GREAT way to get more contacts! (Of course you can substitute ANY sport for golf.) ADD SOME TEXT about your day of golfing, your scores, how well (or badly) you played, how long you have been involved in the sport, and more. Remember, adding the text will help your website to be listed higher in the search engines. So you're not into sports. Do you Cook? Add a recipe page! Create a form as a way of encouraging your visitors to submit their own favorite recipes! As with the Golf Joke form, this is a good way to obtain contacts! Here are a few more ideas for custom content pages: Do you attend a Church, Synagogue or Mosque? A helpful "Places to Worship in our Town" will be a handy resource for residents and visitors alike. Or, give your own church some publicity with its own special page. Are you in any clubs? Create a page that contains a list of the clubs in your area with links to their websites. OR, create a page about the club YOU belong to, with pictures of the members, lists of recent activities, and more. Do you Ski? Set-up a page with a description of your favorite ski lodges in the area, with photos, directions and special events. Do you Read? What are your favorite books? Who are your favorite authors? Create a Poetry Page with a form to encourage aspiring poets to submit their work. If you love to go to movies, set up a Movie review page! The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Contests are Always Winning Ideas People LOVE to win something, so why not sponsor a contest on your website. If you're uncertain how your contest will be received, you could try it out once, and if you found it was successful you could start a regular quarterly or monthly contest! (Make sure your state rules apply!) Here are some Ideas for Fun Contests: Ask your visitors to submit their favorite recipe and you choose the winner! The winner could receive movie tickets, a cookbook, gift certificate to a local restaurant, etc. Kids' contests are always fun to sponsor and well received by the parents. Ask the kids to submit their favorite drawing (their parents would most likely do this for them) and the prize could be a gift certificate to a local toy store. OR you could sponsor a simple contest on your site to let your visitors know that if they fill out your guestbook they will automatically be entered into a contest to win a Grand Prize of... Dinner for Two at a local restaurant, Movie tickets for two, Lift Tickets, Concert Tickets, Tickets to a sporting event, and MORE. Or make a page of all your favorite things... Favorite Sports Team
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Make Your Visitors WANT to MEET YOU! Some of these ideas may sound a bit corny but these are the things that make you UNIQUE, and it helps your visitors relate to you as a person. Your website is the place to present yourself in the best light. If your visitors see you as an "interesting person" as opposed to just a face on the Internet, they will be more likely to choose YOU as their real estate representative - someone they would enjoy meeting and working with. Why do people search the Internet for homes? 1. It is easy and quick If your visitors can get to know you as a PERSON through your website they will be more likely to contact you. Your about page is not enough for someone to make this decision. YOU are the product that you are selling; not just properties. Therefore, YOU should be presented throughout the site. Remember, people like to see things that are attractive. USE PHOTOS! People love to view beautiful pictures of properties. Use them sparingly, though, as they will make your page load more slowly. ONE LAST THING... when adding content to your website, be SURE your contact information is very clear and easy to find. Make it seem very warm and inviting (and EASY!) for people to contact you for additional information. If you have more specific questions regarding adding new pages and content, please visit our Advanced Access Forums, located in your Virtual Office. Some of the conversations relate to new items you can add to your website and other Realtors® around the country have some incredible ideas!
Read the following from real estate professionals who are using Advanced Access' Marketing Tips to their advantage: "Justin, I have been your customer since 2001, I believe. I would like you to recognize Jimmy for his outstanding customer service, knowledge and his patience with his customers. He has been very helpful in setting up my website upgrade, walking me through some of the changes and then finally helping me set my internet options. He went above and beyond in helping me out. You have an asset on your team! Raj Singh, GRI,ePro "On Friday evening we listed a relocation property. The sellers were leaving the country for 2 weeks and didn't want us to put the property in MLS or advertise it until they left at 11:30 AM Sunday. They did agree for us to hold an Open House on Sunday from 1 to 5 PM. Saturday evening we put the home into the MLS. Using our web site we created a flyer. Then using Intellicards we created an email invitation for an Open House on Sunday and attached a copy of the flyer. We also sent a personal copy to all the agents who had similar properties listed for sale in the area. Two of the agents had clients who they sent to the Open House and 4 agents brought clients themselves. We have generated 3 offers as a result! Now that's marketing!!! As a result, Russ and I have been so busy today I couldn't take your call. We have never had such a response to an Open House in the 28 years we've been selling real estate." Lee and Russ Jacobs
Advanced Access
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