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 Peyman Aleagha  Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a topic that’s probably had millions of pages written about it on the Internet. Gurus are everywhere, with advice both free and paid. The advice runs from excellent to downright silly, with penalties placed on sites by Google and Yahoo when bad advice is followed in an attempt to trick the engines.
Google is very helpful in telling us what we need to do to better our search engine page ranks for our chosen keywords and phrases. They have an excellent tutorial here, and you can get helpful information on arranging and composing your content for better results. There are some basic things to keep in mind when optimizing your site for the search engines:
Continue reading: SEO – Help From the Search Engines Themselves
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
We all know that location is arguably the most important aspect of real estate. You won’t be buying a home where you can’t get to work, school or the other things important to you and your family. So, if location is so important, then it is only logical to assume that mapping, and lots of it, is going to be a valuable and important feature of your site.
Of course, we do want to use maps in our IDX results displays. Seeing the location of a home in relation to area sites, businesses, schools, and other important locations is critical. It would be hard to have too many map choices on a successful real estate site. The IDX mapping would of course show the homes that come up in the searches. The ability to zoom in and out to orient better is also a big advantage. But, are there other uses for maps on your site that your visitors would appreciate? There are, and they revolve around specialized mapping.
Continue reading: IDX – If Real Estate is Location, Location, Location – Then Map, Map, Map
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
It’s an exciting time in technology innovation, particularly as it relates to our real estate marketing practices. With cell phones getting smarter, netbook computers, and faster broadband access, Americans are going mobile at a frantic pace. The search engines, especially Google, have been important sources of website and blog traffic for quite some time. Now these engines are also going mobile. What does this mean to the real estate professional, as well as brokerages? There are two seemingly opposing trends developing as regards mapping. Let’s look at what they are and how each will influence our business and marketing practices.
Mobile Technology and Shrinking Office Space – In May, 2009, the National Association of Realtors is holding forums in Washington, DC. One of these is featuring speakers focusing on how brokers can cut their operating costs for office space and overhead by increasing the mobility of their agents. There are already very successful large brokerages that provide little or no office space for most of their agents. They have space for meeting clients and administration, but their agents operate from their homes and remote locations with today’s technology providing the services they need.
Continue reading: Mapping, Google’s Local Business Center & Going Mobile
Deborah Grinnell Thursday, June 18th, 2009
CanTree Recipe Cookbook
Recipe Submission Deadline – July 1
As a creative way to raise funds for CanTree, the CanTree Committee is publishing a cookbook, with you as our recipe contributor.
If you are interested in submitting a recipe or two, please send your favorite recipes as soon as possible. To [...]
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
The real estate marketing gurus who are sold on blogging have been pushing the benefits for a couple of years now. And, many real estate professionals are blogging as a stand-alone Web presence, or as an adjunct to a regular website. But, what if you don’t want to blog, or you are blogging but want to try yet another way to communicate with prospects who you may not yet know?
The new catch word is “micro-blogging.” Some would tell us that it is necessary now for lead generation, or that you must be doing it soon. I’m not in that group, but there is certainly promise in this short and sweet approach to inform past clients and prospects of real estate related events in your area. Basically, micro-blogging in real estate would be releasing “breaking news” type alerts of happenings in the area, especially as they relate to real estate.
Continue reading: Micro-blogging – Using Twitter for Market News Alerts
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
IDX, or Internet Data Exchange, is an agreed-upon display of listings of brokers who opt in to the agreement. They can then display their listings and those of all member brokers on their site for search. The fields that are displayed are also agreed upon in advance, and a site can display only the fields that are allowed. Here’s a link to the policy at Realtor.org. So, that’s what it is, a property search display of all members’ listings. How can we “doll it up” to make it better for our site visitor?
First, don’t decide before you get into the shoes of your site visitor, a buyer or seller of real estate. Though we generally think first of buyers searching for homes, land or commercial listings, prospective sellers also search to see what’s on the market in their area and compare those listings to their home. But, let’s think here about a buyer who is hoping to locate the perfect home in your area. What are their requirements and desires?
Continue reading: Customizing Your IDX Solution
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
Advancements and enhancements are being introduced now by Google for the improvement of their Personalized Search. Google Personalized Search uses the history of searches by the user to present different results based on previous searches. An example given was a search for the word “java.” If your search history shows a great deal of search activity on software and web topics, you would likely be presented with top results related to the Java Runtime Environment. If you’ve been searching beverages or coffee topics, then you’d get results for the slang term for coffee. And, for those who have been searching through travel and cruise sites, or geography sites, then the island would be in your top results.
Continue reading: Google Personalized Search – What They Want Can Bring Them Back
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
IDX stands for Internet Data Exchange. It is a system in which the broker members of a local Multiple Listing Service agree to share their listings in a common database for broker use, as well as marketing release within strict guidelines. All participating brokers can display the IDX on their websites according to the guidelines. What is displayed must be the agreed-upon information fields, and no others.
What happens in many MLS’s is the old “hold back information so they’ll call you” mentality. Or, the listing brokers believe that too many fields in the IDX will allow the consumer to avoid contacting a Realtor for more information. When that mentality is in place, the data fields displayed are usually limited, with many not shown that most consumers would consider as necessary.
Continue reading: IDX – Using Protectionism Against the Competition for Leads
Daniel Allen Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
Yesterday we received a call from a reporter with CBS Channel 13, looking to do a story on real estate agents who uses Twitter, Facebook and other new media to help sell real estate. He ended up interviewing both Rob McQuade and Erin Attardi and they were featured on CBS Nightly News.
People having trouble selling homes are using social networking sites like Twitter to get the word out about houses. Andrew Luria reports…
You can view the segment here: http://cbs13.com/video/?id=52343%40kovr.dayport.com
Continue reading: Real Estate Agents Turn to Twitter
Daniel Allen Monday, April 13th, 2009
For those of you that have been visiting the blog using your iPhone/iPod Touch, you may have already noticed that our blog has been tuned for an iPhone application-like experience (including accelerometer support). While we’ve only seen reports of people viewing the site with an iPhone/iPod Touch, the site has also been optimized for viewing with the Google Android and Blackberry Storm mobile touch devices. And don’t worry; the site is still complete with comments, search, login, categories, tags, archives & more.
Continue reading: The SAR Blog has Gone the Way of the Touch
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