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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
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Are you doing drip email to buyer and seller prospects? If not, you surely know agents who are. With the free nature of email, it has become a much abused form of communication. And, drip email from many real estate professionals is little more than automated periodic spam. With filters and rules in email systems, it’s easy to have your drip emails trashed on arrival, so you never know that they aren’t being read. One broker used a service that let him know that only about 125 out of 800 of his regular emails were being read.
But, I’m not saying that regular (call them drip if you like) emails are ineffective. They can be one of your most effective lead generators that will bring in commissions on a regular basis. The idea is to first slow down the drips, and second deliver something worthwhile and valuable to the recipient. This is NOT:
Continue reading: Drip Email The Slow Effective Way
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Google Latitude is a new Google Map service that is proving to be quite popular with Internet enabled cell phone users. Once installed on your phone, you can import your contacts and friends, and invite them to share locations with you. In other words, you can let your selected contacts see where you are on Google Maps. Yes, right down to your picture icon on a street map location. If your contacts accept reciprocal sharing, they can see your location and you can see theirs.
It may sound like the ultimate in fun, but not very useful. However, people are finding it easier to get together for short meetings or a cup of coffee when they find that they happen to be close to each other in their daily travels. Parents are keeping up with their children, and vice versa. Companies can track their sales or mobile service personnel, and you can keep up with your friends anywhere in the world. Let’s talk about some of the features and also privacy concerns.
Continue reading: Google Latitude – How Might It Work for Real Estate?
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
Peyman Aleagha Monday, April 13th, 2009
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is possibly the most bandied-about phrase on the Web. Gurus are everywhere claiming to be able to get you top search engine positions in a hurry… at a price. Some actually can help you in this regard, but any fast results are usually based on techniques the search engines soon negate once they figure them out. So, how does the average real estate professional approach SEO for their personal or brokerage website or blog?
Here are some simple truths:
Continue reading: The Simple Truths about Real Estate SEO
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