Now hopefully you have a real estate blog that is either integrated with your website or is separate from your website and marketed differently. One of the things that we find is hardest for agents to do is to come up with new topics to write on and because they don't have new topics they stop writing and their blogs aren't updated on a regular basis. Here are 5 content ideas you can use for your blog and the great part is you can keep reuse them every single month!

1. Monthly Sales Statistics - This is one that you make sure to report every first of the month. Keep it consistent and you will have a regular following that checks to see what the figures were at. Let agents know you will be posting it so they can check it as well.
2. Loan Products - Banks are continually offering new products so that buyers can buy or builders can build. Get your favorite lending partner to post every month on what is new out there.
3. Loan Rates - A great resource to reference is www.bankrate.com. They always post the latest available rates from different lenders. If you had a few lenders send you what the latest rates where one a week or once a month you would have a regular topic that people are always interested in.
4. New Construction - Most areas have some form of new development occurring on an ongoing basis. Blogging on it and reporting it are key to more great content.
5. Fun Events - It doesn't always have to be about real estate. You can mention a carnival or fair that is going on and mention what area of town it is in. Since it has to take place somewhere it is related to real estate and people always like to have a source for information.

Have fun with this 5 Blog Topics for your Real Estate Blog. It is more important to keep posting than to not post at all so good luck with your blog!

Labels: marketing real estate web site, real estate agent website, real estate blog, real estate internet marketing solution, real estate marketing

Increasing the time that a visitor stays on your website, increases the likely hood that they will contact you! This metric has been focused on a great deal by companies that run e-commerce websites, but we should be focusing on it as well. Here are 5 tips on how you can increase the time a user spends on your website.

• Pay Per Click Campaigns - Ensure that when you a user visits the landing page, it is what was advertised in the advertisement. For example, if you are advertising "Get a Free Foreclosure List" in your ad, and then the ad takes them to your "Home Page", it is unlikely you will get that user sticking around on your website!
• Links on Every Page - The navigation menus that you have on your website should not be the only way to navigate through your website. Within every page of content you should be linking to other areas WITHIN your website that can provide additional value. This way a user can stay on your website to learn more and see that you are the expert!
• Quality Content - Getting content from your title officer or the library of sources from your template provider is nice, but it is not unique! Concentrate on writing up content about your area from the perspective that only you can provide. Help people learn about neighborhoods, condos, homes, and more through your eyes!
• Calls to Action - Providing great content is essential, but you must also give them a reason to contact you. Make appropriate calls to action like "If you like this neighborhood, get the FREE list of Homes available" or "With lovely tree lined streets here in Bixby Knolls, use our FREE Long Beach MLS to see what is available".
• Multi Media - Sounds obvious, but enrich your pages with pictures, videos, or sound. Great products, like Instant Audio, allow you to put sound on your website for Testimonials or just explaining about your area.

Concentrating on these aspects of your web presence will increase a visitors time on your website and get you more contacts out of the same number of visitors! Our websites have increased by over 1 minute per visitor in just the past month, just by updating some of our Pay Per Click campaigns! :)

Labels: anchor text links, landing page, marketing real estate web site, pay per click, PPC Campaigns, real estate internet marketing, real estate leads, real estate pay per click

The Internet is all about buyers they say. Well it is true that buyers do look quite a bit and the National Association of Realtors® does state that over 75% of buyers now begin their search online. This number is only going to increase until it reaches as close to 100% as humanely possible.

Remember your real estate marketing online is about attracting the kind of client you want to work with. So if you want buyers provide information that buyers want. If you want to attract sellers than you have to give them what they want. So here is a little story we thought we would share with you.

Last night I went on a listing appointment. We received a direct call from one of our websites on Monday booked an appointment for Wednesday and signed the listing contract that night. In fact we beat out 2 other top agents in the area who send postcards, take out ads, and farm in the area. The sellers called us though after the first two agents didn’t deliver a consistent online message. The seller went online and called us! No CMA request, No direct e-mail, just a direct call.

So how did this come about? Well this happened because we give lots of information away for sellers. A free seller section, free tips (hint we wrote our own content not standard content), and lots of other free goodies for sellers including an Instant CMA tool that they don’t need us to compile information for them.

So 3 tips to make sure sellers can contact you easily:

1. Have a complete seller section – make it easy to find and preferably have a very obvious link from the first page.
2. Make your phone number obvious – I know that this is one we keep repeating but many websites don’t make it easy to call.
3. Respond quickly – For live calls preferably you answer them and don’t let it go to a phone system. Have a dedicated line if you can so it doesn’t have to go through the main receptionist at the front desk. We have a direct line for local callers and a toll free line that goes right to our team.

These 3 tips will make sure that you not only get the appointment but will set the stage so you can get the listing! We hope this helps you succeed and get more listings from your website!

Labels: internet marketing solutions for real estate agents, marketing real estate web site, real estate internet marketing solution, real estate marketing online

Often times we get people asking us about different Internet Marketing Solutions for Real Estate Agents. There are 100's if not thousands of choices out there. The hard part is determining which one is going to work for you. We can say with near 100% accuracy that every company, firm, or individual that approaches you about their solution will have a testimonial on how their package has worked for one of their clients. They key is will it work for you! So in order to determine what is the best real estate Internet marketing solution we thought we would give you the 5 things we recommend you look for in a solution so you can determine if it is going to be a good fit.

1. Will you use it - This is the biggest reason to reason not to purchase a tool. If you can't see yourself using it the way you are being told to you it is probably not the tool for you. Remember to ask questions about if the marketing solution can be used a different way in a successful manner. If you are told yes ask to speak to those agents who are using it.


2. What is the ROI (Return on Investment) - If this question cannot be answered or you get answers like "It is about branding" or "It all depends" then we would recommend shying away from it. Agents who have read our e-book (which is free) and is available at http://www.onlinerealestatesuccess.com/free_E-book.shtml see returns on investment from 8 to 17 times return. Most agents who take our recommendations in the FREE courses we provide average at least a 10 times return on money they spent.


3. Ability to cancel at any time - Any tool that you buy should allow you to cancel at any time. This means the person is confident in the product that they provide. They should provide you with a Guarantee on how it will work if they don't allow you to cancel.


4. The person selling it should have used it - It is always preferred if the person selling it to you has used it and successfully so that they can show you how to do it right.


5. They support it - If there is no support, either online, phone, or in person we would recommend not signing up for the product. If they just give you a box of software and tell you to go at it be wary. They should at least have a comprehensive online help to make sure you can get started.

While we didn't put it in our list we recommend speaking to other agents about how the real estate Internet marketing solution you are about to choose has worked out for them. Ask them to tell you what they don't like about it, what their problems have been, and if they are still a client and why. Remember it's your money and spend it wisely. You can often find many free sources of help or very inexpensive help. Also know that there are some great tools out there and if you use them as instructed, believe they will work, and do how you are recommend you can make it work if it fits your personality! Good luck and if you have questions don't hesitate to write them and we will see what we can do!

Labels: internet marketing solutions for real estate agents, marketing real estate web site, real estate internet marketing, real estate internet marketing solution, real estate marketing online

Often times we have people who get 30, 40, or 50 leads a month but they aren't getting any new appointments out of these leads. These agents are doing the necessary components of real estate Internet marketing to get the leads but failing to convert to appointments so they can producer more commission income.

Now first ignore anything you have heard about Internet buyers not being ready for 6 months, 9 months, or more. The reason we say that is there is today business in the leads that you are receiving. In fact the whole concept of your website and marketing your real estate business is to find clients who need help today, tomorrow, and 6 months from now. What some agents who respond to real estate Internet leads don't realize is that those people may be requesting on other agents websites as well. We hope that isn't a surprise to anyone. After all buyers or sellers just want information and they want it quickly. So how do you make sure you get to them before they leave and go to another agents website?

We have found there are 3 big tips that agents can follow to convert more real estate Internet leads.

1. Respond within 7 minutes - now the quicker the better. The Internet generation likes to get there information quickly and if they can't get it quick enough they will move on. It is all about the information that they want so give it to them.
2. Don't use auto responders - These are e-mails that are generated automatically when people sign up. People know what they look like. You are better off writing templates and then customizing them to people's requests. Our team gets over 250 leads a month and still people get a personal response.
3. Call them if they gave you a phone number - Now this may sound obvious but some agents don't. Call them and ask them about what they need. It's not about you so don't sell them just ask them questions. In fact ask them to come on in and meet with you. Trust us this works and they will come in!

We hope these 3 tips improves your real estate Internet marketing that you are doing and that it will help you convert more of your real estate leads that you get from your websites. Good luck and don't hesitate to visit the scripts section so you can get some ideas of what to ask or say to these prospective clients.

Labels: marketing real estate web site, real estate internet marketing, real estate internet marketing solution, real estate marketing online

Real Estate Internet marketing is much like other forms of marketing in the fact, that the entire goal is to generate leads and generate business! Having a successful online presence requires that you have some key aspects to your website. These 5 tips will help you to maximize your real estate marketing online.

1. Make it east for customers to search your MLS


2. Make it easy to contact you! - Sounds crazy, but your phone and e-mail should be easy to find


3. Powerful calls to action - give people a reason to sign up


4. Unique Content - stand out from the crowd by writing your own information


5. Provide a Home Value tool - you want to get the sellers who are searching online!

Following these 5 tips will help you to get contacts out of your website visitors. Your real estate internet marketing efforts will not get wasted if you practice these tips.

Labels: marketing real estate web site, real estate internet marketing, real estate internet marketing solution, real estate marketing, real estate marketing online