Making the Connection with Social Media & Your Agent Website

Amy Bartusek | Social Media Director & Web Developer | CENTURY 21 Affiliated

MINDSET

90% of home buyers searched online during their home buying process

Real estate related searches on Google.com have grown 253% over the past 4 years

66% only interviewed one Agent but 78% of new home shoppers visit 3 + sites prior to taking action on a real estate site

• Source: 1. 2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2. Google Internal Data, Q3 2012

SOCIAL MEDIA & WEBSITE GOALS

Increase Website Traffic

Increase Rate of Lead ‘Sign Ups’

Increase Listing/Buyer Consultation Appointments

WEBSITE LEADS—Sign In

WEBSITE LEADS--Register

Age Groups Who Registered to Buy/Sell a Home on a Major Real Estate Brand Site

31% of home shoppers who take action on a real estate website are aged 25-34, surpassing all other ages

How Do I Gain Web Traffic?

FACT OR FICTION

1. The amount of Facebook likes and Twitter followers you have is indexed by search engines for SEO.

• There are currently no signals in the ranking algorithms that put any weight on how many Facebook likes or Twitter followers a specific page has.

2. Social Signals have no affect on SEO rankings.

• Correlation not causation. Social Media influences your SEO but is not a direct cause of your SEO rank.

SEO—Search Engine Optimization The 5 Focuses of SEO:

1. Content

2. Keyword Density

3. Size

4. Age

5. Links

CREATING A CONTENT STRATEGY Identify Your Audience

Who are you really trying to engage

i.e. First Time Home Buyers

How Can You Make Your Customers Lives Easier by Solving a Common Problem They Face?

GOOD CONTENT STRATEGY

Parts of a good content strategy:

1. Regular, helpful content targeted at your audience.

2. Social signals from regular sharing and engagement.

3. Freshness or signs that your site is alive and growing.

4. Increasing authority connected to your body of work.

KEYWORDS

Keywords are best used as 2 to 5 word long phrases

3 Questions to Ask: “What would you search for online

right now if you were looking to buy or sell a property?”

What questions does the page answer?

Are there synonyms for the topic that can be used on the page?

Be as specific as possible: Instead of Homes for Sale in

Chicago, use Townhomes for sale near Hyde Park Chicago, IL

GOOGLE ADWORDS

Free keyword tool with your Gmail account

Gives you hyper-local keywords

Tools>Keyword Planner>Search New Keyword & Group Ideas

THINK LIKE A HOMEOWNER—Ask Questions Speak at your audience’s

level “Common Knowledge” may

not be as common as you think

Questions make perfect titles and topics

Write down your customer’s questions!

SEO SHELF LIFE

You Have 1 Hour to Dedicate to Social Media

1 Hour 10 Tweets Lasts approximately 2 hours

1 Hour 5 Facebook Posts Lasts approximately 3 hours

1 Hour 1 Blog Post Lasts approximately 2-3 years

BLOGGING

Great way to create original content!

Key Phrase (Topic) Header, First Sentence, Last

Sentence Use 3 more times throughout

Blog Hyperlink key phrase (once!)

“How Long Does it Need to Be?”

BLOGGING (CONT.)

Who? How Long? How Often?

77% of People Read Blogs

As long as you need it to be answer the “question”

Consistency is important!

Women: mornings and weekendsMen: evenings

200 or 2000+ No less than once a month

HELP: What Do I Say?

H-yper Local Information

E-conomic Trends

L-ocal Market Trends

P-assion

DETERMINE YOUR NICHE

• Hobbies

• Personal Interests

• Experience

• Family

• Travel Exposure

• Passion

• Education

• Know How

SCRAPING CONTENT

Scraping content from more reputable sites will not help you

Google only reads content once and will stop crawling “copy cat” pages

Change the document 20% or every 4th word

COMMUNICATION

Not enough to just have a profile

You must form relationships by communicating

Leads are converted by establishing trust!

Whether it’s 10 minutes or 1 hr, be present and active!

SUPPORT

• Sharing, liking, and following shows support and activity

• 105,950 listed properties

• Keep business close to home

• Write down 5 Facebook Vanity URLS

THANK YOU

• Questions & Comments are encouraged

• Marketing Focus Group

amyb@c21affiliated.com

Skype: amyb.c21affiliated

@RealEstateAmy