simon baker: future of online property marketing and how to make the most of it

Future of Online Property Marketing and How to Make the Most of It

Future of Real Estate Conference

Simon Baker

Classified Ad Ventures

[email protected]

www.propertyadguru.com

Online Real Estate Marketing Today

70%+ of leads come from online advertising

Online leads tend to be buyer leads rather than seller leads

Portals are getting stronger – especially for buyer leads

Google appears to be playing an increasing role

Agents passively approaching online marketing


Key Trends in Online Real Estate Marketing

Portals will continue to attract the most visitors

Agents and franchises are investing more in their own sites

Strong long-tail SEO is becoming more important

Smart social media strategy will differentiate agents

Agents are creating and executing an online branding strategy

Agents are improving lead management systems and processes


TIP # 1Ensure all listings have full

information

Street address, price and lots of photos are a must!


TIP # 2Ensure all listings are real listings

Sold or leased listings really annoy consumers


TIP # 3Ensure the “hero” photo is the

first photo displayed

Buyers & renters often decide on the search results page


TIP # 4Use feature listings to promote

selected properties

Get more clicks by standing out from the crowd


TIP # 5Don’t invest in videos or virtual

tours

You don’t need them to generate interest in a listing


Web Site Optimised for Lead Generation

“Ask the right question & capture lead information”

Primarily drives Seller & Landlord Leads

Secondarily drives some Buyer & Renter Leads


Franchise, Office and Agents Sites

SEO

SEM

Display Advertising

Social Media

Your Database


TIP # 6Make sure your website is

structured properly

Four elements - blog, listings, office/local information & data


TIP # 7Use forms to ensure your site

captures/creates leads

Convert visitors to your site to leads


TIP # 8Build a mobile version of your

site (but not iPhone app)

Mobile internet is becoming widely used – iPhone/iPad


TIP # 9Build single property websites

They help win listings, market the property and with SEO


~30% of property searches still start on Google

Page 1 attracts 90%+ of clicks

Page 1 of common Google searches dominated by portals and franchise groups

Hard for agents to be on Page 1


Franchise Results on Page 1 for 1,500 LongTail

Keywords Raine & Horne 1,073

L J Hooker 300

Elders 130

First National 114

Ray White 61

Harcourts 36

Century 21 30

Stockdale & Leggo 19

Barry Plant 7

McGrath 4

PRD Nationwide 1

Raine & Horne in Australia redesigned site for long tail keywords

For 1,500 long tail keywords, Raine & Horne now dominating competitors on page 1

Result: generating 30% more traffic to the Raine & Horne site

Source: www.smartagentsites.com


Example long-tail keywords

• 3 bedroom house Bankstown 2200 New South Wales

• commercial property for lease George Street Sydney 2000

• open for inspection Queanbeyan 2620 New South Wales

• property for sale Beacon Hill Road Brookvale

• real estate agent Queenscliff NSW 2096


TIP # 10Make sure your site is optimised

for SEO

SEO traffic is almost free


TIP # 11Have comprehensive local

information on your site

Its great for SEO and presents office as local leader


TIP # 12Have other relevant sites link to

your site for better SEO

Relevant = local sites and real estate sites


Headlines sent to facebook

Clicks back to Dale’s website


12,358 friends on Facebook

3,524 followers on Twitter

Population of Vancouver, WA –165,000


TIP # 13Integrate a blog to your site and

link to social media sites

Great for SEO and keeping the social media sites fresh


TIP # 14Use facebook, twitter, linkedin

and youtube

Facebook has overtaken TradeMe– engage facebook users


A blog should be integrated with your website

Built by SoBox – Social Media in a Box


All blogs and social media should be brand consistent


TIP # 15Regularly update your blog with

relevant content

Hyper-local and evergreen content to stand out & SEO


TIP # 16Actively manage your social

networks

Reach out and make friends –they wont come to you


TIP # 17Buy AdWords on Google (and

Yahoo, Bing and Facebook)

Drives traffic at low cost but you need a budget


TIP # 18Swap banner advertising with

local sites to drive traffic

People do click on banner ads & it is good for branding


TIP # 19Ensure ALL advertising has your

web address on it

Makes it easy for people to find you








Agents improving lead management systems and processes


TIP # 20Collect email addresses at open

homes

Most agents just collect phone numbers


TIP # 21Almost all buyers are potential

sellers

Generate leads by asking buyers if they are selling


TIP # 22Ensure ALL leads are stored in

one central database

This is your cheapest source of future traffic


TIP # 23Put processes in place to ensure

database is current

No use sending emails to people that don’t want them


TIP # 24Create processes to manage

leads effectively

Quick qualification, response and turn around is essential


TIP # 25Don’t put it all off until

tomorrow

There are no silver bullets – it takes times – start today


TIP # 26Reach out for help – make sure they know what they are doing

[email protected]


One more tip ...

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• Agent Sites• Customer Management• Lead Management• Portal Sites• Quality Ads• Search and Social Media• Top 10 Tips

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