For real estate professionals, the most critical changes are to Google’s Link Evaluation (discussed in our previous post) and the search engine’s year-old Panda search-ranking program. Before focusing on Panda, one more important comment on Link Evaluation changes: In new algorithms, Link Evaluation not only weights new information on Google+ heavily in determining search results across the board; but, among members of your friend circles, it also continues to push your site to the top of search results as long as an individual remains a member of your circle. Google’s new search emphasis on its new social media network makes opening a Google+ account a smart move, if only for the SEO benefits.

Panda created a SEO firestorm when it was released a year ago. Designed to cull low-quality and low-content web pages from Google’s massive index, Panda heralds a major shift in the way Google’s search algorithms evaluate and rank web pages to derive search results. Overnight, many of the SEO tricks that had been commonly employed to boost web page search rank became not merely ineffective but actually counted against pages under the new Panda system. Pages with little original content or with an abundance of links and ads plummeted in the rankings, consequently losing traffic.

Many real estate sites took a major hit after Panda’s implementation. Panda took a poor view of the copied material from authoritative sources and home office libraries that forms the backbone of many real estate web pages. Panda devalues websites that carry material available on other sites in favor of websites that display original content.

To be continued

Tips for Maximizing Website SEO Under Google Search Changes is a post from: Properties Online Blog

Rather than watching area real estate professionals flail around in indecision and sink under the weight of so many technology options, four years ago the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service threw local real estate agents a life ring when it convened its first Technopalooza. The spring showcase and expert evaluation of real estate’s hottest new tech tools has become a popular annual event that is now followed by a fall Learn-A-Thon that teaches real estate agents how to make the most effective use of new technology tools.

At this year’s recent Technopalooza, the biggest noise was generated by cloud computing, mobile alerts, QR codes and internet social networks. These were the technology applications deemed essential must-haves and useful up-and-comers by the national real estate gurus invited to speak at the event. Social networks were particularly singled out as one of the most effective technology tools available to real estate professionals. Real estate agents who haven’t already embraced Facebook, Google+, Twitter and other hot social networks were urged to get onboard or see their business suffer.

Also recommended at this year’s Technopalooza were:

• Open Home Pro which allows agents to mange open houses from an iPad or smart phone;
• Cloud CMA which allows agents to quickly generate and send to clients comparative market analyses; and
• DotLoop, a transaction management tool that allows documents to be edited and signed digitally.

Technopalooza Highlights Must-Have Real Estate Tech Tools is a post from: Properties Online Blog

To gain the greatest benefit from single property websites, each website should have a customized domain name that utilizes the property’s address. For example, a listing for 555 Main Street would have a domain name of www.555MainStreet.com. Listing domains offer real estate agents multiple benefits:

• Search Engine Optimization. Linking single property listings to your real estate website drives buyers who are interested in the property to your website. Creating listing domains for your single property listings increases the likelihood that search engines will place your real estate site at the top of the results list when potential buyers search for details about a particular property. Since most buyers use a property’s street address to initiate a search, domain names that repeat the listing address attract twice as much attention from search engines; thereby driving more traffic to your website.
• Marketing Tool. The ability to offer single property websites with listing domains is today’s measure of real estate professionalism. The internet is becoming the world’s primary marketplace. Both buyers and sellers reserve their highest ratings for tech-savvy Realtors. Today’s home sellers expect their real estate agents to be proficient internet marketers. The use of listing domains to market single property websites is an effective demonstration of internet proficiency. Buyers are also impressed by single property websites with listing domains and appreciate the convenience of finding all the information they want on a single website. More than a third of home buyers eventually purchase a home they found on the internet. Making it easy for buyers to locate property information boosts sales.

Listing Domains Drive Customer Traffic to Real Estate Websites is a post from: Properties Online Blog

1. iPad presentation app 75%
2. automated eMarketing campaign 35%
3. single property websites 29%
4. personal blog 28%
5. video 25%

While iPad apps were the marketing tool after which most real estate agents lusted, the iPad itself came in second to smartphones as agents’ favorite technology. Fifty-two percent of real estate professionals choose smartphones as the technology they couldn’t do without, reflecting the increasing popularity of mobile marketing which many are calling a ”game-changer” in the real estate industry. iPads and android tablet computers came in a distant second. Here’s how real estate marketing technologies stacked up in the survey:

1. smartphones 52%
2. iPad or android tablet 26%
3. laptop, notebook or netbook 16%
4. desktop computer 5%
5. other 1%

Not surprisingly, the survey clearly reflected the real estate industry’s transition from print media to internet marketing. When asked to compare the real estate marketing tools they found most useful today to those they used 10 years ago, the majority of real estate agents chose email marketing as today’s most effective marketing tool. A decade ago, 69% of survey respondents said newspaper display ads formed the core of their real estate marketing program. Despite their limited effectiveness today, 8 in 10 real estate agents still use newspaper display ads to market homes. However, rather than being an integral part of a Realtor’s marketing strategy as it was a decade ago, today newspaper advertising is more likely to be done at the seller’s request or because local sellers expect it. Only one in 10 of the Realtors surveyed still considered newspaper advertising an effective marketing tool.

Survey Reveals Real Estate Agents’ Favorite Tech Tools is a post from: Properties Online Blog

In our last post we noted the importance of creating a strong cover image for your Facebook real estate page. Today, we share more tips geared to help real estate agents make the most of Facebook’s new timeline format:

• In the timeline format, cover photos are essentially banners that stretch horizontally across the top of the page. To prevent image distortion when converting a photo to a Facebook business page cover, choose a large (greater than 851 x 315 pixels), horizontally-oriented, high-resolution photo.
• In Timeline, access to custom pages is hidden under the cover image where few Facebook users are apt to find it. To compensate, you may want to link Facebook updates back to similar information on your website.
• You can break up Timeline’s 2-column layout and highlight new or important information by clicking the star at the top right of the update box which will stretch the entry horizontally across both columns (like the cover). (Mouse over the area if you don’t see the star.) The effect will only last 7 days before the post reverts to the standard 2-column layout. It’s a handy way to highlight new information without worrying about updating old posts as they move down the timeline.
• Because of the conversion factor, any information that you want to remain highlighted or at the top of your timeline will need to be reposted or re-featured once a week.

More Tips on Adjusting Facebook Business Pages to Timeline is a post from: Properties Online Blog

To hear the squawking, you’d have thought the sky had fallen when Facebook migrated all business pages to its new timeline format on March 30. In timeline, Facebook business pages look dull and boring; completely unappealing. While it’s not as bad as it seems, it’s going to take a little time and effort to adjust your real estate Facebook page so you can reap the benefits of the platform’s new format. Given the power of Facebook to attract real estate clients and create first impressions, fixing your Facebook business page isn’t something you can put off. Bite the bullet and fix it now!

At the top of your Facebook “to do” list should be creating a cover for your business page. Timeline is a more visual format than Facebook’s previous layout. Adding a large cover image to your Facebook business page will give your page an attractive, professional appearance and attract user attention. To see the impact a cover makes, check out the newly-revamped Properties Online Facebook business page.

Adding a cover to your business page is quick and easy. When you log onto your Facebook business page, you’ll see an “add a cover” button in the top right corner. Click it and follow the instructions. The following tips will help you create a dynamic cover that will attract attention and create a positive first impression:

• Don’t get into trouble with copyright infringement. Only upload images you have taken yourself or that you have purchased the rights to.
• Keep your cover image clean and crisp. Don’t enlarge your logo to fill the space or litter your cover with ads or promotions. Use your cover to make an emotional connection with potential clients.

More tips next time

Tips for Adjusting to Facebook’s New Timeline Format is a post from: Properties Online Blog

At the end of February, Google began implementing a series of 40 changes and updates to its search engine, many of which boost support for Google+, Google’s Facebook competitor. For real estate agents the two most important changes were to Panda, Google’s year-old search ranker, and the self-explanatory Link Evaluation. If you want to keep your real estate website at the top of Google’s search rankings, the following tips will show you how to tweak your site to accommodate Google’s newest search engine modifications.

Link Evaluation shifts search impact from offsite links, the backbone of traditional SEO strategies, to social media engagement. Your blog entries, article submissions and directory submissions will still count toward your search engine ranking on Google, but their value has been marginalized in favor of social network mentions, social update shares and customer engagement (comments and reviews). Not surprisingly, Google places premium value on Google+ interactions. If you’re not on Google+ yet, the SEO advantages alone should make this a priority.

Continued next time

Google Search Changes Necessitate Real Estate Website Tweaks is a post from: Properties Online Blog

Today we continue our list of smart Facebook tips for real estate agents:

• Follow your gut. Pay attention to what you do and don’t like about the Facebook pages you visit. Incorporate good ideas into your own site and avoid annoying practices like begging for “likes” or asking lame questions.
• Limit your posts. Over-posting is at the top of the Facebook user complaint list. The greatest traction is achieved by posting every other day, but not more than 3 times a week.
• Offer value. Give Facebook users a reason to come back. Use Facebook apps and real estate widgets to post listing domains to your profile, connect to your real estate website and publish new listings to your wall.
• Be yourself. Your Facebook page should reflect your personality. Don’t forget that Facebook is a social network of friends, not a business forum. Facebook users expect chatty, personal conversations and will judge you by the character and content of your page and posts. Approach your Facebook page as if you were talking to a long-standing customer with whom you’ve developed a comfortable, friendly relationship. Just don’t lose sight of the fact that your Facebook persona will reflect upon your business. Aim for friendly, helpful and cheerful and steer clear of chummy, gossipy or complaining.
• Be careful what you share. It’s desirable to share a little personal information on Facebook; but keep your comments positive and don’t share information or offer comments that could come back to bite you. For example, sharing a few scenic vacation photos with an observation or two is humanizing; but no good will come of posting photos of yourself drinking margaritas on the beach. Keep your postings friendly but never post anything that could impact your professional reputation.

More Facebook Tips for Real Estate Agents is a post from: Properties Online Blog

The average Facebook user has 130 friends, participates in 80 community forums and spends 6 to 7 hours a month on Facebook. Someone who is buying or selling a house is likely to share details of their experience numerous times with their entire list of Facebook friends who may, in turn, share that information with their list of friends. On Facebook, a ”like” or referral from a satisfied client has the potential to reach an incalculable number of potential home buyers and home sellers.

The scope of Facebook’s audience — 150 million Americans and counting — and its viral potential make Facebook a productive marketing tool for real estate agents. Agent widgets and Facebook apps make it easy to maintain a Facebook page that will draw Facebook users and make it easy for you to keep your name on the radar of potential clients. However, there is one small catch. Realtors who fail to follow best practices when using Facebook can quickly annoy and even alienate future clients.

Here’s how to stay on the good size of Facebook users and use your Facebook exposure to grow your real estate business:

• Make an effort to stay fresh. Scenic images overlaid with motivational messages tend to be over-shared on friend networks. Display your creativity and personality by using your own photos and using the status bar or text to share your thoughts, whether motivational, informative or comedic. And be careful with humor. What you find funny could be offensive to someone else.

More tips next time

Facebook Tips for Real Estate Agents is a post from: Properties Online Blog

Selling a home today requires a strong web presence. Real estate agents that are plugged in to all the latest tech tools and who employ aggressive internet, social media and mobile marketing techniques offer home sellers significant advantages over other agents. If you are planning to put your house on the market this year, look for a web-savvy real estate agent who can offer the following services to market your home:

• Your agent should maintain a constantly updated, search engine optimized  agent website and blog that attracts buyers with access to multiple listing services and search tools, as well as helpful information about buying a home and useful details about local communities. Ask the realtor about his website and blog traffic figures. Higher traffic translates into more buyers and faster house sales.
• Your agent should provide an individual website for each of his listings, called a listing domain. For greatest effectiveness, listing domains should be marketed on multiple sites, and your agent should provide weekly traffic figures.
• People spend more time on Facebook than anywhere else on the web which makes an agent Facebook page loaded with apps critical to fast real estate sales.
• Agents that offer mobile websites and employ QR codes and Twitter maintain constant contact with potential buyers, decreasing the amount of time it takes to sell a home.

How Sellers Benefit from Web-Savvy Real Estate Agents is a post from: Properties Online Blog