First question: Has the internet changed the way that real estate is conducted in America? How many statistics have you recently seen in regards to real estate searches on the internet? One statistic that stands out to me was released by the National Association of Realtors®. They conducted a profile of home buyers and sellers and stated that 86% of current home buyers utilize the internet when searching for a home. That is a significant percentage of buyers.
Second question: How important do you think your online presence is in today's challenging market? If 86% of home buyers are utilizing the internet to assist in their search, your online presence is more important than ever. If you do not have a strong online presence, it is not too late. Many Realtors® are realizing that the internet provides an excellent platform to promote their business, share their knowledge and spend their marketing dollars. Web Developers are springing up from all over the place promising everything from "qualified leads" to "top of page placement."  Your online presence is no different than your local reputation. You didn’t get it over night and the same applies to the internet. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is a “Rip-Off!”

You need a strategy and you need it fast. This next statement is going to sound a little crazy or hypocritical coming from me. Part of your strategy should consist of you not trusting the individual or company who built your Web site to manage your SEO. Why would a Web designer make a statement like this? Because, most Web designers have to say that they understand search engines, optimization techniques and online marketing in order to be competitive. Their competition is saying it and they are left with no choice. The truth is that other than adding some meta tags and carelessly entering some keywords, most Web designers do not understand this process any better than you do. You need to decide what you are trying to accomplish. Do you want a web site that has a lot of tools and features? Do you want to drive traffic to your web site or do you want your web site to drive traffic to you? Do you want to pay to advertise on the search engines? Do you want to build your rankings organically? These are all questions that you need to ask yourself before spending your hard earned money on your online presence. If you are currently spending money on a web site or have recently spent money to optimize your web site for the search engines, it is not too late for you either.

Ask questions. Make sure that you are comfortable with the answers and that you completely understand the Web designer’s knowledge of search engines and optimization techniques. Make them earn your business. Believe me when I tell you that your online presence can and probably will be a determining factor in your future success. I work with Realtors® on a daily basis. One of the most common problems I run in to, are template based web sites. Sure, they offer a lot of features and look nice but, are they helping you in the search engines? The answer is “No.” If you purchased a ‘ready-made’ website, you basically have a template. This means that everything that is included with the website including a copy is essentially “canned.” The copy, or textual, part of your web site will be the same as the copy on every other business owner’s web site that purchased a template similar to yours. This presents a problem when trying to get indexed and categorized by robots. When robots see similar copy on several different web sites, the web sites are classified as “mirror sites” or essentially the same site over and over again. The robot then makes a decision that all of these web sites are the same exact web site, regardless if there is different contact information on each, and this will do nothing to improve your ranking on search engines.

We specialize in real estate web sites that are optimized for the search engines. Our blogging philosophies and unique approach to ranking higher in the search engines have helped many clients achieve their desired goals. We would love the opportunity to help you too. We know that our value is created by the level of service and support that we offer to you and your company. Complete customer satisfaction is our goal and your continued success is our main priority. If you are in need of a web site or would like to ramp up your current online presence, please feel free to give us a call. Happy selling!

Listing Solutions is laser-focused on helping our clients achieve the success online needed to compete in today’s challenging market. Complete customer satisfaction is our goal and your continued success is our main priority. We are one of St. Augustine web designs emerging companies and a Full Service Dealer with Realtourvision®, specializing in Jacksonville virtual tours. We are one of the premier virtual tour providers in St. Augustine. Our online real estate marketing skills allow us to help our clients dominate the search engines.

Dave Hall,
Marketing Director
Listing Solutions
(904) 540-9962
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