Posted in Everyone’s talking about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). We have inquiries everyday from customers eager to get into the “top 10″ or on “the first page” of search results in common search engines, like Google, Yahoo, and MSN Live.
The fact is that SEO has become competitive. That’s not to say that it’s impossibly difficult – some of our customers have targeted the most common search terms and have been very successful. Maintaining those top spots, however, is costing more in terms of cash and time every year. Optimizing for top high volume search terms (“Chicago real estate,” “Vancouver real estate”) has become a precise science, and the barriers to entry are steadily climbing.
Compromising on search terms and choosing lower volume secondary search terms (“Hermosa beach condos”) is a great way to ease into SEO without fundamentally changing your business model. Since there is less competition for these terms, they are easier to optimize for, and you can get results more quickly.
For many agents deciding whether or not to invest in SEO, online advertising is a great place to start. It offers a way to test the waters and get some immediate results. It also gives you the opportunity to test the “capture rate” (the number of prospects that give you their information) of your website. Of course, if you are an RPM Agent customer, you don’t need to worry about capture rates – we worry for you.
To start, I’d recommend using Google Adwords or Yahoo Ads and target a specific market that you operate in. A good example is: “Calgary Townhouses.” Google lets you set a daily budget, so you have ultimate control over your spending. With the right website, you’ll see immediate results. From there, you can decide if you want to push your advertising budget into SEO, and make this a long-term addition to your marketing plan.
A quick note to our customers: In addition to some step-by-step instructions to increase your search engine ranking, our marketing manual includes some detailed instructions for how to start an advertising campaign using some of the major search engines. If you’re still not confident, give us a call, and we’ll get you moving in the right direction. To learn more about SEO, log into your back office and check out the Marketing Plan in the help Wiki. Also remember – RealPageMaker websites include complete control over any SEO initiative you choose (add/edit unlimited pages/content, blog, access to meta tags, menu, etc.).
For those of you who don’t have access to the RPM Agent Back-Office, check out some good SEO tips and tricks here. For those using RPM Agent, your websites already do what’s in this article.
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