I'm often asked what kinds of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Real Pro System uses to ensure website hits and visibility.
We take many steps to help get your main, agent-branded site recognised by the search engines. We submit the sites we create for our clients to Google, Yahoo and MSN. We automatically generate page titles, key words and page descriptions for the pages of content we give you. In addition, we have integrated tools, such as the Blog, that can help with SEO. On the internet, content is king and unique content is best. We also provide tools in the back office to create your own unlimited content and each of these pages can be optimized with meta tags and key words. Customizing the eNewsletter/webpage is also a good idea.
The Ferrari of Engines
Our sites are built on the latest Internet technology, and "Web Standards" using .Net 3.0 programming platform so you'll be basing your website on a search engine friendly foundation. This is evidenced by the fact that our system automatically creates a version of your website viewable on mobile devices such as iPhones, Treos and Blackberries. Our pages load faster because they use cascading style sheets, or CSS. Our text editors are HTML compatible so you can drop in "widgets." Our global SEO settings populate your keyword(s) in the kinds of places we know search engines are looking - meta tags, alt tags, site map, page description, etc. So you are building and investing in a website with a Ferrari engine, vs trying to make a Pinto go fast.
What You Can Do
There are things you can do to further optimaize your site, such as create blog posts on your integrated or "on-site" blog. Blogging is one of the fastest ways of gaining visibility with the search engines. We recommend you create keyword-laden posts about once a week, or invite your sphere of business partners to write them for you. You might link to their site, ask them to link to your blog post, and promote the post in your monthly eNewsletter.
Content it still king. You can create unlimited custom pages in our system and individually optimize them. For example, create a community page, embed a video tour (video hosted on a free site such as welcomemat) and then use our tools to determine the meta tags:
Here's how we handle global settings:
You can also add links to your website in various areas.
Adding video has been revealed to aid in search results. You can embed video in any of our text fields - video tour of a neighborhood, testimonial interviews, etc.
Caveat on SEO - Only Half the Equation
Search engine optimization is great for getting your site to the top of the search engines but it's only half the equation. It can equate to hundreds of hits to the website, but not necessarily leads. The key is getting someone to engage on the site once they are there. This is why our strategy is to advertise/promote a "stealth" site, such as www.realprohomesearch.com. These are not designed to rank high on search engines.
On this type of site, it is easy for the prospect to identify what is in it for them. According to NAR, over 80% of the buyers start their search on line, so it makes sense to take them to a site that gives them what they are looking for and in return, you have a way (drip campaigns) and a reason to follow up with them on a continuous basis. The campaigns are meant to build the relationship and keep you top of mind till they are ready to come forward and work with you.
While top ranking is great and may be worth paying for, we recognize that it takes time and can be costly. To help generate leads, we also offer a buyer lead generation program where we generate buyer leads for you. This is not hits to your site, but rather a name, email address and search criteria of a prospective buyer. This service is called .
Please feel free to make comments to this post. You can also email or call me with additional questions.
