Real Estate Internet Marketing is gaining a lot of importance these days, and is very important for those engaged in selling real estate online. According to a survey conducted by a top-rated magazine, more than 75% of people now depend on the Internet to buy their dream home.
Since many Realtors have their own sites on the web with features such as pictures of properties as well as floor plans, it has enabled the potential customers to experience hassle-free home buying. A website not only allows a Realtor to promote listed properties, but also to promote the services they render.
But, there is such a large number of real estate-related websites that it has now become an overwhelming process for a particular real estate website to get ranked high among the search engine results. Herein lies the role of real estate internet marketing.
A large number of proven real estate internet marketing techniques are now adopted to improve the ranking of a real estate-related website for better search engine visibility, such as search engine optimization, search engine submission, pay-per-click marketing, link analysis, affiliate marking, and e-mail marketing. Among which, perhaps the most prominent one is search engine optimization, or SEO.
Real Estate SEO contains a series of strategic and technical solutions including a selection of the most appropriate keywords, preparing search engine friendly content, linking and submitting the website to major search engines like Google and Yahoo. All of these factors work together to enhance a real estate agents' website ranking in the search engines for real estate related keywords. Although real estate SEO work can be done by business owners themselves, it is better to seek assistance of an experienced SEO firm.
A reputable SEO firm conducts a detailed analysis on your real estate business as well as your target markets, apart from structuring your real estate website with appropriate search terms, synchronizing Meta title and descriptions, and formulating link popularity programs.
Any Realtor who's serious about competing online should move forward with proven real estate marketing techniques like real estate SEO.
Until next time…
Ed
Lawmakers may be killing affiliate marketing in North Carolina without even knowing what they are doing. (Wouldn't be the first time some stupid peace of legislation makes its way through to becoming a new bill).
The following e-mail has landed in mailboxes of all North Carolina affiliates of Amazon.com:
We regret to inform you that the North Carolina state legislature (the General Assembly) appears ready to enact an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with North Carolina-based Associates. You are receiving this e-mail because our records indicate that you are an Amazon Associate and resident of North Carolina.
Please note that this is not an immediate termination notice and you are still a valued participant in the Associates Program. All referral fees earned on qualified traffic will continue to be paid as planned.
But because the new law is drafted to go into effect once enacted – which could happen in the next two weeks – we will have to terminate the participation of all North Carolina residents in the Amazon Associates program on or before that same day. After the termination day, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com nor will we accept new applications for the Associates program from North Carolina residents.
The unfortunate consequences of this legislation on North Carolina residents like you were explained in detail to key senators and representatives in Raleigh, including the leadership of the Senate, House, and both chambers’ finance committees. Other states, including Maryland, Minnesota, and Tennessee, considered nearly identical schemes, but rejected these proposals largely because of the adverse impact on their states’ residents.
The North Carolina General Assembly’s website is http://www.ncleg.net/, and additional information may be obtained from the Performance Marketing Alliance at http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/.
We thank you for being part of the Amazon Associates program, and we will apprise you of the General Assembly’s action on this matter.
Sincerely,
Amazon.com
It seems that North Carolina is about to enact the “unconstitutional tax collection scheme” similar to the one that became a law in state of New York last year.
A Greensboro, NC based news website writes that this “tax change is part of a package passed by the House last week in its attempt to rewrite the budget” by lawmakers who are “struggling to fill what they say is a $4.5 billion gap between the money needed to keep government operating as it is and the revenue the state is due to take in next year.” The General Assembly’s estimate is that this will help the sate raise $13.2 million next year. I wonder if they expected major players to start pulling out of the game. They should have if they have followed the Amazon’s reaction to this in other states.
If you are reading this, and you are a North Carolina based affiliate, it is not too late to contact your state representative to fight this bill! Chances are the lawmakers have no clue that what they are doing is actually going to put great numbers of NC residents out of business, the affiliate marketing business.
Until next time…
Ed
3 Things To Avoid When Emailing Your List
When you decide to have an opt-in list, it is not just a matter of sending your subscribers your promotional newsletters or catalogs. There are many things to consider in avoiding many complications. While there are so many ways you can make people subscribe to your list, there are also some things you must do to avoid subscribers from wanting to get off of your list.
Aside from that, you also want to avoid any problems with the law and your internet service provider. There are many laws and rules that are designed to help protect the privacy of the internet users from spamming and unwanted mails. With the popularity of the electronic mail as a medium for marketing because of the low cost, many company’s have seized the opportunity and have flooded many people’s e-mail accounts with promotional mail.
But, with an opt-in list, you avoid this annoyance because people subscribe to the list; they want to receive the newsletters and promotional materials. They have consented to being on the list by subscribing themselves, just don’t forget to put an unsubscribe feature (everytime) in your opt-in list so you avoid any confusion. There may be times when an email account was provided when the real owner didn’t want to subscribe.
It is essential that you keep your list clean and manageable. Arrange it by using the many tools and technologies available for your opt-in list. Don't worry; your investment in this marketing strategy is well worth it with all the coverage you will get which will likely be converted into sales then to profit.
Keep yourself and your business out of trouble and potential run-ins with the law and the Internet Service Providers. Keep your operation legit and clean. Your reputation as a legitimate businessperson and a legitimate site depends on your being a straight and true marketing strategist. As a tip, here are three things to avoid when emailing your list.
1) Take notice of your unsuccessful sends. These are the e-mails that bounce. Bounced emails, also known as undeliverable messages, are those messages that, for whatever reason, were not successfully received by the intended recipient.
There are bounces that happen or occur because the server was busy at that time but can still be delivered at another time. There are also bounces because the inbox of the recipient is full at that time. There are those bounce messages that are simply undeliverable forever. The reason for this is that it may be an invalid email address, a misspelled email address, or an email address that was abandoned and erased already.
Manage your list by putting markings on those that bounce. Erase an email account from your list so you have accurate statistics and records as to how many are actually receiving your mail. You may also want to check the spellings of your email addresses in your list. One common mistake is when an N instead of an M is placed in the .com area.
2) Always provide an unsubscribe feature on your site and an unsubscribe link in your e-mails. When someone in your list files a request to be unsubscribed, always take that request seriously. If you don’t take them off your list and keep sending them your e-mails, you are now sending them spam mail.
When you are reported as a spammer, you and your business can get into a lot of trouble. You can be reported to the authorities and maybe blacklisted by many Internet Service Providers. You will lose a lot of subscribers this way and many more potential subscribers.
3) Do not provide pornographic or shocking and disturbing content in your newsletters. It is hard to decipher the age of the recipient and many complaints may stem from these. Controversial issues also are to be avoided to not be branded by your subscribers. Stick to the nature of your site and business.
Always remember these tips so you can have a healthy relationship with your subscribers as well as staying within the boundaries of what is allowed in sending e-mails to an opt-in list.
Until next time…
Ed
Internet Marketing