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What is a Browser?

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That may seem like a silly question if you make your living online and work on a computer 10 hours a day. But are you making assumptions about what your website visitors know that might be killing your site conversions or preventing a large number of your site visitors from taking positive actions (or any kind of actions) on your website?

I am not suggesting or otherwise recommending one browser over another, would just encourage you to think a little more about your website, and what your site visitors may or may not know.  Don’t assume they know what you do! It could be costing you a LOT of lost business.

Until next time,

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Ed

75 Percent of People Buy Their Home Online – Realtors – Are You Ready?

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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…

Follow Me on Twitter!

Ed

The Importance of Good Design

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The Importance of  Good Design

Your website is the hub of your online business; it is the virtual representation of your company whether your company exists physically or not. When you are doing business online, people cannot see you physically like how they could if they were dealing with an offline company. Hence, people do judge you by your covers. This is where  good web design comes in.

Imagine if you are running an offline company. Would you allow your salespersons to be dressed in shabby or casual clothes when they are dealing with your customers? By making your staff dress professionally, you are telling your customers that you do care about quality. This works simply because first impressions matter.

Similarly, the same holds true with your website. If your website is put together shabbily and looks like a 5 minute “quick fix”, you are literally shouting to your visitors that you are not professional and you do not care for quality.

On the opposite, if you have a totally professional looking website layout, you are giving your visitors the perception that you have given meticulous attention to every detail and you care about professionalism. You are organized, focused and you really mean business.

On the other hand, you should also have anything related to your company well designed. From business cards to letterheads to promotional brochures, even your background used on Twitter. Every little bit matters. This is because as you grow your business, these items become the face of your business. Once again, think of the “salesperson dressed shabbily” anology, and you will get my point.

Make sure your website looks the best it can be!

Until next time…

(Follow me on Twitter)

Ed

Are You Losing Valuable Traffic?

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You may be losing valuable traffic and not even know it!  Here’s something you may never have thought of before:

If I were to type your domain name — http://www.yourdomain.com — into my web browser without the “WWW” so it looked like this:

http://yourdomain.com … would I be immediately sent to your site or would I receive a “Page Not Found” error?  Don’t be too quick to answer.  Think about it.  Have you tried this before?

While most web hosts and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are now set up to accept both, some are not!  And this means that visitors who drop the “WWW” and simply type “yourdomain.com” into their browsers may be getting an error message… and you may be losing valuable traffic!

If you try this and find that “yourdomain.com” doesn’t work, contact your web host or ISP and request that they make the necessary changes.  It’s a quick 5-minute fix for them… and everyone they service will benefit.

Some may try to charge you a fee for this change, but I would argue that this is a common service provided by the majority of ISPs and web hosts today.  If they want to remain competitive and keep your business, then you shouldn’t have to pay.

However, if they still insist on charging you, and the fee is minimal, then you should pay it.  After all, you’re probably losing valuable traffic that will more than pay for this expense in the long run.

It’s such a minor problem… but it could be losing you major traffic! So check into this today!

Until next time…

(Follow me on Twitter)

Ed