When it comes to your real estate blog, how do you rank higher on searches? If top page status is what you’re seeking, follow along with these 5 real estate blog SEO tips to boost your posts and get more traffic!
There are plenty of ways to invest your real estate tech budget – but which tech gets results and which is just a passing fad? Today, we break down which tech will help your business grow, and which is best left unused.
A while back we argued that Gen X leads are more reliable and easier to get than Millennial leads. Now, it’s time to start getting some Gen X seller leads – here’s how you do it.
When it comes to real estate website content ideas, there’s only one question you need to ask: It’s 2019, do you know where your real estate blog is? If you answered, “what blog?,” you’re not alone. But, don’t take solace in that because the chances are pretty good that you’re not getting the real estate leads you need to become wildly successful. Sure, some agents hit it big with no real estate website content ideas, but they’re the Sumatran rinos of the industry. Want content that will help you rank higher on Google searches? LeadSites has done for you blogging…
The new year is finally here! And with it comes plenty of real estate market info. This month brought a lot of things to light, like the upcoming buyer’s market, and Gen Z finally entering the market.
When it comes to getting leads through LinkedIn, there’s no better place to get started than LinkedIn real estate groups – Here are the top ones you should be joining.
Real estate divorce listings are a niche market you can attract with a little work. Here’s what you need to know to start landing divorce leads today.
Facebook real estate lead generation… How does it all work? Where do you start, and how do you get leads from this social media megalith? Follow along and we’ll have you generating leads from Facebook in no time.
The end of the year is creeping up on us. You have a very short window in which to minimize your tax burden for 2018. Since we can’t stand the thought of you leaving money on the table, we researched far and wide to gather a few year-end tax tips for real estate professionals as well as a few you might want to implement in 2019. Ready to see how a LeadSite can make 2019 the year your business takes off? Learn more about how a LeadSite can help you grow. Save some money If you haven’t hit your IRA…
We’ve been busy scouring December real estate news for stuff you may have missed. You’re welcome. Ready for an easy to use digital marketing platform? Learn more about LeadSites and get started today! The most desirable home in America The NAR seems to be under the impression that the best-selling home in America is also the “most desirable.” Which is a bit like claiming that, because it is the best-selling used car, the Honda Accord is the most desirable vehicle in the U.S. But we digress. According to their video, compiled from their own stats, some information from Kiplinger…
Is your email box filling up with real estate holiday greetings? They started rolling into mine at Thanksgiving but I just got around to reading them. One stood out among all the others. I’ve awarded it the prize for The Worst Real Estate Email Ever. Take a look and see if you see what I see. Naturally, the agent’s name and brokerage have been changed. Believe it or not, it came from a highly-regarded (at least in the industry) East coast agent. I’ve interviewed her in the past and she is absolutely captivating. Not only that, past clients in her…
If you’re running short on real estate giveaway ideas, this one’s for you. Whether you’re trying to catch fish, corral cats or capture a lead, a lure is your best tool. The problem is that, while we have a pretty good idea what fish and cats find enticing, not all real estate prospects value the same things. Determining your preferred audience is step one in any real estate lead gen strategy. Step two is figuring out what this audience values and, finally, package that valuable information in such a way as to make it utterly irresistible to them. With that…
What’s your 2019 real estate marketing plan? The end of the year is creeping up on us and with it comes the inevitable look-back on your real estate business. How’d you do? If you didn’t get the results you were aiming for, your year-end business planning may require an overhaul of your real estate marketing plan. Yeah, it’s boring stuff, but critical to your success in 2019. Even if you slap together the basics of a real estate marketing plan, you’ll be a step ahead of most agents in your market. Your 2019 real estate marketing plan takes money It…
Hey, you’re busy (at least we hope you are) and you don’t have time to be searching the internet for the latest real estate news and gossip. But, we do, and here’s the November real estate news we thought you might be interested in. November real estate news – Homeowners staying put longer Anyone who has watched the housing market over the past few years knows that, by and large, homeowners are stubbornly remaining in their homes. Thus, the infamous “inventory shortage.” What you may not know, however, is what AttomData has learned: homeowner tenure in the U.S. has…
We should all be so fortunate to live a life like Loretta Taggart. Back in 2015, at 100 years of age, she reached a milestone – 15 years as a twice-weekly exercise instructor in St. Paul, Minnesota. Doing the math, that means she started her career at 85 years of age When asked to what she attributes her long life, Ms. Taggart told USA today that it’s “moderation, attitude, gratitude … that’s it.” That, and not letting her hair go gray. She has a point. Gratitude works wonders for the human psyche, according to scientists at the University of…
It’s almost a new year already – can you believe it? There’s going to be plenty of real estate conferences in 2019 to make connections and learn about something brand new. Each one of the conferences listed below is a great chance to network with fellow real estate professionals, so we recommend checking them all out (assuming you have the time and money to cover the travel, of course). With that in mind, here’s a list of your can’t-miss 2019 real estate conferences: It’s a great idea to attend as many of these conferences as you can. Networking is everything…
Think you can’t compete with the area’s well-established and entrenched, number-one luxury real estate agent? Think again, oh aspiring high-end home sales superstar. If you have the bucks, the marketing chops and a bit of tenacity, you, too, can be flogging luxury real estate and earning the big commissions they bring. Does your website represent everything you offer to your clients? See how LeadSites can help your business grow. Consider finding a luxury real estate mentor The luxury home listing and marketing process is so different from any other real estate niche that you simply cannot “fake it until you make…
I’ll have to admit, there was a time when I used the term “landing page” when referring to a real estate home page and “squeeze page” for landing page. But, let’s not go there. Let’s, instead, ensure you don’t make the same mistake by bringing you up to speed on some common terminology you’ll be hearing in your real estate marketing planning. Specifically, we’re defining real estate home page, landing page and squeeze page. Since a real estate website is your most important tool (ok, so we’re a bit biased … doesn’t make it any less true), we’ll start there….
If you want to increase your earning power next year you need to decrease all the little, yet time consuming stuff you do every day. You know, posting on Facebook, entering your listing info into the MLS and anything else you do that takes you away from real estate lead generation. It may sound counter-intuitive, but agents we’ve spoken with claim that their incomes actually increased after they hired someone to take on the administrative details of their business. Let’s free up more of your time in 2019 – time you can spend cultivating relationships, diligently following up on leads…
We sure hope you didn’t sink a ton of money into your Facebook real estate video marketing over the past couple of years. If you did, it was no doubt because of the amazing stats the platform was posting as a lure to add additional advertisers. Guess what? They were lying. They will now have to face a federal district court judge in California in a case brought by a number of very (and justifiably) angry advertisers who relied on the fuzzy numbers for their Facebook ad campaigns. Back in 2016, Facebook finally admitted that it had been fudging the…
What exactly is a content audit? Well, every time you promote one of your blog posts on social media, you are engaging in “content marketing.” And if that kind of marketing works for brands such as Procter & Gamble, Microsoft and Toshiba, it should work for any real estate agent, right? If you’re still not convinced, consider this: Crowe Horwath, a major accounting firm, used content marketing to reach big financial institutions (those with at least $1 billion in assets). “Their strategy consisted of generating nearly 50 different pieces of content centered around several topics of interest to their target…
I have three geriatric dogs. Although the stack of vet receipts proves their advanced age, I find myself constantly checking my pooches while they’re napping to see if they’re still breathing. I do the same thing with my former real estate clients, if you can believe it. If one of my dogs sleeps through my grabbing the keys before leaving the house, while the other two run for the door (well, it’s more like “toddle” to the door) I’m Johnny-on-the-spot, looking at the sides of its body for signs of exhaling and inhaling. Do you check for signs of life…
Somewhere along the line, real estate agents missed the point: client loyalty depends almost entirely on the service consumers receive, not cheesy real estate closing gifts. Keep wooing that client long after the closing and you’ll not only earn even more loyalty than you will with a closing gift, but save money as well, at least according to the old business rule that says it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one. If real estate clients crave customer service, isn’t that (backed up with consistent follow-up) the best real estate closing gifts…
Back in 2011, ActiveRain published an infographic entitled “Rich Agent, Poor Agent.” In it, we learned which habits rich agents shared. It was almost a roadmap to real estate success for agents who followed and stuck to it. Flash forward nearly eight years and not much has changed, except that few agents seem to want to follow a roadmap to real estate success. This is evident in the pathetic statistic that 90% of all real estate transactions are performed by 10% of agents At least in Toronto, Canada. We can’t imagine it’s much different here in the U.S. Real estate…
To date, we have yet to find anything in an online list of “great” real estate blog posts that isn’t overused, self-serving or boring. Do these list-makers honestly think that a real estate consumer is going to read the millionth “Why you need a real estate agent” article they’ve seen online? So, why bother writing something that won’t get read? Especially when there are other things you can and should be doing? For a real estate website that makes blogging easy, be sure to consider LeadSites. It’s not enough to write “readable” real estate blog posts and it’s not enough…
Don’t let anyone tell you that “this is not your father’s real estate industry,” because, apparently, it is. It’s nearly 2019 and the most-searched term on Google by real estate agents is NOT how to use artificial intelligence to generate leads or anything else that reflects modern tech use in the industry. Nope, agents are searching for information on real estate slogans and taglines. Sure, the name of the real estate marketing game in most markets is to differentiate yourself from the competition. But … really … real estate slogans? We get it, it’s tough to break away from the…
Can you believe it’s almost November? Yikes, this year is whizzing by. If you haven’t had time to keep up with the wacky world of real estate news, have no fear. We found some tidbits and couldn’t wait to share them with our favorite real estate agents. Get a professional real estate website without all the work – LeadSites makes it easy to maintain a professional appearance online. First time buyers are primarily millennials, second timers are boomers This bit of real estate news comes from a panel at the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors’ 22nd annual Economic Summit. Interestingly,…
I don’t know about you, but real estate burnout typically hits this writer right. about. now. Maybe it’s because all those “What Spectacular Thing is Going to Happen in 2019” articles are starting to show up online. They remind me that I’ve been slugging away, pounding the keyboard, six days a week for yet another year. Happens to a lot of us, across all industries, but especially during the slow season. Need a real estate site that gives you the tools you need to keep your business going strong? Learn more about LeadSites. Burnout happens. And you’ll know it by…
A real estate listing agent’s nightmare is when headlines read “At last more choices for home-buyers.’” What it should say is “Oh, crap, how do I deal with this?” That’s right – we’re entering a real estate buyer’s market. I once considered myself a listing agent (before I left the industry). I think it’s safe to say that buyers’ agents vastly outnumber us. And, like Trump’s supporters back in November of 2016, these buyers’ agents are getting ready to gloat. Can you blame them? After all, for the past couple of years they’ve put up with their clients facing multiple…
Things fall apart, bodily solids hit the fan. Real estate mistakes happen. The problem is that, especially when it happens in a real estate deal, there are a whole lot of people impacted. Experienced agents know how easy it is to become distracted, especially when they’re overworked. New agents have no business going into distraction mode and should be 100 percent on alert for potential bombs in their first few deals. Not paying attention to the rules and regs can blow up a deal. Assumptions can blow up a deal. Real estate-unaware clients can really blow up a deal. Still,…
“The slow season.” Online agent advice about what to do during these months (make a huge marketing push, nurture your sphere, etc.) is pretty much what they recommend during the busy season, right? But what about settling in, reading some real real estate articles and learning some new tricks for the spring? Sometimes, it’s okay to make like a bear and trudge through the snow until you find a cozy cave in which to crash for a time. Sometimes, you have no choice. Whether you plan on trying to drum up business or you’re considering kicking back, we hope you’ll…
Neighborhood pages – what are they, and how can you use them to supercharge your real estate website? We’ve spent the past week or two dissecting real estate agent websites and putting them back together in a way that improves your standing as a real estate authority, helps visitors get to know and like you and teaches you how to convert visitors to clients. You need to get those visitors to your site, though, to accomplish all of the above. Sure, you can pay for them – there are tons of companies out there with the sole aim of separating…
To use a keyword or not to use a keyword… Choosing Google Ads keywords can seem pretty elementary. Use the wrong one, however, and you could end up wasting hundreds of dollars on ads that never get seen or clicked. Today, we’re going to cover the different types of keywords, and examine some of the best Google Ads keywords you can use to drive traffic to your site based on your unique situation. For a real estate website designed to get you more leads, be sure to consider LeadSites. 4 Types Of Google Ads Keywords There are four different types…
If you think you have to be the world’s biggest slime to lose your real estate license, think again. A word or phrase inadvertently used in a property marketing piece, a lack of care with other people’s money, or a brain fart that causes you to leave out a material fact about a listing could land you in deep doo-doo with the real estate powers-that-be. Although each state’s licensing board sets their own rules with regards to licensees, they are pretty similar. Think it can’t happen to you? In 2010, 866 agents in California had their licenses suspended, revoked or…
Gather ’round, agents, while we share the latest real estate industry news. The current state of the real estate market Ya feeling a draft through your real estate market? From Denver to Silicon Valley and New York City, markets are changing. Does this mean the “slow season” this year is going to be even slower? Better start stocking away those pennies because a rainy day may just be around the corner in real estateville. Your clients know not to trust what they read about the housing market in the media, right? Agents feel the changes long before journalists do so…
Real estate success is a tricky thing to measure. Look at the bios of some of the most successful humans on the planet, and two themes run consistently through them: they’re workaholics and they aren’t content with being average. Former NFL wide receiver Jerry Rice didn’t win 36 NFL records by working at it part-time. And, although he is considered by some to be the greatest all-around NFL player of all time, it isn’t talent alone that got him the accolades. Rice was typically the lone guy on the field after practices were over and the other guys on the…
What if we told you that all you need to do is tackle one task and you’ll realize a threefold return for your effort? Adding a real estate testimonial (aka social proof) to your website and marketing materials is the task. The return? Your real estate testimonial enables consumers to judge your credibility as a real estate authority It helps potential clients get to know you Social proof instills trust As a bonus, if done right, it may even help with SEO. Today, in our continuing series on website hacks (homepage, about me), we’re working on a page on your real…
Your agent bio says everything your clients need to know about you – that makes it critically important to your real estate website. If you took our advice a couple of weeks ago you are now the proud owner of a home page that sings! If not, read this and get to work. Searching for a better performing real estate website? Be sure to consider LeadSites. Today we tackle the second most important page on your real estate website: the “About Me,” “About the Team” or “Company Profile” page. Today we’re talking about your agent bio. Writing an agent bio…
If we told you that LinkedIn boasts a 2.74 percent visitor-to-lead conversion rate, would it make you consider using LinkedIn for real estate? Yeah, it sounds pretty tiny, right? But, when compared to Facebook’s .77 percent and Twitter’s .69 percent, LinkedIn’s is positively huge. In fact, according to Hubspot’s number crunching, LinkedIn’s conversion rate is 277 times higher than Facebook’s. One of the reasons for this may be the fact that LinkedIn is pretty much business-oriented. No photos of kitties or what someone had for lunch or updates on family matters. Because there are fewer social posts, “a business’ marketing…
How often do you think about your real estate website homepage? I spent the weekend reading real estate blog posts. Yeah, sounds boring, but it’s an occupational hazard. Then, I happened upon one that was so brilliant, I about fell out of my chair. Titled “Why Snapchat is Crap for Real Estate Agents,” it was written by our very own Tyler Zey back in 2016. But, man, is it pertinent today. No, it’s not all about Snapchat. It’s about agents chasing each new shiny object while letting the tried and true fall by the wayside. I’ll bet that happens in…
Realtor.com is out with its first quarter 2018 hottest ZIP code list. What we’re wondering: is it good or not so good to be an agent in one of the hottest zip codes in the US right now? The housing market may be cooling down, but in some markets homes are flying off the market. In fact, homes in the top five hottest zip codes on the list average 16.4 days on the market. That’s barely enough time to get the lockbox installed. In the meantime, based on Realtor.com’s criteria, which includes time on the market and the number…
While fall isn’t as slow a real estate season as winter, it does begin a significant slide around the end of October. This is when you may find yourself digging deep into your CRM for fall real estate lead generation that will keep you going over the winter. While contacting folks in your database is a perfectly respectable lead generation technique, you may need to go a bit bigger, or, at least, think more creatively in preparation for the coming slow-down. We’ve rounded up some tried-and-true fall real estate lead generation techniques and some you may have never considered….
Real estate prospecting – the concept has been around for years, but it’s becoming easier and easier to do in our modern world, thanks to two little words: Big data. Technology is amazing, isn’t it? Think about how relatively “new” it is, yet it has creeped into almost every part of our lives. If you are of the age where tech was something only featured in sci-fi movies when you were a kid, the reality of it as a mind-blowing part of daily life is something to which you no doubt marvel over. Create your ideal real estate website with…
Can you feel the real estate market turbulence? Have you heard that we’re headed for a recession? According to a survey by our good friends at Zillow (who are never wrong, right?) and Pulsenomics, the breaking news is that we can expect it to hit “sometime in 2020, most likely in the first quarter,” says Market Watch personal finance reporter, Jacob Passy. Slightly less than half of the 99 panelists surveyed predicted a 2020 recession, which echoes a June survey by the National Association for Business Economists and another by the Wall Street Journal. Where they diverge, however is that…
We’re hearing it from agents across the country – the slowing of the housing market seems all too real. And, nationwide statistics seem to validate the anecdotal evidence. But, because all markets are local, it’s currently only happening in pockets across the country. Economists predict the future of the housing market using economic factors. Real estate professionals, however, because you are the “boots on the ground,” have other and better evidence to consider. Let’s take a look at some of what we’ve been hearing and reading about and then you can decide for yourself. Need a real estate website that…
Every month I receive real estate market reports from a local real estate team. They aren’t anything fancy; they are, in fact, rather homely. There are no graphs (which I consider a blessing), there’s not a bit of color and they’re printed on cheap paper. But, when they show up in my mailbox, it’s the first piece of mail I open. Every month. And, by the way, they’re the only real estate market reports I receive. No other agents in my area send these out and I live in a major metropolitan area. I like to keep tabs on…
What does it take to create the perfect open house? Until they pass their real estate licensing exam and hang it with a broker, new agents are largely insulated from real estate office “water cooler” talk. You know – “buyers are liars,” and “open houses are a waste of time.” Sure, you may agree with both, but new agents are a different breed and, for them, buyers and open houses may just be their ticket to that first commission check. If you’re a new agent, don’t listen to the Negative Nellies because right now, you don’t have the luxury to…
Easy Agent Pro recently connected with Dustin Brohm from Massive Agent to host a webinar. The topic: How do you establish consistent real estate leads in today’s market? One way to get more leads is with a better website. Learn how LeadSites can make the difference and help you grow your business. If you missed out on the live webinar, you can watch the replay below. But generating leads isn’t that easy, right? Obviously, we all want to generate more real estate leads, and we’re all looking for the peace of mind of consistent real estate leads. But wanting it…
Real estate email marketing campaigns aren’t easy to get underway, but once they are you’ll spend less time and money on this form of lead generation than any other. To do it right, however, learn from others’ mistakes. Check out these five common real estate email marketing blunders so you can avoid them. And for a real estate website that takes the hard work out of marketing, be sure to check out LeadSites. 1. Not segmenting email lists OK, stupid question here, but have you ever received an email newsletter or other form of marketing that doesn’t even remotely pertain…
It’s no secret that one of the most important elements of a successful real estate website is content. If it’s done right, real estate website content lures visitors to your site, lets them know what you have to offer and helps establish an initial relationship with potential clients. Fresh real estate website content, published consistently, is the pathway to Google’s heart. But, it’s not the only way. Updating old content can give you a boost in your rankings as well. “David Schneider, the co-founder of Ninja Outreach, increased organic traffic on the site by over 40% by bringing old…