Can Local Real Estate Agents Expect 300+ MLS To Regulate 81 Real Estate Aggregator Sites?

Being that we do a lot of real estate listing integration into WordPress sites, this post is a relevant one for agents fighting to be visible online on a level playing field. Per ‘Geek Estate Blog’ author Justin Britt, “… my competitive nature had me checking to see if other Hawaii real estate websites were also following RETS rules and regulations. Some of them were not.”

At least this is relevant in terms of understanding the SEO benefits of publishing local addresses; understanding how those giant aggregators like Zillow & Trulia and local firms alike are competing with you when publishing addresses AND THEN ALSO understanding what compliance issues AND/ OR protections there may or may not be with your local MLS when publishing local addresses.  

Give  Justin Britt’s post, ‘Can MLS Companies Level The Playing Field?’ a read!

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What Do [Real Estate] Agents And Brokers Need From Their Site?

What Do Real Estate Agents And Brokers Need From Their Sites [= brand] ? 

If you’re in the real estate business and you haven’t updated your site [= your brand ] in awhile, ‘what do I really need?’ is a question you should be asking yourself! 

These days, the return from a site can be much greater than many have been accustomed too with basic websites. At least a return without having to buy SEO, PPC or more traditional advertising to get traffic anywhere near it. However and no matter what you’ve seen or heard, you must start by defining a goal… everything [design, elements, search configurations, social integration & feeds, lead capture, widgets, etc.] should stem from the goal!

Questions That May Help Define ‘The Goal’

1. What is the tactic? Maybe it’s consistent blogging or social networking … or both.
2. What is the strategy? Maybe it’s to target home buyer and sellers with current community news or home sales data or useful education or both. Maybe it’s the best home search environment possible.
3. What differentiates you and/ or your firm? Maybe you’re a luxury or distressed homes expert. Maybe you focus on buyers only.
4. What is the target market? Maybe you’re in only interested in luxury listings. Maybe distressed. Maybe buyers only. Maybe all of the above.
5. What is the ultimate Goal: While immediate sales are probably unrealistic in the real estate business, visibility isn’t. For some it’s straight up raw traffic, although I’d caution that when quality is within your grasp place your focus on it. With others, it’s MLS Search email subscription; others free offers to lead capture forms  [i.e. 'FREE Home Appraisal', 'FREE Tax Assessment Advice', 'FREE Market Data'] and for others it’s building pipeline, maybe via driving brand engaging blog subscription. In each scenario, the answers to these questions should have everything to do with your site!

What Do You Need From A Real Estate Site?

Chances are you are not a computer programmer, but even if you’re capable the reality is that rapidly evolving software, plugin applications, security patches, core code updates, optimized hosting and the customized apps’ and design you may need makes it complicated. So, what will give you all the advantages needed with your site [ = brand] to reach your goals?

1. WordPress, because it’s core code advances at the pace of the web; because it’s massive open source support makes virtually any application manageable; because it’s easily customized, added too, redesigned and day to day adjustments are mostly doable for the owner … so you’re not incurring cost each time you make a change, nor the cost of designing a site from scratch… WordPress matters for real estate!
2. Managed and Optimized Hosting for WordPress. You rarely hear about it, but managed hosting for WordPress exists and it matters.
3. Custom Design: Are you a differentiated, compelling brand? Is there a highly visible focus on the communities you service [Remember: it's less about you and more about useful service in communities you work in!] Are you set up to reach your goals? Does your designer have any experience with all the subtleties that go into a site that meets your goals?
4. Home Search: Is there an ease for visitors to search homes. With WordPress we recommend using Diverse Solutions, which in lieu of a complete custom integration, enables you to generate search indexing for local listings. With WordPress it’s easily enclosed and managed.
5. Featured Listings: Your featured listings are the money maker and your clients want visibility for their homes. Get serious about featured listings on your site!
6. Search Engine Optimization: WordPress is highly spider friendly software with it’s cooperative permalink, category and tagging markup. While it doesn’t come out of the box completely ready, meticulous configuration to support as many search engine signals, including updating to remain current, is manageable.  
7. Blog: While it may or may not be an emphasis, and it can either be designed front and center or in the background, you should be current via use of a blog! For Brokers, we even build solutions that aggregate content into category specific channels from all the agents. It makes for a highly active current and engaging stake in local real estate news visibility for both the firm and the agents.
8. Social Integration: While you never own the social network environment, it sure helps to have exposure amongst their members. And whether it’s highly visible links, automated content feeds and/ or sharing icons  you need to look at how to leverage visibility for your brand in the social networks so that it supports your ultimate goal. And building a page in Facebook, for instance, that mimics your brand [= site] is also a good idea.
9. Subscription: With blogs, subscription is standard via RSS; however, our experience shows people still choose to subscribe voluntarily via email. Make sure your site offers blog subscription via email. As mentioned above, most IDX offer home search email drip programs.
10. Categorization & Simple Navigation: Don’t underestimate categorization’s effect for humans and for search engines. Assuming permalinks grab the category you’ve chosen into it’s URL string, it adds a spider friendly signal to the post/page’s markup … so choose your categories wisely. What’s more, you want visitors to navigate your site with ease, allowing them to drill down to the content they want. Keep categories focused and specific for them… maybe 8- 10 maximum, if possible.
11. Lead Conversion: While you might deploy a series of lead capture strategies [i.e. 1) IDX driven email drip, 2) blog subscription OR 3) local offers, like  'FREE Home Appraisal', 'FREE Tax Assessment Advice', 'FREE Market Data'] the goal always includes lead conversion.
12. Traffic Analysis: You cannot improve and optimize what you do not analyze – see You Simply Must Convert!!

Folks,  with your site [ = your brand] we believe it all starts with the question … ‘what do I really need?’

Annette Mejia’s goal is to leapfrog  her competition online for all subjects surrounding Big Island Hawaii Real Estate! Seeing as how new real estate agents are often thinking about how to hit the ground running in their marketplaces, we felt Annette would serve as an interesting example for those in a similar place. Here Are a few intimate questions w’ Annette Mejia:

Q: “Annette, You’ve decided to roll out of the gates with an elaborate blogsite platform. Why?”

A: “I need to present and also build my local Big Island real estate brand online. The Big Island is truly a “Big” Island. With so much to offer from Kona coffee, excellent golf courses, great fishing, I wanted  those interested in Real Estate on the Big Island to have one great source to go to. My feeling is, do it right from the start! Kinetic Knowledge offered me the right combination of services, education, marketing- capable site, content support and, frankly, fair pricing.”

Q: “You’ve chosen to automatically push your content to various social network accounts. Why?”

A: “I’m busy doing, so duplicating effort is not an option and automatic push gets me started. With so many people on Facebook, Twitter, etc. it is only fitting that I begin to promote my services as a Big Island Realtor in those environments as well.”

Q: “You’re also deploying a strategy to maximize direct RSS & Email subscription. Why?”

A: “Hey, regardless of search and network, I need to remain ‘top of mind’ and there’s no better form of advertising than direct subscription. Subscription is voluntary, so I can follow up with people direct AND on their terms… which is even better than direct ”

Q: “What’s the immediate goal?”

A: “I want to leapfrog the competition online, leveraging an organic search, networking and direct subscribe strategy. It’s the most cost efficient way for me to capture Big Island buyer and seller attention. With so many Buyers doing their homework online prior to coming out to Hawaii, I need to position myself as a source for their needs. I have travelled the world quite extensively myself, so I always love meeting people online from outside the US. In fact, I am currently working with clients from Canada, Alaska and Australia that I have met through my online efforts!”

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Kinetic Knowledge Client Interviews

20 years a leading Toronto Real Estate Agent; Jay Banerjei was forced to leave the country for a year due to philanthropic commitments, namely a family owned school for the underprivileged. In doing so, he was forced to leave a visible Toronto community presence in limbo.

Upon his recent return he set about researching the most cost efficient methods for rebuilding his former presence quickly. His effort led him to blogging, or better yet publishing & content. His immediate goal: to quickly establish a current, informed and appealing voice as the relevant Toronto Real Estate trade media source!

But enough conjecture, let’s ask Jay himself about his research and intentions going forward:

Frerecks: “So Jay, you looked at various solutions to try and re- establish your brand quickly in the Toronto marketplace. Why a kinetic blogsite, social network and public relations related services?”

Banerjei: “Ultimately it relates to a relatively quick & cost effective, yet unlimited potential, approach to exposing my business. Marketers need to make a decision: these days, it is jump on the bullet train or move out of the way… and I have jumped on!”

Frerecks: “You feel publishing to the web or blogging is the right method?”

Banerjei:  “I’m still doing 3 hours of telephone prospecting between 9 and 12 pm daily, but yes I do! Beyond the traditional methods of marketing & advertising I’m still using, most are not working any longer. Even the more recent days of consumers and business simply going to Google, typing in a search phrase, locating a company and calling or even purchasing are over. Sure my name will pop up in Google, but you’ve got to differentiate yourself when they search. And it’s not just standard text either; Toronto real estate video blogging will bring a high impact addition to my online marketing as well.”

“We’ll cover community and events, but we can expose Toronto homes in ways that maximize their dollar value for our sellers; we can expose an unlimited number of choices for people buying a home too. Beyond current local real estate coverage and a place to search/ find properties in Toronto, this blogsite is also a perfect place for those [looking for a real estate agent] to come and see all of the wonderful things that we do for our clients. We can capture leads, offer them direct RSS or email subscription.”

“My blogsite is very much a website, but a dynamic one that will helps us to market, foster home search, capture leads, generate direct subscription and rebuild our brand!

Frerecks: “What about the Social Networks? Do you have a lot of time to be there or will you position this blogsite to support that presence too?”

Banerjei:  “This blogsite will automatically export our content to Facebook, Twitter and Linked in! That added exposure will support the broader web optimization of, and also direct subscription to, our content. It will bring our video blogging to more people and we feel video is going to give instant feedback on sales.”

“Look, these social networks will allow me to market beyond search and direct subscription. Hopefully they will bring us more & more future clients. It’s certainly a very effective way of staying in contact with past clients, giving them relevant information wherever they are! And that’s without having to duplicate any effort! We’re also in control of our content to the degree that, if any social network fails, we still have it archived, categorized, tagged and available!”

Frerecks:  “In six months time, what is the goal with this kinetic blogsite?”

Banerjei:  I want to be on the leading edge! We’ll grab market share before the rest do!  We will have established our brand and an effective marketing and business tool.  We will be where the eye of the consumer is online, always expanding our market share. We will have hundreds of hot active leads at any one time.
I want this blogsite to grow into one of the top real estate resources for the greater Toronto area!

Jim Morelli is a top Austin TX real estate agent. Recently he consolidated his online presence to a Real Estate Blogsite. Within 60 days he has seen better search engine indexing, ‘site stickiness’, Austin TX IDX search & subscription, visibility for his content [automated to various social networks], leads and more new business.

He was happy to share his success in a short interview:

Frerecks: Jim, Why go to a real estate blogsite as your primary online presence?

Morelli: I went to a blogsite as my primary and only site for three reasons: simplicity, reduced cost and better overall visitor engagement. With my website I was tired of paying big bucks to keep the content updated and the look and feel fresh. I also found that the more static the site the less potential traffic and also the higher the bounce rate. This is already proven: in the first 60 days with my dynamic blogsite my bounce rate has decresed by 50%!

Q: Why integrate your local MLS Search / IDX into your blogsite?

A: It’s important for us to build a database of direct subscribers we can continue to send good information too. We need to be on their radar screen for when they’re ‘ready to buy’… or sell. We’ve found that when we blog information on specific areas or properties of Austin we can draw buyers in and funnel them to our IDX search, both quickly and affordably. I think they come for the immediate information, then find the site easy to navigate. Once in, they quickly discover our Austin IDX search. They can subscribe to our blog, but more often than not they also sign up for property update email which is easy and straight forward to use.

Q: You’re in a super forward thinking and competitive area for online. By covering the Austin TX real estate marketplace with the blog have you seen better advertising visibility for targeted key phrases?

A: In the five years prior to having my blogsite I could never get my domain LivingNorthAustin.com on to page one with Google. For instance we target the search phrases North Austin Real Estate, North Austin Texas Real Estate or North Austin TX Real Estate. I’m 60 days into my blogsite now [relocated to LivingNorthAustin.com ] and I’m often # 1 for all three searches out of 12 million, 8 million and 2 million indexed pages. What is funny is my website provider wanted $3,000 dollars to optimize my site, which obviously I never did.

Q: Beyond the search engines, anything else you’re doing to drive overall brand visibility?

A: I am using my blogsite to automate the feed of my posts to accounts I have with Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook [via Fan page]. The goal being to drive leads back to my blogsite where I have all the information they might want. I also promote the site in every email I send, on every piece of paper I print as well linking to all searches [i.e. Realtor.com, local board etc.] so yes I am. Look, this about advertising so I’m leveraging all the opportunities available to make my Austin brand visible. The blogsite makes it easy.

Q: Have you driven any new leads or sales you can speak of with the blogsite yet?

A: We have already signed three new buyers to buyer representation agreements. They all are actively looking and will buy with in 30 days!

Real Estate Blogsites can either be designed as an 1) all encompassing standalone web presence or to 2) support any existing website.

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Top Edmonton AB Business forgoes Website for All Encompassing Blog

Brand build, direct subscription, search & web visibility are qualities we discuss quite often when talking about the value proposition of a good advertorial business blog. While blogging offers them simultaneously, agent Kristan Cole Wasilla Alaska recently distinguished a couple more valuable qualities.

See Kristan’s recent interview on the subject:

Namely Cole is pushing answers to the web where they’re easily accessible, including her presentations, documents and forms. And, by the way, she’s not only advocating environmental consciousness, she’s saving herself a great deal of time and money! Imagine having detailed answers to questions & important forms prepared and ready to go. Rather than faxes or traditional mail systems, just email them.

Short of uploading PDFs into a post [or HTML page] for client access, with good blogs there are so many options to get environmentally conscious. We offer straight form packages for your blog or, if advanced digital form & transaction management is more your speed, Instanet Solutions offers great support.

• See Also:
  Instanet Solutions Blog, Paperless Real Estate Transaction Management Solutions
• Custom Forms or Comprehensive Lead Generation/ Lead Capture Package 

Oregon’s Costa Pacific Communities is not only a leader in the development of sustainable communities, but for how they market themselves online. Recently featured in Builder News Magazine & Professional Builder Magazine for their innovative style, we had the chance to talk to Costa Pacific Sales and Marketing Manager Andy Green about the creation of community, both on and off line:

Frerecks: “Hi Andy. Could you sum up for folks the synergies between what you’re trying to accomplish on and off line at Cost Pacific Communities?”

Green: “Sure. As a developer, our story takes us back to the days when neighborhoods were villages, not just developments built on top of each other. As a marketer, we want to blog as much Costa Pacific community information and news as possible. By touting features in our village neighborhoods, we’re creating a better sense of community for both residents and prospective buyers.”

Frerecks: “Is there anything in particular going on right now?”

Green: “Yes, the Villebois community in Wilsonville, Oregon, is already up and running.

The vision for it has become even more than we ever imagined. It’s a thriving community model that can all but remove the automobile from the equation. As a transit-oriented development, our community is adjacent to the WES, Westside Express Service, commuter train. You could also get on a bike and ride to your grocery store or you can walk to church. Construction will also begin next year on a public primary school. You can quite literally live, work, play and learn in the Villebois community.”

Frerecks: “How does your blogging differentiate you as a developer and support Villebois and the Costa Pacific vision of community?

Green: “With Villebois we have designed a community that is not only sustainable from a building practice standpoint, but it is also a socially sustainable community where neighbors get to know neighbors, and tend to plan social activities on a regular basis. Our goal is to keep the lines of communication open between Costa Pacific and the residents in our community. We have found that this has been achieved exactly as we had planned through our blog.” 

Frerecks: “Have your blogging efforts created better visibility for Villebois online?”

Green: “Absolutely. Not only has our blog been well received by the members in our community, but it has also increased our presence in the major search engines. Traffic has seen a month over month spike in page views, unique new visitors and, obviously, return visitors.”

Frerecks: “Andy, On behalf of the Real Estate Blogsites’ audience, thanks for sharing great news and great ideas.”

Malone Hodges operates a real estate business in one of the more affluent areas of North America, Carmel and Pebble Beach CA. He began publishing with his Carmel & Pebble Beach CA Real Estate Blogsite mid September of 2008, which has served to build awareness and trust locally for him. In a brutal real estate marketplace, he’s also seeing related new business opportunities. We had the chance to ask him a few questions, which we’ll share for everyone’s benefit here.

Kinetic Knowledge Q: “Malone, what presence have you established online?”

Malone Hodges A: “I maintain a website and my real estate blogsite. I also have property specific websites for each property I list. I am lucky enough to have a unique name so if clients can remember my name it is likely they will find the blog, website, or other reference via a specific Google search. One of the most successful agents in our area has the same name as a well known actor. Even with his success it can be challenging to find him on the web given the actor and others with the same name.”

Q: “What effort do you put into blogging each week?”

A: “I try and post to some aspect of the blog each week. I use my blog’s static pages as a backbone for several URLs. This allows me to use the same interface to write the various pages, and have all these other “websites” help the blog’s position vis a vis search engines. I provide these “report” URLs to clients who are only interested in “the state of the market” snap shot and aren’t willing to scroll through a blog. For example, Carmelreport.com points to a single static page with data, graphs, and analysis about Carmel.”

Q: “Has the blog supported you in the Carmel Community?”

A: “Yes! I recently attended a school board meeting and wrote up a summary of a very tense issue [Carmel River School Boundary] in the blog. I was quoted in both local papers (I made a comment about the real estate markets impact on enrollment—the topic of the meeting) and by having the blog post up before the next morning I was one of the first pages hit when folks searched for the issue. Obviously I was indexed immediately for the post, which is how they were able to find me. I also forwarded the blog entry to the school board to make sure I had my facts right. I think they appreciated that, and ended up referring other folks to the entry.”

Q: “So the blog has been an asset to your business?”

A: “The blog is a useful asset in several situations:

1) If I get a phone call from a potential client and answer their questions about the specific property or reason for their call, I always offer to put them on my email newsletter list or send them more information. Sometimes they say, “That’s OK I’ll call you when I have questions.” I am able to respond, “Great, call me anytime. But also feel free to review the data and market analysis that I post on my Carmel / Pebble Beach real estate community news blog.” Nine times out of ten they ask for the address again and write it down. I have been contacted weeks later by some of these folks that have been to the blog, gotten comfortable with me through reading it, and then decided to work with me.

2)I point readers of my email newsletter to my blog to get updates between email newsletters and as a portal to access data/mls search etc. independent of the email.

3)The blog is an effective tool for my wife and friends. When someone asks them about the real estate market they can easily point them to my blog.”

Q: “As far as search engine marketing goes, are you shooting for organic search indexing with the blog OR is PayPerClick advertising a part of your strategy?”

A: I see the blog primarily as a service for my clients (and potential clients) and a marketing tool second. By keeping that frame of reference I have found it to be an effective marketing tool. I also use Google hundreds of times a day myself. I have only clicked on a paid link once in the last 9 months. When I am looking for information I want the best information, not the one willing to pay the most per click. I take that into consideration when I have my marketing hat on. I’m betting my target client is behaving in a similar fashion, so I’m shooting for the organic index and not using PPC.

Q: “It appears the blog has become very important in the overall strategy for your business?”

A: “Given the state of the [Carmel / Pebble Beach real estate] market, many buyers are “tracking” and trying to find the bottom. Whether that is wise is another question, but the key is to stay in contact with them while they are in the holding pattern so you are the resource they turn to when they decide to act. My blog is an important part of that strategy. There are 1,200 Realtors on the Monterey Peninsula only a fraction are still “in business” full time. The blog is an important way to demonstrate that I am.”

Related Posts:

• Hinsdale IL Realtor® Bryan Bomba on Discipline for Business Blogging
• Business Blogging Success Story: Santa Clarita & Valencia CA Realtor®

If you’re in the Real Estate business than you’re probably aware of Howard Brinton’s STAR POWER® Systems, the leading organization nationally for Real Estate Education. Did you know they have a Blog?

STAR POWER® Systems is truly an idea sharing network for Real Estate selling methods & techniques; however, the coaching comes from the folks who make it happen in the field every day. It comes from some of the 300 top producing Realtors® in America – The Top Producing Real Estate Stars!

Nowadays The Stars are blogging personal knowledge and experience, including some inspirational blog posts in what are truly tough times, to the STAR POWER® Systems Real Estate Educational Blog. So, if you aspire to be a top producing Realtor®, have a look and consider subscribing to what will be an ongoing commitment on the part of STAR POWER® Systems.

Real Estate Blogsites/ Kinetic Blogs: There are many free blog solutions; however, not one is completely prepared to meet the exact brand, design, feature, security, content control and search optimization needs of a serious business. With our service you see leading-edge business blog solutions, branded design, ongoing education, various content creation options [custom or automated ghost blogging] and highly accountable customer support. Our intention is to serve client business requirements, while maximizing their marketing, advertising and public relations advantage, for a painless cost.

For Standard Real Estate Blogsite Build, Services and Feature Add-On Pricing Click Here

At Kinetic Knowledge LLC / Real Estate Blogsites^TM we believe in adding tremendous value. Clients come first – we can’t succeed unless you do!