Internet Marketing SEO - How Realtors Can Gain an Audience

The 2007 National Association of Realtors study found that 84% of all homebuyers used the Internet as their initial source of information. With such limited time and resources these days, consumers are willing to do a little bit more of the grunt work to seek out the houses worth looking at. This is where the importance of photographs, professionally-written online marketing SEO copy and search engine optimization come into play.

"What we find is that selling real estate is intensely competitive," said Professor Steve Sawyer of Penn State's Information Sciences and Technology Department. "Consumers have more information, they demand more services, and they have more agents and business models to choose from than ever before."

So how can the local real estate agents and firms get ahead in this increasingly competitive environment? Internet marketing SEO is crucial, experts say. First of all, consider your overall goals and objectives. Reaching a larger audience is one goal of a professional real estate agent. In the past, realtors had to sub-contract artists, printers and copywriters to construct elaborate pamphlets, brochures and direct mailing materials that, more often than not, wound up in the garbage. With the cost-effectiveness of traffic-directing online marketing SEO strategies (like email / newsletter marketing and search engine optimization), business professionals can get more bang for their buck. For instance, for something like $250 / month, realtors can send out email newsletters to over 5,000 subscribers. Many homebuyers are taking their time and waiting out the market right now, so it's the perfect time to start collecting people with an offer to send them the latest houses up for grabs in their market, as well as area happenings, neighborhood information and special members-only offers (that will save them -- not only time - but money as well.)

Search engine optimization is another online marketing SEO tactic that can yield enormous results, and executives of all industries find that simply reworking some of their site's existing content can make all the difference in the world when it comes to visibility. "We have averaged 300-600% increased exposure for our clients just over the last six months," said Adam J. Morien, Founder of OptiTrex Internet marketing SEO company, based out of Denver, Colorado. He adds that the bulk of his company's clients are independent real estate agents looking to gain an advantage in their local markets. One of Morien's clients, Tim Maitski of HomesAtlanta.com, went from the #1,000 Google listing for the search term "Atlanta real estate" and "Atlanta realtor" to #2! Since most consumers never look past page two in their web searches, achieving first page results in a given market is crucial.