Home of unlimited opportunity. Traffic is Good! (when it comes to your website)

Home of unlimited opportunity. *Prep for This Weeks Session* To accommodate different audiences, this session includes basic and advanced information. –If your group consists of mostly beginners, include all slides in your workshop. –If your group is mostly more advanced, skip slides Make color copies of the handout, one per associate, for the activity on slide 39. *Delete this slide before presenting *

Home of unlimited opportunity. In our last Make Your Connections session we looked at how to get noticed online (in a good way): Rising to the top on Google How you appear online Becoming a trusted advisor Turning online networking into face-to-face opportunities Picking Up Where We Left Off…

Home of unlimited opportunity. Today well explore more proactive ways of generating business online – by driving traffic to your website. Todays Make Your Connections Session

Home of unlimited opportunity. So Why is the Internet So Important? Why Do I Need a Website? Source: National Association of REALTORS, 2008 Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers 87% of 2008 Home Buyers used the internet in their home search! By the way…you dont just need a web site – you need an IDX website. Well cover that in a few minutes.

Home of unlimited opportunity. How Did Buyers Find Their Home? 32% of Buyers found the home they purchased online 34% of buyers found the home they purchased through a real estate agent Buyers are more likely to find the homes they purchase via the Internet than newspapers, magazines and yard signs combined! Source: NARs 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

Home of unlimited opportunity. Internet Listings Drive Offline Action Buyers who find home listings online take offline action to move forward in the home buying process Actions Taken After Finding Listing Online Source: National Association of REALTORS, 2008 Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers Source: NARs 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

Home of unlimited opportunity. Lets all get on the same page with some internet terms...

Home of unlimited opportunity. Internet Terms SEO Metatags Keywords Social Networking IDX Brought to you buy:

Home of unlimited opportunity. SEO Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via "natural or organic (non-paid) search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it "ranks," the more searchers will visit that site.

Home of unlimited opportunity. Organic (Non- Paid) Paid Search

Home of unlimited opportunity. Search Results Search behavior of Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL users were assessed in a recent search engine study performed by search engine marketing firm iProspect. 61% of Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL users selected an organic, non-paid search result over a paid search result.

Home of unlimited opportunity. Meta Tags Meta tags are hidden sections of code you enter onto your Web pages that allow the search engines to know what your page is about and index it. Ill show you an example in a few minutes.

Home of unlimited opportunity. Keywords In a search engine, a keyword is the term or phrase you type in order to begin an online search. In website programming language, these are words you enter into your meta tags that describe your page. When someone goes to a search engine and types in one or more of those keywords, your page will be among the pages they are shown. Examples: Morristown homes for sale Middletown NJ homes for sale

Home of unlimited opportunity. Social Networking An online community of people who are socializing with each other via a particular website. Its the practice of growing the number of one's business and/or social contacts by networking with others.

Home of unlimited opportunity. Some Social Networking Sites Facebook – connect and communicate with your network of friends, family, business associates, etc. Blogger - free blogging site (blog=web log or diary) YouTube – for posting videos Craigslist – post and search classified ads LinkedIn – geared towards business people Twitter – allows for short real-time conversations and information sharing

Home of unlimited opportunity. IDX IDX stands for "Internet Data Exchange," commonly called Broker Reciprocity. Under the IDX real estate system, brokers give consent to display each others listings on the Internet. To show other brokers listings on your personal website, you must have an IDX site.

Home of unlimited opportunity. If you dont have a personal IDX website, consider hiring someone to create one for you. If you already have one, thats great! Either way…lets look at how you can generate lots of traffic on your site.

Home of unlimited opportunity. Top 10 Things to do to Drive Traffic 1.Get one local market domain name and a second one with your personal name 2.Purchase an IDX website 3.Embed local keywords throughout your site 4.Post local data that customers will value 5.Do some basic SEO

Home of unlimited opportunity. Top 10 Things to do to Drive Traffic 6.Promote/advertise your URL on all marketing materials/ 7.Advertise your URL to your local neighborhoods 8.Leverage free sites to promote yourself and your website 9.Submit your URL to search engines 10.Use social networking sites

Home of unlimited opportunity. First, Know Why They Come Whats the number one reason consumers go to the web when it comes to real estate? LISTINGS

Home of unlimited opportunity. #1 Get Two Domain Names First domain name – your local market niche: Must have keywords that reflect your local market niche (such as Princeton-Townhouses.com) If domain name you want is taken, add hyphens between the words (such as Princeton-Townhouses.com) Use.com (not.net) – it is most recognized To purchase: ($9.99/year) Second domain name – your name: Must contain your personal name so youre easily found Should only contain your personal name (such as JohnSmith.com, not JohnSmithagent.com) Use.com (not.net) – it is most recognized

Home of unlimited opportunity. Byram Office 276 Route 206 Andover, NJ Office Phone Number Mobile: (973) Direct: (908) Fax: (908)

Home of unlimited opportunity. #2 Purchase an IDX Website

Home of unlimited opportunity. #3 Embed Local Keywords Put relevant, local keywords throughout the programming language of your site: #1 objective is for you to increase the likelihood that your site will appear in organic search results Design of your website should be centered around those relevant, local keywords so that your site is among the organic search results

Home of unlimited opportunity. Click to next slide

Home of unlimited opportunity. #4 Post Local Data Give people a reason to keep visiting your site! Post current, local neighborhood data that local residents will value Posting that local data will demonstrate that you are the neighborhood specialist

Home of unlimited opportunity. #4 Post Local Data

Home of unlimited opportunity. #4 Post Local Data

Home of unlimited opportunity. #5 Do Some Basic SEO – Title Tags and Meta Tags Title tag is the most important: Create a descriptive title with 5-8 words for each page - should contain your name and keywords Use only 2-5 keywords per page Write a description and keyword metatag: The description should be 1-2 sentences describing the content of the webpage using the main keywords and key phrases on the page.

Home of unlimited opportunity. Heres what the programming language looks like behind the scenes. Look how often Sparta NJ and homes for sale appear. Keywords: Title tag: Description tag: Click to next slide

Home of unlimited opportunity. #6 Add Your URL to all Marketing Materials/ s Include your URL on all iMail, stationery, cards, and literature. Promote your URL using traditional media - include your URL in any display or classified ads you purchase - magazines, newspapers, yellow pages, etc. Have it on your business card, door hangers and Open House flyers

Home of unlimited opportunity. #6 Add your URL to your Signature Line Remind your leads and customers that you have a web site and are active online. Invite them to it every time through your signature: Heather Ryker-Milling Weichert Realtors Sales Associate Home Cell Visit me at

Home of unlimited opportunity. #7 Advertise Your URL to Local Neighborhoods Now that you have created your online presence and added your URL to marketing materials…get the word out! Send your IMAIL/marketing materials Put out your door hangers Disseminate as many marketing materials with your URL as you can

Home of unlimited opportunity. #8 Leverage FREE sites to Promote Yourself and Your Website Here are some free sites you can use to promote yourself and your website. –Craigslist –Postlets –Facebook –ActiveRain –city-data.com CAUTION: To avoid REC fines, follow Weichert, Realtors Advertising Policy & Procedure on Weichert University

Home of unlimited opportunity. #9 Submit Your Website URL to Search Engines Note: Make sure your website has the following before you submit your website. –Local, relevant keywords in the programming language –Homepage has rich, relevant content for the market you service –Homepage title is consistent with your keywords and contains your name

Home of unlimited opportunity. #9 Submit Your Website URL to Search Engines Submit your website once a quarter: Yahoo.com - To submit your site URL: Google.com - To submit your site URL:

Home of unlimited opportunity. #10 Use Social Networking Sites

Home of unlimited opportunity. Activity: Identify the Top 10 Here is a Weichert associates web site that successfully utilizes some of the tips we just reviewed. Take a copy and circle as many of the top 10 items you can find. Ill give you 3 minutes, then well discuss as a group. Heres a reminder of the top 10…

Home of unlimited opportunity. Top 10 Things to do to Drive Traffic 1.Get one local market domain name and a second with your personal name 2.Purchase an IDX website 3.Embed local keywords throughout your site 4.Post local data that customers will value 5.Do some basic SEO 6.Promote/advertise your URL on all marketing materials/ 7.Advertise your URL to your local neighborhoods 8.Leverage free sites to promote yourself and your website 9.Submit your URL to search engines 10.Use social networking sites

Home of unlimited opportunity. Debrief: Identify the Top 10 Lets see how many of the top 10 you were able to identify. Lets start with #1 on the list and work down to #10.