Most real estate agents are continually vying for that top spot on Google. After all, the right search term can send thousands of visitors to your site. The reality is that there are usually hundreds of thousands (and more likely millions) of other pages competing for only a handful of slots on the first page. But the good news is that Google’s new “Universal Search” combined with a little bit of creative thinking may be just the formula to capture Google’s most sought after piece of real estate.

What Is Universal Search?

Google has always been the resource to find web pages about a particular keyword. But they soon realized that people wanted more than just web pages when searching. That’s where Universal Search comes in. Back in May of 2007 Google began incorporating images, video, and news into the search results page. You can see from the graphic below that a search for iPhone on Google shows results for Web pages, News Stories and Videos.

What about Real Estate?

So how does this relate to the real estate industry? There are two key places for a real estate agent to take advantage of Universal Search.

1. Google Base (aka Google Housing Search): If you search for Sheridan Wy Real Estate in Google, you will see a link that says “Find results for Sheridan WY Real Estate in housing search” (see graphic below). By having your listings appear in the Housing Search, you can attract more buyers and expose your listing to more eyeballs – thus making your sellers much happier! The good news is that it’s very easy to include your listings on Google’s Housing Search as well as other places like Trulia, Oodle, and more. Simply use a listing syndication site like Postlets or V-flyer.com.
   
2. Google Local: One recent change that Google has implemented is the way they display their local results. Any time Google “thinks” a search is related to a local area; it will pull from Google Local and display this information at the top of the search results page (see below).
   

   While some areas such as Raleigh Real Estate are pretty competitive, there are also areas that are still wide open for that coveted top position. For example, in the Sheridan Wyoming area, there is only one agent who has taken advantage of Google Local, as a result, when you search for sheridan wy real estate agent, Century 21 BHJ has the Google Local spot all to themselves. Even though they are not the top position in the organic search results, their Google Local listing appears above all other results, and here is the best part – it doesn’t cost them a dime!

   

   So how do you take advantage of this prime piece of search engine real estate? Simply go to the Google Local Business Center and add your information. While Google hasn’t come out and said what the secret is to getting to the top of the local results, there are a few tips for local optimization that can help push you to the top. Just visit the Dakno Real Estate Blog for the tips.

More than Just Google

Google isn’t the only game in town blending video, images and more into search results. Yahoo and Ask also have their own version. You can take advantage of Yahoo’s local results by submitting to their Local Directory. In fact, there are dozens of places to submit to local portals.

Get Creative with Your Search Engine Optimization

Remember, Universal Search can show results for videos, images, news, maps, books, websites and more. In other words, the answer to breaking through the keyword glass ceiling may be hidden in more than the content on your website. So get creative with your optimization plan. If you are having trouble getting to the top spot for that coveted keyword, try a different approach. Create a video, write a press release, or post a blog article. It just might be the trigger that pushes you to the top!

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It seems that when people talk about driving traffic to their website, they immediately focus on two methods - Pay Per Click, and Search Engine Optimization. While these both work, they are only two of a number of ways to send new visitors to your site.

The problem with Search Traffic

With both Pay Per Click and Search engine Optimization, you rely on people seeking you out. You simply wait around for someone to type the exact keyword that is going to show your website and hope that the user clicks on your link. To me, this seems like a pretty passive way to get traffic. Why not take a more active approach? Instead of waiting for the traffic to come to you, why not go to them?

Groups of Your Target Audience

Did you know that there are currently over 18K groups (groups not people) centered on Real Estate in Yahoo Groups. And this doesn’t even include Google Groups, MSN Groups, etc. Now remember, these groups are not too fond of people who go in and try to “hard sale” their services. Instead, they are looking for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). With this in mind, simply go in with the mindset of being the resource of information. They will quickly see you as a Trusted Advisor.

Linking Up with LinkedIn

Groups are not the only social hub for your target market. LinkedIn is another place to become a SME to your target audience. Even if you target audience is the luxury market. In fact, LinkedIn states that “Every one of the Fortune 500 companies has at least one executive on the LinkedIn network.”

But Social Networks is only for Teens!

I know what some people may thinking. “You Tube, Facebook and My Space are only for teens!” Right? Not really. Actually “Over 40 percent of luxury consumers visited a social networking site, such as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, etc. in the past three months.” And since we are talking about the luxury market, there are even Social Networks for specifically for those jetsetters.

Get Creative – Land More Clients

The key is to get creative and use the power of social networks to catch your target audience early on in the game. For example, “Over 90 percent of luxury consumers used the Internet in support of their travel planning” (think 2^nd home or relocation). Now, imagine you are on these travel websites submitting reviews of the best 5 Star restaurants in the area. Oh, and you just happen to subtly work in your background and profession to validate yourself. “As a Realtor in CityName, I frequently take my clients to [Restaurant name]…” Suddenly, the luxury home owner looking to buy a vacation home now has a trusted resource who didn’t try to hard sell them but was the information resource.

Can Potential Clients See You on YouTube?

Vacation seekers and people looking for 2^nd homes and investment property frequently use sites like Flickr and YouTube to see images and video of the area before visiting. When they do a search on YouTube for keywords like Raleigh Real Estate, do they see your or your competition?

The only thing constant about the internet is that it’s always changing. With so much information available, people will continue to use their peers and social networks to not only find information, but trusted information. Will you actively pursue this gold mind of new business or continue to wait around for people to find you?

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As the year quickly draws to a close, many people use this opportunity to think about the marketing plan for the upcoming year - and for good reason. Technology travels so fast that last year’s “cutting edge” marketing may be already out dated, especially when you think about your online marketing. So with this in mind, I thought I would share a few online marketing strategies to look out for in 2008.

Identity Optimization

People are relying on more and more on “Online Peer References” to hire service professionals. Websites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and other online networks allow peers to easily share their sphere of influence. So how does this help you?

• Brand Awareness – You now have your name in more places
• Trust Transference – They trust you because their peers trust you.

Action Plan: Join LinkedIn and start building connections, participate in their Q&As. Write Recommendations for others, encourage them to return the favor.

Additional Sites of Interest: LinkedIn, ClaimID, Naymz, Ziki, Spock, ZoomInfo, etc.

Association Optimization

Like Minded people usually cluster in groups. It doesn’t matter if the common thread is geographic, demographic, or physiographic. With this in mind, begin to spend time visiting sites that not only attract your target market, but also attract you as a real estate agent. You would be amazed at how many unique marketing ideas you can pick up by seeing what other agents are doing in their market.

Action Plan: Join ActiveRain. Search for sites that attract your target and start to engage with them. Become a trusted advisor for a targeted online community.

Additional Sites of Interest: MySpace, Eons, Squidoo and various local social communities.

UserGroup Optimization

This is very similar to Association Optimization but is even more targeted. For example, did you know that there are currently over 17,000 groups (groups, not people) about Real Estate on Yahoo Groups alone? But remember, people in these groups can smell a sales person a mile away. The concept here isn’t about selling, it’s about proving that you are the expert about a topic and watching sales gravitate to you!

Action Plan: Seek out UserGroups that relate to your local real estate market. Begin to participate in these groups by sharing helpful tips and advice.

Additional Sites of Interest: Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, Trulia Voices, Yahoo Answers.

The Tip of the Iceburg

The strategies outlined above, coupled with blogs, online videos, and new social networks will continue to play an even more important role in 2008. And while this only encompasses a handful of online marketing techniques; I hope it does get you thinking creatively about your online marketing strategy for 2008.

Happy Holidays!

Brad Carroll

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