Primary marketDon"t Depend On Search Engines For Traffic Alone, Say Experts
Search engines come and go, but new revenue-building models are bringing search engines back to the forefront of Internet marketing. Search engine optimization (SEO) is big business for website designers and Internet marketers. Over the last few years, Google has dominated the search engine category, and recently has sent shockwaves throughout SEO professionals with an apparent change in its algorithms that sent many Realtors to the bottom of the pile instead of the top ten positions they were used to.
While SEO professionals are trying to help their clients recover or maintain their positions, they also warn that depending solely on search engine placement isn"t a great idea.
"There are lots of theories about Google"s purpose in all of this," explains Lawrence Schoeffler, COO and VP of marketing and product development for Best Image Marketing. "Some are suggesting this is an attempt to monetize freely given search results. Some are saying it is purely to increase search quality. Some are saying Google is trying to eliminate website operators trying to hijack search results with tricks and went too far. Who knows? The bottom line is that dependency on freely given search results for traffic is a mistake, and I have been saying this for years."
He explains, "I"ve been predicting since the mid-90s that search engines must somehow monetize their freely given search results, which are initially offered to generate market share. I felt several years ago this was starting to happen with the existing players, but the entry of Google into the marketplace upset this trend. Google delivered better pure search results, and grabbed dominant market share, sending the other search engines reeling, but Google is still a for-profit organization, and every business needs a sustainable, long-term model. Thus we saw Google"s entrance into the pay-per-click arena. Google is also getting ready to IPO. Regardless of the reasons behind the latest Google dance, the most common response I"ve seen from independent website operators is "guess I"ll have to start using pay per click.""
Agrees Internet trainer Allen F. Hainge, "Remember that we often place too much emphasis on search engine rankings. This is not to say that rankings are not important, but too many agents rely on them to the exclusion of "getting the word out" on
their sites through other marketing activities.
Among the things you should be doing to get people to your site are:
Making sure your site link is in the signature of every email you send.
Including a pitch to visit your site in your phone answering message.
Putting your site address on every marketing piece you use: print, giveaways, recipe cards, etc.
Publicizing your site in real estate magazines using my "1/3 - 2/3" rule: the top 1/3 of the display ad should publicize your site with a screen grab of your splash page and a reason for the consumer to visit the site: see every home in the MLS, Bob"s Top 10 Tips For Saving Money when you buy or sell, Ellie"s Recipe Of The Month, free relocation packet, etc.
Use tools such as Click Books to prepare print summaries of your site to distribute for prospects.
Put the major parts of your site on CD"s to distribute to prospects.
Suggests Schoeffler, "Search engine optimization is only one of the strategies we employ to generate traffic to our clients" websites, which include pay-per-click, banner advertising, listings distribution, directory placements and more. Consequently, queries to our database show overall lead generation across our network of 1500 client websites has remained stable during the ongoing Google "dance" -- as these changes are called."