Real Estate Advertising.
December 23rd, 2008 by admin
WHERE DO YOU PLAN TO ADVERTISE YOUR SERVICES IN 2009 - Magazines, Newspapers, Web Site . . . . . . . Chapter 3.
WHERE TO SPEND YOUR ADVERTISING DOLLARS? How do we advertise our services? As stated in Chapter 2, “The last thing real estate agents and brokers need to hear in a recession, when every dollar is important, is “just give it a try”. Advertising dollars should be invested, not gambled.”
Chapter 1 and 2 of this series examined the potential value of:
Examples:
Open Source Project(DMOZ) -This directory has been around since about 1999 and while not always easy to follow, it is relied upon by many other directories and web sites for authentication of submissions since each site included in the directory is reviewed by a human editor. Ranked an enviable PR9, DMOZ is a valuable back link.
AgentPreview.com - Highly ranked and well managed, this directory offers two benefits to subscribers, direct contact from the public and valuable back link. Offers link exchange or fee based listings. This is one of the few directories that offers subscribers a profile page rather than just a title link. Ranked a PR4, this is a good back link to your web site.
REALS.com- Well organized and well ranked in Google, this is a true directory that provided links to your web site for a fee. Ranked a PR3, a back link from REALS.com is a popular list for agents who practice in a limited geographical area. Expensive because listings are by city and the cost can mount.
IRED.com- On the Internet scene since about 1995-1996, International Real Estate Directory has been providing advertising for the real estate industry as long as I can remember. Becky Swann, the originator of IRED is from the real estate industry, making IRED unique in real estate advertising. While IRED has become a bit expensive in recent years because featured listings are by city and many agents cover many cities, IRED.com is still a valuable back link and still accepts free listings in their directory. The one feature that I find objectionable about IRED is that they “rate” web sites.
What to look for in a real estate directory? Before spending money to buy a listing in a real estate directory, an agent or broker might want to make sure that the directory/web site is
- 1. Indexed in Google
- 2. Crawled by Google in a timely basis, every couple of days, not every couple of weeks.
- 3. Ranked as high as or higher than your web site.
- 4. Is focused on the real estate industry.
- 5. Does the directory rate subscribers? If so, how objective is the rating criteria?
- 6. How does the directory “rank” in Google SERP? If a real estate directory doesn’t rank well in search, how many consumers are going to see your listing??
- 7. Is your listing in a directory prominent or overshadowed by advertising on the page?
CHAPTER 1 - Magazines, TV, Radio
CHAPTER 2 - Newspapers, PPC
COMING SOON
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