Buyers are online, but where are you? Many Realtors realize that the majority of property searches take place online; unfortunately the busy nature of being a Realtor can make it difficult to take the time to research and learn the technologies behind a successful online marketing strategy. An ever increasing number of home buyers are utilizing Google to find their new homes; this has made it imperative that Realtors get found online. This guide will give you the tools and knowledge to get started on a successful strategy that will increase leads and sales through an effective online presence.

Google is making changes to it algorithms that will make social media and blogging an integral part of your online marketing mix. As these platforms are very inexpensive (Facebook and twitter are free) it is vital that you start now, to ensure you are found online in the future.

Blogs A very simple and inexpensive method to get started is by creating a blog. Your blog is a great way to open the communication lines to your potential customers by providing interesting and relevant information. Blogs are a quick and effective way to keep clients and buyers up to date on industry news, tips, listing info and are great for generating leads. Clients, employees and visitors can comment on your posts thus building the foundations for a relationship in the future. Your blog can be linked to your website to keep the homepage fresh and relevant. Website users will have more of a reason to return to your site (and view your listings) if there is new and interesting content regularly posted to your website. Your blog can be used in place of a newsletter to keep yourself in front of potential clients on your email lists.

Social Media Integration Blogs are a great way to feed your social media channels. This saves time and adds relevant content to your accounts automatically via RSS feeds. By linking your blog to your Facebook fanpage and twitter account, your fans and followers will always know what’s new with you and your business. This can be a great time saving tool as it is instant and automatic. It is important to login to your social media accounts to interact with your followers and fans. Linking your blog is a great way to get the conversation started, but you must follow up and interact to receive the full benefit of social media marketing.

Twitter Twitter is a fantastic way to communicate with real estate buyers and industry members in your marketplace and across the globe. Many Realtors are turning to twitter to post their news articles, new listings, showings, open houses and all other relevant information. Twitter allows users to share and discover information very quickly and only takes minutes to use. Google is utilizing twitter feeds in their new search algorithms, so it is recommended that you have a twitter account and use it to promote yourself, your listings and your business.

Facebook Facebook is another great way to interact with clients and promote your business online. You can create a personal page and add all your friends, colleagues and clients. You can also create a fanpage and list all your business information, post interesting articles and relevant news. It is important to remember with both twitter and Facebook that they are about two way communication. Think about what your friends, fans and followers want to read about and post engaging material that gets the conversation started. Blasting your social media contacts with non stop sales oriented material is a great way to get blocked and dropped quickly. It is important to understand your social media goals and follow a strategy so you can measure your success.

Are you trying to:

• Become a Real Estate thought leader
• Generate Buzz
• Get lots of friends online
• Garner leads and sales
• Improve your online presence
• Promote your listings

By developing a strategy you will have an easier time with the day to day usage of social media, and enjoy yourself much more. While this may seem a bit overwhelming, it is imperative to get a start on your social media strategy now, to ensure you have an online presence in the future. Realtors with a successful social media program will start seeing the benefits in both their website’s Google rankings and in general brand awareness from the public. So whether you start a blog, Facebook &twitter account, or do all three, the most important thing is that you get started. By Kelowna Web Design Company

The key components of an Internet marketing program include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Paid Placement, Affiliate Marketing and Viral/Social Marketing. The goal of all of these is to increase a website’s traffic (number of people who visit) however each uses a different tactic to meet this goal. An effective Internet marketing program leverages a mix of these components to maximize their value at a particular point in the overall program.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an attempt to increase your website’s ranking in ‘organic’ (non-paid) search results in Google(TM), Yahoo!(TM) and other search engines. Search engines use complex, proprietary algorithms to determine how a page ranks. In general higher ranking is achieved by optimizing the actual website content to increase its relevancy to certain search words (keywords). Additionally, SEO attempts to increase the website’s perceived ‘authority’ by acquiring quality links to your website from other complementary sites (back links). Finally higher ranking websites are highly visible to search engines meaning most or all of their web pages are indexed by the search engines.

Many aspects of a complete SEO effort can be outsourced, but some aspects are more effective when controlled by those most familiar with the product or service. SEO generally has a longer-term ROI than other Internet marketing methods because a website’s authority is generally built over time. It is important to know that SEO is never truly finished. Competition and buyer preferences change and evolve over time, therefore, the authority of a website changes and must be re-evaluated routinely.

Effectiveness of a SEO program is measured in terms of search result rank, search engine saturation and overall visibility. Result rank is determined by how high a website appears in organic results. Saturation is an indication of how much of a website is indexed by search engines and overall visibility shows how many references are found for a website.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) essentially is a shortcut to increased search result rankings. By sponsoring links in search engine results, advertisers can ensure that relevant links are displayed along with search results whenever certain keywords are searched for. These are generally displayed above or in a separate column beside organic results. In these pay per click (PPC) programs advertisers bid to determine ranking and only pay when links are actually clicked by a visitor.

SEM can be, and probably is best, outsourced. Experienced SEM practitioners can maximize the results of a pay-per-click program by increasing the quality of website visitors. Additionally, knowledge of the bidding process and keyword selection can significantly reduce the amount paid per click-through over time.

SEM has the shortest term ROI as resulting traffic is immediate and measurable. The ability to tightly control expenses, all the way down to cost per click, makes the expense very predictable. Negatively, there is little if any residual value effect of SEM beyond potential relationships with new buyers. SEM is predominately a point in time exercise, although it can be very effective during a campaign.

Paid Placement is similar to traditional print or media advertising. Advertisers pay a fee to have their ‘ad’ displayed on a website or alongside search engine results. Ads are often ‘banners’ that include a marketing message that entices viewers to click the ad and be transferred to the advertiser’s website. Paid placement also includes sponsored links on content pages, paid reviews or ‘pop-up’ ads that appear before or on top of a content page.

Paid placement can include SEM tactics, but here the sponsored links appear on content websites rather than search engine results pages. Placement is based on relevancy of selected keywords and the displaying website’s content. The advertiser has limited control over where ads appear. Ads on content sites generally rank higher for lower bids than on search engine results.

Direct placement of ads on specific content sites is generally based on a set fee or per million impressions (displays). Direct placement allows an advertiser to specify specific website, durations and potentially exact placement on a page. This is most effective if a product or service would appeal to visitors of a specific website. For instance, Dell might place an ad on a computer buying guide website.

Purchase and management of direct placement ads can be outsourced, although it requires less expertise and oversight than SEM.

Affiliate Marketing allows website owners to resell products or services for a percentage or set fee commission. Commissions may be paid for sales, leads or even website visit referrals. Almost all major retail stores support affiliate marketing programs and generally use a third party service to manage the relationship with affiliates. While affiliate marketing allows a product or service provider to extend its marketing capability it is still responsible for all aspects of distribution.

Affiliate marketing can be outsourced in part or whole. Generally the affiliate marketer selects an affiliate management provider to handle acquiring and managing new affiliates.

Although not an absolute, Affiliate marketing tends to be most utilized by product or service providers who have a wide range of products to offer. This increases the likelihood that content site owners are going to assign valuable screen space to a product. Alternatively the provider may offer higher incentive commissions or target very specific content sites.

Viral/Social Marketing is similar to traditional ‘word of mouth’ advertising although done through websites. Marketers attempt create ‘buzz’ about their products by leveraging social networks, emails, blogs, videos or other venues that allow viewers to easily ‘spread the word.’ This form of Internet marketing is often associated with the term ‘Web 2.0’ because it tends to leverage more user driven venues and content rather than commercial content sites.

Viral/Social Internet marketing, much like SEO is an ongoing effort and similarly it is possible to outsource all or some efforts in this area. Development of complex marketing campaigns would likely be outsourced to a marketing firm specializing in leveraging the Internet, however, smaller campaigns and the tactical aspects could be handled internally or by your SEO/SEM partner.

In closing, an effective Internet marketing program will leverage some or all of these components in a complementary way. Each component brings visitors to a website through its own unique tactics, timeframe and cost. If planned and managed properly, each component can be utilized by the next one to create even greater value. A successful Internet marketing plan will consider the short-term, long-term and budgetary goals of the product or service provider, deploying the components that met those goals.

Video marketing is one of the newer platforms fast becoming the widely used internet marketing tool for businesses with limited budget. It has proven to deliver profitable results without having to spend much compared to traditional methods of marketing. In fact, with the right use of videos in your marketing campaigns, you can blast the profitability of your business.

You do not need to create professional videos to start enjoying profitable results. Statistics reveal that amateur videos uploaded in social networking sites create such great impact in increasing one’s online presence and ability to earn from the internet. Videos can spread virally and when you are able to create one that captures the attention of your targeted traffic, then you can expect profitable results from your marketing campaign.

Here are some hot tips that you may want to consider in creating your own videos for your marketing campaigns:

• Establish your purpose. You have to have a purpose for creating your video. What is it that you want your video to do for your business? Do you want to attract your target audience to subscribe to your list? Do you want your video to simply introduce your business to your audience making them aware that you now exist? Perhaps you want to show your target audience how they can benefit from your business.

• Your video should always include a call to action. After viewing your videos, your target audience should understand clearly and be motivated to take the necessary action favorable to your business. You can either make them go to your website, or sign up to your subscription, or ask them to go to the sales page of your affiliate program or company. Whatever it is that you want your target audience to do, your video marketing should tell them exactly how

• The most effective videos are those that can clearly present to its audience the solution they are looking for. If you are able to connect with your audience and make them realize that your business has the right solution for their needs and wants as shown in your videos, then you have virtually created an income generating machine in your hands.

• Take advantage of the social community or networking sites where you can upload your videos. These sites can allow you to reach as many of your target audience as possible and put your videos right in front of your targeted traffic. Keep your videos short but make sure that your videos contain all the relevant elements that will make its audience move to action.

As videos have the power to spread virally, you have to be able to use this power to your advantage. You should be able to come up with videos that can deliver to your targeted audience the message that you want in a clear, refreshing, and entertaining manner. Once you get your targeted audience hooked up with your video marketing campaigns, you can now relax a little and expect to earn the fruits of your hard work.