Organic Search Placement - Why Real Estate Agents NEED It!

 Denny Oh, Tomato Graduate out of San Diego, CA, sent me a link the other day letting me know it would make for good blog fodder.  So I challenged him to make it happen, and he did

Organic Search Placement - Why Real Estate Agents NEED It!

By Denny Oh

As I was deleting (notice, I didn’t say reading) all my emails this morning from my inbox, I saw one from RISMedia that caught my eye – Why Organic Search Placement is the Best Form of Advertising You Can Have.  Granted, it’s a pretty boring, not to mention lengthy, headline, but it obviously worked. 

Since I use blogging as my primary marketing tool, I figured I’d take a look.  The article didn’t really point out anything new, but it did reinforce what I already knew and it also motivated me to blog more.  The author, Mike Parker, shared something he learned from his first boss that really made a lot of sense…”The problem with advertising is that there are unlimited places to spend money on advertising but only limited monies to spend.”  And since many of us are going over our yearly budgets, I, like many of you, can surely relate to this.

Blogging – we all know we should be doing it, but do you really understand why? 
Here are a few key points that made a lot of sense….

People have Become Desensitized

As Parker points out, people are “bombarded with advertising messages” and are blasted with ads everywhere they go – on TV, the radio, newspapers, online, etc.  As a result, consumers don’t pay attention to the ads and simply “edit them out.”  Here’s where Organic Search Placement(read – blogging) comes into play.

Let Them Come to You

If you try and capture everyone through your advertising, chances are, you’re going to be extremely disappointed. With Organic Search Placement, you, the advertiser, are targeting a specific buyer/market.  By blogging about specific neighborhoods, or buildings, etc, Parker states that you’re catering to “the buyers personal search for the exact thing the buyer is looking to purchase.  It is a totally passive advertising strategy – bringing them to you.”

This is the key – have them contact you.  By blogging, you’re not throwing tons of information at people.  Unless they subscribe to your blog (which means they want to read your posts), they’re typically only going to find your site from a search on Google, or whatever other search engine they use.  This eliminates the issue of them being flooded with information that they’re not looking for.  They’ll only find your site/info when they are looking for it. 

For example…if someone is looking to find some information on the Grande South floor plans in San Diego, they might Google “grande south floor plans san diego.”  If they did, then they’d find that my blog comes up at the top of their search.  They don’t care who I am, but they do care that I have information on the Grande South and its floor plans – I’m not emailing them about the Grande or it’s floor plans, yet, they’re coming to me.

Blog a Ton

The article states that “if you have exactly what they want, 81% of the time, they will buy it from you.” Parker also indicates that 81% of Internet buyers will stick with the first agent they pick and that 92% of Internet home buyers choose their agents from a major search engine.  I’ve found that the more I blog, the better search results I get – duh.  But what I didn’t realize, is how much of a snowball effect this has.  For example, look at how someone got to my site – Google this – “office buildings in san diego owned by BOSA.” 

Now I don’t know of any office buildings owned by BOSA, but because I have a lot of content about BOSA, Google recognized me as a authority and placed me at the top of the results.  My point is, blog a lot and be specific – become an authority.

Get Help

Chances are, if you’re reading this post, you’re already a client of the Tomato.  If you’re not, you should be.  I’m not a Tomato employee, nor am I getting paid to write this.  I’m just another happy customer that is literally, living off of my blog. Since I started my blog about a year ago, I’ve closed multiple deals from it and am currently working with several clients as a direct result of it.  I can honestly tell you that this is by far the best tool I have, in terms of marketing. 

Good luck!

—

Thanks Denny – we love having you on the Vine.

Denny Oh is an exceptionally professional Realtor in the San Diego, CA area.
His website:www.SanDiegoh.com
Voice: (858) 243-2092

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Tags: Organic+Search, Real+Estate+Blogging, Denny+Oh

Comments

[Doug Gordon]

Great article. I am new to blogging in general but I completely believe that it is a great way to target the market you want. Thanks for sharing.

Doug Gordon

[Doug Gordon]

Thanks. Great article. Very good insight into article creation and content.

[Ben Roberts]

Nice Article Denny. First you get the "egg" award and now your blogging on the Tomato?! I imagine the WSJ or the New Yorker will come knocking any day now. Nice article about Organic Search Placement. There seem to be a ton of Realtors out there that see others blogging and start doing it because of some form of industry peer pressure, not really knowing why they are doing it in the first place. Articles like this help those new adopters learn the actual power of blogging. Blog on...

[Susan]

Very good article Denny. I agree with Ben. Most Realtors start blogging cause it just seems like the thing to do without really understanding how it works. I guess its like anything else.., right. Once you understand how a focused blog can attract potential clients its much more powerful.

[Denny Oh]

Thanks for the comments guys. I agree with all of you - most people/realtors, get a blog because it's the "new" thing to do. BUT...most agents don't do anything with it. I can't tell you how many times I've talked to people at the Tomato, or in general, who have blogs and don't use them. It's crazy!

Oh well...I figure the less others take advantage of it, the better I'll do.

And thanks Ben, but I don't think I'll quit my day job just yet...

[Mark Eckenrode]

nice article, denny. on the point that many agents get a blog because "someone said i should" you're spot on. i think most savvy folks recognize the power of a blog but entrepreneurs (realtors) tend to thrive more in speaking roles than in written ones. many agents who struggle with the written word can easily create a video blog and still achieve similar (though not quote as strong) search rankings.

[loan modification]

Great post. thanks for the info.

[Michael Krotchie]

Great post, I always find it interesting to check my Analytics account to see how people stumbled on my site. Funny how you get visits from people who aren't even interested in real estate.

[Judy Peterson]

Congratulations on your success Denny. Organic search placement is the bedrock of being found for the right reasons. It's hard to imagine being a blogger without the skills and support we all receive from our Tomato training. Thanks for sharing your experience to inspire us newbies.

[Barry Wolfert]

Great points especially about the clients finding you (us, me)! Sometimes I get stuck with the monotony of deciding what to write, how to write it, what graphics to display and forget that someone might fund this useful and contact me. We are our own worst critics. I'm glad to hear that you've closed deals from your blog. As a newbie tomato (cherry tomato maybe), I am just at the beginning stages and it can be overwhelming. Thanks for sharing.

[Eric- New Orleans Condos and Lofts]

You made some great points. I have my blog in #3 for New Orleans Condos. I have been blogging on the site for a year. I have a site at #1 so having two is the way to go as blogging can give more timely posts.

However I have not written one in 5 days so need to get one done. Thanks for the post.

[An Bui, DocuSign Social Media]

Denny - great post. You're absolutely right that the key is more content.

Best,
An

[Atlanta Real Estate - Ellen Crawford]

Great post and right on the money. Maybe it would be smart to keep all this great information for yourself and you wouldnot have any competition! LOL!

[Danielle Collard]

Thank you so much for the great tips! I am new to this blogging adventure and your article was very helpful.
I look forward to reading more. Thanks again!

[emlak ilan]

great post gordon

[Albert]

The power to motivate and inspire more clients with a blog will benefit you in sales. Basically anything you can do to get a sale as a Realtor can be really good trade off for your time and their money.

[real estate in australia]

Blogging has become so effective that I made the decision this year to move all 6 of my real estate websites over to wordpress.

I have to confess that I used to think wordpress was dreadful but it has mad enormous strides in the past 12 months and now is the premiere system for blogs on the net and perfect for real estate

[mikel]

a very informative post denny. I'll apply your marketing strategy to my business:)

[dead]

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[Juan jones]

Very nice post Denny keep it coming. I look forward to hearing more.

[PaulF]

How do you know what the best local topics are to blog about? If I'm in a small town - do I blog about the surrounding towns as well, even though I don't sell there? This economy really stinks and I could use all the help I can get.