Real Estate Marketing

Not long ago, as part of a presentation I was giving for my daughter's third grade class and directed the students to use their laptops to log on to a clever website (mrpicassohead.com) where users can create their own Picasso-inspired masterpieces. Before I was able to get to the site myself, nearly all of the 9-year-olds had logged on, jumped headfirst into the site's interactive tool set and were creating their own artwork. My own daughter had captured a frame grab from the site and converted it into a customized screensaver, while another child was already e-mailing a copy to his parents.

Is there any question about how this generation of future homebuyers will look for their new homes?

According to a 2008 survey of Home Buyers and Sellers, 87% of homebuyers said they used the internet as a resource when researching residential real estate. That's 2% more than those who said they consulted a real estate agent!

Does this mean that Realtors are no longer relevant and/or that traditional advertising is dead? Not by a long shot!

The survey also reported that a 47% of searchers looked at newspapers or other print ads (yard signs garnered 62% and open houses-48%). Of the 87% percent of home buyers who used the Internet to search for a home-well, 87% of those folks eventually purchased through a real estate agent!

Your media mix -whatever it includes-will ultimately run through or revolve around your website . It is, or at least it should be- the hub of your marketing wheel. And while it's easy to be overwhelmed by the seemingly unlimited creative possibilities of Web 2.0 with its streaming media (web video), mobile media, social media, blogs, and more, you should understand the basics of online marketing and real estate web design SEO.

So, here are some helpful hints to consider before investing in a potentially under-performing site.

Avoid 100% Flash websites: Search engine traffic is important and search engines can parse little content from Flash-based sites relative to HTML and CSS. In addition, if you have a lot of site content, or think it will need to be updated more than 3-4 times a year, then it makes sense to stay away from 100% Flash for budget reasons. I prefer balancing usability with creativity by combining HTML and CSS with some Flash, as a little Flash can go a long way to enhance user experience when used creatively and intelligently.

Mission Critical: Content: For successful search engine optimization (SEO), content is king. Your site should provide valuable information that references specific terms and concepts unique to your site with text on as many pages as possible, weaving keywords into compelling copy. Often, it's not the broad keywords but very specific ones people are using to find you,. Search engines typically index the first 500 words of copy on each page. Site maps (outlines of your site) help search engines, as well.

Always use title tags or page titles relevant to the content of specific pages: Title tags define page titles, which are seen at the top of the browser window. Search engines place significant emphasis on this text when conducting searches and returning results. You titles should be succinct (usually not exceeding 75 characters), describe what you sell and where your business is located. You should also have a good description tag, which is hidden text that search engines use for page summaries. These should also be concise (1-2 sentences), informative (tell me what I can do here) and clear (what is the content of the page).

Remember that conversion is your ultimate goal: Top placement may be a by-product of successful online marketing, but conversion is king. To be effective, your online marketing should convert visitors into customers. So consider such factors as your own unique selling points, calls to action, site navigation, conversion and conversion path.

Keep these few principles in mind and you should at least be on equal footing in the competitive online marketplace. More likely, you'll find yourself ahead of many and might even be able to teach your third grader a thing or two!

Tim Hamby is a creative hybrid with more than 18 years of experience whose broad capabilities cover nearly every aspect of agency work. He founded Renaissance Creative (http://renaissancecreative.com) with 2 partners over 13 years ago and today manages operations, serves as co-creative director, copy supervisor and leads strategic marketing and budget planning