The National Association of Realtors held its annual real estate conference in Orlando, Florida this past weekend to close out a tumultuous year for the real estate market. The venue was nothing short of spectacular as companies from all across the world and vendors from every aspect of the real estate business showed up to promote their products and services. Although the registered number of realtors and brokers in attendance was only about 20,000 (down 55,000 registrants from NAR 2007) the show provided another great look at where the real estate market is headed going into the next year.

It is without a doubt that technology and marketing were the main focus for NAR Orlando as many companies specializing in services such as website design, real estate marketing, content and client management systems, and lead generation services lined the floors of the enormous expo hall. Some notable booths that seemed to get a ton of attention were:

Yahoo! Real Estate
Google
Zillow
Trulia
Agent Image
A La Mode
Advanced Access

Who Showed Up

Attendees, consisting mainly of brokers and then agents, were seemingly more aware of the absolute necessity for a strong web presence for their real estate businesses. "Just having a site is not sufficient, you have to market it, keep it fresh and constantly try new things. I realize that I have to spend money to make money, especially in this market, and I have no problem doing so anymore as my website has already paid for itself and then some," stated J. Carbutti of Carbutti & Co in New Haven, Connecticut. J. Carbutti took over his father’s real estate business that was started back in the 70s and has helped it flourish into a successful brokerage servicing more than 25 agents despite the recent state of the real estate industry.

Things to Look for in 2009

The tech savvy attendees took interest in the multitude of web design, development and marketing companies that showcased some of the industry’s hottest and most effective new technologies moving into 2009 such as:

Listing Syndication
3D Mapping
Video
Mobile Applications
Web Based CMS and CRM tools

The show seemed to be an overall success for the majority of the vendors that we interviewed and also for the real estate professionals in attendance. Despite the lighter attendance, compared to previous NAR conferences, useful information was provided all around and mutually beneficial relationships and partnerships were garnered from the show.

Key Takeaways:

1) Just having a real estate site is not sufficient, you need marketing, authentic content, and multiple points of exposure for your listings

2) The better real estate web design, development, marketing companies have seemed to pull away from the competition and forge themselves as the true leaders in their space

3) Brokers are looking to provide all inclusive online marketing services / offerings for their agents past the traditional marketing and listing support that has been offered in the past

Most real estate professionals seem to be sitting back right now and waiting for the market to rebound. The agents and brokers who stood out as the more successful ones are doing just the opposite - aggressively marketing their listings and services in as many places as possible, with a majority of that being dedicated to the online space.

91% of real estate transactions start online. Being passive in this market is only going to set you back further. Put the necessary time, money and effort into your online presence and you will reap the rewards.

For more information on the show, questions about vendors or inquiries as to who we thought the absolute best companies and services were, please leave us a comment and we will be happy to elaborate on our outlook of the show.

Google and Yahoo Ad Deal Falls Through

In case you have not been following what could have been one of the most significant deals for the search marketing and online advertising industries, it has been announced this morning that Google has officially backed out of the Yahoo advertising partnership it was vying for. You can read the official news release here: Google Pulls out of Yahoo advertising partnership

Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. Internet Advertising Partnership

The advertising deal would have allowed Yahoo to show Google’s sponsored links on its own search results pages to boost its own ad revenue and also that of Google’s. With Google already controlling about 75% of the search market, this deal would have bumped Google’s share up significantly as Yahoo is the second biggest player in the search advertising market.

What Now?

Expect Microsoft to resume talks with Yahoo to try to join forces with them to combine their market share to compete with Google. The likelihood of Yahoo and Microsoft creating an ad giant that would compete with Google’s advertising share would be pretty slim, but just the increased competition alone would force Google to innovate even more to secure their place in the market.

What Does This Mean For You?

If you are not already utilizing paid search advertising (a.k.a PPC or CPC advertising) as a means to drive prospects to your website than you may want to get on the bus as more and more people are flocking to the Internet to start their real estate transaction and PPC marketing continues to be the fastest way to get exposure on the search engines.

If you are already advertising on Google, Yahoo, and/or MSN than you should expect to see some moves by Google to make their search platform (Google AdWords) even better than it is now. Look for innovations and integration with other ad media channels like Video, Print, Radio and TV to become even more popular and easier to use in conjunction with your existing Ad campaigns. These things are already available to many advertisers, but few have taken the leap to diversify into other mediums yet so now is as good a time as any. Expect Yahoo and Microsoft to possibly follow suit as well with efforts to make their ad platforms even more robust than the somewhat pathetic systems they have now.

Take Aways

1) Google will NOT be showing their sponsored ads on Yahoo anytime soon

2) Expect Yahoo and MSN to put together an agreement to steal market share from Google

3) Your Yahoo stock is most likely going to take a hit from this, if it hasn’t already

4) Expect Yahoo and MSN to put much more development into their ad platforms

5) Expect Google to improve their AdWords system even more to hold on to their existing market share

If you have questions, opinions, concerns or advice for other real estate professionals in relation to this news story then please leave us a comment or start the discussion.

So you might have a real estate website that’s doing well… But chances are if you’re reading this article, your website isn’t generating leads in significant or reliable counts. The point of this blog post is not to tell you some "magical formula" which will transform your website into a lead-generation machine. In reality, there isn’t a way for any site to somehow magnetically attract their preferred target demographic, although we can certainly give you some pointers as to what real estate buyers and sellers are looking for in general. Knowing that will help you make informed decisions about how to frame your business as the best resource in your market using both search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO).

Listings, listings, listings…

Especially when people are first considering selling or buying a home, they are going to want to research prices in their area, and have an effective tool handy to do that throughout their decision-making process. This is where your well-stocked featured properties and capability-enhanced MLS solutions will really shine in helping you generate leads. Even though more and more people are savvy to the free search and listings tools that are out there, most of those eventually require registration of some kind. If you’re running a sponsored campaign, creating a landing page that acts as a barrier between your prospects and the home listings they want to access on your website can still be a great way to get people to submit their personal information. Of course, if you have the best selection of featured listings and top-notch MLS tools (that offer perks like automated email listings updates), it makes your case for getting emails and phone numbers that much stronger.

Community-Specific Information

Whether you know it or not, your real estate website needs a lot of original information about your local market. This is because when people are thinking of making a real estate transaction, they want to be fully "in the know" about the area. If your website has the best, most comprehensive info available anywhere, then you will be seen as the authoritative expert by those who visit your website… Including the search engines! This is where SEO can play a big part in lead generation; adding many pages of unique, relevant content regarding buying, selling, investing, financing, and so on will lead to natural traffic. Once you get users on the site, then this copy, which also has a subtle sales pitch integrated into it, will help steer them to the appropriate lead capture form that they will fill out, provided they are ready to take the first step. They may very well bookmark your resourceful website at one point, only to register with you at a later time when their search for a Realtor gets more serious.

Unique Propositions

This is something that can apply in both the paid and organic search marketing spheres; does your website deliver value propositions that are convincing and unique? Now what constitutes an original promotion will vary from market to market. In some markets, where search traffic is not highly competitive, it may suffice to stick to some "standard" offers like sending a free printed map of the area with your business branding on it, or direct access to the MLS. In areas where competition is tough, however, these basic offers probably won’t yield you much traction, or leads. This is when you need to get creative! Maybe come up with a killer new idea for a real estate tool on your website and have it custom-developed, or give away free tickets to a local sporting event. We’ve even seen real estate professionals offer custom travel itineraries, and discounted lodging (for those travelling from out of town to view homes). Your imagination is the main limit, although you always want to balance your ideas with what is practical and will really entice people to consider working with you.

We hope you enjoyed this overview of some SEO and SEM strategies that can help generate more leads from your website. If you need professional assistance, don’t hesitate to hire the trusted, certified team at Agent Image Marketing.