New Feed Sticker for iDashboard Products

New Outgoing Feed: Buy Sell Lease

iDashboardNewFeed-01iDashboard welcomes Buy Sell Lease to our family of portal sites that we upload properties too.

About Buy Sell Lease

Buy Sell Lease has been created as a result of our Managing Director’s 20 year career within the real estate industry, as well as personal experiences searching for property, people and real estate professionals.

Technology has improved our ability to be informed and our ability to save time.
Buy Sell Lease goes further than any other real estate portal in delivering instant results directly from the webpages of the real estate industry.

Marketing is an essential part of real estate. We, at Buy Sell Lease, have and continue to create, the most cost efficient, time efficient and direct form of real estate marketing for both consumers and the real estate industry.

WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT?

Buy Sell Lease is not a directory of property. Our process of finding property, real estate agents and other real estate professionals, is orchestrated in a most efficient and timely manner, saving you valuable time and resources in informing you of the latest in property listings, people in real estate, real estate services as well as other real estate professionals. In a few short minutes, you can register to use Buy Sell Lease and open your direct line of communication with every aspect of real estate. Whether you are looking to buy or lease a property, whether it is residential, commercial, industrial, rural, retail, investment, development site, sell or lease a property, and/or require the services of other real estate professionals such as legals, finance, insurance, valuations, surveyors, pest inspectors, building inspectors and the like, Buy Sell Lease connects you with property, people and services, within minutes.

Your returned searches are stored in your profile. Click on a result and you are immediately entering the website of the business offering the property and/or service you are seeking.

As you enter in a business website, you are ensured that you are viewing the most indepth content relevant to your search, displaying all photo’s, video’s, floorplans, personnel profiles and detailed services.

Essentially, your search tells us what you are seeking, we find it and deliver it directly to you – in minutes, allowing you to make informed decisions and saving you considerable and valuable time.

This information has been sourced from Buy Sell Lease

To send your properties through to Buy Sell Lease from iDashboard, simply setup an account with them and they will contact us to activate your property feed.

Email marketing

Creating a Winning Strategy for Email Marketing

Email marketingReal estate agents need to be aware that email marketing remains an extremely effective approach for reeling in new leads. While your regular email newsletter may reach out to hundreds of your current and former customers, you need to think about whether it is effective at generating leads for you.

People literally receive dozens of similar email newsletters by email every day, so you need to come up with an innovative form of email marketing to make certain your message stands out from the rest. Here are some basic tips, and if you aren’t proactively doing these things, you may need to look at your strategy again.

In order to get the attention of your audience, you should find out what your clients want to know. Your newsletter needs a strategy, so it needs to reflect your brand much like it is represented in social media, signboards and any other kinds of advertising. To be more effective, you need to make certain that your newsletter is aimed at those who are within your target market Usually, these are people who are selling property, so you need to determine the interests of people who are selling property in your general area.

Content is extremely important. It should be viewed as king, so you need to match it up with those who are in your core demographic. Survey those who are your most loyal clients so you can get an idea of where to start. Brainstorm using the FAQs that vendors tend to ask your colleagues. Doing this, you can determine what information seems to interest them the most. Check out our 32 Engaging Real Estate Newsletter Content Ideas for more inspiration.

Now you need to determine any additional audiences, such as property buyers. Dig deep into the thoughts and needs of the buyer. What kinds of questions are asked at open houses and during the buying and negotiation process? You may find sending regular updates to those buyers you meet at open houses can open new doors.

Now you need to consider what kind of content that your former clients, as well as possible future clients, will want to receive when they really aren’t in the market to sell or buy real estate. Topics may include current real estate values, investing in real estate, gardening tips, decorating advice and even information about renting.

Email Marketing Tips for Real Estate agents:

  • Make your emails personal by sending them from you rather than your agency.
  • To add more of a personal touch, include the first name of the subscriber at the top but not within the email.
  • Make catchy subjects to get the subscribers interested.
  • Be creative and don’t be afraid to include some personality to make your emails fun as well as informative.
  • And encourage subscribers to keep in touch by adding contact information and your social media details to every email you send.

Make it Sophisticated

When you choose an email marketing system, you need to get one that matches your level of sophistication. iDashboard provides you with a variety of marketing features while you also get insights into your subscriber’s reading habits. You will know how many people opened your emails as well as how many clicked website links to your website through the email. By doing this, you can segment your audience so you will know what content is more valuable so you can send the right kind of content based on property ownership status and based whether or not the recipient owns property.

The average opening rate for emails is 20% to 40%, according to email marketing experts. If you see your open rate falling below the average totals, you may want to venture out to do some testing so you can see what you need to do to improve your numbers. Try different subject lines, try sending out your emails on different days, even vary the times of the day and see if your open rate improves. You can even try rearranging your content in the message to see if that impacts your results. You may even swap out images or include editorials.

Make Your Email Worth the Reader’s Time

Everyone’s time is valuable. You don’t want to waste your time on something that has no value at all to you. Think about yourself. Why do you click on an email? Is it the subject line? Is there a special promotion? Do you enjoy the images or the tips?

Remember all of your subscribers are like you and they won’t waste their time if they aren’t going to get something of value from your emails. Make your email appealing, interesting and valuable. Always have a great introduction that speaks directly to them and blow them away with great content! When it is relevant, give away a special offer or special information in the subject line. Your newsletter should be about the reader, not about you. But you must include a call to action at each email’s conclusion.

Monitor Your Unsubscribe Rates

When customers unsubscribe, it may also be a symptom of something you’re not doing quite right. High unsubscribe rates provide you with an opportunity to evaluate what you’re doing and potentially tweak it. Are you sending emails too frequently? Is your content valuable?

If you’re losing email subscribers, there could be a number of reasons why. You might be making some major mistakes or minor ones that just need tweaked, but there’s no way of knowing unless you assess your emails to understand the true value of your unsubscribe rate.

In order to understand the true value of your unsubscribe rate, you first need to understand what the rate is actually telling you. Once you do that, you can create sharper and more effective emails.

If you’re looking for a system to successfully manage your emails and database, look no further than iDashboard.

What-is-my-personal-brand

Managing Your Own Personal Brand

What-is-my-personal-brandAs a real estate agent you represent yourself as well as the company that employs you. You are the person who is challenged with facing client after client day in and day out. You help find the right property for their needs. You have a logo on your business card representing the company for which you sell real estate, so you should present your personal brand in a positive way so all your clients can perceive you positively.

You are probably working diligently at branding yourself with trustworthy insights at open houses you host and with friendly conversations with potential buyers. However, there is always more to do.

You need to properly manage your personal brand and create a special approach and branding that is unique to you and your personal name.

You Need to Know Yourself

You can’t portray the image you want to exhibit if you don’t know exactly who you are or what that image is in reality. You need to take a little while to sit down, jot down all the qualities that you want to embody and take note of the qualities that you don’t want to affiliate with you.

Consider the qualities that you already own and exhibit then use them as your strengths. Make clear the traits that you want to have, then decide how you will work on including them in your personality and attitude. You want to develop a list of qualities that serve as your edge. You want to have distinguishing, recognisable traits to set you apart from your competitors.

Create Your Own Values

While many companies have core values to determine the personalities of their brands, you need to follow that example to develop your own set of solid principles. Are you punctual? Do you keep current in regards to market trends? After you have decided which values you want to make yours and emphasise, don’t keep them a secret but use them to advertise. Let your clients know your strengths and how your personal brand can be defined. Clients will then have concrete evidence of what you can offer them.

Be Consistent!

After you have defined yourself and determined who you want to be, you need to stick to that image. If you have promised punctuality, deliver that and be on time. If you don’t show up on time one day and fail to meet expectations, admit to it and apologise. Apologise when you don’t provide stellar service and acknowledge mistakes. Clients are usually more understanding when you take responsibility for a mishap and take full responsibility instead of giving them an excuse.

Guard and Maintain Online Accounts

Social media isn’t just for your friends anymore, you need to act with the realisation that any of your potential clients can see your photos and posts, and everything is permanent. Even when you delete something, odds are it is still out there somewhere because someone has seen it or shared it.

When using social media, be professional. Only show posts that you deem appropriate in a professional setting so you can protect your image. Set your Facebook privacy settings so all friends’ posts require your approval before they can be seen by the public so you can control any content viewed in connection with your name. Even consider creating a separate professional Facebook page, so you can focus on posts that are relevant to your business. Consider posting current events, open houses and helpful articles. Perhaps the real estate company has helpful resources you may want to share, such as real estate blog posts to mortgage calculators.

Things like videos and blogs can be a great way to provide valuable and important information to the market place, raising your credibility as well as building your profile and personal brand. Giving you even more content to share to your social networks, that can be on shared by your audience, which in turn can grow your following organically.

Be Receptive to Feedback

Remember everyone makes mistakes, but you can strive to be better by looking for areas where you can improve . Feedback is an invaluable tool that will help you address your weaknesses. You can ask how you are performing as a real estate consultant, depending on the situation and who you are asking. Feel free to ask your peers how you are perceived out in the field.

You could even email a questionnaire to your clients after you have helped them or ask for a testimonial, but always ask permission to do so first. Also it is important to embrace feedback systems on social media and not to ignore complaints, as these are visible to the public. With the right strategy in place you can avoid bad online reviews and open the gates to positive and rewarding feedback.

Now is the time to start developing your brand and growing your business.

 

Check out our blog for more helpful tips and information. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

New Feed Sticker for iDashboard Products

New Outgoing Feed: HomePrezzo

iDashboardNewFeed-01iDashboard welcomes HomePrezzo to our family of portal sites that we upload properties too.

About HomePrezzo

We are a data-tech business making property data interesting and engaging through animation, infographics and professional marketing.

We specialise in real estate and property videos for agents and financial institutions.

Our team is based in Brisbane, Queensland and comprises of specialist staff in technology, graphic design and sales/support.

Video is emerging as the preferred means of communication online. We are excited to be exclusively working with Corelogic RP Data to deliver novel ways to connect to customers in both English and Chinese.

According to an Australian Real Estate Group, real estate listings that include a video receive 403% more inquiries than those without.

This information has been sourced from HomePrezzo.com

To send your properties through to HomePrezzo from iDashboard, simply setup an account with them and they will contact us to activate your property feed.

Google Paid Ads

Google Pay-Per-Click Ad Changes: How Inbound Marketing Can Help

Google Paid AdsGoogle has recently made a change to how pay-per-click ads are displayed on the search engine results page (SERPs). The right-hand display rail for ads was removed towards the end of February.

In the past, if you ran a Google Adwords paid campaign, ads appeared in the top 3 spots right above organic search results, on the right-hand side, and at the bottom of the page. The right-hand display bar gave advertisers more space on the front page of Google, which allowed advertisers with smaller budgets to still have visibility.

Here are some more details on the changes:

  • Google will now show 4 text ads instead of 3 in the top positions above the organic search results on the first page.
  • 3 text ads will be displayed at the bottom of the SERPs
  • No text ads will be displayed in the right rail (as discussed above)
  • The total number of text ads displayed on a SERP will drop from up to 11 to a maximum of 7
  • Knowledge panels and product listing ads will show up in the right rail on relevant searches

Another thing to note is that Google is rolling out these updates permanently worldwide.

These changes have led many leading online marketers to make some assumptions. Here’s what the leaders in the online marketing community assume is going to happen now that the changes are out:

Higher Costs Per Click

One assumption being made is that these changes will result in a higher cost per click for advertisers. While there isn’t any information disproving this assumption right now, it does make sense.

Think about it: If 100 advertisers were bidding for 10 advertising spots and now there are only 4 spots available, it makes sense that competition would increase the price of these 4 spots.

Only time will tell if this assumption is correct.

You’ll Need to Improve Your Ads

For those who use Google Adwords, you’re likely aware that where your ad ranks has to do with more than just what you’re willing to pay for your keywords. The better your descriptions, text, and copy for your ad, the higher your rank on the SERPs. This isn’t going to change. In fact, if competition increases for ad slots, your ads need to be more impressive than ever.

A Decline in Impressions and Clicks on Your Ad

If you’ve been using Google PPC to drive traffic to your website and capture leads, you may see a decline in impressions for your ads and traffic to your site. It’s yet to be determined how drastic the decline will be, but the assumption is that there will most likely be a decline.

Here are some suggestions for how you can adjust your Google paid search strategy as well as your inbound marketing strategy to take into account these changes.

You Should Focus Efforts on Organic Search Traffic

If you’re not already focused on organic strategies to drive traffic to your site and nurture buyers through the buying journey, most everyone agrees that now is as good of a time as ever to start.

You’ll have to be strategic about your keyword strategy and your inbound marketing strategy, but devoting the time and effort can pay off.

In fact, the latest data from Google indicates that 70% of searchers actually prefer organic search results over paid search.

Check out our “Tips for How to Rank High in Google Search” blog post to learn how to use organic SEO tactics.

Consider Utilising Social PPC

The trend from Google PPC to social PPC is an ever-increasing trend, and this change by Google will likely lead more advertisers to paid advertising on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram.

Many have found that social PPC has lower costs of investment and higher click-through-rates than Google pay-per-click results. Advertisers are gravitating to social media advertising, because the value of the ads, cost-effective nature, and segmentation available is more appealing than that provided by Google.

At the end of the day, earned traffic and attention is still far superior to paid attention over the long-term for sustainable lead generation and relationship building. Create your inbound marketing strategy using a mix of paid and organic efforts and continue to nurture your leads into raving clients.

For more information, read our blog post “How Google Search Results Work for Real Estate.”

Check out our blog for more helpful tips and information. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

Chinese Investors

Top Strategies for Targeting & Attracting Chinese Investors

GuiyangDid you know that Chinese investors account for about two percent of Australian residential and commercial real estate purchases, and this market is growing to the point that China is becoming one of Australia’s leading international investors?

In fact that two percent is the equivalent of an approximate $24.3 billion in the 12 months ended June 30, up from $12.4 billion a year earlier and $5.9 billion in 2013, according to the Foreign Investment Review Board’s annual report.

The US remains the second largest foreign investor in Australia after pumping in $25.1 billion during the period, which is up 44 per cent from a year earlier.

In 2015, China had more billionaires than the U.S. for the first time in history. This shift combined with Australia’s low dollar,  makes it easy to see why China is becoming one of our strongest investors. For Chinese investors, Australia is a stable long-term investment plus it allows parents of students who are completing their tertiary education to get a footing in the country when they graduate.

Before you start targeting these overseas investors, however, here are some things to consider.

Understand and Explain Laws and Limitations

Due to current Australian law, overseas buyers cannot purchase property without following these government rules and regulations:

In addition to following these regulations, foreign investors are typically only offered a loan of 70 percent of a property’s value from lenders.

Before you start targeting Chinese investors, you must understand the limitations and regulations and be able to fully explain them.

Pinpoint What Chinese Buyers Want to Purchase

Most Chinese investors have a generous investment budget and are looking at high-end properties. Typically, they want property that is close to public transport, highly rated schools, shops, and parks.

You’ll find that modern, easy-to-maintain styles are highly attractive because they allow buyers to quickly move in or lease to a tenant.

Sydney and Melbourne are popular cities for Chinese investors, but Perth, the Gold Coast, and Adelaide are also attracting more and more investors.

You should be aware that some Chinese buyers adhere to certain cultural beliefs about buying property, such as avoiding certain numbers or taking into consideration the position of windows and doors. At the end of the day, you’ll have to sell the value of the right property, for the right price, in the right location.

ChinaAustralia

How to Target Chinese Investors and Buyers

Create a long-term strategy for how you’ll attract Chinese investors and buyers. Think through how you’ll generate leads and then nurture those leads. Here are a few ways you can target and attract buyers:

1. Chinese Social Media Sites

Some real estate agents post listings to Chinese social media sites. The social media site “Weibo” or Sina Weibo is the Twitter of China, except that it has over twice as many users as Twitter. “Renren” is essentially the Facebook of China. “Youku” is similar to YouTube and is the second largest video site in the world, following YouTube.

2. Chinese Messaging Apps

“WeChat” is a popular messaging app in China and many Australian real estate agents are using this app to reach out to potential buyers and sellers.

3. Partner with Chinese Property Portals

Another strategy you can use is to partner with Chinese property portals where you can post new listings such as “myfun“, “ACProperty“, “GiFang” and “AOFun” . This helps you quickly reach the market and ensure your messaging is on point.

With iDashboard you can easily upload your properties to these Chinese property portals, simply sign up with your chosen websites and they will contact us to enable your property feeds through to them. From then on any new properties or updates you make will automatically go through to those websites, along with any other portal sites you upload your properties through to.

When you’re selling to the Chinese market, you should expect a lot of questions, because most buyers will be purchasing without seeing a property in-person. Comprehensive information, including effective floorplans and highly professional property photographs, is a must to have on hand, so you can send it through. You might also consider integrating your real estate videos into your strategy as well as walk through videos.

You’ll also need to decide beforehand whether or not it’s important to you to have well-translated documents or if you anticipate most of your target buyers will speak English as well. If you do need translated documents, you can enlist the help of a quality translator or translation service.

When it comes to targeting Chinese buyers, you shouldn’t just decide one day that you’re going target them and go for it. You should determine which platforms you’ll use to reach these buyers and have a plan in place once you start attracting them.

Check out our blog for more helpful tips and information. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

 

New Feed Sticker for iDashboard Products

New Outgoing Feed: AOFun.com.au

iDashboardNewFeed-01iDashboard welcomes AOFun.com.au to our family of portal sites that we upload properties too.

About AOFun.com.au

As one of Australia’s leading real estate portals, AOFUN provides comprehensive property information, including residential, off the plan developments, nominee and off-market sales for both domestic and foreign buyers. We strive to make access to property information simple and efficient so that you can make informed real estate decisions.

Our aim is to help our customers achieve the best outcome when they are promoting their products and services. To reach this goal, we deliver effective advertising solutions so that our customers have the opportunity to gain exposure to international buyers.

AOFUN is designed as a bilingual website with a commitment to filling the gap between international property buyers – particularly Chinese buyers – and local agencies, vendors and developers in the Australian real estate market. Our reliable and transparent platform facilitates smooth communication and enables buyers to reach the property market with zero distance, thereby helping them to select their ideal residence and make wise investment decisions.

With AOFUN, your home is here.

This information has been sourced from AOFun.com.au

To send your properties through to AOFun.com.au from iDashboard, simply setup an account with them and they will contact us to activate your property feed.

InboundMarketing

4 Things Small Businesses Must Do to Succeed with Inbound Marketing Faster

InboundMarketingEffective Small Business Marketing is Not What it Once Was

Small business marketing has drastically changed over the last few years. Traditional marketing methods, such as TV ads, radio, and direct mail are becoming less and less effective.

The way consumers connect and consume information is completely different than it once was.

In order to capture their attention, you have to nurture them through more subtle, permission-based marketing tactics.

Inbound marketing encompasses this type of permission-based marketing of attracting, engaging, and converting as opposed to just disrupting and shouting.

In order to reach consumers organically, you have to do so through a mix of SEO, blog posts, social media, newsletters, opt-ins, and email sequences. Essentially, you’re gently guiding people to your website where you can then pull them through the sales process.

So, how do small businesses start utilising inbound marketing? Here are 4 things your business must do in order to succeed:

  1. Create your content strategy

The first step in inbound marketing is to create valuable content. To create this content, consider who your ideal client is.

What questions do they ask? What do they need and want? What are their interests? Understand what they’re looking for and then create content that drives them to you.

  1. Grow your social media following

Creating a social media following and building your email newsletter subscriber list are two of the most effective ways to release your content. Through research and trial and error, you’ll uncover the type of content that resonates with your audience across your platforms and the times of day that are best to post.

In addition to what you post, the way you post matters. Short real estate videos, infographics, image quotes, and links get the most views, shares, and clicks.

In fact, content with visuals receive 94% more views than without and it’s 40 times more likely to be shared than other content.

Create a social media marketing strategy that helps you master the top social media networks, grow your following, and increase your effectiveness.

  1. Capture leads for your email list with opt-ins

Once you’ve attracted visitors to your website, you need to capture their emails. You do this by providing an enticing, valuable free offer that gets them to exchange their contact details for the information you’re providing. This could be an eBook, a printable checklist, a short email course, etc.

You can say something, such as: “We love to share our resources with you. Download our free moving checklist by clicking here.” Then, you can provide visitors with a great quality (nice copy and design) downloadable pdf.

  1. Nurture prospects into raving customers

Whether you generate leads through blogging, paid or organic Google search, social media or social media advertising, you get a higher return on investment for your efforts if you nurture your leads once you’ve captured their email address.

Not everyone will become a customer right away. In fact, many won’t.  Set up a drip email marketing campaign or a series of automated emails that trigger once someone has downloaded your free opt-in, to begin nurturing through the process.

When you nurture your leads, you increase your conversion rate over time.

Inbound marketing is highly effective and these steps are 4 steps that every small business should be taking to capitalise on the online opportunities for attracting clients.

Check out our blog for more helpful tips and information. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

iDashboardNewUpdate-01

realestate.com.au High Resolution Images

iDashboardNewUpdate-01At iDashboard we understand how important high quality images are to the success of a sale or lease, so we are proud to announce iDashboard now supports Higher Resolution Images for realestate.com.au.

Recently realestate.com.au made changes to their system to support high resolution images on property listings, we have now released an update in iDashboard that will now provide these high resolution images to realestate.com.au to be displayed on listings on their site.

To make the most of this new feature, ask your photographer to provide you with images up to 5mb each.

With the addition of support for Higher Resolution Images, if you don’t currently use a professional photographer for your property images, now is a perfect time to start.

To send through these new high resolution images to realestate.com.au, simply update the property in iDashboard or contact our friendly support team who can preform a bulk update of all active listings to realestate.com.au.

Statistics show that 60% of home buyers are more likely to request to view a property they have seen online when the home has been photographed by a professional.

Click here to view more information on How to Choose a Property Photographer Who Attracts Buyers
socialproofing

What is Social Proof and How Can it Help You Win Clients Today?

socialproofingWhat is Social Proof?

Social proof is a buzz word that’s all the talk in Internet land. You may or may not have heard of it, but we’re going to tell you exactly what it is and how you can use it to generate leads and win over clients.

Social proof is a phenomenon in which people replicate the actions of others in order to attempt correct behaviour in a given situation.

So, basically it’s the thought that “if everyone else is doing it, I should do it, too.”

Social proof can be used to play on people’s fear of missing out, whether that’s missing out on buying a home, selling their home, or accessing quality services.

Social proof is one reason nightclubs will have people cue outside even though there is room inside. If people see other people doing something, they’re more likely to do it.

Seeing other people do something or purchase a product or service and rave about it gives that product or service credibility, especially if the person raving about something is someone they respect and value.

So, how do you apply the concept of social proof to your real estate business to win clients?

Here are some ways you can capitalise on social proof for real estate marketing:

  1. In the Copy on Your Website

You can include social proof in your website copy to help boost the idea that you are the go-to agency or real estate agency. Use lines such as:

  • “Join more than 2,000 informed buyers and sellers by subscribing to our real estate email newsletter.”
  • “More than 2,000 buyers have downloaded our first-time home buyer’s guide. Download your free copy today.”
  • “Reach out to us to find out why 3 out of 5 sellers choose to sell their homes with us.”
  1. Real Estate Testimonials

Testimonials have been used for decades in traditional marketing and they’re an excellent tried and tested form of social proof. Your real estate testimonials can take the form of copy on your website or real estate videos.

Post your testimonials on your social media profiles, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google+ to showcase what others are saying about your business.

  1. Media Mentions and Exposure

The media can be a great way to build your reputation as a go-to real estate agent or agency that is up-to-date on market trends and real estate data. Reach out to media sites or news outlets to see if they’ll allow you to provide industry information.

If you’re consistent and provide helpful information (whether through a press release or social media post) and the media mentions you, that’s great brand exposure and great for establishing your credibility.

  1. Social Media Shares

If your content is consistently being shared on social media, that’s social proof. Those social shares expose you to hundreds or thousands of people. To continue to build your social proof, encourage connection and engagement. Comment and ask others to share your content if it resonates.

With social media, the more you give, mention, or share the content of others, the more they will likely do the same for you.

  1. Share Case Studies

Case studies are ways you can take your testimonials to the next level. Everyone loves to read about the success stories of others. Create case study posts or videos that inspire others to follow in the footsteps of your happy clients and re-create their experience.

  1. Show Your Statistics

The old adage that says “numbers don’t lie” is true. If you’ve been in business for years or have worked with an unprecedented number of buyers and sellers, share those numbers.

Impressive statistics are great credentials and excellent social proof. Just make sure those numbers are accurate and can be validated.

By adding social proof to your online and offline real estate marketing efforts, you can strengthen your credibility and win over clients who are more than willing to follow the path others have followed to success.

Check out our blog for more helpful tips and information. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

Adword

A Must-Use Guide to Successful Keywords and Targeting Using Google Adwords

For those beginning their journey with SEO and keywords, keywords are the words users search to find products, services, and information. They are what connects you with your intended audience in order to help you grow your business.

Here are some must-use tips for a successful keyword and targeting strategy online and using Google Adwords.

Align Keywords with Your Inbound Marketing Strategy Goals

1. Consider all of the different ways potential clients might reach you

The keywords you select for your blog posts, website pages, listings, or Google paid search advertisements, should reflect the many types of queries people might use when they’re searching for something you offer.

For example, people might specifically search for your brand name or they may search for your products (“two bedroom homes for sale in Melbourne”); or your services (“top real estate agent in Melbourne”); or information you have in a blog post (“tips for first time home buyers”).  When you consider all of the ways potential clients can reach you, you’ll be able to more successfully select your keywords and plan your strategy.

2. Align keywords with your overall business goals

Keywords have different purposes and you should align each keyword with its purpose and business goal.

For example, a keyword of “tips for first time home buyers” might align with a business goal of driving traffic to your website. A keyword of “top real estate agent in Melbourne” might align with a business goal of generating leads. You can group keywords by performance targets, profitability, geography, and more.

3. Delete keywords with a low search volume

Within Google Adwords’ keyword planner, you can see which keywords have low search volumes. Delete these keywords as they’re not as effective in driving traffic to your website. Then, replace them with keywords that have a higher search volume.

Manage How You Use Match Types In Order to Grow and Control Your Leads

4. Use broad match for long tail keywords and exact match for keywords you know have high search volumes

In Google Adwords, you have two types of matching options: semantic and syntactic. Semantic match or broad matching, deciphers the meaning of search terms in order to capture a wide range of searches based on the users intentions. Broad match gives you a better chance of capturing additional keywords that might be related. For example, when doing a Google paid search ad, you might select a keyword for your ad of “apartments for sale in Melbourne” and the broad match might still show your ad even if someone doesn’t type in that exact keyword, but types in “two bedroom apartments for sale in Melbourne.”

Syntactic or exact match picks up the exact term or a close variation regardless of the user’s intent. This match type is best used when you’ve selected a keyword that you know has a high search volume.

5. Don’t create close variations of exact match keywords

Exact match types in Google Adwords automatically expand to cover some close variations of your exact match keyword, including: misspellings, abbreviations, singulars/plurals, and acronyms, so don’t spend a ton of time creating minute variations.

Look for New Targeting Opportunities and Expand Your Keyword Reach

6. Use Dynamic Search Ads(DSA) for automated targeting

By using DSA within Google Adwords, you can expand your targeting and save time.  DSA will automatically generate customs headlines and target searches. It can also be run alongside an existing keyword campaign.

7. Maximise Your Keywords by Increasing their Ad Rank

You can expand the reach your keywords have by increasing their Ad Rank. To do this, you can: increase your bid, increase your ad quality, or enable or improve ad extensions.

The bid stimulator in Google Adwords will give you a good idea of how increasing your bid can increase your impressions. The keyword planner can also give you specifics about how to increase your impressions.

8. Extend your reach beyond Google by targeting other search engine partners

Other search engines partner with Google on the ad campaign level and you can choose to target search partners in Google Adwords. This can help you boost impressions and expand your reach beyond Google for those users who search via alternate search engines.

Refine Your Traffic By Using Negative Keywords

9. Use negative keywords to weed out poor leads

Negative keywords prevent your paid Google search ad from showing to users who are less likely to become a client. In other words, their views are likely wasting your time and money, so you can weed them out.

To better understand negative keywords and more Google Adwords terms, click here to read our post “Google Adwords Glossary for Real Estate Advertising.”

10. Focus your negative keywords where they’ll have the most impact

Add an impactful list—not an exhaustive list—of negative keywords. Look for any reoccurring themes within searches where your ad appeared, but there wasn’t a strong return. Once you find searches that triggered your ad on a reoccurring basis, but resulted in very little, add those search terms to your negative keywords list.

For more helpful real estate tips and information like this, check out our blog. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.