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Search has become a day to day occurrence in almost every aspect of our business and personal lives; think about shopping without the ability to search and review products – nearly impossible right?

Most of us use the Google Search bar to type our search criteria phrases and then review our results – but wait; there is another layer of Search using Operators that can help you dig even deeper – in fact there hundreds of different ways of using Operators to perform Queries but I will focus on a few good ones that experts use all the time; of course I am going to share my favorite ones.

1. Search for an Exact Phrase:

I use this almost daily – if I am seeking a specific phrase from a poem, or in article I type the Search Phrase within “Quotation Marks”. Lets say I am looking for the full poem of Walt Whitman but remember one line of the poem, instead of searching for: I celebrate myself, and sing myself – I perform the same search within Quotation Marks, as in:

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself” (Searches for the specific phrase within the quotation)

Putting search phrases within double quotes get you directly to exact results and eliminates permutations you are not seeking. This is quite useful if performing technical searches, quotation searches, academic papers, testing the indexing of content, but best of all to find out if anyone is scrapping your content – copying your content without your permission.

 

2. Searching for information within a Specific Website:

Say you are searching for information on a specific Nikon Camera, the D80, within Amazon.com; you can do so by going to Amazon or perform the search in Google by adding the operator site:www.amazon.com as in:

Nikon D80 site:www.amazon.com (Searches for all references of Nikon D80 only within the Amazon.com website)

This is quite useful if you are seeking to find out how many pages within a website have been indexed for a specific keyword or phrase.

Searching for references of books within the Library of Congress would look like this:

Essays of Emerson site:www.loc.gov (would yield results of Emerson’s Essays only in loc.gov)

 

3. Defining Word and Concepts:

This one is a simple easy to use Operator for finding the definition of words, concepts, or ideas from multiple sources without having to go to a specific website.

Define: Keyword (will give you a list of various definitions for the concept Keyword)

Try it you will be amazed how much you will learn

There are more Operators you can use within your Searches, I picked these three because I like them and use them quite a bit. Remember my motto about Internet Marketing – it is storytelling; if you do not become responsible for your Market Story don’t expect your Real Estate SEO to flourish.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

As a Mathematician numbers, statistics, and results matter a lot; rarely do I advance an idea or a report without supporting Statistics. I have a dear friend, George Styron, and he and I discuss Real Estate Trends, Internet Marketing Strategies, and all kind of Real Estate Industry changes; a few days back I shared with him that I saw a major spike in traffic in Real Estate Searches on the Internet. I advised him to make sure that his colleagues were aware of it and not to be complacent; as an anecdote I told him that one of my clients had seen a major surge in their traffic by a factor of nearly two.

George is also a Mathematician and so he said:  can you give me some Statistics I can review – and so I went to work…

Methodology: I reviewed the traffic, Unique Visitors, and actual Registration during the past week (December 24 through 30 inclusive or 7 days) and trended it versus the prior 3 weeks (December 3 through 23 inclusive or 21 days.) I compiled these data from 20 websites in various markets in the country large and small.

	Visitors	Searches	Leads
Week 4	14,389	7,637	1,208
3 Weeks Prior	31,530	15,952	2,395
Weekly Average	10,510	5,317	798
% Increase	36.91%	43.63%	51.38%

Raw Traffic not being a significant measure; I focused on more important metrics: primarily Unique Visitors, the Number of Searches Performed, and the Actual number of Lead Registrations.

Analysis: Week 4 from December 24th through yesterday the 30th saw a 51% jump in Leads. Note that Christmas was during that week but the number of Unique Visitors jumped by 37%, from 10,500 on average per week to 14,489. The number of Searches performed also increased as well as the time spent on the Site.

This is the incubation period for consumers and it suggests the following actions on your part the Real Estate Professional:

1. Get Listings – Yes more people will think work with Buyers when they Statistics like this one; I think the opportunity is Listings – Think about it “Buyers buy existing Inventory that someone has listed!”

2. Blog, Blog, and Blog some more – focus your Internet marketing in your localized area and start sharing your expertise market knowledge.

3.  Focus and never give up on your Leads – Look to offer them additional solutions. Financing is difficult for many so partner with the right people to offer meaningful solutions.

The Statistics above are just numbers but there are real people behind them; they are looking to work with true Real Estate Professionals; Keep focusing on all aspects of your business and make sure you add Internet Marketing and Real Estate SEO Strategies to your business. I wish you all a Happy New Year filled with love, joy, and prosperity.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad.

When you think about it carefully “Time Management” is an oxymoron; I mean how can you manage time…??? if fact it manages us, it is like a river that flows as we float in its embrace. But many professionals suffer from this real affliction; the desire to complete all of the tasks on their agenda within an allotted time; and this desire keeps going unfulfilled daily.

Real Estate Professionals are more prone to this than say Office Workers because, by nature, their job is talk and help clients. If they tried to box those conversations within a time frame they would fail to take care of their clients; in fact consumers expect instant communication or they will go find someone else – so what is the agent to do to bring some sanity to their lives… I will also add, at the end of this blog, a few reflections of this topic and Internet Marketing.

Let’s Start with Simple Powerful Ideas:

1. Sleep: Oh yeah this is rarely spoken of in Time management Books, but when you are rested your mind is clear; you are able to tackle your day with more vigor, creativity, and alertness.

2. Go to bed early and Wake up early: The heavy lifting of conversations with your clients hits around 10am and drags to about 4pm for the most part. if you time shift your day towards your tasks very early in the morning when you mind is fresh you will perform most of these tasks in half the time. Remember: what keeps you from finishing your to-do list are the necessary conversations with your clients. Try to start your workday at 7:30 or 8am – your business will be transformed.

3. Eat Healthy and drink Water: You are probably dehydrated most of the day… Carry water and do your best to eat healthy.

4. Take 10 minutes to Be: Before your day start “Do Nothing!” – Yes this sound contradictory but these 10 minutes of reflection will focus your mind on the most important Tasks you must accomplish today. (Remember: your daily tasks are driven by your Weekly Goals, which fit with your Monthly Goals, which fit within your Annual Business Plan.)

5. Delegate:  Pay another person a fair wage to do repeatable tasks if you start noticing that you cannot get to them on time; or do them yourself – but for God Sake stop complaining that you don’t have enough time to do everything.

6. Read: Yes this one also sound counter intuitive as well but if you do not nourish your mind it will turn to mush… Educate yourself on Business Concepts, Success Stories, etc.… You can do this; you can find 15 minutes a day to read.

7. Weekly Review: You need to wrap up your week, every week, or they will all get jumbled up and months will pass without clarity. This means Goal Assessment, Successes and Failures, Inventory Review, Client Review, and then adjusting for the weeks to come. This is when you find out if it is time to start delegating more tasks. (You may seek the advise of your Broker or of a paid Coach to get your habits aligned with your vision.)

8. Accept that you Have Bad habits: We all have them and that is that. Time Management will not help you stay away from Facebook, or watch 2 hours of TV instead of 6 daily. Acceptance means Serenity; which will hopefully will lead to Moderation.

Let’s Talk Time Management, SEO, and Internet Marketing:

1. Internet Marketing is your job: Most Real Estate Professionals see it a chore; It’s your job. When you take a listing it is your fiduciary duty to create the largest visibility in the marketplace for it. Stop thinking you get paid to place it in the MLS.

2. Internet Marketing has benefits: Those who offer the best marketing of properties get more listings; more Sales, and More Buyers.

3. Review your MLS Stats Weekly: You are in Charge of your Story – Internet Marketing is about Inbound Marketing; this is fundamental to all your Google Visibility.

4. Landing Pages: Create Landing Pages Weekly focusing on your Niche Markets – you must know everything there is to know about your local communities.

5. Blog, Blog, and Blog Some More: I am baffled when I hear agents tell me: “What should I blog about?” – Really, are you kidding me? The New Breed of Internet Marketers understand that it is their job to claim their territory one parcel at the time, one blog at the time, one neighborhood story at the time, one Internet Solution at the time.

Time Management is NOT a Powerful Concept: those who complaint a lot about Time Management are under the illusion that it is their job is to complete everything, which is a fallacy… Passion and Drive trump everything – wouldn’t be fun to end your day with more energy than you started; it is not Time that you must conquer, it is you that you must come to know.

Happy Blogging - Key Yessaad

Real Estate Sales are unlike any other field of Sales – the Real Estate Professional must not only manage and close the contracts he or she are working on but also generate the necessary leads to grow their business. Think about it: a Successful Real Estate Professional must focus daily on:

1. Generating Leads

2. Working on existing Leads to turn into potential Contracts

3. Working on the Contracts on hand to turn into closings

4. Managing an array of colleagues, Lawyers, Financing agencies, Regulations, etc…

5. and only make money when all of these line up properly – ouch…

No wonder so many are stressed and develop bad habits… The 5 points above are only a few of all the demands that Agents face day in day out.

The article I am sharing with you has to do with your Brain and your Habits – it is illuminating and so I will share a few bullet points that will help you reduce stress and generate good habits; I would like to read the article when you get a chance – it will really help you get to know yourself a little bit better.

Some Important takeaways:

1. Once you latch on to a good habit Repeat, repeat, repeat the new behavior; try to set a special time for that habit and perform it at the same time.

2. In order to feel good you must raise your dopamine – exercise does that.

3. Don’t always punish yourself – Reward yourself once a week.

4. The Biggest trigger of Bad habits is Stress – give yourself time to breathe…

In all my endeavors one common theme always emerges – those who develop good habits get closer to achieving their goals; and the fields of Internet Marketing and Real Estate SEO are no different.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

Full Article By LAURAN NEERGAARD

Uh-oh, the new year’s just begun and already you’re finding it hard to keep those resolutions to junk the junk food, get off the couch or kick smoking. There’s a biological reason a lot of our bad habits are so hard to break — they get wired into our brains.

That’s not an excuse to give up. Understanding how unhealthy behaviors become ingrained has scientists learning some tricks that may help good habits replace the bad.

“Why are bad habits stronger? You’re fighting against the power of an immediate reward,” says Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and an authority on the brain’s pleasure pathway.

It’s the fudge vs. broccoli choice: Chocolate’s yum factor tends to beat out the knowledge that sticking with veggies brings an eventual reward of lost pounds.

“We all as creatures are hard-wired that way, to give greater value to an immediate reward as opposed to something that’s delayed,” Volkow says.

Just how that bit of happiness turns into a habit involves a pleasure-sensing chemical named dopamine. It conditions the brain to want that reward again and again — reinforcing the connection each time — especially when it gets the right cue from your environment.

People tend to overestimate their ability to resist temptations around them, thus undermining attempts to shed bad habits, says experimental psychologist Loran Nordgren, an assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

“People have this self-control hubris, this belief they can handle more than they can,” says Nordgren, who studies the tug-of-war between willpower and temptation.

In one experiment, he measured whether heavy smokers could watch a film that romanticizes the habit — called “Coffee and Cigarettes” — without taking a puff. Upping the ante, they’d be paid according to their level of temptation: Could they hold an unlit cigarette while watching? Keep the pack on the table? Or did they need to leave the pack in another room?

Smokers who’d predicted they could resist a lot of temptation tended to hold the unlit cigarette — and were more likely to light up than those who knew better than to hang onto the pack, says Nordgren. He now is beginning to study how recovering drug addicts deal with real-world temptations.

But temptation can be more insidious than how close at hand the cigarettes are.

Always snack in front of your favorite TV show? A dopamine-rich part of the brain named the striatum memorizes rituals and routines that are linked to getting a particular reward, explains NIDA’s Volkow. Eventually, those environmental cues trigger the striatum to make some behaviors almost automatic.

Even scientists who recognize it can fall prey.

“I don’t like popcorn. But every time I go to the cinema, I have to eat it,” Volkow says. “It’s fascinating.”

Much of what scientists know about dopamine’s role in habit formation comes from the study of alcohol and drug addiction, but it’s a key player in more common habits, too, especially overeating.

In fact, for anything that links an action and a reward, “dopamine is indispensable for the formation of these habits,” Volkow says.

A movement to pay people for behavior changes may exploit that connection, as some companies offer employees outright payments or insurance rebates for adopting better habits.

It’s not clear yet just how well a financial incentive substitutes as a reward. In one experiment, paying smokers at General Electric up to $750 to kick the habit nearly tripled the number who did, says Dr. Kevin Volpp, who directs the Center for Health Incentives at the University of Pennsylvania.

A similar study that dangled dollars for weight loss found no difference — and environmental temptation might help explain the differing results.

It’s getting hard to smoke in public but “every time you walk down the street, there’s lots of sources of high-calorie, tasty, low-cost food,” Volpp says.

However paying for behavior plays out, researchers say there are some steps that may help counter your brain’s hold on bad habits:

_Repeat, repeat, repeat the new behavior — the same routine at the same time of day. Resolved to exercise? Doing it at the same time of the morning, rather than fitting it in haphazardly, makes the striatum recognize the habit so eventually, “if you don’t do it, you feel awful,” says Volkow the neuroscientist, who’s also a passionate runner.

_Exercise itself raises dopamine levels, so eventually your brain will get a feel-good hit even if your muscles protest.

_Reward yourself with something you really desire, Volkow stresses. You exercised all week? Stuck to your diet? Buy a book, a great pair of jeans, or try a fancy restaurant — safer perhaps than a box of cookies because the price inhibits the quantity.

_Stress can reactivate the bad-habit circuitry. “You see people immediately eating in the airport when their flight is canceled,” Volkow points out.

_And cut out the rituals linked to your bad habits. No eating in front of the TV, ever.

“What you want to be thinking about is, `What is it in my environment that is triggering this behavior?’” says Nordgren. “You have to guard yourself against it.”

The blog today will be short but also useful – many who have had a website for many years and a deep Search Engine Index like to know what are their most powerful pages. Wouldn’t be also nice to know which of your indexed pages have the highest visibility for a specific keyword or search phrase?

The Geeks of this world use tools like Google Webmaster Tools and conjure such statistics, but let’s be practical it is cumbersome for most Real Estate Agents; so why not learn a couple of tricks that can help you get some insights:

The way you are going to view these results is by first going to Google.com and typing the Operators I will share with you into the Search Bar and pressing Enter.

[Note: replace the word yourdomain.com with of course your own domain. (it sounds obvious but sometime people forget.]

1. Find your Website Most Powerful Pages: www site:yourdomain.com

Example: if Mike Grumbles wanted to see his region’s website most powerful pages he would go to Google and in the search bar type: www site:withexit.com – the index will reveal something like 430 indexed pages ordered by the currently most powerful pages do appear in the index.

Example: if Steve Manley wanted to do the same thing he would type: www site:mysearchforhomes.com – you get the idea.

2. Find your website Most Powerful Pages related of a specific Keyword: site:yourdomain.com keyword

Example: Let’s take Craig Summerall and let’s say he wanted to find the post powerful pages related to the keyword “Lexington SC Real Estate” in his website; he would type in the Google Search bar: site:lexingtonscrealestateguide.com Lexington sc Real Estate

This could be quite a useful tool if say you wish to find out if Google has indexed you for a specific concept; if Shelia Bennett was trying to find the pages that contain the concept “St Helena Island Homes” in her website she would type: site:exitbeaufort.com St Helena Island Homes

PS: another way of finding exact phrases within your website is to add quotation marks as in: site:withexit.com “Real Estate SEO” – this will show you all the pages that contain the exact phrase “Real Estate SEO” in the website withexit.com and ordered by the most powerful pages.

These two seemingly cryptic ideas will start revealing to you your website construct and effectiveness; of course your website on its own is not enough – it is how it fits in the Google-Sphere  that matters the most. When you are working on your Real Estate SEO remember to be deliberate and focused; blog once a week; and continue to learn the fundamentals.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

It can be argued that Search Engine Optimization has been the bastion of those lured by easy money and promises or riches beyond the grasp of reality. Yet those who truly understand this field see it differently – it is an avenue that connects Marketing and Search in a holistic way. Many do chase it at the beginning to follow the Mighty Dollar (nothing wrong with that) but a new breed of Marketers are steering it towards building TRUST.

Real Estate Transactions and TRUST are more important now than ever before – the consumer is skittish and less trusting. They are scared to talk to us and we deserve some of the blame! What is worse the Real Estate Industry has been leaning heavily on Buyers when it comes to the Internet – Sellers are for the most part forgotten; We MUST change that…

Let’s learn to build TRUST – Not a Sale; Let’s go for TRUST!!!

One of my Mentors and Inspirational Writers is John C. Maxwell and I read him often; let’s look at a few of his ideas on Trust:

1. Real Estate is a Personal Endeavor – Customers MUST Trust you if you are to have a long career.

2. When you are Trusted people are saying the following about you: You are Accountable, Predictable, and Reliable.

3. You build Trust daily; One activity at the Time; One person at the Time.

4. Trust is eroded when: Promises are broken; Gossip Flourishes; Information is Withheld; and plain Lying becomes a way of doing business.

Let’s look how you can use TRUST within your Real Estate SEO Strategy:

Time: Take the Time to Listen to your customers and tailor your website to their needs – do include your Sellers; in fact they are at times more important – aren’t they after all our neighbors.

Respect: Stop the trickery of requiring users to register before they can search your IDX feed; Delayed Registration is ok but required registration to download information is passé. The SEO part of this is simple – if consumers are blocked by a registration form – so are Web Crawlers… Think about it.

Undeterred Commitment: Your day to day approach to Trust with Customers is focused and unyielding; Offer Content regularly to your website; Blog, Blog, Blog…

Sensitivity: Humanize your Website with Videos not for the sake of SEO but so others can know who you are and your values.

Touch: Encourage those around you to do better; they will in turn encourage you to reach another level… Add personal touch of thoughtful 1-click Searches that help both your Buyers and Sellers to understand their communities. (SEO is about 1-Click Searches…)

My final thought is simple – Never worry about SEO or Internet Marketing to generate leads, focus on Trust and Authenticity and your business will flourish.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

Those of you who follow this ongoing Blog Discussion know that we are focused on how to create the right habits, circumstances, and tools to create Internet Visibility that is both Organic and Leads Conversion Friendly. This important Marketing Exercise has been reduced to the term SEO or Search Engine Optimization – and is paralleled with the desire to be on Google without having to pay for it; a Silly Concept few understand. A Proper Internet Marketing Strategy is not about saving money – it is about helping your Consumers reach their Goals.

Reducing your Internet Strategy to creating Leads is always short term, expensive, and lacking of vision… it must be driven by Passion, Solutions, and the desire to help Real Estate Sellers… Let’s look at the Biggest Mistake Real Estate Brokers and Agents commit when pursuing SEO.

Targeting Too Many Keywords

Let me be frank I hate the word “Keyword”; I know what it means but it has been used to confused more than help. There are underground marketers who keep tailoring their websites and SEO to attract the latest sucker by promising how to make money on the internet; You are not in that businesses so get rid of that mindset. Your business is Real Estate and if you work in Franklin Tennessee – your Top Keywords are simple: Franklin TN Real Estate; Franklin TN Homes for Sale, etc… Your Secondary Keywords are Franklin TN Land for Sale; Franklin TN Foreclosures;  Franklin TN Condos for Sale; etc… you get the picture.

I meet lots of agents who are nowhere to be seen on the internet, they read a book on Search Engine Optimization, start understanding the ramifications of Internet Marketing and their Business; and then decide to pursue every Key word under the Sun… So, so wrong…

The moment you use SEO to try to get Everything – you get Nothing!!!

So what is a thoughtful Real Estate Agent to do:

1. Focus on your Niche Markets – Neighborhoods, Communities, and Subdivisions.

2. Eat the Elephant of SEO one bite at the time – don’t go for all the keywords at once; get to page 1 for your most localized market and then build on that.

3. Don’t Stop prospecting thinking that the internet will do it for you; use the internet to enhance your prospecting.

4. Know your Niche Marketing Inventory and blog about the trends in that “Niche” market.

5. Blog and focus your Blog on only one (1) Niche Market until you become the top go-to Realtor in it; then open up other Niche Markets.

PS: Make sure your localized Niche Markets have activity – this may sound silly but if you were to focus on “Land for Sale” in a state like North Carolina with little turnover and little financing you may end up getting 100% of Zero Transactions – which is the same as getting Nothing.

Real Estate SEO and Internet Marketing are not hard to comprehend if you are able to set aside your ego, and your needs… Stay Focused, Offer unmatched Service, and work hard to earn your Reputation!

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

The idea that a Real Estate Agent will make more money with one Franchise versus another is at best misguided… In fact any agent who is seduced by it is looking at the beauty of the brand Skin Deep… You must go to the core of the Brand or Real Estate Agency and conjure its values and Business Processes.

This blog is not about whether a particular brand is better than any other; the nature of the competitive landscape of Real Estate gets them closer to one another when it comes to compensation or so-called Split; the question I ask: “Is the bottom line for the Full Time Professional Compensation?” – I argue Not.

New Agents make the mistake of chasing the highest split and forget the potential for access to Transactions; Expertise, and Market Presence…

So how does an established REALTOR chase the best deal for her career? (I offer a few thoughts…)

[If you are new agent find an established shop in your town and soak up the experience – once a real estate professional closes 40 to 50 transactions they truly start seeing the Business with new set of eyes… ]

1. The most important investigation a Real Estate Agent must make before moving from a brand to another is to know themselves. Know your Strengths and know your Weaknesses. You want the prospective brand to enhance your Strengths through Market Visibility, Proven Tools and Training, and added Transactions.

2. No brand can make your weaknesses disappear – if you have bad habits you will have them wherever you go; don’t be seduced by those who promise to make them go away. In fact don’t even worry about them; these chronic bad habits or weaknesses are there because you tolerate them; so in a sense you want them to stick around. Only you can make a difference in that realm…

in Other Words: The Brand you wish to work for must enhance your Strengths NOT eliminate your Weaknesses.

3. Look for Environment more than Split. Success is driven by those we associate with and from an inner drive that transcends all challenges. Getting a high compensation is a logical step for you – but those who focus on it exclusively miss the forest for the trees.

4. Look for Vision and Commitment. These are in fact very easy concept to conjure – talk to other agents within the prospective company and listen to them; its not the testimonials they share that matter; it is the intangibles of day to day inner working that illuminate.

5. This last one is controversial for most agents – instead of looking for what is best for you; look how your addition to a prospective brokerage will be a contribution to them; ask yourself: Can I help this Brokerage be more successful? What can I bring to the team that will enhance the customer experience? what is a fair split to me and to my brokerage? I recognize that many brokers will think that these questions are never asked by agents; they see them as selfish always worried and #1 (Me, Myself, and I.)

I believe that there is a new breed of connected professionals who understand these ideas; they wish to not only make a career of Real Estate but be a contribution to Society. We must build brokerages that invite them into the fold and pay them a fair compensation- one that benefits them, but mostly benefits the communities we live in.

Book Recommendation: “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” – by Daniel Pink

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

Key Same Recents Posts on KeySeoBlog.com:

Real Estate Internet Strategy Training	Real Estate Blogging Strategy Training	Real Estate Database Strategy Training
Real Estate Social Networking Training	Real Estate Web Advanced Training	Key Yessaad Training on Internet Marketing

The process of translating what you know into what other can use to help them grow their business is not as simple as you may think… Knowing does not always translate into Teaching; imparting knowledge to others does require skill and awareness.

The majority of Trainers in Real Estate focus on Scripts – what agents and brokers must remember and then regurgitate because they assume the level of intellect brought forth by Real Estate Professionals is limited; memorizing scripts usually becomes a detrimental NOT empowering process.

The idea of script memorizing is flawed… Our Agents are Smarter then you think!

Scripts are a crutch for those too new to the Real Estate Industry and they do help here and there – but authentic understanding is more powerful than memorized facts.

So what must Brokers ponder?

1. Assume that your Real Estate Agents are Smart enough to understand the nuances of Internet Marketing, SEO, and Google Visibility.

2. Put them in front of people who help them understand rather than confuse them with the technical side of the internet.

3. Assume that your agents want to succeed – and continue to ask the best out them. When you do you are respecting them and elevating their vision of themselves.

4. You must perform your own Due Diligence on potential Trainers – find out if you are offering fluff for the sake of looking good, or actual measurable solutions that will cause a win-win for you and your colleagues.

These straightforward ideas may sound too simplistic but growing a successful Real Estate Agency comes at a price; and many brokers are not ready to bear that burden… Collaboration, Respect, and Delegation are crucial to your Agency Success…

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

Successful Real Estate Professionals build their business on their ability to generate deals – in other words the Art of Deal making but many of them fail to build teams and hire Administrators because of that gift…

Think about it – why are many Sales people attracted to Real Estate…??? Let’s be honest; it is the potential of unlimited income. There are many Real Estate professionals, but a fraction is capable of making 7 figures. So what is their Achilles’ Hill?

1. Many of these successful Brokers and Agents think that because they earn their income based on commission everyone else’s income should be based on commission as well. This flaw makes them think that the way they can get the best out of their workers is by scaring them into more income… contingent income is flawed – it is not the same as contingent commissions.

2. These Realtors confuse performance based on Closings for the hourly work of implementation based on activity – a very flawed thinking. The best thing a Real Estate Agency or a Team Leader can realize is that the motivation for making money is different for diverse people. The majority of us want to make a Living Wage and go home and be with our families; others, a very small percentage, don’t mind suffering waiting for the whale of a deal.

3. Never hire employees on commission; as the leader of your agency you must have a clear understanding of the tasks you expects from your employees, a predictable number of daily hours, and an hourly wage with a fixed number of hours per week… you are not going to pay a McDonald’s employee based on the number of Happy Meals you sell… what a silly idea.

4. When you fail to do the above task (#3) you must accept that you are hiring a partner who makes money when you make money – they are therefore entitled to know what you have been doing all day… but because you hired them as employees you resent that… You must wake up… You did not hire them… you hired them on a contingency… they make a percentage of income when you make money… the true definition of a partner NOT an employee.

5. You MUST ask your self these 2 simple questions: “Have I given my employee a living wage? And are they living up to my expectations?” if so then you are on track but this is not enough… you must implement employee performance reviews every quarter and the potential for bonuses based on true measurable performance at the end of the year.

6. When you get a chance watch Daniel Pink talk about “The Surprising Science of Motivation” on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9Y) – it may enlighten your 2011 Plan of Action.

The Blog today in not about Real Estate SEO but rather about viewing the world from the prism of those who work to make an hourly wage from us – Not everyone is driven to make a commission from the potential that Real Estate offers.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

The few traits on Character and Leadership I write about in this short blog are not new; we must always strive to remember that character and business growth are connected at a deep core; a foundation that is unshackle, a place that transcends fear and apathy.

1. Conviction: Know what you stand for and beware of your so-called ”Status” – many define you by what you have; but your value shines through who you are.

2. Empathy: the desire to truly put yourself in the shoes of others because you seek true understanding. To connect at this level reveals that you have much in common with your colleagues and business partners; your desire to empathize allows for “the seeking of solutions” rather than “the dividing on ideology.”

3 Tough-mindedness: Some view this ability as contradictory to Empathy; in fact they go well together. To have clarity and then pursue one’s desire for building something larger requires Mental Toughness and a heart that goes with it. So work hard and don’t quit once you know what you are working towards. (and money is not the goal.)

4. Demanding Thinking: Your mind is equipped to handle complex Ideas but you must demand of it to think by “thinking.” You must focus, read, travel, meet new people, engage in social activities, and reduce the noise of devices that force to be an observer. The gift of thought is wonderful if you choose to exercise it.

5. Know what is Right: Trust your moral compass; when you allow yourself to be true you will know deep inside what your values are – trust them.

6. Be uncomfortable: This one is may seem strange to many; isn’t after all our goal to be in pure harmony? No; struggling makes you stronger – so if you are in uncomfortable situations from time to time you will find your true voice and grow as a person. Go to new places, meet people of different faiths and rituals, have coffee with a competitor, play tennis with your left hand (if you are a righty…), you get the point.

7. Love deeply and truthfully: Yes romantic love sometimes clouds this topic and most expect it to be filled with reciprocity; the love I am talking about does not require validation or perfection; it simply is.

The theme of these few ideas keep returning in all my coaching sessions on Real Estate SEO and Web Strategies; strange to see that the foundations of character reverberates even through a dry subject as SEO ( Search Engine Optimization); and yet is in not strange at all if you really think about it…

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

Organic visibility within Search Engines is a combination of hundreds of ingredients and so to say that an element is more important than any other must be placed in it proper context… it is recognized by most SEO experts that the algorithms used by Google and Bing are driven by no less that 10 primary fundamental ideas, and include nearly 300+ parameters that define them. Most of them are esoteric but some have proven to be quite reliable in the world of Organic Visibility.

Let’s us talk about the Title.

Definition: The Title of a Web/Blog Page, also known as the Title Tag, is the text that is displayed in the top of your browser above the URL address bar.

Let’s look at an example: When you visit this page about a book by Richard Feynman “Surely you are Joking Mr. Feynman” you will see, way at the Top: “Surely you’re joking, Mr. Feynman … – Google Books – Windows Internet Explorer, or the same followed by – Mozilla Firefox depending on your browser. The title of this page clearly defines the page that you are on. It is a book by the late amazing Physicist Dr. Feynman that Google Books has scanned. (PS: it is an incredible book and has nothing to do with Physics per-se… I highly recommend it.)

The words you place in your Title are very important, the geeks say it this way: Keywords that are placed properly in the Title are essential to your visibility. I personally hate the word “Keywords” because most get confused by it and they start doing things like this: “Myrtle Beach Real Estate, Myrtle Beach Homes for Sale, Myrtle Beach Condos” – Title Tags that look like this are terrible and harm you more than help you…

You must choose your words properly not based on some SEO formula but simply by focusing on the story you are telling. The “words” in your title are one of the best clues for Search Engines to start the ranking process – they help Search Engines understand the topic of the page you are adding to your website. Please remember this is not sufficient but the more focused your title the easier it is for Search Engines to Index the page under a placement you desire. Let us say you are going to explain the process of getting financing for Condos in your town of Majestic Idaho – titling your page: “How to Finance your Condo in Majestic Idaho?” would be a good start. Of course the content must explain the ideas in the title and connect with it.

Let the story dictate the Title – NOT your SEO Strategy… Those who chase placement fail miserably; those who offer Solutions climb organically.

This is Part 1 on the Title Tag… Let see in the future parts how we can use this important idea and how Websites Vendors can help Realtors do this simply – Real Estate SEO and Internet Marketing is NOT for the Geeks it is for our Agents to help solve the problems of our customers.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

Here is a short list of business ideas collected from various sources, mentors, and my own coaching trainings that can illuminate your progress into 2011… use them to start thinking about your business and the direction you seek for yourself.

You must fall in love with yourself; no I don’t mean narcissism – I mean realize that you have no limits in ability and capacity. Your mind can handle the most complex tasks, your spirit is strong and giving, you can immerse yourself in any endeavor once you learn it (educate yourself); so what would you be capable of if you truly pursued your true dreams?; if there were no limits set on you by others what would you do? and will you discipline yourself to reach those dreams?

You will be confronted with all kinds of Business Issues, some you have not prepared for – it is how you react that will set you aside; Some adversity will even make you stronger. One aspect of adversity are the lessons we learn and the decisions we make about ourselves; don’t be so quick to put yourself down – pick yourself up, trust in your imagination and skills, and tackle the adversity with resilience, humility, and a generous amount of learning. Don’t hesitate to call a colleague or a trusted mentor to help you along.

The rosy scenario of your Business Plan is why you go to work and build a future; but, from time to time, review that Business Plan and look also at the Worst Case Scenario. You want to be prepared for the Best and Worst – this has nothing to do with thinking negatively; it has to do with thinking realistically. A Good Business Plan can handle these stresses, in fact the way to conquer fear is to be prepared.

Who are you surrounded by? Are the Business Colleagues you work with people you respect? You see Success mirrors Success but unfortunately Failure thrives in the petri dish of Failure… Are you accepting of others’ failures so your minor successes resonate louder? Look around and do something about yourself and the people you associate with – you cannot fix them; let them be! Work on yourself and start bringing into your life people you admire and enjoy working with.

To those who follow my Blogs: Many have asked why I write about such an array of topics that sometimes do not deal directly with the topic of Real Estate SEO and Internet Marketing.

a Fair question!

In fact I do; they are all connected.

The prism through which I view the internet and Search Engine Optimization is that of serving the consumer. I don’t help Brokers get to page 1 of Search Engines for them to just make money; I work with Brokers who love Real Estate and enjoy working with the public to offer meaningful solutions; and the internet is one such vehicle. Many choose to get organically visible to manipulate or sell useless services, worse to plunder and cheat. I think we can do better…

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

Real Estate Websites Vendors are not in the business of SEO, in fact I claim they should not be… A good vendor focuses on providing the tools and ease of use so the brokers and Agents can tailor their SEO strategies to compete locally. It is quite important that these vendors understand the fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization or they won’t be able to offer the right tools; in fact it is my contention that except for a couple of vendors the field is mired in a sea of incompetence. I have reviewed many websites where every page has the same title – horrifying!

The post today will focus on how vendors can open up their Content Management Systems to the simple lonely <Title Tag> – this is part 2 (see Part 1)

If you remember the Title of a Web/Blog Page, also known as the Title Tag, is the text that is displayed in the top of your browser above the URL address bar. this is an important signal for Search Engines, it allows them to formulate a sense of your content and starts them on the journey of indexing and ranking you. For simplicity sake think of your Web or Blog Pages as stories and make sure you give each the proper title.

Now let’s talk about how vendors can do a better job to offer control over this important Tag:

1. Offer both a CMS and a Blog Platform. A CMS stands for Content Management System and is usually driven to add Web Pages that will either appear in Primary or Secondary Navigations. These are called the anchor pages of your website; many such pages are also called landing pages, or search-based pages. In addition, vendors should also offer a Blog Platform; these pages are for journaling purposes; story telling focused on specific topics. Blog Pages behave similarly to Web Pages and many advanced users do not see a difference between them but I contend there is an enormous difference for the user.

Let me delve a little deeper on this distinction; a good CMS, or Web Page Manager, will offer the user the ability to produce content that is navigationally available and therefore forces them to think on multiple levels. It is rare when anchor web pages are created without a plan that cohesively brings them together; for example say you wish to create a section in your navigation for Foreclosures; well this page may need to spawn several pages that are focused on Search Results in the 10 neighborhoods the user works in. Bottom-line: a Good CMS allows dimensional and architectural management of Web Pages – not a daily task.

Now let’s look at a good Blog Platform; it allows agents to focus on one idea, link it to primary pages, and then post it – a simple task that does not require navigational expertise; nor should it. Think of a scenario where a Real Estate professional attends City Council Meetings and shares his or her views on zoning issues and how they affect their primary Real Estate Markets; a blog will be perfect for that. in addition a powerful blog platform like WordPress allows the users to categorize and tag their content, so a pseudo navigation is created without thinking dimensionally.

2. Try to make the CMS and the Blog Platform behave similarly. this is easy; make sure the places in which the user inserts the title, the box where the content is typed, and the tools used for editing are exactly the same. As to the rest well they will behave differently depending on which one is used – I will not get into the other Page Tools in this post (see upcoming posts…)

3. Make the URLs generate automatically from the title of the Blog Post or the CMS Page. There are many ways of doing this but a look at say WordPress will reveal that once a user types in a title a Permalink is generated and conforms with proper index-able URLs. So if your title is “Foreclosures Solutions in Lansing Michigan” you end up with a URL: www.yourdomain.com/foreclosures-solutions-in-lansing-michigan if it is a CMS Page or: www.yourdomain.com/2010/12/27/foreclosures-solutions-in-lansing-michigan if it is a blog post. Of course these are only examples – there are many permutations and solutions that a good website vendor understands.

Very few vendors offer such controls over the Title Tag, and very few yet understand that a Good CMS alone is not enough; but a new crop of smart vendors are realizing that their job is to offer tools that are Real Estate SEO friendly. The new generation of Internet Marketers know how to use such tools and excel at their own Internet Visibility. Gone are the days when vendors ask you for a title when you are first building your website and spin all your pages with the same title with no controls.

PS: WordPress is a Blogging Platform and some Real Estate Professionals have used it as a primary website; it must be noted that such a platform without the full integration of IDX will limit the agent ability to create internet scale and visibility in the Real Estate Field.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

Preparing for 2011 is an important endeavor towards your Business Success, and yes you have probably been handed a Goal Setting Sheet by our Broker or Manager. Do spend some time working on your plan; Goals that are written, carved into activities, and reviewed monthly tend to foster Success – and only 3% of all Real Estate Agents do so. (what a missed opportunity.)

In this blog I want you to go even further – You MUST understand that “You are the business,” in fact, you are the most important ingredient of your Business Plan. The work you do on yourself is as important as all of the tools you have to build your business – so let’s look at a couple of ideas…

1. Resolve yourself to Excellence: I want you to define Excellence for yourself and spice up your business Plan and Goals with it. Remember to divide your goals into activities, then into monthly tasks, down to your weekly agenda. The easier you can fit your activities into your calendar the more realistic your results. As you perform your tasks keep Excellence in front of you; when you do you won’t resent the time you have spent writing a blog, or the 15 calls you made to prospect– rather you will be performing them with gratitude. 2. Evaluate yourself thoughtfully: There are eight areas for Self-Assessment – these few questions should help you start to get in touch with your strengths.

Ambition: Have you written down high and stretching goals and planned how you are going to achieve them?

Vision: Have you formed a clear idea of where you want to be and what you want to be doing in five years' time?

Confidence: Do you feel able to do anything that is needed now, do it well, and master new abilities and tasks as required?

Competitiveness: Are you never satisfied until you have clearly won all the prizes against the best competition around?

Risk Taking: Do you believe in your own ability to judge a risk as worth taking and to take your chances effectively?

Energy and Drive: Can you bring full mental powers to bear on an issue, to decide on the right action, and see it through?

Leadership: Can you mobilize others to achieve group ambitions, as well as develop other leaders and bring them forward?

Self-Criticism: Are you a relentless perfectionist who constantly seeks to improve and to get others to do the same?

Important: As you reveal your strengths you will also unveil your weaknesses; don’t be so quick to fix them - these maybe areas that you should turn over to an assistant or a paid colleague. I am not convinced that we must excel at everything but I have seen many who are willing to delegate to others and produce bigger results than on their own; Forge good alliances and partnerships.

3. Accept Communication: This one may seem simple on the surface but the number one consumer complaint is their Real Estate Agents did not communicate with them enough. In order for Good News to find its way to you you must allow all the bad calls to come through as well. Do your best not to screen calls, and if a consumer is upset with you make a point of talking to them; avoiding them will only fester and make things worst.PS: Do not Resolve conflict using email or Social Media – you will only escalate anger and resentment.

I want to finish by sharing a video posted by Craig Summerall on a series called “Monday Morning Choices”

Share your thoughts and insights – I’d love to hear your take…

Happy Blogging :) – Key Yessaad

One important metric in your Real Estate SEO growth is your domain name, more importantly its age… this often surprises a lot of newbie’s to SEO but if you think about it carefully it does make sense… Websites earn a reputation with age and Search Engines rely on that reputation in their index.

 

Here are a few ideas you must keep in mind.

1. Never give up ownership of your domain name!

2. The age of your domain is only valuable if it has been hosted and has content in it that has been indexed; if you bought a domain 10 years ago and parked it a GoDaddy that does not count.

3. Your domain must match your Marketing. Make sure you have a marketing plan and let the domain name reflect it.

4. Try to avoid Trademark names. Yes at the beginning no one will know you domain is called augustamls.com but once your domain becomes visible you may end up losing this domain because it contains the word MLS; same goes for REALTOR or other national trademarked Name.

5. Check with your Broker and National Brand Manager if you work at a franchise – they may have rules on what domain you can own. You do not want to buy a domain that’s named say: MyKellerWilliamsAgent.com and end up losing it because you infringed on your Brand Marketing Rules. (PS: you may have the right to keep the domain but the franchise can choose to let you go – and what good would that domain do you then?)

6. Pick a domain name you can live with for the next 25 years of your Real Estate Career – once you do keep building it up with content and solutions. (again make sure you own your domain; I know of hundreds of horror stories; see How dare they own “my” domain?)

7. Don’t despair if you have never owned a domain before – starting today with the right website is still the right thing to do. Yes you will experience a Sandbox effect in which hardly anything will seem to move your website; but if you are diligent and continue to add deliberate content with the right link strategy your website will start moving towards your goals.

In the world of Real Estate SEO many ingredients must come together to create organic visibility – don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good… the best thing you can do is to get going wherever you are right now…

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad

Search Engines try to provide Searchers with relevant responses to their inquiries – and, probably, every person reading this is saying – “Duh!!!”

Yet time and again as I interact with participants in my Workshops they would interject something like: “My competitor appears on Page 1 and I don’t – why?”

Then I ask: “What Search Phrase are you not coming up for?”

Inadvertently they will say something like: “Anytown USA Real Estate.”

“Well, let’s look at your Website Content!” I interject, and 99 times out of 100 the primary information in their website is their name and the Brand they are licensed at. What they fail to understand is that their primary content is driven by the marketing of themselves and their Brand; which is ok – but they fail to focus on is localized content; and I don’t mean the selling of Real Estate in the whole State.

What is unfortunate is many agents believe that Search Engines understand their business and can decipher relevance, as though through Magic…

Here is the Bad News: “The fact that you are licensed in North Carolina and you say so in your website does not make your information Relevant to Searchers on the internet seeking solutions in Murphy North Carolina. Worse, the fact that you mention in your home page that you work in say Fayetteville NC does not make you the most Relevant content for those seeking Listings Solutions in Fayetteville.”

Relevance means focused Rich Content on your primary market.

Relevance means deep content not only about you and your Brand, Relevance means rich content about the Real Estate Market you specialize in – this is an essential step; without this content you will fail Step One of SEO, which is “Content Relevant to Searchers,” and it ain’t always about you.

I know many who struggle with the concept “Marketing,” and so they should – it is an important concept to understand if you are going to build a Real Estate Business that has longevity and success.

What if we could simplify Marketing to its Essence – What does the Gecko do for Geico? I say he tells a story, and he tells it in a consistent manner… yes he has an Australian accent, and the big eyes make you fall for him (PS: did you know it is the Big Eyes that make you connect with the Gecko Personality.) but the Gecko works because it is a vehicle to tell a story…

I advance that stories are composed of words…

I further advance that the words you use in your Blogs, Listings, Bio, and Websites, help Search Engines discern what to do with your content…

With all the advances that Google and Bing use to offer relevant content it all starts with the words, phrases, and paragraphs you use in your website and blogs – so:

1. Are you telling your story?
    
2. Is the story you are sharing driven by your ego or your market?
    
3. Have you asked yourself – what stories should I share?
    
4. Do you know that a story is a collection of words that help your consumers make decisions about solutions they seek?

When you strip Marketing of its fancy music, pictures, cameras, and makeup, you are left with words that help tell a story, even behind a video Camera – marketing is Storytelling; embrace it and you will always be ahead in your Real Estate SEO and Marketing. – Key Yessaad

So what are the driving forces and ingredients of Internet Marketing Success in Real Estate – many of the habits and ways of approaching your business success will resonate with all of you; and after working for many years with many who have truly succeeded on the Internet I can share these important characteristics:

1. Be Tenacious: Stop dabbling and start focusing on your Market and Expertise. (You know you want to so go for it.)

2. Be Driven and focused on your Market Happenings; use your local MLS Statistics, Local Newspapers, and Websites to educate yourself daily – you must know more about your Niche Market than most.

3. You have a to have a Plan that you trust and work daily – Stop being a bumper car reacting to everything; some of your day should be yours.

4. Committed to tell your story, not once, but ongoingly. Remember your story is attached to your listings, Testimonials, Videos, Accomplishments, Pictures, Blogs, Events, Colleagues…

5. Connected: You are in the business of people – get to know everyone… and then connect with them on the Internet; Keep enlarging your Sphere…

These few points may not illuminate Real Estate SEO or Internet Marketing – but if you are not focused on these fundamental ingredients then managing your website will be difficult.

Happy Blogging! – Key Yessaad

I just found out that John Becker has been nominated “REALTOR of the Year” by his Real Estate Colleagues at the Franklin Board of REALTORS.

We are very proud of your accomplishments John and the way you work with your agency to help your colleagues with their Real Estate Business.

I mention John in this Blog because I have seen him take his rudimentary knowledge on Internet Marketing and combine it with some of my trainings on Real Estate SEO to grow his business and influence in his community; Way to go John and keep being the positive person that you are!!!

As an internet strategist I understand the day to day Needs of the Brokers and agents I coach vary depending on their production and plan of action… many will grasp at any straw in the wind, others will be methodical and focused but then there are those who see two to five years down the road and chart their course… and they are rare…

The art of The Real Estate Deal is truly a skill few agents ever develop – the daily distractions and demands of their business command the majority of their time and they are left with very little time to plan and see into the future and so they forget about their website and how the public interacts with it…

Let me share some verbiage that a Real Estate Broker has placed on his website as a means to attract users; he forgot that Web clients are mostly visuals, so long tedious text is mostly for SEO and for those who like to hear themselves talk – here is the snippet:

“…Just to let you know, we’ve taken special training on how to use the complex search capabilities of our MLS system… These classes are free; however, some real estate agents don’t take the time to get this training. The classes frequently have only 5 or 6 people. Any agent can find homes in the MLS, but the training that we’ve received helps us to find the best homes for sale for you.”

Really? Is this the text you want posted on your Home Page? I mean I can stretch my mind and think of this as a possible topic for a blog; but this text in the primary front page of your website – Really???

1. This post is not about revealing who did this but to ask those who are working on their Real Estate SEO Strategy to focus on their content. Consumers love to perform their own Searches – they don’t need you to show them how to Search; in fact the Internet is about Search… offer them true Search Capability – not the pseudo “Register Here” and we will do it for you!

2. Remember that Consumers are visual – you must intersperse within your text and content tools, maps, pictures, videos, etc…

3. Do you review your primary content from time to time? This is important; your business and ranking is growing and what was appropriate 2 years ago may not fit the business conditions of today.

4. Is your Home Page about Solutions? Remember Buyers and Sellers care about Search and Marketing.

5. Have you embedded a video in your Primary Page that shares the values and focus of your website? Your would-be clients want to meet you before they (physically) meet you.

So remember being on Page 1 of Google with a website that is pathetic is similar to being nowhere on the internet; SEO is about organic placement but nothing beats good strategic content.

PS: This is a conversation that started with my colleague Steve Manley; you are awesome – Thank you for sharing it with me.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad.

This is an important topic for the Real Estate Professionals who desire to build Internet Marketing Solutions for their clients using their websites. The topic of Framed Websites confuses many and in fact is done on purpose by many vendors.

But before I go on let’s ask the simple question: “What does it mean to frame a Web Page within another one?” When you create a Frame within your Website you can import content from another website to it. The Content that is Framed is really in another website but you are using it to show it within your website; it is a trick many use so they don’t have to go through the technical process of building their website the right way.

You probably want to see an example of a Framed Website – I picked the absolute worst website in the world: (http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/)

Many vendors use this trick to quickly offer Search Solutions when they don’t have the technical know-how to build websites correctly.

You can tell your Content is framed if the performing of actions within the Search does not change the URL (the http address) or you see a bunch of scrolling bars moving independently of the content – here is an example of a Framed Real Estate Website: http://www.allfamilyrealestate.com/Nav.aspx/Page=%2fIDX%2fDefault.aspx%2fMID%3d16400%26LinkID%3d1387

In a Real Estate Website the ability to Search for Properties in a specific MLS is very important – in fact why should consumers go to your website? If you ponder that question long and hard you will understand that the ability to Search is it. I can hear some of you say: “Key I only work on Listings, so I don’t really need the ability to offer IDX Search; Right?” – “Wrong!!!” Sellers care that you can attract Buyers, and if they can see that your website is organized around this important concept they would want you to enhance their Listings – but that is another topic for another post…

When you Frame your MLS Board Search you commit these No-Nos:

1. You assume the consumer searches similarly to the Real Estate Agent. Absolutely wrong; Do you know that some boards divide their MLS coverage map by Areas, and in order to search you are required to select the Area First. “Area 7” may mean something to you but for the consumer it is the City that matters; whether you divide Boise Idaho into 6 Areas or None is of little help to the consumer.

2. The number of Choices and boxes that need to be checked to get a result is staggering – look at the Search within your MLS. I guarantee you that your board offers classes on how to Search the MLS to find the right type of properties; Your consumers seek simplicity not classes on how to Search.

3. Some MLS Searches require you to select the county before you can select the City – are you kidding me? Yes the Realtor is supposed to be familiar with his area and will know that Boise Idaho is in Ada County; but to expect that of the consumer is silly… (and I can go on…)

4. Ahhhh… but you say… Tell the consumer if it is so hard why not call us and we will perform the Searches for them? Again – think about it. Consumers want to have the satisfaction to performing their own Searches – they don’t yet care about you… and No… they are not ready to sign an Exclusive Buyer Agency.

5. Using your MLS Search to frame a solution leaves you without the ability to Delay Registration for maximum interaction with Clients, and will not allow you to enhance your Listings with Branded Videos, additional Pictures, or special offers.

6. But since this is a Blog about Real Estate SEO – Framing your content is similar to having no content at all. Search Engines know where the content resides and distinguish your pages from those belonging elsewhere.

Finally remember that if you don’t offer the public the Right Real Estate Search they will go somewhere else. As you talk to Web Vendors make sure you ask them whether they frame the IDX Search within their website s– if so move on and look for another vendor. There are some awesome ones out there.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad.