Real Estate Websites are NOT within your control — the essence of working your Internet Presence is dependent on what is deemed important by Website Vendors and Programmers; they regard themselves as knowing more than you — and I strongly disagree with that premise!
I share an anecdote with many and tell them: “Even if you can hire the brilliant minds of Google, responsible for the indexing Algorithm, they would not be able to tell you which website will rank well in Real Estate — worse they will not be able to build the proper Real Estate Website!”
Your Real Estate Website Architecture in NOT within your Control
Think of this way:
1. The Google Algorithm is so complex and driven by so many variables that only computers can render its results. The programmers at Google will have better instincts about what works and what does not, but cannot definitively know the answer. This is not bad news — this, in essence, means that the process has a level of fairness to it.
2. To be a programmer does not mean you understand the psychology of Buyers and Sellers in Real Estate. I will share with you a simple idea on this… Facebook understood the psychology of “Frending” more deeply and more profoundly than any other Social Media Company; whereas Google and Myspace failed miserably at this experiment. Knowledge and Resources are NOT enough — Psychology and Creativity play as important a role!
As a Realtor or Broker you are having to rely on the expertise of Website Vendors to help you tell your story — which is, you becoming and being Internet Marketer. I will tell you this; if you do not address the Internet, Google, and Websites on your Listing Presentations, and show the added value you bring to the table, you will encounter more No’s then Yes Listings.
The architecture these Vendors use to build their products is crucial; it amounts to you looking under the hood and understanding the way the engine of your car works at the piston level — a type of expertise only a few agents ever acquire.
Let’s talk about an important architectural structure you must have in your website; Real Estate Websites are built on IDX Feeds; which allow visitors on your website to search for Real Estate — these Databases are quite large and rely on a concept called “Dynamic URLs” — Mapping these URLs to proper organic Web Addresses is crucial to your visibility.
For example: Wrong:
Right:
The mapping of these URLs, or Web Addresses, cannot be managed by the agent — the programmers, and the Website Vendors are the ones, who should know better, and ought to go out of their way to make these fundamental ideas work for their clients.
This is of course not happening because the Right Questions are not being asked by Brokers and Agents.
There is good news though — some of these vendors are starting to build a level of humility and letting themselves be put to the test. This is not happening in a vacuum, it is happening because agents are tired of canned trainings like ePro (which reveal very little) and are taking Advanced Internet Marketing Courses that helped them ask the tough question!
So, Yes, you do Not control your website — don’t be afraid to demand what you want and raise the bar of the vendors you are using!
Happy Blogging, 🙂 — Key Yessaad, Real Estate SEO Trainer
