One of the first things you learned as a REALTOR was how to use the MLS, no? And Im sure you will agree it is a huge resource for us. The challenge is that, even though it gives us all sorts of great information about sellers and their properties, it doesnt give us a lot of direct information about buyers. And in todays market, we need to know about BUYERS more than ever!
So what is the super ninja tool we can use for real estate advertising and to research what buyers are doing and what buyers want? Previously, when the market was hot, attracting buyers was as easy as putting a sign in the yard or an ad in the paper. But what can we do to attract them to us in this environment?
Well, guess what? There is a billion dollar research tool that is sitting right under our noses ” and its FREE! It has been available to us for the past eight years ” but it wasnt until the market shifted to a buyers market that weve needed to use it.
Do you know what it is? Youll be surprised when I tell you. Youve used it hundreds of times and didnt even know that you werent even scratching the surface of what it can do.
Its called Google.
Specifically, the research part of Google is Adwords. It allows us to ascertain what keywords our clients are using to do their searches.
Not only that, but you can learn to use Google Adwords in minutes ” not like our complicated MLS programs. All you do is enter the key phrases you are interested in researching and Google will tell you how many people are searching using that word or phrase every single month. But Google is also very smart ” because it will also give you suggestions of other words and phrases that may be better to use.
Lets look at an example: Lets say you sell resort homes in Door County, Wisconsin. You enter resort homes, Door County in the keyword tool and it will tell us how many people are searching every month for resort homes in Door County.
I just went to Google Adwords and entered exactly those key phrases ” Resort Homes and Door County. This is what I found: Door County resorts: 2400 Door County WI: 22,200 Door County resort: 2900 Door County Wisconsin: 22,200 Door County rentals: 3600 Door Country lodging: 4,400
And when I scroll down to the bottom of the page, it suggests other ideas: Door County: 201,000 ” now were talking some volume! Sister Bay: 33,100 ” SURPRISE! Vacation homes: 301,000
(BTW ” The numbers reflect the number of searches per month.)
And it will even give you a graph showing you the trend. As you would imagine, everything is trending downward in this market (though Door County weddings are trending upward! We must be heading into the June wedding season!) So, what now that you have this information, what do you do with it?
Well, you have several options: 1)You can advertise on Google itself using Pay Per Click advertising 2)You can optimize your website using exactly these keywords. (In our example above, you would type Door County Resort vs. Door County Resorts.)
Of course, our recommendation is that you use free social media strategies and use these key phrases throughout your content. This is how prospects that are looking for your services will find you. Let Google Adwords do your heavy lifting in bringing you hot, new clients today!
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