SEO in Real Estate

By now we should all be aware of the importance of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.  Quick review...  If you want your information to be found by the likes of Google, and you should, you need to fine tune it using some basic techniques.  This article is not about the intricacies of SEO, but the importance of it.

Let me demonstrate, and I have tried to make this easy for us, so when I show you a link just click on.

One visible thing to look for when you are listing a property is the URL (or web address).  Look at it. Is it descriptive?  If it is, you are way ahead.
This URL links to one of my listings on LoopNet, see if you think it is SEO friendly:  http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listing/Profile/Profile.aspx?L...  Note that this URL is three lines long and is not entirely shown on this blog post.

Here is a descriptive link for the same property, on my site, Wisconsin BrokerNET:   http://www.wisconsinbrokernet.com/2011/former-kmart-beloit-wi-2/   This URL tells me it was posted in 2011, it is in Beloit, and it is a forrmer KMart.  Fairly descriptive...

It is a listing in Beloit, the former KMart.  Let's try and find it on Google:  Search for KMart   Note when you see the results, that the first listngs are found on my site:  www.wisconsinbrokernet.com  (Heck, one is a broken link that I have to fix...)

Let's switch now to look at my website at www.wisconsinbrokernet.com,  where we use descriptive URL's.

Here is one URL for a listing commercial listing - Jung's Furniture store in Cedarburg, WI:  http://www.wisconsinbrokernet.com/2011/jungs-furniture/.   Compare that to the LoopNet URL above.

Look up Jung's Furniture on Google: Jung's Furniture   The Wisconsin BrokerNET listing is the first listing on Google.

One more quick example.  Let's look for a commercial / industrial building I sold in Janesville, Wisconsin:  Bub Enterprises, and I will look for something simple like "Sold Building Janesville".  The Bub Enterprise sale on my site, Wisconsin BrokerNET is number one in this search.  I will give LoopNet credit, they are number three, but they are a multi-million dollar company, and I am just a little guy, and I just started this site.  Oh, and my site charges nothing for listings, zip, free, and LoopNet charges thousands for four listings that are visible to all.  Plus my site has some information unique to Wisconsin, like economic development links, interactive maps,demographics (Note the demographics link URL - http://www.wisconsinbrokernet.com/wisconsin-demographics/)

Descriptive URL's are just one tool in your SEO toolkit. My site utilizes a lot more, like tags, news, and unique information to commercial real estate in Wisconsin.  Yours should as well.

SEO is one of those tools that gives you the ability to take on the big guys and get noticed, and quickly. Note that my site went live two months ago, and LoopNet has been around for decades, and already we can compete with them.  Just one small example of the power of SEO.  Get found or get lost (and I mean that in a nice way).

NOTE:  We have developed a sister site for Illinois as well, at Illinois BrokerNET.

Illinois BrokerNET & Wisconsin BrokerNET, Free Listing sites for Commercial Real Estate

I got tired of paying a lot of money during this commercial real estate recession, make that depression.  Paying the likes of LoopNet and CoStar thousands for listings that few are looking at these days was getting tough to swallow, and still is.  Oh, and now CoStar just bought LoopNet so the swallowing will even more difficult, and more expensive.

Instead of complaining about it, which have a tendency  to do, I attempted to do something about it and created to new free listing sites:  Wisconsin BrokerNET and Illinois BrokerNET.   If you study SEO, and I have (again, I am in commercial real estate, I have lots of time), you will see that it is suggested that you focus on your content.  While everyone else focuses on the rest of the world, my sites focus on just one state, and just on commercial real estate.

The sites utilize SEO techniques, from unique URL labels, to SEO tools, to WordPress which has a host of built in SEO tools.  The key though it to have the agents and brokers use the sites optimally.  That is they have to use descriptive titles, with city names in them, provide lots of property details, pictures, etc.  This is hard to do with some agents, and I really don't know why.  Be specific, it is not hard, list your property as commercial real estate, industrial real estate, commercial property, industrial property, Wisconsin, Illinois, retail, land, farm, investment, multi-family, be specific. 

The commercial real estate business in Wisconsin, Illinois and the country, has changed. It is not longer driven by the MLS systems or property signs.  It is and will be Internet driven.  Those who utilize the tools effectively will win.  Oh, and part of being effective is being watching your costs and putting up as  many signs on the Internet as you can.  Start by using sites like Wisconsin BrokerNET and Illinois BrokerNET.  No cost, no fees, no subscription fees, zip, you get the idea.

Sites:
Wisconsin BrokerNET
Illinois BrokerNET

Illinois BrokerNET Home Page

Rock County 5.0, Wisconsin, Shovel-Ready Sites Enhanced by Build-to-Suit Portfolio

Rock County 5.0, Wisconsin, Shovel-Ready Sites Enhanced by Build-to-Suit Portfolio

Signs in yards and on the internet

Everyone in Real Estate, be it in commercial or residential, knows the importance of signs.  We like to see our signs go up sitting in the front for all to see.  Yet many in the real estate business forget that over 86% of all real estate searches begin on the internet.  Do you know if your signs are being seen on the internet, or do you rely on the MLS system to do that for you?  Most agents and brokers rely on the MLS system that is out there.

Try this simple exercise.  Go to Google and enter in the address of a property you listing, and hit enter. Is the property being found?  Try entering your name, surround it with “Quoation marks” for better results, and maybe add the city in which you work.  Are you being found? Enter the name of the listing.  Try a number of combinations.  If you are not being found on Google, your sign is not being seen.

Today there are a wealth of sites that allow you to list your property. I focus on Commercial Real Estate in Wisconsin and Illinois.  I list properties on over 10 internet based sites, giving my customers a broader base for the signs to be seen.  Here are a few that I use:

• LoopNet, which is subscription based and costs over $1200 per year for 4 premium listings.  Unlimited listings are much more.  LoopNet does a pretty good job of being found by the search engines.  It is one of the bigger players.  It has been purchased by CoStar, a competitor, so we will see what happens to LoopNet in the future.
• CoStar is another pay to play site, though listings are put up there for free, and their staff will track them for you.  You have to pay to view listings and for premium content.
• Oogle is a free site which is not heard of very often, but their listings are found by the search engines.  A pretty good site, and another site to give you a free “sign”.
• Wisconsin BrokerNET is a new site, that focuses on just Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate, and provides premium content, but it is a free site. It focuses on Wisconsin for a number of reasons, one of them is so that search engines find the content more readily.  This is an interesting site for Wisconsin, with specific news, profiles, Economic Development Data, bank lists, newspaper lists, and a lot more.  This site should be replicated across many other states.  I like the idea of “free”.

Another way to insure you signs are being seen is Social Media.  Are you on Twitter yet?  I doubt it because I have checked, and few agents or brokers are on it.  If nothing else, Twitter and other social media provides a link to your site, and the more links you have the more likely the search engines will find your site.  Some social media sites to check out are:

• Twitter, at www.twitter.com If you like you can check my twitter site at http://twitter.com/#!/pointonerealty I “tweet” my listings, news, etc.  I point them all back to my website – think of it as a sign post.
• Facebook.  If you are not on their personally, you just are not trying.
• Digg, Tout, Foursquare, and more.  Look them up.  You can put up a free site on Google, with links.  You can start a blog, and include links, like this entry.
• If you are a commercial broker, here is a new one:  http://thebrokerlist.com/
• If you are clueless, and you might be, get some help. I suggest starting with Genia Stevens, because I know her.  Her website is full of tips:  http://geniastevens.com/ Check it out and act on her free suggestions, or if you need help, hire her. She is worth it.  How is that for a shameless plug?

Signs are important. Get to work and make sure your signs are being seen on the internet…..

Links:

http://www.wisconsinbrokernet.com

http://www.pointonecommercial

http://geniastevens.com/

http://www.agencynet.us

http://statelinebusinessnetwork.com/