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The Web 2.0 consumer has a short attention span. This we know. But how short? How many times can we expect a searcher to click on a link or page BEFORE he or she gets exactly what they came for… WHAT THEY WERE SEARCHING FOR… three, two, one… I think not… Let’s try zero.

One of the great (unplanned) features of the BLOG is the long tail.. Yeah, Yeah, I know. SEO… But this is not about SEO. It is about the most efficient content delivery imaginable… zero click content delivery.

What do you search for and what do you expect to find when get the results. Let’s pretend a search for Large Pink Horse shoes… Okay, go to Google and type it in… What are the results? Let’s see…

Chances are you will get a site that has “large pink horseshoes” in the description… but when you go to the site? all you see is Large Pink Horses…. Wait is there a link to horse shoes? There is a link to the pair of horseshoes that are on the horse in the picture…. But I want all pink horseshoes…..

I am out…

However if I land on a blog post with content about Large Pink Horseshoes, how many clicks away am I now…. Here is the post…. Zero clicks.

Now, here is your challenge… How do you make your Real Estate Website, a zero click website. What are your searchers looking for, and how quickly can you provide it…

Build it and they will come.

The mantra from Broker to Agent is, “you’ve got to create an on-line brand…”

I think that maybe the Brokers just got frustrated or ran out of ideas,. Maybe they didn’t have the time during the “boom” to give better counsel… or perhaps they SIMPLY DON’T UNDERSTAND THE INTERNET. But frankly, this is really low-grade advice… Imagine yourself looking for a new shiny car.. A Prius, or even a Benz. You go to your favorite search engine, pause and breathe, and type in your search, p-r-i-u-s. You eagerly await the results and ta-da, there it is… three pages filled with sites advertising Prius…..salesman.

“Please choose me to buy your Prius, I have been in the industry for 23 years. I was number one in Talooga County in 2004. I have 15 initials after my name, Phd, BS, Md, Esq, l-m-n-o-p… Look at my picture, don’t I look trustworthy? Oh, and here is my dog!

Is this the actual results you were looking for? You are probably clicking through these sites faster than a 14 year old playing a video game. I want to see a car, I want see deals on a car, I want to see information about the car. I want to find the right car. I want see prices on this car. Convince me to buy THIS car and then I will THINK about who I want to buy from.  I want to see the Windshield Replacement Cost and all the probabilities of getting in an accident caused by a drunk driver and having to get legal help from an OVI lawyer. All of these items and the list can add up to a nice price tag if you don’t do the right research on costs.

But that is exactly what Realtors are offering the Real Estate Searcher… *repeat* REAL ESTATE searcher. When was the last time you searched for a REALTOR on the Internet? Seldom? Never? Most Real Estate based Searches are just that…. Real Estate. Notice on the (hard to read) adwords chart below that Seattle Realtor is number 8 and not even close to the search term MOST searchers are using… which is REAL ESTATE. Realtor doesn’t show up again until number 23…

Enter Web 2.0… How about giving your searchers what they are looking for? They are not looking for you… They don’t care about you! They want your product. Real Estate Searcher come to the Internet to learn about houses. Check out houses, look at the prices of house. They come to get information (from you) about neighborhoods, architecture, market trends. They even come for advice…. about houses, housing and all things Real Estate.

Build it and they will come.

So, now you know what they want… Is your site offering it? Do you have the best IDX in your market. Can they see inventory with 2 clicks, one click, NO clicks. Do you have pertinent market information. Pertinent = timely and Original. Do you have community information. Not canned, regurgitated HOA information, but meaningful, valuable, original information. What would YOU want to see in a site… Make a list. If you were moving to Talooga county in six months, what would the site look like that YOU WOULD WANT TO USE….

Build it and they will come.

Sometimes a post comes along that I just couldn’t agree more. Every paragraph, sentence and syllable. Jim Cronin of the Tomato posted this article entitled “is you website working against your Real Estate career. It is on spot and brilliant. My client/readers will feel this is an “echo.”

A couple of other “expireds” are:

• Any type of personal BRANDING… Real Estate searchers are looking for …..Real Estate, not Realtors. They don’t care about you. Give them what they came for and hope they appreciate it enough to self-identify.
• Driving people to your site via other (expensive) marketing. You just invested 12 and half zillion dollars to buy the front page in “Dream Homes on the Cliff with a pool in Belair” Magazine and once you have the readers attention, you drive them to your website? How about a separate and effective call to action, like “pick up the phone and lets go for a car ride!

How about a couple of extra”wireds”

• Pertinent, timely, unique and CURRENT information about your market. Average Sales Prices, Inventory Levels, Trends, and your well thought out opinion on the market… You are an authority, right? Prove it.
• Fun or Interesting. Searcher will check out cool info, trivia, and interesting facts… as long as it is fresh… How about “Top 5 most expensive, Top 5 least expensive, Coolest Architecture in town…etc.” But if it is not you and not CURRENT… don’t do it. “

Jim’s article is a breath of fresh air. He gets it.. Do you?

Every Realtor should spend a small portion of their day keeping up with local, regional and National Real Estate news. Your clients and prospects EXPECT you to know the answers. Google Reader is absolutely the best thing since sliced bread for keeping up on your RSS feeds. But wait… it gets better. I found this list of shortcut keys around the internet…

Simply search for sites that carry the content you crave and subscribe to them in your Google Reader. Then list all unread and power short cut through them. Get ready to replace your keyboard whent the “J” pops off!!

Good Luck!

As I travel to seminars and speak to Realtors , I am running into a problem that I never actually considered. The REASON, I thought, that Realtors (in general) werent effective in realizing income on the Internet was that that they didn’t understand how. Understandable. All realtors should be as good at selling houses as the The Mayo Home Team, or at least that’s what a person expects when hiring one. Internet marketing is a whole cottage industry away from Real Estate. Perhaps they were trying, but just missing the mark. The actual problem, I now see, is more systemic than that.

Most Realtors dont know what they dont know.

The Idea that a Website is should be built to create REVENUE and not a brand? I didn’t know that.

The concept that I can create a website that APPEALS to my searchers and creates a DESIRE to self-identify? Really, I didnt know.

The theory that I can actually track my visitors progress through my site and see which parts they enjoy and which they dont? and that I should actually build the site THEY WANT? I didn’t know that I didn’t know that, either.

So, lets take the next couple of weeks and set a plan in action to learn what we need to know… and then we will learn that…

Make sense? Who knows…. stayed tuned.

Apparently Google discovered Real Estate Webmasters “contextual linking” program and decided that it was not within the Spirit” of their Search Criteria. Frankly I am a bit surprised. Real Estate Webmaster got a pretty large boost of biz when Advanced Access got an IP level penalty from Yahoo for blatant reciprocal linking. Why would they take the same chances? Google makes it pretty darn clear that ANY linking practices that are designed to “game the system”are open for penalty assessment or worse. REWs linking practices seem to serve no other purpose. Months ago there was the “cross-linked” directory scandal… and now this? Lets put away our self-serving, over analytical SEO hats, step back and look at why Google would feel justified in assessing such a penalty.

What does Google do for a living? They offer a service. Simply put, Google offers the best case results for any search term you choose to enter in the Google search box. How do they do it? By creating a complex algorithm that measures MANY different aspects of a site and returns the best results. ( I know…highly oversimplified) What happens when you game the system? Google’s value is diminished. Would you stand for that if you were Google? of course not. and neither will they.

I read a lot of blogs. It is where I get most of my info, these days. And, unfortunately when reading 100s of posts a day (almost strictly on Real Estate Marketing) I skim until; I find a MUST READ, and then read. Si Fishkin, Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz’s grandfather (how cool) wrote this article on Page Rank and the passing of Link Juice that is a must read. Most of these types of articles are only interesting to SEO geeks, but I think this article has merit for my Realtor readers, and clients. Read it and share your thoughts. I will post a follow-up in a couple of days…

Check out this article posted over at MetaToast.com by David Laferney.  It is right on target for those who are using WordPress.

1) It makes you think- It becomes really easy, as a Realtor to become an information “lemming.” You hear something about the market at a meeting and next thing you know, you are parroting it to your clients. Investing the time to actually WRITE about the market encourages new thought. You gather the data, and You create the information.

2) It makes you different, and different = better- One of the marketing theories I have been espousing over many years is how important differentiation is to Realtors. Realtors do what Realtors do. Do you? Don’t. Create your own marketing that is different than other Realtors and writing your own original blog sets you apart as well. YOu need to stand out in a crowd. Blogging will help.

3) Blogs get Read by other Realtors- and they comment. This gives you feedback, often valuable constructive feed back on your ideas. It allows you to wash your ideas through others so by the time you give your VALUED opinion to your clients. it is well thought out, and VALUABLE.

4) Traffic is good….for traffic.- A well read blog will bring more traffic to a Realtor than any “business card” type web site. You know the one. This is who I am (or was when the site was written) and this is why I am the greatest. A well written blog will receive traffic from competitors, clients, co-workers, and prospects. Traffic creates Traffic.

5) It PROVES you are an authority- What is a Realtor? An authority on Real Estate. How do I (as a prospect) know you are an authority? Well, pages and pages of posts and comments on the current market and what is going on in my neighborhood certainly helps show you are an authority… A canned listing presentation that is pretty much the same as other Realtors? Not so much.

6) It provides third party validation- Prospects are constantly faced with Realtors telling them how good THEY are. But how often does a prospect hear from a third-party how good you are as a Realtor? I well thought out, well written blog post will receive positive comments. These comments give your prospect the “right” to decide you are a great Realtor and he/she should choose you…. because others before him have agreed.

7) It is INSTANT, when your Prospects need it- Real Estate Buyers and Sellers (read: prospects) Love up to the minute information. This type of information is not available on most Realtor (business card) type websites. A a good property management company with blog allows them to subscribe and receive your up to the minute, valuable information. This makes you a valuable resource to your prospects and clients.

Jim Reppond and the Reppond Team, Coldwell Banker’s number one team in Seattle, host this informative blog on Seattle Real Estate. Whether your a seasoned investor or a first time home buyer, Jim’s vast knowledge of the Seattle Real Estate Market will captivate and educate…[display_podcast]

Read The Transcript

Jim Marks: Hello and welcome to the first episode of the Seattle Real Estate Podcast. I am your host, Jim Marks of Virtual Results, and my guest for this episode is the founder and namesake of the Reppond team, the number one producing Coldwell Banker Bain team in all of Seattle, Jim Reppond. Jim, welcome.

Jim Reppond: Hi, thanks Jim.

Jim Marks: I’d like to open this inaugural podcast by telling our listeners a little bit about yourself, your team and your experience in the Seattle real estate market.

Jim Reppond: Well, I got started in real estate way back in 1976. It started with me when I first got out of college of purchasing 55 acres down in Eugene, Oregon, to open a organic winery. I was young and rather naïve and didn’t really know what I was doing and realized pretty quick into it that I was a little in over my head a bit, and it was probably a good idea to sell the property. At that stage, I was thinking that probably the best would be to sub-divide it and I again didn’t really know what I was doing, so that’s when I went and got my real estate license. From there, I did sub-divide it and fortunately did make a little money and moved on into more real estate sales work. Read More »