It's amazing to me how you can take a great marketing tool like the Web and miss the mark entirely on the most powerful ways to use it. An agent told me recently that a guy approached her who guaranteed top placement of her name on all search engines. It'd make her a fortune, he said.

If she'd bought into it, you'd Google her name and the city she sells in, and she'd be the first one on a long list of agents who sell in her market. She'd be the top dog, you'd think. At first this sounds like the ultimate "positioning," but there are some huge misconceptions behind search engine optimization as a primary Web marketing strategy.

First, it's buyer-oriented. And as we all know, he who owns the listings controls the market. Second, it's not a strategy that really leverages the power of the Web as a personal branding tool or a bridge linking you with your target audience. Top placement on a search engine just puts you at the head of a laundry list of names that aren't qualified. Third, it doesn't build business; your name sits there and you hope to God that someone clicks the link.

This is hit-or-miss marketing at its worst. If you're promoting yourself in this way, you're just hoping that the couples who're moving from Düsseldorf or Detroit happen to pick you. It's no different than gambling " keep playing and maybe this spin of the big wheel will do it. Real estate roulette indeed.

But there's nothing risky about a well-planned and designed Web site, as long at it fosters community in your target market, promotes your personal brand and serves as an emotive story-teller.

It's not about the search engines but about how you drive your traffic to your local site that makes the branding difference for you. Your direct mail, e-mail farming, and advertising all lead your target market to your site. In many ways your site, like your personal brochure, becomes your clone, and all else you do is designed to get people to know you.

There's a vast difference between these two methods, yet many agents still think top placement on a search engine is the way to go. I disagree. To maximize the Web's marketing power, a personalized site must be a local resource for engaging and building community with the people you've chosen as a target market.

At the same time, your Web site should promote what you do best and who you are and what you want people to know about you. Do you specialize in lofts? Waterfront property? Do you work primarily with skiers? Your online presence is the way to form bonds with the people you most want to work with.

If this isn't what your site is doing, all the Google hits in the world won't help. And trust me, you won't utter a single "yahoo" when you see your W-2 next year.

by Don Hobbs realblogging.com

I must say, top placement in search engines is extremely useful in Real Estate. Especially regions considered popular, vacation areas, and high growth. Take Florida, for instance. Without top ranking in the search engines, my clients would miss out on a huge amount of traffic....buyers and sellers.....Sales....and ultimately a whole lot of cash! Folks from around the world query search engines daily for Florida Real Estate. Without optimization, plain and simple, you are missing a big chunk of the action. In fact, nearly 80% of all home buyers and renters go to the internet FIRST so they can browse property listings in the privacy and convenience of their own home. It's a tragedy to miss out on all that business.

However, I do agree that SEO alone is a very poor plan as there are numerous ways to generate traffic to a Real Estate Website. And that's good news if you don't have the money to pay for SEO services. And that's good news for Realtors with a brand new website who lack page rank and age.

My friend, it's a balancing act that places emphasis on many factors like optimization, marketing, functionality, and usability of the website in question. Provide tools that users want, that they will bookmark and come back to time and time again. Provide users with that which they seek.....and you will have a winning website. True........ranking high in the search engines does not guarantee higher sales. If your site is not found usable, simple and easy, as well as functional, you have wasted good money on SEO.

We should never overlook SEO as it is a very crucial element for businesses today. SEO should always be one of the top priorities, but not the only top priority.
Kelly
-SEO, Web Design, Content Copywriter, Author