One of First National's latest search engine optimised websites
First National’s Chief Executive Ray Ellis has commented on the critical importance of real estate website search engine ranking, saying Australian consumers should take a closer look at their agent’s websites.
‘While many homeowners understand that the Internet is now a crucial component of marketing when the time comes to sell, how many of them actually check an estate agency’s Google ranking before signing up with their agent’ says Mr Ellis.
It’s now a well accepted fact that nine out of ten people start their search for a new home using the internet. While the major real estate portals like realestate.com.au and domain.com.au may seem like a logical starting point to many consumers, more people start out by entering the name of the suburb plus the words ‘real estate’ in a search engine like Google.
‘This is where the results get interesting’ says Mr Ellis.
‘One prominent real estate brand markets itself to Australians with the promise that its brand is “searched more often than any other real estate brand” but the evidence shows that it just isn’t being found. Consumers need to be wary of listing with agents who have an ineffective Internet strategy as their home may not receive the exposure it needs to maximise its price.
‘A common mistake is making the assumption that the agent with the most advertising in the local newspaper will achieve the best result. First National Real Estate’s research shows nothing exceeds the importance of Internet marketing and the ranking an agent’s website receives when it comes to maximising price. The vast majority of buyers find our listings online so agents must work to achieve page one search engine results for their website’ says Mr Ellis.
Business Review Weekly conducted a review of Australia’s top 30 real estate brands in 2009. The websites of those brands were then subjected to an independent assessment that found First National Real Estate was number one at marketing its listings in a way that attracts a maximum of exposure.
Those in the know refer to ‘Inbound Marketing’ as the Holy Grail of search engine optimisation. To the merely mortal, ‘Inbound Marketing’ loosely translates to the steps an entity takes to attract ‘views’ or ‘hits’ to its website. The more hits for real estate agents, the more sales. The major real estate brands are therefore locked in a pitch fork battle as they vie for supremacy, and the stakes are high!
‘Newspaper advertising volume once helped major brands retain their coveted prominence but First National Real Estate recognised six years ago that print media was a battle of the past and that it had to revolutionise its Internet strategy if it were to deliver the greatest value to its customers’ says Mr Ellis.
The network terminated its former web-hosting alliance partner in 2004 and set about building a completely different approach to website management.
‘We listened to the best and brightest in the website design profession and we also consulted our own agents to craft the most flexible, user friendly, search engine visible websites in the profession. Our strategy is quite simply the most effective in Australia right now.
‘When the director of another major brand writes to his franchisees, as took place this week, acknowledging the brand’s search results are “hopeless” and that they are not the dominant force online that they feel they should be, it underlines just how careful consumers need to be when choosing their agent’.
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