Guest Blogger Series - Can They Find You?

We asked some of our key clients, contacts, stakeholders and industry experts to contribute to FNT Title Talk as guest bloggers. We are proud to introduce Nick Bastian as our first contributor.

Can They Find You?

I recently attended a sales pitch / real estate seminar where one of the topics was on-line marketing. Of course, you really can’t attend one of these seminars without hearing someone say that social media is where all of the cool kids want to play. Without a doubt, the real estate industry has changed quite a bit in just the past few years. We are constantly told that approximately 90% of home searches begin online. If people are searching online, we darn sure better be there, right?

Maybe the internet isn’t your thing. You have a great sphere of influence, keep in contact with them and follow up better than the average agent. Awesome. The question is this. Do the people in your sphere use the internet to find information?

Having believed in the power of being found on the internet for quite some time, I have enjoyed many of the debate-able issues that come with it. For instance, many hard core search engine professionals will tell you not to use your name as your web site address. After all, what consumer will know to look for you when beginning their home search or when looking to sell a property? They say, get a good domain name with key words in the address. ie; HomesInMyFavoriteCity dot com. While many of the good domains are taken, you can still probably pick a niche and serve it well to rank in the search engines. However, if you own YourName.com, you can still have success marketing online.

What’s all of this got to do with you? Why might a real estate agent want their name to be able to be found on the internet? I recently heard a good analogy, it went something like this:

Let’s say you are thinking of selling your home. Since everyone in America knows approximately 9.3 ( just a guess ) real estate agents, you are sure to be able to find at least three candidates to interview. In the past, you might interview multiple agents and then choose the one who best fits your needs. The problem was, you had to say “no” to the agents that didn’t get the job. What if that person is a friend or relative? Awkward, right? Today, you might take a list of three or four agents and go online to see how your prospective new agent works or markets properties online. Basically, you can choose an agent based on what kind of information you find from the all-mighty Google.

So… Have you ever done it? Have you ever Googled yourself? Maybe you should! Hopefully, you will be able to find yourself and you will be happy with what is listed. Obviously, you will want prospective clients to see you as an expert in your field. Maybe you are a great negotiator, a great marketer, a great asset to your clients. Can anyone tell that from your presence on the internet? Let’s say the answer is no. Now what? Is that the end of the world? Probably not.

What are a few simple things you can do?

Most agents have a web site. Some are good, some are not so good. Finding your website should be easy. I’m a believer in owning your own content. Your web site or blog should be the center of your online world, the place where all other profiles point back to.

Once you have your web site properly optimized for whatever it is you want to be found for, add yourself to popular and well ranking sites like your Google profile, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and more. You don’t need to spend a lot of time on these, the set up is easy. I guess that will be another blog post for another day.

But this stuff is not hard, I promise.

About the author: Nick Bastian sells real estate in Tempe and works with Realty Executives. In his “spare time”, Nick writes a fun and informative blog about things happening along the Phoenix light rail line.