Seems like the new year always brings a fresh round of fast talkers and smoke blowers to the arena of online real estate solutions. 2012 has been no different; while we always welcome a little friendly competition we dd want to make our REALTOR® friends aware of some things that they should be cautious of.

If it sounds too good to be true, they are likely trying to sell you something.
Some tech companies come in like lions roaring and raging about the effectiveness of their websites in search engines or capturing leads. When this happens, ask them how many of their websites actually show up in the top 20 search results for your market. Find out a good average of traffic for their domains; how many leads generally come in.

We Can Make You Number One in Google!
Be especially wary of anyone promising to get you to first place in any search engine. Google specifically states that no company can promise any sort of exclusive relationship with them; as search algorithms are always changing no search results can truly be guaranteed. One sneaky tactic is for them to indeed get you to #1 in Google, but not for a phrase anyone is searching for – you see it’s easy to rank for “purple zebra hacksaws” but no one is searching for that; even if they did it certainly wouldn’t help you move real estate.

We Syndicate Your Listings to HUNDREDS of National Sites
This is one of the biggest bragged about features that we’ve seen others waving a flag for. What they don’t tell you is that many of those sites like Zillow and Trulia scrape listing data all on their own – so really they aren’t syndicating anything. They’re still glad to charge you for the service…

Social Network Marketing is MORE than just Being There.
Some companies will charge hundreds of dollars just to setup a twitter or Facebook page. Once their obligation to create them is complete it’s hands off and you’re on your own. JUST having those profiles, and the little icon on your site, does absolutely nothing for you unless you are actively using those sites, and using them in a consistent and effective manner. There’s nothing more sad than visiting a twitter page and seeing “Last Tweet March 2010″ or a blog with default text right where it was created.

REALTOR® websites from Tour Real Estate are affordable and effective. They are search engine friendly from the start; feature the ability for you to control your content, links, and search engine visibility. We package all the online tools you will need to market your services and showcase your listings. TourRE has been revolutionizing the way real estate is found for over 10 years, we are a local Idaho technology solutions provider; our customer service and loyalty is unparalleled.

Too busy to blog? Too tired to tweet?
We can provide cost effective REALTOR® search engine optimization and social network management. We are even glad to help you learn more about using the profiles you may already have  so that you can take control of your digital presence all on your own.

Already a TourRE client and want to make more of your site? We’re glad to help out!Contact us so we can discuss how you can improve your online visibility and gain more traffic in 2012!

Not a TourRE client? What are you waiting for?! For about the cost of a one time print ad you could have a powerfully dynamic real estate website online 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days a year generating better business for you and helping you move more real estate!