Analyze, Quantify, and Optimize

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) - It is the art of “Key Word” sculpting. The use of specific Key Words will guide the internet visitor onto your web site.

The key words used must focus on what you are selling, and the description of the product you are offering is very important when a prospect enters your web site. The key words and dedicated web page analysis will improve lead generation. The implementation of a contingency plan will allow you to make the modifications needed to optimize your web site.

This strategy will help you figure out what you need to do differently so you can get recognized by search engines. It is vital that you recognize the value of Web Analytics - these tools will be helpful when creating a web site that will someday give you a great return on your investment.

Written below there are a few tips that may help:

Let’s explore the acronym R.E. A.L.

Responses - How many visitors have either downloaded data or selected to be added to your email.

Evaluate - Find out where the visitor decided to leave during his/her visit and the time spent on site. It is very important to know how long they explored your site

Apply - It is important when you have to initiate a multi-model strategy. This approach will allow you to sculpt your web page with new key words. Use what works and write for the masses who will visit your site.

Leads-to-cash ratio: The connection between the initial visit and the monetary rewards you receive.

One of the Secrets behind creating an online image

One of the secrets behind creating an online image of who you are is to keep it REAL.

Follow these steps:

• Acknowledge that you are a realtor and that you provide a professional service.
• Conceive an image of your online persona through research.
• Join Facebook and other Social Networks.
• Create your own agent web page and link it to your broker’s site.
• Focus on the services you have to offer and present them in a consultative manner.

Keep in mind being unique is key.

How does a Great agent prevent a deal from falling through?

Simply pre-qualify them first. Ask them for the following information - how much is their down payment, mortgage approval (No Pre-Qualifications), their credit report, and their lawyer’s information.

A great buyer will put down more than 25%. Good buyer will put down 15% and bad buyer is 5%.
The higher the number the more secure the deal becomes.

A Key point to fathom - the more information you gather the better off you are. Knowledge is Power - it’s an old cliché, but it’s a fact.

Keep your visitors tuned in with a stress free viewing experience

It is wise to have your visitors have a great viewing experience when they are on your web site.

The layout of the home page is really important and make sure that all visitors can find their way around, so keep it easy.

This approach will allow the visitor to navigate comfortably with no Stress. It is important that you give them a two click search result.

Some Pointers:

• Web page layout matters - If it’s too cluttered your visitor won't stick around and you will not generate a lead.
• Use eye-tracking principles - it is your job to help your visitors find what they need as soon as they land on your site.
• You must provide a way for them to find what they want and it has to be quick.
• Build rapport - help your visitors feel understood. It's a process that begins on the home page or a well-designed landing page.
• Not all visitors know exactly what they want. Some may not be in a buying mood. That doesn't mean they won't buy.
• Let visitors know briefly who you are, what you do, and what you offer. You're more likely to persuade them to become a lead.

Sources: New York Times, Realtor.com, and Inman.com

Focus on the one thing that will make you stand out.

The one thing we need to do is to organize ourselves and develop a successful plan. Part of the planning phase is researching your competitive landscape, your existing market, and your target market.

Strategy is what you need, before we create the strategy we need to the learn basics in marketing - the acronym (S.W.O.T Analysis) - Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats allow you to identify your target, you can develop a well thought out plan once this is determined.

Knowing the target enables you to tailor your plan and create a contingent course of action. This approach will give you the ability to capture your desired market.

Good News for Home Buyers

Every buyer who is ready, able, and willing is missing the opportunity to buy now. Don’t wait - it may be too late once the prices on homes start to rise. Read the following article.

(Article)

Home Prices in Record Plunge
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com
Feb 12th, 2009

National Association of Realtors reports that home prices dropped a record 12.4% in the final quarter of 2008 - the biggest year-over-year decline in 30 years.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Home prices fell 12.4% during the fourth quarter of 2008, the largest year-over-year decline since the National Association of Realtors began keeping comprehensive records in 1979.

The median price for a U.S. home sold during the fourth quarter of 2008 fell to $180,100, down from $205,700 during the last quarter of 2007.

Distressed properties, the foreclosures and short sales that have flooded the market, accounted for 45% of all deals. That has driven sales volume up in Nevada, California and other states hit hard by foreclosures, but these heavily discounted homes have also pushed median prices down.

"People are responding to discounted prices and are slowly absorbing the excess inventory," said NAR President Charles McMillan. "Buyers clearly see value in today's pricing."

Pain is widespread

The vast majority of metropolitan areas, 134 out of 153, recorded price declines compared with the last quarter of 2007.

"Home markets are weak just about everywhere," said Pat Newport, an analyst with HIS Global Insight, "but in a few states, distressed sales are driving transactions."

Cape Coral-Ft. Myers, Fla., which has the third highest rate of foreclosure filings in the nation, according to RealtyTrac, prices fell a devastating 50.8% for the year, to $110,900 from $225,300. That was the most precipitous plunge for any metro area.

In Saginaw, Mich., prices fell 41.4%; Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., prices dropped 40.8%; and San Jose, Calif., prices declined 37.7%.

The Beaumont-Port Arthur area of Texas bucked the national trend. Its median home price jumped 16.7% to $132,600 - the highest increase in the nation. Other winners included Bloomington, Ill., up 9.6%; Dover, Del., up 6.5%; and Bismarck, M.D., up 6%.

The high number of distressed sales pushed prices down for several reasons, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR. For one thing, many sales were in low- and moderate-income housing developments where buyers during the boom years financed their purchases using subprime mortgages. In higher-end areas, fewer exotic mortgages were used.

"Take Orange County, Calif.," said Yun. "It's the lower-priced areas there where homes are selling. The high-priced areas along the coast are not. That has skewed the results."

And the high number of foreclosures means banks are willing to slash prices deeply to move inventory. Many of the properties they've obtained through repossessions now sit vacant, soaking up lender money for maintenance, heating, property taxes and insurance. The banks willingly take lower prices to end those cash outlays, which brings down prices even for normal sellers.

Then there's also what Yun calls a "frozen" jumbo-mortgage lending market, which has also slowed sales of higher-priced homes and reduced median prices.

The good news is that bargain prices are bringing many new buyers into the market." Many are first-time homebuyers who were priced out of the market during the boom," Yun said.

Stimulus help

NAR is hoping a piece of the stimulus bill before Congress will build on that momentum and provide an extra incentive for buyers.

"Assuming housing provisions in the economic stimulus package are quickly enacted and provide enough encouragement for homebuyers, we could see a quick lift in home sales for the critical spring home-buying season," said Yun.

On Thursday, it appeared that the final iteration of the homebuyer's tax credit, which had very different provisions in the House and Senate versions of the stimulus package, was shaping up to be closer to the House bill, according to Yun.

That means a credit of $7,500, perhaps $8,000, or 10% of home price for first-time home buyers. This windfall will not have to be repaid by homebuyers and can be taken off 2008 taxes. NAR estimates that could draw in an additional half million buyers this year.

"It could help reduce the high inventory of homes for sale," said Yun, "and get housing markets moving again. It's hard to get the economy back to growth until that happened."

Report: Some Home Prices to Bottom Out in 2009

FEBRUARY 6, 2009, 5:24 P.M. ET - Online.wsj.com
By JAMES R. HAGERTY

House prices in much of the U.S. will bottom out in this year's fourth quarter, Moody's Economy.com says in a new report.

In some of the hardest hit markets, however, prices won't reach a bottom until 2010 or 2011, the research firm says in a report written by its chief economist, Mark Zandi.

"Despite the darkening national economic outlook and the weak conditions in the housing market, some positive signs give hope that a bottom in the housing market is coming into view," the report says.

It cites signs that home sales are stabilizing as people snap up bargains on foreclosures, a decline in the supply of unsold homes in many areas and expectations of moves by the Obama administration "that will help place a floor under the housing downturn." Those measures could include lowering mortgage rates further, preventing more foreclosures and generating jobs through higher federal spending.

On average, house prices nationwide will hit bottom in this year's fourth quarter at a level 36% below the peak reached in the first quarter of 2006, the report says.

The price measure is based on the Fiserv Case-Shiller index.
But some areas will be hit much harder. For instance, the Naples-Marco Island, Fla., area is expected to bottom out in the fourth quarter of 2010 with prices 70% below the peak. The report projects that peak-to-trough declines for metro areas will be 66% in Miami, Fla., 63% in Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., 58% in Phoenix, 56% in Las Vegas, 53% in Los Angeles, 38% in Washington and 33% in New York. Within those metro areas, different neighborhoods are likely to show very divergent performances; the most desirable areas near good schools and jobs are faring much better than other places.

The peak-to-trough decline will exceed 10% in nearly 62% of the nation's 381 metro areas, the report says, and the drop will be above 20% in about 100 metro areas.

The report is based on a forecast that the recession will end late this year, followed by a "lackluster" recovery. "A number of uncertainties in both the housing and economic outlooks remain, and the risks tilt to the downside," Mr. Zandi says.