Real Estate SEO Blogs by Key Yessaad

A lot of concepts on the Internet are intermingled due to lack of clarity; many interchange concepts because they lack the grasp of the larger ideas involved; this is also due to many Website Vendors who tell you they offer everything by twirling confusion.

Understanding brings Illumination

Let us discuss the following three concepts and try to illuminate them: SEM, SEO, and Internet Marketing.

1. Internet Marketing is the easiest one to grasp: It is the Marketing of Products or Services over the Internet. Internet Marketing is also referred to as i-marketing, web-marketing, online-marketing, or e-Marketing. This concept spans the gamut of the whole internet from ads in websites, videos in YouTube, postings in bulleting boards, Virtual tours, websites, Blogs, Pay per Click Campaigns, Press Releases, MLS, Syndication, and so much more…

Internet Marketing can also be summed up as your Efforts, Dollars, and Resources to connect directly to your customers using the Internet.

2. SEM or Search Engine Marketing: This one is also easy to understand. These are marketing efforts that focus on placing ads in Search Engines focused on a product or on a service. Pay per Click campaigns on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and FaceBook, are considered Search Engine Marketing. There are of course other lesser players but all of these are based on you placing an Ad (usually Text Based with a link) and paying only when visitors click on your ad. This type of Marketing is driven by a bidding process and the most relevant and highest bidders appear first and sequentially from there.

Search Engine Marketing is an important tool for Real Estate Agencies as well as Real Estate Agents. In fact this type of Marketing is so important that many estimate that Google makes a large portion of its income from Real Estate alone. There are currently markets where the Estimated Average Cost per Click is $6 to $10. Think about it for second – it takes 25 to 40 clicks to generate a lead or $150 to $400 in some markets to get a lead; most unfortunately is: it takes 25 to 60 Leads for agents to end up with a Sale – or over $3,000 at a minimum to generate a closing. Of course for some Real Estate Professionals this a cost of doing business.

3. SEO or Search Engine Optimization: This is the concept that creates the most agony, although quite simple to comprehend. When consumers perform a search on the Internet for a specific idea, say Los Angeles Condos for Sale, they will see paid searches on the top and on the side (called Ads by Google and Sponsored sites by Bing) – but the biggest section of 10 Results is from organically placed websites that Google or Bing deem as the most relevant for that Search Phrase.

The Process by which one attains a place among these 10 organic listings is known as Search Engine Optimization.

Let me make one remark – you will notice many names appear again and again such as Realtor.com, Homes.com, Trulia.com, Zillow.com, RealEstate.yahoo.com; etc… Why do you think? Simple – it is called Syndication!

As always, I encourage you to embrace Internet Marketing and start being proactive – the best way is to focus on your local market and offer Blogs and Content that are useful to your customers.

Happy Blogging – Key Yessaad