Check out this interesting insight we found according to an article on the MRIS Blog (and the NAR 2011 Buyer and Seller Survey):
“…people today simply put the property address into Google (Bing, Yahoo! and other lesser search engines) and then, based on the paid and organic results, they will follow links produced on the page to whatever website catches their attention.”
This important for a couple of reasons:
1. You should be Googling your own listings’ addresses. What comes up? Where are people going?
2. This has implications for social media and its increasing relevance in Google’s search results. This from Bill Hacker at the website Property Portal Watch:
“Among the 22 ranking factors identified, social signals account for five of the six most influential factors in Google’s search results, according to a June 2012 study from Searchmetrics. The study showed that the most influential factors were:
- Facebook shares (0.37) have the highest correlation
- Followed by number of backlinks (0.36).
- Other high-ranking factors include Facebook comments (0.33) and,
- Likes (0.3), and Tweets (0.25).”
So what does this mean? It would suggest that getting your listings effectively shared and commented on in social media is a powerful part of being visible when prospects google addresses. While major listing portals will likely command most of the traffic, you should be doing your part by finding ways to bring your listings visibility on Facebook and Twitter.
Some ways you might do this include:
- Sharing listing photos on your real estate Facebook page
- Seeking opinions of others on social media re: your properties
- Using the address of the property in online open house listings and event invites
- Tweeting in a similar fashion, possibly syndicating your Facebook posts on your Twitter account as well.
