Real estate marketing has changed drastically in recent years. With 90% of buyers now using the Internet when searching for their new home, the drive to develop an effective Internet real estate marketing strategy has moved from a good idea to an essential one. Creating an effective internet real estate marketing campaign used to require advanced computer coding knowledge or a hefty marketing budget, but there are now tools and programs readily available that will allow real estate professionals to design and implement their own comprehensive internet marketing strategy. With consistently applied effort, it is possible for any real estate professional to achieve significant real estate marketing success. The first step to creating a successful Internet real estate marketing campaign is establishing your online presence and setting up the necessary tools to monitor and analyze your marketing efforts. We recommend you take the following steps to set up your online accounts:

1. Choose a Domain Name
   This is one of the most important decisions you will face in your internet real estate marketing strategy, as the domain name you choose will play a significant role in defining customers’ first impression of your agency, and it will be associated with your firm for your years to come. Incorporating the name of your city or local area, as well as top real estate keywords will ensure your domain name has the greatest marketing impact. Your domain name should be easy to remember and easy to spell, so avoid commonly misspelled words and refrain from using acronyms, dots, dashes, numbers, or symbols. Above all, avoid the costly mistake of using your own name as it will only have relevance for customers who already know you.
2. Setup Website and Blog Using WordPress
   Creating a mobile-friendly real estate website and blog is easier that you might imagine when you use WordPress, a free software platform readily available online. WordPress-created websites offer invaluable benefits for real estate professionals: clean coded, smart real estate web designs that Google loves (boosting your search engine ranking), a seamlessly integrated blog platform that makes it easy to update your site with new, interesting content;  and available plug-ins designed to help real estate sites convert visitors into clients.
3. Install WordPress Plugins for SEO – Yoast
   Your real estate website will need to have SEO (search engine optimization) applied in order to raise its search engine ranking but don’t worry; Yoast’s handy, free WordPress SEO plugin demystifies SEO services for real estate agents, making it easy for even net newcomers to produce well-optimized pages. Simply navigate to your site’s admin dashboard and search for ‘WordPress SEO’ to bring Yoast’s plug-in to the top result; click and install. Once the plugin installs, you just enter the asked-for information and Yoast optimizes your site’s pages and their contents; you can even use it to connect your real estate website with your social network profiles.
4. Setup Jotform for lead capture
   Targeted forms are necessary to generate real estate leads which are, after all, the ultimate purpose of your real estate website. With Jotform, creating real estate lead generating forms is easy. Simply install this free form generator and choose from one of their many form templates or drag and drop fields to quickly create custom real estate lead forms of your choice.
5. Setup Social Media Accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest
   The importance of social media marketing for real estate agents cannot be overemphasized, as these platforms allow you to establish online relationships that you can then translate into real world clients. Establish accounts in the major social media platforms, claiming your name and the name of your agency.
6. Setup an email account using MailChimp
   Launching a coordinated email marketing campaign is a breeze with MailChimp’s innovative account features. Your initial account is free; sophisticated features (some require paid subscription) allow you to compile and maintain customer profiles, add notes and one-to-one conversations to those profiles, design and disseminate marketing campaigns automated scheduled campaigns, track and analyze the success of each individual campaign, and much more. Accounts can grow as your business does, with scaled subscriptions for various email volumes.
7. Setup Google Analytical Tracking
   If you do not already have a basic Google account, you should register for one once your real estate website is up and running. Once you have registered, setup your website in Google’s Analytics, adding the verification and tracking code into your site. Real estate professionals can obtain a wealth of information on their website traffic from Google’s Analytical Tracking tool; it shows where your website traffic is coming from, where it is going, the physical location of people visiting your site, and perhaps most importantly, when and why visitors are leaving your site. Applying this information will allow you to adapt your marketing strategy and make it as effective as possible.
8. Setup Google Webmaster Tools
   Repeat the process you used with Google Analytics to set up Google’s Webmaster Tools for your site, then submit your site’s sitemap to Google. Once you do this, Google will alert you if there are any errors on your site that may affect your search rankings so you can make needed repairs. Google Webmaster will also show you the search terms where your site is currently ranking.
9. Setup Google My Business
   Google has a new tool, Google My Business, which helps to ensure that your customers can find out accurate information about your real estate agency, no matter what device they use. Through this one application, all your relevant business information is entered onto Search, Maps and Google+ , and correlated for accuracy.
10. Setup Google Alerts
    Using your Google account, you can set up Google alerts to keep abreast of current trending terms related to your real estate business. You simply designate particular keywords or search terms and Google will send you an email update whenever they appear. Set alerts for your name and the name of your real agency to monitor your online reputation; your competitions’ names to keep an eye on their efforts; and local real estate search terms such as ‘Miami real estate,’ and ‘Ft. Lauderdale condos for sale’ to ensure you stay apprised of the direction the local real estate market is heading.

If you cannot spare the time to set up all the appropriate accounts, the real estate marketing specialists at For Sale Marketing offer complete Internet marketing services. We can create a compelling online presence for real estate agencies and agents, complete with custom real estate website designs, time-tested lead generation forms, an engaging social media presence, and much more.

Click here for part 2 of The Top 10 Real Estate Marketing Ideas!

Contact For Sale Marketing today at 954-779-2801 for comprehensive real estate marketing services, from establishing your initial online presence to long-term marketing maintenance for continuing real estate success!