Signs in Real Estate

Everyone in Real Estate, be it in commercial or residential, knows the importance of signs.  We like to see our signs go up sitting in the front for all to see.  Yet many in the real estate business forget that over 86% of all real estate searches begin on the internet.  Do you know if your signs are being seen on the internet, or do you rely on the MLS system to do that for you?  Most agents and brokers rely on the MLS system that is out there.

Try this simple exercise.  Go to Google and enter in the address of a property you listing, and hit enter. Is the property being found?  Try entering your name, surround it with "Quoation marks" for better results, and maybe add the city in which you work.  Are you being found?

Today there are a wealth of sites that allow you to list your property. I focus on Commercial Real Estate in Wisconsin and Illinois.  I list properties on over 10 internet based sites, giving my customers a broader base for the signs to be seen.  Here are a few that I use:

• LoopNet, which is subscription based and costs over $1200 per year for 4 premium listings.  Unlimited listings are much more.  LoopNet does a pretty good job of being found by the search engines.  It is one of the bigger players.  It has been purchased by CoStar, a competitor, so we will see what happens to LoopNet in the future.
• CoStar is another pay to play site, though listings are put up there for free, and their staff will track them for you.  You have to pay to view listings and for premium content.
• Oogle is a free site which is not heard of very often, but their listings are found by the search engines.  A pretty good site, and another site to give you a free "sign".
• Wisconsin BrokerNET is a new site, that focuses on just Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate, and provides premium content, but it is a free site. It focuses on Wisconsin for a number of reasons, one of them is so that search engines find the content more readily.  This is an interesting site for Wisconsin, with specific news, profiles, Economic Development Data, bank lists, newspaper lists, and a lot more.  This site should be replicated across many other states.  I like the idea of "free".

Another way to insure you signs are being seen is Social Media.  Are you on Twitter yet?  I doubt it because I have checked, and few agents or brokers are on it.  If nothing else, Twitter and other social media provides a link to your site, and the more links you have the more likely the search engines will find your site.  Some social media sites to check out are:

• Twitter, at www.twitter.com   If you like you can check my twitter site at http://twitter.com/#!/pointonerealty   I "tweet" my listings, news, etc.  I point them all back to my website - think of it as a sign post.
• Facebook.  If you are not on their personally, you just are not trying.  
• Digg, Tout, Foursquare, and more.  Look them up.  You can put up a free site on Google, with links.  You can start a blog, and include links, like this entry.
• If you are a commercial broker, here is a new one:  http://thebrokerlist.com/
• If you are clueless, and you might be, get some help. I suggest starting with Genia Stevens, because I know her.  Her website is full of tips:  http://geniastevens.com/  Check it out and act on her free suggestions, or if you need help, hire her. She is worth it.  How is that for a shameless plug?

Signs are important. Get to work and make sure your signs are being seen on the internet.....

Links:

http://www.wisconsinbrokernet.com

http://www.pointonecommercial

http://geniastevens.com/  

http://www.agencynet.us

http://statelinebusinessnetwork.com/