Why Realtors Need SEO More Than Ever

The days of people relying primarily upon classified real estate ads to find their new home are behind us. Even those great full-color real estate listing freebie magazines only impact a relatively small audience. Don’t get me wrong – these classifieds and booklets are great, but today people are looking for more.

Today’s movers and shakers (a.k.a./ home buyers) are used to instant gratification. They want to know about a house the minute it’s listed, not a day, week or month later. They want lots of pretty pictures to tell them a story and plenty of detailed information available – even if they only glance at it.

The Web gives them exactly what they want – no questions asked. They can search for their new home while at the office, the local coffee bar or even on the commuter train with their wireless PDA (Palm, Blackberry, etc.). According to Realtor.com…

* Homebuyers used the Internet more than other media to search for homes; Internet usage for searching was 71%, which is more then used newspapers (41%), home book or magazines (24%), Television (17%). (NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2003)

* Homebuyers who search for homes online are more likely than other buyers to use a real estate professional to buy their home. (NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2003)

* Homebuyers, who found an agent online, were more satisfied with their agents than traditional buyers in all aspects of the home buying process. (CAR Internet Versus Traditional Buyers Study 2003)

Consider what being in the top 10 matches of a bigname search engine like Google, Yahoo! or MSN can bring. How about the top 5 matches? Does this sound impossible? It’s more attainable than you might think!