Be not afraid
A lot has been made of Google’s play into the real estate space that you heard about first here on AG. A few folks balked at our assertions that the U.S. Real Estate space was a major target for the likes of Google when we asked the simple question of whether it was a real threat or an opportunity for agents.
In our opinion, the changes you’re seeing are opportunities for agents to gain market share for their listings as well as themselves, but first, one must recognize how to take advantage of them.
Google has no intention of brokering transactions, it simply wants to be the world’s information provider, and for the time being it is. We believe the real threat here (The Big Story) is to media sites like Realtor.com, Zillow, and Trulia, as well as local search portals. The problem for Google is that we don’t know that Google’s market share in search won’t be eroded over time, but for now Google is wearing the bullseye.
Bing by Microsoft is also a retail marketplace of its own that should not be underestimated- in fact, it’s gaining in popularity as a friendly results engine designed to deliver consumers to answers, retailers, and yes, service providers just like you. Bing will get a lot more focus in 2010 as it rolls out new opportunities for you to get beside competitor results, but for now continues to tweak and develop itself in the search arena.
What’s so fascinating about the nearly 70 changes Google has made this year is that you have to believe that the odds of 75 percent of their launches are just that- launches that won’t go very far with a throw everything at the wall approach to finding the sticky– that approach rarely works so deciphering what’s real and what’s smoke and mirrors will be the real test over the next several months. My money is on Google Goggles, Google Wave, and Real Estate Search, and the rest? Well, it may be too early in the game to tell.
Think big picture
What’s most important for you, the common agent to remember, is that you’re an entrepreneur first and foremost. You’re in business for yourself, and what is crucial is that you look upon these chances with a big picture mentality, not fear. Take each tool for face value and forget how this disrupts you as a business. In fact, what makes more sense is to ask yourself how you could wield it within your own business to disrupt your competitor.
As an example, we all know now that Google provides an opportunity to upload and feed listings into it- that’s great to some and oh so scary to others, but to me, this is a great place to fine tune your AdWords campaign.
Actionables
Have you considered creating specific Google ads especially for specific listings on a mico-level? Now that Google AdWords launched geotargeting, it makes no sense to make ads broad to the U.S. real estate market, but should be fine tuned to the neighborhood the home is located in. The landing page should be directed to a blog post about the property, not to the MLS, not to Google, and not to a media company- we need to capture results on the homepage, do we not?
By doing this, your ad shows up consistently beside listing search results within Google targeted exactly to local consumers seeking out neighborhood information. This is also a play for listing consumers doing homework around their future listing as they try to evaluate the value of their home- they’re seeing your listings popping up within their search results for competitive properties only to realize that apparently you’re on your Google game.
Another opportunity I’m seeing right now is high jacking Google ad spaces on local blogs within your own market. Say for example that a local blog serves Google ads, then target that blog’s subject matter. If you’re blogging about local restaurants, then create ads around your own like content. Waste of time? No way. Just make sure you’ve fine tuned your blog and your post to welcome these new visitors and invite them to subscribe, as well as register for newsletters.
It’s only getting better for the little guy
That’s just the tip of the iceberg! Those were just a few examples of a few ways you can capitalize on the popularity of blogs, as well as begin to make yourself known within the world of real estate search by Google, as well as find yourself planted legitimately even within your own competitor’s sovereign website.
2010 is going to be a great year for the real estate practitioner, just you wait and see.
