As a new or old REALTOR®, having a website is an important part of your success. Your website allows potential clients to learn about what you offer and how your skills can benefit them. It’s also a great place for you to build authority in the industry and capture digital leads. When you join a reputable brokerage, you're often confronted with the choice between investing in a custom website or using a free one provided by the brokerage. It's essential to determine which option aligns best with your marketing goals and budget. To help you make an informed decision, we've created this post to guide you through the process of choosing the right websites for REALTORS® in Canada. Follow along below to learn more! 

Understanding Your Budget and Branding Needs

Before you entertain the possibility of a custom site, it’s important to understand your budget. For many new agents, the cost of a website is a significant factor in the decision-making process. A free website provided by the broker is often an enticing option since it comes at no extra cost to use. However, free websites like these generally come with limitations that may inhibit an agent's ability to grow. On the contrary, a paid website will typically allow you to tailor the platform as you see fit. 

For new agents, it can be beneficial to stick with the free template site provided by your broker until you get off the ground. This will allow you to build a relationship with some clients and pocket more of your earnings in the early stages. Once you settle into the rhythm, then you can begin to look at what a custom website would do for you. However, some agents do find that investing in a custom site early on helps them build a foundation and establish a stronger reputation. What you choose is entirely up to you and your financial threshold. 

Beyond the budget, you’ll need to think about how your website will convey your brand. A key advantage of a custom site is that you can build it out to suit your branding needs/personality. Custom websites give you more freedom to create unique and professional-looking platforms. Consequently, increasing your chances of standing out in a competitive market. For those who stick with the free broker site, there may be limitations in terms of customization. This can make it challenging to optimize your site with respect to your brand. 

Future Scalability and Growth

Another factor to consider when deciding between free and paid REALTOR® websites is how much control you have over the features and functionality. Paid sites generally offer more features and functions than those provided free with your brokerage. These functionalities may include lead generation tools, CRM integration, custom data analytics tools, and more. Having such features can ultimately increase your lead generation and sales volume. 

In addition to this, paid sites usually give you more control over your online presence. With a free website, you may be restricted from posting certain content, changing the design/layout of the site and what branding elements you’re able to use. This lack of control can hinder your ability to create a lasting impression on visitors. By contrast, those with full digital control can customize and post until their heart is content. Having this opportunity makes it much easier to create a uniform brand image across all platforms. Thus, leaving website visitors with a better first impression. 

The last thing that you’ll want to consider before choosing which website to invest in is scalability. As your business grows, your website will need to handle more demand from clients and you may need additional functionalities that you were able to do without originally. Paid REALTOR® websites offer scalability options that allow agents to expand their site as their business grows. On the other hand, using a free brokerage site can make it especially difficult for you to scale your website for growth. This often leads to agents needing to upgrade to a paid site, which can be costly and disruptive. As such, it’s important to consider how you anticipate your long-term goals will affect what kind of website you need. 

Contact us About Websites for REALTORS® Canada! 

Having a great website that’s in line with current industry standards and reflects your brand is critical. Doing so will ensure that you remain competitive and continue to foster an authoritative reputation in your community’s real estate market. 

For more information about how to decide between a free brokerage website and a custom website, contact us today. We’d be happy to help you as you work toward establishing yourself in the real estate industry. Be sure to check back next month for more information like this! We look forward to working with you in the near future.

The post Websites for REALTORS® Canada: Free Broker Sites Vs. Paid Sites appeared first on Real Estate Websites in Canada for REALTORS®, Brokers and Banners.

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Post regularly to your Google Business page.

First of all, the industry has led you to falsely believe that good real estate marketing needs to consist of a huge budget. This is the most common narrative especially if you listen to everyone who wants to pitch you on the latest real estate software or service. 

Once you’ve been a part of the pitch cycle it seems like you can’t get away from it. The other detriment is that you start to believe that if you don’t do everything you’ll get left behind. So often times you do nothing at all while waiting for the holy marketing grail to reveal itself. 

The fear is real. We’re here to cut the noise with this advice. Less is more. But, it’s how you attain less that will get you more. 

Sounds clear as mud, so let’s get to clarifying below:

Do more real estate marketing with less

You just need to make sure that you're using less to make more. Make sense? Of course not. Let’s look at what we’re trying to say. 

If you were to pay a company like EstateVue to write your content each month, optimize it and post it on your blog, then depending on the visibility of your website this would be less. Why? Because nobody knows your website exists at this point. Yes, writing and posting content is designed to attract more visitors, but how will they know it’s there if you aren’t sharing it? 

The short answer is they don’t.  We aren’t saying you should cut your content budget, quite the contrary. What we are saying is that you should be doubling down on content and using it to share and get better traffic results. You can do this very effectively using Google Business to post and share your content. 

Google is the answer for almost everyone when it comes to getting traffic. It makes sense that Google rewards websites that use its products and services with higher rankings. This is why we tend to see such great results from customers who also use this social medium to share their content. 

When you post to Google Business you’re doing two very important things:

1. Creating a backlink to your website
2. Creating content that appears where people are actively searching for your product your service

The great part about Google is that it’s free. It’s easy to use and since you already have content to share from your blog you have a resource in place to draw from. 

How do you share content on Google Business? 

If you’re new to Google Business then it’s very important that you get your account set up properly first and foremost. There are a ton of help articles on how to do this, but if you need help then you can always rely on a company like EstateVue to help you get organized. We do a lot of what we call digital footprint consolidation around here. 

It involves a heavy audit of your social media profiles, consolidating the message, the medium, and more. Often times we nuke more accounts than we keep. The Snapchat profile you set up for your defunct real estate team isn’t doing you any favours out there.

Once you have your account squared away with an updated profile picture, and updated contact details and have tested the contact methods then it’s time to start sharing. 

Posts are shared as updates on Google business pages. Our sister marketing company in Kelowna, Atomic 55, has an easy-to-follow article that will show you how to quickly get to posting updates on your Google Business page. 

Read it here now: https://atomic55.net/updated-4th-quarter-22-how-to-post-on-google-business/ 

How do you stay consistent with your posts? 

This is the key to any successful marketing plan. Staying consistent. Articles and updates should be shared regularly. We suggest at least posting one article per month to your blog and sharing links back to snippets of each article once every 5 days. 

These are the bare minimums for any SEO campaign. More posts and more shares will result in more traffic, but the goal is to get on track with regular updates before you flood your feed with more of anything.  

Pro-tip for staying consistent with real estate marketing?

Once again, we suggest Google for the win. Google Calendar is a no-fail way to schedule not only your blog posts but your life! Use it to your advantage. It’s another free organizational tool that will keep your work life on track and thriving. 

Simply set aside an hour in your calendar each week for posting on Google Business and you’ll be off to the races. Google Calendar can be set to recur every day, week, month, or year. Reminders can be set as frequently as you require. Once you can see your week in a calendar-like format it can become very easy to tackle even the largest of marketing tasks. We highly, highly recommend that you use a calendar system to stay on track with updates. 

Still not buying that Google Business is a good, free answer to increasing traffic to your website?

Check out this example chart below. 

The yellow highlighted line indicated a change. You’ll notice how we made a very big jump in rankings. The traffic was very flat beforehand. And beforehand, we were not using Google Business to share information. The yellow line indicates the big jump in traffic after we started using Google Business for posting. The numbers don’t lie and neither do we. Google Business works. It’s free. And you should use it. Or pay a company like EstateVue to use it on your behalf. 

Get in touch with our team if you want to learn more about having content created for your website each month. You'll join the ranks of these top-performing agents listed below!

MWP and SEO Customers are featured this month on EstateVue!

Neufeld Jones Real Estate Team in Kelowna is sharing tips on investing in real estate near UBCO.

RE/MAX Vanderhoof has an explanation of how new mortgage rules in BC are affecting home sales in Vanderhoof.

Corinne O'Neil is sharing an overview of the St Albert neighbourhood of Erin Ridge on her website.

The Current Whitehorse Condos have tips on buying a home in the Yukon here!

RE/MAX Elite in Edmonton has a very interesting read this month for all of you haunted house hunters out there, find out more about buying a stigmatized property in Edmonton.

Kevin Moist has an update on sales last month in addition to great info on this Winnipeg Neighbourhood! Read more here now

Bill de Mooy is sharing some great local Langley content this month about elementary schools near homes with suites! Check it out here https://homeswithsuites.ca/langley-houses-for-sale-near-elementary-schools/

Big White Property Group has all the details on why this should be the year that you invest in real estate at Big White

Alpine Realty has a great article this month about how to keep properties in Banff sustainable!

The post Good Real Estate Marketing is Consistent! appeared first on Real Estate Websites in Canada for REALTORS®, Brokers and Banners.

Content is the most important part of any SEO campaign. It's the backbone of your organic strategy to rank higher without paying for ads. Good content needs to be written clearly and posted regularly to see success. All website content that you create will benefit from being optimized for SEO and readability. There are many tactics and processes involved with SEO for real estate websites but developing unique content is by far the most important.

Why is content important for SEO rankings in a real estate website? 

Unique content is important for a website to rank in the search engines. When we look to search engines like Google that develop the algorithms responsible for ranking, we have to look at what their company hopes to accomplish. That's why a read of Google's mission statement helps to clearly understand why good, fresh content on your website matters to them and in turn should matter to you.

Google’s mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. That's why Search makes it easy to discover a broad range of information from a wide variety of sources.

The 'wide variety of sources' that Google refers to are websites like yours. Real estate websites, blogs, news portals, social media, videos, and more are all 'sources' for Google. Their goal is to index those sources for people who are searching, by classifying those assets as important. The way they decide a website is important comes down to how good the content is. In fact, aside from security and UX, content is the single biggest factor when it comes to ranking or tanking in SEO.

What makes for great content? 

Great content starts with readability.  The Internet is vast, which means it is also diverse. Diversity means people from all walks of life, income, and education are effectively your audience. If you don't appeal to all those people then you aren't creating what is known as accessible content.

Accessible content should appeal to readers of all levels. Typically we write content that is geared towards a Grade 7-8 level of education. This way we know that the content should be fairly easy to read. When we edit our content we always look to shorten sentences and skip the $20 words.

Articles, posts, and pages should be written to include unique information. Information that is related to a topic that you are an expert in. It should also be written in an easy-to-read format. That's why we include shorter paragraph breaks and plenty of subtitles to make topics easier to digest.

How much and how often?

Never enough and never too much. That's the general rule when it comes to SEO. As long as you aren't plagiarizing or cannibalising your own content then more is more in the case of SEO rankings. As a minimalist working in a maximalist space, this can be a hard concept to digest. That's why content plans, calendars, and automation become your closest friends.

If you want to be relative in your industry then you need to invest time into your website content each month. Focus on updating cornerstone page content and adding a fresh new article or page each month.  Your goal should be to create an article based on solid keyword research. Once you have your keyword focus selected then plan to write a minimum of 300 words. Ideally, we suggest 800-1200 words to be effective.

If you are creating cornerstone content then the longer the better. Cornerstone content is the most valuable content on your website. It needs to be regularly updated and it should read like a resource with links to other related and optimized content.  Cornerstone content should be the most accessible content on your website. Make sure that it is the easiest to find in your menu or from your home page.

What else is important when it comes to content marketing?

We touched on this earlier but staying organized will help you to realize the full potential of a content plan. We suggest the following takes place to kick off your content plan:

Plan your content for 3 - 6 months 

This is where you sit down with your team and think of the ideas that will be important to your customers, potential customers, and audience. Think of who you want to attract to your website and what topics might encourage them to visit. Topics that are closely related will help you to develop a relevant linking structure which will be important throughout your content development strategy.

Schedule your writing

Add each content topic into a calendar for writing in the months ahead. We use a calendar system to make sure that nothing gets forgotten. Content is written a week or so before it is posted to a website. This gives us a chance to edit and make any tweaks before we post.

Schedule your posting

By scheduling your posting you make sure that you have ample time to optimize for readability and SEO. This is also the time to find images that you are going to use and format the post so that it is visually interesting to read. You should also use this time to create backlinks for visibility.

We suggest using your social media channels to share links back to the articles or pages that you have created. You can also use REALTOR.ca to share links directly to a listing on your website. Another great way to encourage strong backlinking is to get your brokerage involved.

Oftentimes, brokerages are looking for unique content for their websites as well. Offer to share your posts (after you've posted them to your website first) on their blog as a guest blogger. Anywhere you can get a link on a high-ranking site back to your website the better for your own rankings!

I have no idea what to write or where to start!

This is the thing. This is the main reason that people outsource, but trust us when you take a moment to plan ahead it makes it so much easier to produce great real estate content marketing. Here are ten ideas that you can generate content for when it comes to writing content for real estate websites in Canada. If you planned to write just one article on the topics below you would have 10 months' worth of content!

Keep reading for more advice on real estate content topics -

Market Conditions

Statistics, sales, sentiment - this is your area of expertise! Tell the people what is going on with your local market! Sales data changes each month, so this is an easy topic to create content around every month.

Market Trends

What are you seeing out there? Do people want bigger? Are they spending more to have something special? Is there a trend that has seen better days?

Neighbourhoods

Where are the best places to live in your area? Where is the crime the lowest? What housing styles can people expect to find? Are there amenities that stand out as selling features? You are looked to as an expert on all things local - show off your knowledge!

Developments

Everyone loves something new. Show people from out of town what the latest and greatest buildings, subdivisions, and developments are in your city or town. Even better use a map and sync it with real estate listing data!

Economic Drivers

This is another great one for people who are moving to your community, city, or a new neighbourhood. Tell them what to expect of the people who live and work in the area and shine a spotlight on what drives the community.

Amenities

People like to know what's close by. Focus on local restaurants, pubs, bars, and recreation to entice home buyers to a property. Great parks, schools, waterways nearby? Share what makes your city or focus neighbourhood desirable!

Selling Tips and Advice

First-time buyers and seniors are niche markets in real estate. Both are generally out of practice when it comes to moving so focusing on either market segment will be helpful. Think of other segments that would benefit from your real estate experience and answer their frequently asked questions. Other segments include farms, investment, empty-nesters, professionals.

Moving/Community Resources

This is a great way to feature local businesses, organizations, and resources. Connect with like-minded businesses if you can and write a post about how they can help with moving.  Think mortgage brokers, movers, stagers, delivery companies, insurance, etc. This is a great strategy for trading backlinks and cross-promoting services.

Schools and Education

Education is the marker of a great city. Explain where schools are located, what grade level they service, and transportation to and from. This is another great way to connect on a local level while building out a resource that you can continue to develop.

Yourself!

Or, your team, don't be afraid to toot your own horn every once in a while! Do you have a unique story to share? Have you recently closed a big deal? Are you marketing something new? Share it wide and watch the traffic flow, because the more personal an article - the more it gets viewed and shared.

And finally, real estate content marketing starts on your website first!

This is the final bit of advice on what to do with your content once it has been developed. The hardest part is getting content developed and once you've gone through that you want to make sure that all the hard work pays off.

Always pay yourself first. 

You may have heard this before and it certainly applies to SEO. Pay yourself first in this case means don't unknowingly give away your hard work! The content you create must be shared and posted on your website first. End of story. If it gets posted 5 minutes earlier on your brokerage's website, it's no longer good for you. Conversely, if you post an article on your blog or website and then share a picture on Instagram with no link back to the article you just created you are missing all the advantages that you created in the first place.

Content is a lot like a nutritious vegetable. It's the best value for you when it's consumed raw. When you boil it, fry it and overcook it, then it loses its nutrients. The same can be said for content.

Take a look at some of the real estate content marketing that EstateVue has created for our MWP customers this month!

Learn more about becoming an MWP by getting in touch with us!

RE/MAX Vanderhoof is offering advice on how to decide on a property in Vanderhoof.

Neufeld Jones is covering all the things to consider before buying a farm in Kelowna.

Brooks Lancaster is diving into the topic of how to make homes in Penticton more energy efficient.

Corinne O'Neil is showing off the fantastic neighbourhood of Erin Ridge North.

Graham Frey has all the info you need about condos in Whitehorse that support EV's!

RE/MAX Elite is showing the difference in properties in Edmonton vs the rest of the Canadian real estate market this month.

Alpine Realty shares tips on buying a house for sale in Canmore this month.

Big White Property Group has all the details on family fun at Sundance Resort!

Janice Leffler is talking about the amenities of Courtenay townhomes for sale.

Royal LePage in the Comox Valley is sharing everything about Cumberland real estate in BC this month!

Steve Leddy is giving you all the reasons to choose real estate in Downtown Edmonton.

Cliff and Scott King are providing all the details on houses for sale in Oak Bluff, Winnipeg.

Kevin Moist and Associates of Winnipeg have added three new Winnipeg neighbourhoods to their website recently. Learn more about the best places to live in Winnipeg!

John Mattiello is showing us some of the best homes in Edmonton this month on his blog!

Miranda Moser is helping you find a home in Calgary in one of the best neighbourhoods!

Hilbert&Crick Real Estate Team is asking if Kelowna homes for sale are on the decline this month?

The post Why Content Marketing Should Be Your Number One Marketing Spend. appeared first on Real Estate Websites in Canada for REALTORS®, Brokers and Banners.

There have always been a lot of website solutions available in the marketplace when it comes to websites and digital products. Whether they are geared toward real estate or they are for general business, you can find both inclusive and niche solutions for almost every function.  The crowded space can make it difficult for REALTORS® and their trusted advisors and assistants to make the right decision.

Oftentimes, we see mistakes made where marketing becomes overcomplicated. REALTORS® unwittingly find themselves in a situation where they have too much. Too much marketing is real, so let's get into what you really need to have a great real estate website in Canada. Hopefully, these tips can help you streamline your process and your AP.

There are a few things that you need to keep in mind for your real estate website in order for it to be effective.

One: Choose to develop your website on an open framework

We have discussed the topic of closed-loop websites at length in previous articles.  These are quick-start solutions that are designed for entry-level REALTORS®. They are often offered for free by corporate banners in order to get new agents on their feet. The pros and cons are hefty if you are still using a closed-loop system and have been in the business longer than a year. We see these sites as an option to get started but not a good answer for a long-term strategy.

Developing your website on a closed framework comes with significant barriers. These barriers eventually become apparent when you try to do any external marketing on a closed-loop site. In order to increase your website visibility we suggest that you invest in the following:

1. Hire a professional to register two domain names for your business. One should be your business/trade name and one should be keyword centric.
2. Have a professional company build your website on a universal open-source framework like WordPress. This is important because you can build on the website over time and take that content with you anywhere.
3. Work with a data provider to stream listings in an SEO-friendly manner to your website. Say no to iFrame, and embedded listing tools. Embedded listings don't help your website's visibility.  In some cases, this can hurt your ranking, especially if they have not been optimized to fit with Google's Core Vital metrics.

Building your real estate website on an open framework allows you greater flexibility in the future.

More than any other time in history marketing should be thought of as a long-term investment. Think about where you want to be in years not months. If it's at the top then make sure you are taking the steps to ensure that the money you are spending now is a good investment for the future. Too many agents throw good money after bad and start from the beginning over and over. Invest wisely and plan to build your footprint over time, before you know it your digital footprint will hold a lot of value.

Two: Set aside a small monthly budget (time or money) to work on the site each month

This is an important detail that is the most commonly overlooked and underappreciated. Real estate websites in Canada should not be set and forgotten. We often see assistants and associates focus on social media for the real estate business.

Social media plays an important part in the process, but the order of when to use social media is equally if not more important.

The real estate marketing industry is notorious for jumping on trendy bandwagons and social was no different. In the early days of social everyone was clamoring to post on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. Every agent wanted to know the answer. What was the magic bullet strategy to being successful on these mediums? What should they post? How often should they post?

Almost every customer we saw in the early '10s wanted to know how to improve their social strategy.

Thankfully that messaging has been tempered. Hopefully, that's because we as marketers have opened our eyes to the social beast and done a better job at explaining how it all works. The biggest takeaway about using social media is this question, do you want to use it because you like the attention and love creating content? Or are you using it as a means to an end - to get better SEO results?

85% are in the latter category. They are REALTORS® first and foremost and they want to be found online to generate new business and sell real estate. Achieving TikTok influencer status is low on their list of priorities. With that in mind, finding a company that can help you to manage an SEO program and get the results you want from social media is key.  If you can't afford that, then religiously schedule time to update your website each month.

Time and money are equal to success 

We suggest that REALTORS® who want to expedite their ranking results post as often as they can on their blog.  A properly written article, posted each month on your blog is imperative to getting ranking results. So, take those quick burst social media posts that you're pumping out and compile them into one concise article. When you add new, unique content anywhere to your website it helps to promote your visibility. Once you have that article written, only then you should share the link across your social media channels.

We recommend that you post at least 300 original words on your website once per month. This is equivalent to spending at least 1.5 hrs on your website each month.  Do not plagiarize, borrow or repurpose content.

If you want to learn more then get in touch with us. We write content for a variety of topics at EstateVue. We cover current real estate trends at both a national and local level. Articles are written by University-educated writers in Canada and optimized specifically for attaining SEO results. Content is developed to target a specific audience and appeals to local topics of interest.

Three: Ensure you have an attentive listing data manager

Real estate data in Canada is not without unique issues. Data at any level requires immense oversight. The more data you oversee the more time is required. This is very true when it comes to real estate data in Canada. Local real estate data feeds and national real estate data feeds in Canada are never perfect for long.  Adding to that disappointing fact is the rising cost of data. Storage, engineers, and administration costs are driving the cost of access to Canadian real estate data sky high. Many agents find the cost to access their own data a frustrating fee. Nonetheless, a good website requires data to remain competitive.

This combination can be an unsettling discovery for Canadian real estate agents. Especially when you have finicky customers who want to see their homes for sale displayed accurately on your website. Explaining to the customer why photos, price changes, and description updates aren't filtering correctly to your website is nothing short of embarrassing for most agents.  However, we find that when we can explain what to expect from real estate data in Canada it becomes much easier for REALTORS® to have those conversations with their customers.

We understand this first hand.  So these are the questions you should ask before you plug in Canadian real estate data to your website!

1. How will the data be facilitated?
2. Is the data from my local real estate board or CREA's DDF?
3. What are the setup costs to connect to either/or?
4. Are there monthly fees associated with either feed?
5. What are the annual costs associated with either feed?
6. Is their reciprocity in my area?
7. How often will my data be updated on my website? When I add a new listing? When I update an existing listing?
8. What happens with my sold listings?
9. What should I do if I discover a listing is missing or incorrect?

Look for the following attributes when you are choosing a Canadian data provider for real estate data. 

1. Experience and focus in the real estate data space
2. Works with multiple data feed national, local, small, mid, and large
3. Focused on real estate marketing and its unique challenges
4. Responsive and respectful communication

Real estate data is a necessary component of a great online presence for agents. Choose a company that can help you get the most of your data. More important is choosing a company that can support you when things don't go right. Be leery of those who overpromise in the data department, it's best to prepare for technological glitches along the way.

Four: All-in-one real estate marketing solutions - they exist and you should choose ONE!

All-in-one real estate solutions exist. They exist for brokers, agents, and real estate teams in Canada.

This is what you should look for when you're deciding which platform you should engage for real estate data in Canada. 

1. Is the website built on an open or closed-loop framework
2. Does the company focus on real estate-centric activity?
3. Is the website customized to me or does it use stock everything?
4. Is there a marketing package available to complement the website build?
5. What listing data services are included?
6. Does it come with an SSL?
7. What is included for lead generation?
8. Can I export my leads to another CRM?
9. Do I need a CRM in addition to my website?

Your all-in-one real estate website solution should have the basics covered. The list above is a great start for determining whether or not the company you are engaging in is a good choice.

The real estate market is fickle and ripe with change. Similar to technology, nothing stays the same in the real estate market for long either. Find a company to work with that has its finger on the pulse, that's the only way you'll stay ahead of the marketing train!

Check out what a few of our customers have collaborated on this month below! These customers know great real estate data is here in Canada!

Neufeld Jones is talking about buying housing in Kelowna for a vacation property this month.

Brooks Lancaster is sharing information on summer activities near Penticton housing for sale.

Vanderhoof RE/MAX has a moving day checklist for homes for sale in Vanderhoof this month on their blog.

Steve Leddy joins us this month with an article on why you should choose Sherwood Park Real Estate.

Grham Frey over at the Current in Whitehorse is discussing condos for sale in Whitehorse.

Corinne O'Neil has a great resource on her website this month from finding an introduction to other greats agents in Canada to St.Albert condos for sale - learn more!

The Big White Property Group added a new building to their website this month - learn more about Snowy Creek Lodge at Big White!

More great content to read this way!

RE/MAX Elite is tackling the question of whether or not real estate in Edmonton is a cheaper alternative.

RE/MAX Alpine Realty in Canmore got started this month with an article shedding information about real estate in Canmore! Read it now!

Cliff and Scott King join us from Winnipeg this month with great information on houses for sale in Bridgwater Lakes! Check it out.

The Courtenay apartment scene is talked about over on Janice Leffler's blog this month!

The MYLIE Group is breaking down the advantages of building homes in Ontario this month.

Royal LePage in Comox Valley shares the economic drivers near Comox real estate on their blog.

Kevin Moist and Associates discuss real estate in downtown Winnipeg this month!

Hilbert&Crick are talking about trends in affordable housing in Kelowna.

Miranda Moser shares the pros and cons of renting vs buying a property in Calgary.

John Mattiello ponders whether sales of real estate in Edmonton are slowing down.

Josh Miko has an update for us about an exclusive gated community in West Kelowna called Thacker Ridge Estates!

The post What to look for when choosing a real estate website in Canada. appeared first on Real Estate Websites in Canada for REALTORS®, Brokers and Banners.

The only difference is that setting and forgetting website maintenance for real estate websites can cause problems down the road. Problems like website downtime and malware injections can be avoided with a bit of attention each month. If you're reading this then you're being proactive, so that's a good thing. Understanding what maintenance needs to be done to your website to keep it running smoothly is important. That's why we're going to break down what you need to do, not just yearly, but monthly to keep your website, fast, secure, and visible!

A Well Maintained Website Gets Noticed

Websites today mean a lot to consumers. They are the first place to validate who you are, and what you do. Consumers will ultimately decide whether or not to do business with you based on this first impression alone.

Here are a few things that will turn away visitors from your website:

No SSL = No Love from customers

Recommended Maintenance Schedule - Annually

If you don't have an SSL on your real estate website today then you're doing it all wrong. If you don't plan on getting an SSL then you should plan on canceling your website altogether because it is of no value to you.

Bold statement? Not when you consider that an SSL is a consumer's one and only first impression of how you value their cyber-security. 

SSL is an industry-standard, used by millions of websites to protect their online interactions and transactions with customers. It protects everything from credit card data, to information collected in your contact forms. SSL also shows web browsers like Google that you are to be trusted. This gives your website a boost in rankings because it recognizes that your website is secure for consumers. As a result, it will rank a website with an SSL higher than one without.

SSLs became mandatory to rank in Google mid-year in 2018.

Your SSL is a yearly maintenance commitment. It requires the purchase of a certificate from a trusted SSL company. The certificate is then installed on your domain URL. The easiest way for you to verify if there is an SSL on a website is to look for the closed lock in the address bar.

A website without an SSL is shown below. Customers who arrive at your website and see this message will bounce.

A website with an SSL is shown below. An SSL tells the customer that their privacy is valued. 

Whether you are focused on marketing your business with SEO or not, you still need an SSL in 2022. The SSL is proof that you are taking customer security and privacy seriously with your online business. Everyone wants a safer Internet. An SSL is a small way to participate in this change.

Too Slow to Load

Recommended Maintenance Schedule - Monthly

There's no place that values instant gratification more than the Internet. In fact, other than the advent of the digital photo, the Internet could be considered the Grandfather of instant digital causing endorphins. This has not changed in the eyes or browsing habits of customers. Speed is also a key factor in Google's last Core Vitals algorithm update. Fast websites get rewarded with higher rankings and more eyeballs.

How do you keep your website running like a cheetah? We have a very small checklist, for reference below. Each of these points represents more than meets the eye, but it's a good place to start to ensure you have a healthy speed score.

First, check what score your website gets before you make any improvements. Go here to check your website speed on both mobile and desktop: https://pagespeed.web.dev/ 

• Reduce redirects
• Delete unused plugins
• Consider a CDN for images
• Compress images as small as possible
• Enable browser caching
• Remove unnecessary CSS and minify

This list should be revisited monthly, and more frequently if you are making regular changes to your website.

Speed is a heavily weighted factor in user experience and SEO because it's what customers have demonstrated is important to them. 

Don't get left in the dust by faster competitors.

Broken Images

Recommended Maintenance Schedule - Monthly

Just as showing a house with a broken front door and a high price point would be bad for business the same goes for your website. Scan your online presence regularly for broken images.  Whether we are talking about broken real estate listing images coming from an interrupted data feed or an agent's bio photo in the portfolio, broken images are negative.

Customers grow increasingly frustrated especially when they are trying to look at something that they want to buy. In the case of real estate photos, when they find the one, the house that they are excited about. They want to view it. A lot. And they want to send it to their friends and family to view. Not to mention their mortgage broker, banker, and lawyer. Put your best foot forward when it comes to showing property images. Always ensure that your website is error-free.

Outdated

Recommended Maintenance Schedule - Monthly

Outdated what? Outdated anything and everything. When I look at a website there are a few key places I check to make sure the website is being maintained. The first is the SSL obviously, and the next is the copyright date in the footer. After I've checked those two boxes I start to zero in on content. When was the last blog post written? Is the home page advertising old dates, events, and developments? Are the listings and sold listings being maintained?

The thing to understand about the Internet and customers of real estate is that they are getting pickier. Especially when it comes to hiring a real estate agent to sell their home in a hot market. Customers are checking out your website before calling. The list above is only a few of the things that they're looking for.

Showing customers that your website is consistently up to date, quite literally demonstrates the control and discipline that you have in your business.

If you think this is a lot of work or costs a lot of money then you should get in touch with us. An investment each month into your website is an investment into your customers that will result in new business.

Check out what our MWP and SEO customers are up to this month below!

Brooks Lancaster is predicting a cooling-off in the Penticton real estate market!

RE/MAX Vanderhoof is getting sellers ready to move with a great moving checklist for recently sold Vanderhoof Homes for sale.

Neufeld Jones Real Estate Team is providing advice for real estate during divorce in Kelowna. 

Corinne O'Neil is shedding a light on St. Albert homes for sale near transit!

The Current has a few tips on what to know before buying Whitehorse condos for sale.

Big White Property Group has real estate news for the neighbourhood of Black Forest!

RE/MAX Elite is discussing the recent foreign buyers ban prohibiting foreign buyers from purchasing Edmonton homes for sale.

Janice Leffler has details on the advantages of living in Comox Townhomes for sale!

Kevin Moist and Associates is sharing what makes North End Real Estate a fantastic option.

MYLIE is giving all the reasons to buy Ontario Luxury real estate!

Royal LePage in the Comox Valley has a great article about summer activities near homes for sale in Comox.

Josh Miko has a great overview of the West Kelowna gated community, Leisure Village. 

Hilbert&Crick are talking about windows and how to renovate homes for sale in Kelowna for a better sale price.

Miranda Moser is giving all the tips on preparing to move to houses for sale in Calgary!

John Mattiello of RE/MAX Elite is sharing how the prices of Edmonton houses for sale are causing anxiety among Albertans.

The post Website Maintenance for Real Estate Websites appeared first on Real Estate Websites in Canada for REALTORS®, Brokers and Banners.

This is a question that we almost never get. The answer is yes, very. It's surprising to me that we often have to be the ones to initiate this part of the dialogue, especially when it comes to explaining our real estate SEO services to REALTORS® in Canada.

Oftentimes, I wonder where things went wrong. Is it bad actors in our industry who have been taking advantage of customers? Is it a lack of understanding from the customers themselves in not knowing what they should be asking of businesses when engaging these services?

Most likely, it's a bit of both.

There are admittedly companies who love to scam people out of money online. In fact, I'm convinced it's a business in itself, with some businesses not even knowing that they're active participants. After all, you don't know what you don't know.

This article was written to show you that you can get what you pay for, you shouldn't accept that SEO is magic and therefore cannot be explained, and a consultative approach is far better than analytical when it comes to reporting SEO.

Get what you pay for

The thing about SEO, even in real estate, is that it's still the most transparent form of advertising from a metrics standpoint.

The numbers don't lie. They tell a story and that story is either positive, where your rankings gradually improve over time, or negative, where your rankings gradually decline over time.

There isn't a lot of wiggle room. If you're active and consistent in your website each month, then your diligence will pay off. Provided that the technological components and framework are solid of course.

With this transparency readily available through reporting software, we're often surprised to hear most customers have never seen an SEO report. We're here to tell you that you should request one from your SEO provider, especially if this is a line item that you pay for.

We provide reporting in the following intervals for real estate SEO services with EstateVue:

• MWP Customers - Bi-Monthly (one report every other month)
• SEO Customers - Quarterly (one report every 3 months)

SEO is not magic

We've said this before. If your SEO representative says they're a magician then stuff that rabbit back in the hat and walk out the door. It's not magic. Good SEO results happen when someone pays attention to your website. Content is added strategically, linking structures are created, security is maintained, speed scores are advanced and the list goes on. Each and every month this list goes on.

There is no magic machine that gets connected to your website so that a switch can be turned on or off for organic search results. It's simply consistency, appropriate content, and a solid understanding of current SEO methods.

At EstateVue, we spend a minimum of 2 hours on a website for SEO customers each month, and for MWP customers that number increases to 5 hours!

Consultative reporting vs. analytical reporting for real estate SEO services

Quality, not quantity. That saying has a place even when it comes to SEO reporting. The reports we send out at EstateVue are not the run-of-mill output of generic numbers. Those analytical reports are okay if you're tracking small gains, hyper-targeted campaigns, etc.

EstateVue SEO reports are consultative.

We find the consultative approach helps customers understand a bit better what we do each month on their website. It also engages them with tips that they can implement to help us make gains, together. However, the most important factor is that it creates a regular touchpoint between us and our customers so that we can keep a dialogue going.  We can continue to be creative with each other, we can bounce ideas off of each other and really dig into their businesses.

Through a consultative approach to reporting and SEO as a touchpoint, we are able to see more involvement, more focus on digital, and more leads and traffic generated.

We invite you to experience the difference of becoming a customer of the EstateVue MWP program today.

These are a few MWP and SEO customers that we're featuring this month!

Brooks Lancaster is talking about real estate in Penticton this month and how the market conditions are in this lakeside city!

Neufeld Jones are Kelowna REALTORS® discussing all things luxury real estate in Kelowna this month on their website!

Recreation options are provided this month near properties in Vanderhoof for sale over on the RE/MAX Vanderhoof blog!

We updated two websites this month with new neighbourhoods! Check out the neighbourhood maps for Big White Property Group and Kevin Moist and Associates this month! You'll find information on the Upper Village at Big White and Tuxedo in Winnipeg!

Corinne O'Neil recently joined our SEO program and with that came a new website refresh! The new site looks fantastic, and showcases her expertise as a REALTOR® for houses for sale in St.Albert!

More MWP and SEO customers featured this month!

RE/MAX Elite is advising buyers to act fast when it comes to houses for sale in Edmonton!

Graham Frey is a REALTOR® in Whitehorse marketing a brand new condo building along the waterfront!

The MYLIE Real Estate Group is crunching numbers this month on whether or not the market is heating up or cooling down in London, Ontario this spring!

Janice Leffler is starting out as an SEO customer this month with a post about why you should white a REALTOR® in Comox Valley!

The Royal LePage brokerage in Comox is delving into the prices of properties for sale in Comox Valley this month!

Josh Miko of West Kelowna is featuring a new gated community on his site this month - learn more about The Highlands at Shannon Lake in West Kelowna!

Even more of our valued SEO customers and what they're up to this spring!

Miranda Moser continues to feature real estate for sale in Calgary - this month she's sharing home selling secrets for properties in Calgary!

John Mattiello is tackling your to-do list for getting your home in Edmonton prepared for sale! Check out his list of spring cleaning chores recommended by your real estate agent in Edmonton!

The post Are real estate SEO reports important? appeared first on Real Estate Websites in Canada for REALTORS®, Brokers and Banners.

Some food for thought: The dreams you have are very different from the actions that will get you there.

This statement is one we're feeling as the new year brings forth all of the usual churn and restlessness in our world. January and September are the typical months in which we see an uptick in both new clients and cancellations. It's the new year for many business owners and while some of us are traditionalists, who wait until January 1 to make our moves, there are just as many more who consider September 1 as the official clean slate.

Whatever the month,  the messaging stays the same on our end.

Stay the course. Don't be distracted by others. And whatever you do, DON'T. STOP. NOW. 

Earlier in the month, we provided our highly motivated MWP customers with a first-quarter road map for real estate marketing in 2022. A list of simple tasks and actions that can make a big impact on a customer's search engine rankings. Making a slight adjustment to your routine can have a lasting impact on those dreams of hitting the first page of results. That's why we're including this list below and we encourage you to reach out to us if you're making SEO your priority in 2022.

Have we mentioned how much we want you to pay attention to Google Business? 

I know we have, but how many of you are? Still hung up on Instagram? Well, in 2022 we want most of the focus for our customers to be on Google Business. The platform directly correlates to website search traffic.  Having your account settings configured properly will be key in '22.  It's very important to log in to your GB account and ensure that your profile is up to date and is as complete as possible. Especially important, is your map location. Please make sure that you have claimed your business. Google Business settings should be periodically reviewed and kept current including engagement on your reviews. 

Our MWP customers see posts regularly syndicated to their Google accounts, which promotes healthy engagement and activity that makes Google smile.

Make time right now to review (and ruthlessly edit) your digital footprint 

At the top of the year, it’s always a good idea to review your digital footprint. We talk about this often, because it's often one of the biggest items that REALTORS® and BROKERS overlook. 

Reviewing your digital footprint is simply visiting the various social media accounts and subscription services that you have to make sure that they’re still relevant. We want everything out there to add value to your marketing visibility. 

As a rule, we want all external links on any and all of these platforms to link directly to your website.

The more direct and specific the link the better, eg: if you are mentioning a new listing on Facebook, please include a direct link in the same post to view the listing on your website.

When reviewing your digital footprint ensure the following:

1. Update your passwords. This is really painful but also very important given the Malware threats that exist today.  We have seen some crazy situations lately so we encourage you to update your passwords often, keep them secure and make them hard. 
2. Update your bios or profiles to include a link to your homepage
3. Make sure that your profiles are up to date with the correct information, address, phone, updated logos, etc. This is a good time to update header graphics as well and show the world you're fresh and ready! 

Use the gift of REALTOR.ca to your advantage!

Backlinking is the stuff SEO is made of. It's not complicated, but there is a method to follow for the madness to work. The best thing you can do for your website visibility to shine is to have an outbound link on a big-time traffic generator. We mean high-profile websites. Websites with stellar DA. Since you have access to one of the biggest traffic generating websites online today in REALTOR.ca. Let’s use this to our advantage! When you post a listing and it goes live on REALTOR.ca you need to make sure that you are also adding your new listing to the new 'View Listing' tab that CREA is providing. 

See below for an example, it will show up under your website link on your listing when added correctly.

Tell your story in long-form with a syndicated press release

PR is old school and from my experience, old school works like a charm. Use this vintage technique to your advantage. You can bet, most of your competitors will not do this. One, they won't be able to come up with a viable topic that they're comfortable with, and Two, they won't be able to find distribution. We can help with alllllll of this and it will be the biggest advantage you can give yourself. So, go on, don't be shy, and let's sell your story to the press for added results.

Everyone has that one local news/classified directory listings website

It's not just us that have been subjected to this local phenom, right? We all have that one local website where proliferating opinions and local reporting culminate. Well, chances are that this little homegrown gem generates a hefty DA (Domain Authority) and produces a fair share of traffic. That's precisely why it would be worth posting your property listings on their classifieds platform to create backlinks. If you can get your website link posted here regularly -  the $25 or so per month it costs will pay off traffic-wise in return. In this particular case, you will want to post a link to your featured listings page for best results. If they don't allow a link field then you will have to post it in the body text.

Make the local classifieds part of your new listing routine now! Start today and post a link to the properties you currently have listed for sale. 

And Finally, let's end with Google and the mecca of review platforms, Google Reviews

We are encouraging you to consider using Google Reviews as your preferred review software in 2022. The other ones don't provide you with any benefit. In fact, you provide them benefits when you link back to their website. Remember, you want to be selective with the marketing services you engage and promote in 2022. And you need to be doubly selective with the backlinks you include on your own website! Keeping tight watch and control over your digital footprint is imperative to success.

Put yourself first and ask everyone involved - is this good for my visibility?

The main reason you absolutely need to switch to Google Reviews is that it benefits your search rankings. Towards the end of 2021, we began embedding Google Reviews directly into some customers' websites. The results have been well received and include the ability for customers to easily leave a review when they visit your website, as well as increasing visibility by displaying your reviews. 

For an example of a recently embedded Google Review widget please visit the link below: https://morrisonrealestategroup.ca/#google-review

That's it? That's it. 

And that's right, it's a short list. We'll say it again, The dreams you have are very different from the actions that will get you there. The above list is small in the scope of things you can do, the results are anything but. If you did even one of these items and incorporated it into your routine, you would see positive results almost immediately.

Talk to us about becoming a very valued, MWP at EstateVue in '22!

The post Dreams Vs. Actions When it Comes to Real Estate SEO in 2022 appeared first on Real Estate Websites in Canada for REALTORS®, Brokers and Banners.

In 2022, we wanted to shed some light on what a free website from corporate will get you. We also provide some guidance about who benefits from free real estate websites along with what to look for when you're deciding between free and paid branding for your business.

Read on and get in touch if you have any questions!

What does a free website from corporate get me?

Free website products are generally not any different, better, or more distinctive. They're designed to get you up and running, quickly and cheaply. This is so you can focus on what you do best and stop worrying about marketing and data.

Free corporate sites do all the same things every other real estate website does, except differentiate you from your competition. 

What it does is get you into a website with little intervention from yourself.  The cookie-cutter design leaves you looking just like the next agent after you and the one before that. This lack of personalization makes it harder for customers, especially new ones, to tell you apart. Free corporate real estate websites let you or likely your stressed-out assistant, who did not sign up to be a web dev, whip up a quick online presence in a matter of a few days. A step above a free Facebook business page and although it has some real estate functionality, it's still a step below even a free WIX product.

There are many cases where free website products make sense, let's see if you check any of these boxes:

You're new to the industry. 

If you are brand new to the real estate industry and you're still learning the ropes then a free website solution might be the answer for you. At this stage of your career, you need to focus on learning and growth. You need a few deals under your belt and some experience that you can leverage. You probably don't have a marketing budget in mind yet and if you did it's been gobbled up already by your start-up costs. We don't see anything wrong with going the free route in this case. Save costs, provided that at the same time you're saving for a new custom real estate website down the road. Eventually, if you're doing it right, then you should outgrow your free website solution.

Don't believe us? Quickly jot down the 5 biggest players in your city when it comes to real estate.  Visit their main website portal. Check the footer to see if they're using a stock solution. Case closed.

You like to work the system.

Player's will play. If you've mastered your industry and you've been in the marketing game for any length of time then you know all about maximizing your digital footprint to capture even more leads.  While free websites are typically built on what is known as a closed-loop system there's an off chance that you might grab a lead or two from having them as part of your lead capture strategy. The downside to free websites is that they demand paid ad budgets to generate traffic. Why? The answer is simple. They use stock everything. Stock content, stock photos, and stock fonts. You're supposed to change it and personalize all of this, but how many do, and how many say I'll get to that later?

You've got a flush ad budget!

Ad words are paid search marketing and are akin to renting. You sink your money into paid Google, FB, Insta, ads day after day. These ads get you positioning for a matter of minutes, maybe hours, and then your link, poof, disappears into thin air. Until you top up your ad budget again. It is virtually impossible to get away from this scenario when you use a closed-loop system.  Paid real estate key terms aren't getting any cheaper either.

The average cost for a paid real estate key term in a larger city center like Calgary runs anywhere between $5-15 per click. 

Positioning a website to rank organically is a tactic that requires consistent effort over a long period of time. This is something the 5 biggest players in your city learned a long time ago. It's the secret, first page of Google sauce that they don't share at the BBQ. If you don't intend to spend at least 4-5 hours on your website each month, then you will never get organic ranking results.

Free websites are designed to be generic, designed to get you something quick and destined to fail you when it comes to generating a meaningful traffic strategy that benefits you financially in the long term. 

Who benefits from a free real estate website?

Website branding is something that every real estate agent needs. Corporate knows this. They just don't want to deal with the colossal headaches required to manage it all. By passing you along to a free solution they essentially get the pain relief that they need to manage all the other things they need to do for you. Websites require intense oversight if they're to be good.

There has never been an industry that requires more of an online presence than real estate. Unfortunately, the industry does very little in the way of in-depth training to educate REALTORS® on what they need. Very little is explained about how much time, money, and effort is involved to maintain an online presence that is worthy of customers. Even less is explained about how important it is to invest in a healthy budget each month for success. Agents who are successful in the industry know what is required to stay at the top of the real estate game. They pay accordingly, and they listen carefully to the advice of experts because they know that great results take consistent effort. They also know that your web presence is a long game.

Should I pay or should I go free?

If you're honest with yourself, you're clear on your goals and you want to be successful then never go free. Free is cheap and cheap makes you look like you're in it for the wrong reasons. Are you in real estate for the wrong reasons?

Customers want to learn more about what makes you different so that they can make a choice. Can they count on you when a deal goes sideways? Are you a neighbourhood expert? Do you have local resources available on your website? Have you made an effort to attract customers to your business?

Your website is still your first impression. Do you want your first impression to scream I'm cheap?

Check out some of our great MWP content this month!

These are some of the biggest players in their cities who are doing all the right things with their websites, social media, and branding. Check them out and compare what they have going on to what your free website from corporate offers. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

RE/MAX Vanderhoof has started 2022 off with a look at trends for Vanderhoof houses for sale in 2022.

Brooks Lancaster is discussing the Okanagan dream this month on his website with an article about Penticton houses for sale near vineyards! Sounds dreamy!

Neufeld Jones Real Estate Team is sharing the latest real estate statistics for Kelowna along with a guide to Upper and Lower Mission Real Estate near Elementary Schools. This is a great resource if you're moving to Kelowna, BC!

Kevin Moist and Associates from Winnipeg continue to build out their neighbourhood guide to the city. The latest addition to their Winnipeg neighbourhoods portfolio sees the spotlight on Garden City and West Kildonan!

The Big White Property Group wants to introduce you to Happy Valley at Big White for a new winter vacation home because ski season is getting underway at Big White with fresh powder arriving daily!

More MWP Content for January is below - keep reading!

RE/MAX Elite is starting off the new year with a great article about Real Estate in Edmonton for 2022

London, Ontario Real Estate Team, The MYLIE Group, welcomes a new agent this month to their team, along with giving us a look at real estate in Ontario for the upcoming year!

Royal LePage in the Comox Valley is showing you around the local transit options for commuters. Read all about transit and Comox Valley Houses For Sale now!

Calgary Real Estate Pro, Miranda Moser is digging into the inventory issues plaguing the country as of late. Read more on her blog this month about how homes for sale in Calgary are few and far between.

Josh Miko has his pulse on the market with the latest real estate market update on West Kelowna Houses! 

HILBERT&CRICK are predicting more bidding wars when it comes to buying homes in Kelowna this year. Read their outlook and also download the free guide to appealing your BC property assessment!

An interesting read to go with your Saturday morning cup of coffee from John Mattiello! How houses in Edmonton are being affected by Baby Boomers - Read more! 

The post Free Real Estate Websites from Corporate – Good, Bad or Ugly? appeared first on Real Estate Websites in Canada for REALTORS®, Brokers and Banners.

Our customers benefit immensely from consistency and it is, without a doubt, the secret sauce that most are missing when it comes to formulating their marketing plans. 

Keep reading for tips on how to put your business first and better your return on your time in 2022!

What are we going to do more of in 2022?

Less is More 

This is one we’ve been preaching for a while and if you’re an EstateVue MWP client you already know how we feel on this topic. Less is more when it comes to social media marketing. Consistency is more valuable than spreading yourself too thin. Throughout 2021 we spent a significant amount of time with clients getting their social media channels and digital footprints consolidated into a more manageable footprint. 

There isn’t a REALTOR® out there who is doing a fantastic job of managing, Tik Tok, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google Business, and omg what else? Do you want to know why? The answer is simple, if they’re killing it on alllll of the mediums above then they’re more of an influencer than a REALTOR® in our opinion.  

Don’t interpret this the wrong way, you still absolutely need social media for visibility. However, you don’t need all of it at one time. It’s not only impossible to manage but it will also dilute your customer base in many cases. 

Our pro tip is to choose three and only three social mediums to use. This will allow you to stay consistent with your posts, engage with your customers and manage your digital presence. By cultivating a presence for your customers across three mediums you have a much stronger handle on your traffic and your analytics. 

So, which mediums should you use in 2022? We have some ideas! Keep reading!

Facebook is a need, but definitely not a want

Love it? Hate it. We all hate it. We never hear anything positive about Facebook but here we are with the numbers that can’t be ignored.  Facebook (META) now has 3 billion users and these numbers are still growing by the month! So the question of do I need Facebook should really be put to bed. The answer is yes, yes you need Facebook for your real estate business. Facebook will still reign supreme when it comes to raising your visibility profile.

Google Business is the Internets definition of nepotism

If Google wasn’t the most used SERP then we might not recommend using Google Business as part of your social strategy. But the Internet is ruled by giants and the biggest is Google. As such, we consistently see better-ranking results from the businesses who elect to post frequently on the Google Business platform. We highly, highly recommend getting familiar with your Google Business profile. 

Update those profiles, and check your locations because Google Business is where the most relevance for your business comes in, especially when it comes to local! Many customers are unfamiliar with Google Business and how it works. Posts will show up in your listing and allow for a great opportunity to create backlinks to your website.  See below for an example:

LinkedIn or Twitter for 2022?

Twitter is a big city medium. Maybe that’s a bit controversial but as a company that focuses on hyper-local advertising for its customers, we have found that Twitter is almost always the underperformer in our playlist. The slow adoption rate for locals is likely the biggest barrier to Twitter's taking off. Smaller centres with populations of 500k or less just don’t tend to have the enthusiasm for it.  It’s great for using hashtags and gaining followers, particularly if you’re attending conferences or events, but for gaining a local audience it seems to be only getting more dismal. 

That’s why. We’re giving up on Twitter for 2022 and instead, we will be turning our focus back to LinkedIn. LinkedIn has been steadily gaining as a preferred social media platform. They have added in a suite of new features that make it much more ad-friendly. Coupled with the closer connections it affords to local colleagues it’s really a no-brainer to turn your focus from Twitter to LinkedIn. 

We highly recommend getting LinkedIn added to your social media repertoire for 2022.

Newsletters are baaaaack

Newsletters really fell out of fashion in the real estate marketing world over the past few years. Mostly because they were never consistent and partly because they were also very spammy. We’re bringing back thoughtful, curated newsletters this year. We’ll be sending them out quarterly at first and making certain that we have something to say well in advance. 

Email remains one of the most powerful tools at your disposal.  A valid email address is data gold. There are several tips to consider if you want to use email marketing as a marketing method in 2022.

Keep reading if you want to add newsletters to your program or you want to refresh your existing plan. 

1) Develop personalized content that matters

Give your customers the feeling of exclusivity to keep them engaged with your content. Get to know your customers and make sure that you’re segmenting your customer base according to their interests. Don’t send buyers' content to sellers and vice versa. Don’t send first-time buyers' advice to your investors. Email marketing fails when it’s used as a blanket strategy. Don’t rush your email marketing and take the time to curate content based on your customers' wants. 

2) Keep newsletters minimal and concise 

Don’t send out novels in hopes that everyone will be inclined to read. Keep your newsletters short and make the format very clear. Minimal design is ideal and your layout should either be very interesting and engaging or very easy to follow along. Small snippets, catchy headlines, and lots of backlinks to your website are key to making newsletters work for your business in 2022. 

The average person receives over 150 emails per day. That’s a dizzying amount of communication. If you hope to stand out then don’t oversaturate. Give them something to look forward to. 

Focus on consolidating your real estate marketing channels in 2022

Focusing on the foundations of digital real estate marketing is key in 2022.  It’s a great time to consolidate at the start of a new year. Get rid of the social channels that no longer serve you and clean up that digital footprint. You’ll feel lighter and more in control of your business. Also, try not to get distracted by those shiny squirrels as the year wears on. The newest, latest and greatest will always be around the corner, but stick to the devil you know and you’ll be much happier with mastered results rather than useless, fleeting tech. 

Here’s a list of wrap-up posts from some of our real estate customers in 2021! We hope to see more of you included in this list in 2002! Get in touch if you want to subscribe to our Managed Website Program in 2022, we have limited spots available in each Canadian city.

The team at Neufeld Jones has launched their year-end wrap-up on their website this month - head over to their Kelowna real estate blog to read about their year of content now!

Real estate in Vanderhoof gets the review treatment this month!

Penticton real estate gets the wrap with Brooks Lancaster over on Penticton Houses For Sale this December.

Heading up to Big White this winter? Us too. Check out real estate in Snow Pines with the Big White Property Group before you go!

Edmonton's RE/MAX Elite is getting nostalgic this month with an entire year in rewind on their blog! Check it out!

HILBERT&CRICK have a great year-end recap on their blog this month! Check out how they're looking back at Kelowna Real Estate in 2021

The post Real Estate Marketing Trends for 2022 appeared first on Real Estate Websites in Canada for REALTORS®, Brokers and Banners.