Online Real Estate Marketing Overview

Internet Marketing has many names. Before I outline some of the many ways to market a website online, first I should define the various terms people use and define the differences between these terms:

• Internet Marketing - Internet marketing is the umbrella term under which all online marketing terms fall.
• Search Engine Marketing - As the term suggests, this term encompasses the various ways you can market your website on search engines.
• Pay Per Click Marketing - This is one of the ways to market your website on the search engines and is a sub category of search engine marketing.
• Organic Marketing - This is an additional method to market your website on the search engines and is a sub category of search engine marketing.
• Domain Name Marketing - Domain name marketing is a subcategory of internet marketing and includes search engine marketing in addition to other forms of Internet Marketing.
• On-Site Optimization - This form of marketing focused on structuring your website so that you have the best chance to achieve your organic marketing goals
• Link Marketing - You hear this marketing term almost daily as it is one of the primary forms of internet marketing individuals use to succeed online. It has many benefits but is normally used in assoication with a form of marketing to help you achieve your organic marketing goals.

• Pay Per Click Marketing(PPC) - PPC is the main tool agents use to market their websites online. This technique allows agents to pay money directly to the search engines to recieve placement. In general, it is also a technique which allows for immediate results, immediate exposure and creates data to analyze an agents return on investment in real time. This form of internet marketing can be utilized with a templated website and custom website or even a web page.
• Directory Marketing - Directory Marketing is the process of listing your website in industry related directories. Directories are different from search engines in that search engines "search" the internet to return results to the end user. Directories are websites which provide results based on websites that are submitted to the directory. As a result, the only results provided by the directory are websites submitted to the directory.
• Forums and Online Communities - Forums and online communities offer multiple benefits in regard to internet marketing. First and foremost, it is an online network. As real estate agents, we are trained that the best way to market yourself is to network your sphere of influence, and work your farm. Forums and online communities are the equivalent of your online network or farm. In addition, working the proper online forums and online communities also offer organic marketing benefits.
• Blogs - Blogs are the newest technique utilized by real estate agents to market themselves online. The main reason for their success is based on the immediacy of blogs. Where as webistes need to be found and indexed and ranked by the search engines over a period of time, blogs "ping" blog servers as soon as they are posted, so the information posted on a blog is available on blog search engines immeadiately. This allows the real estate agent to post information about homes they are selling in real time. Blogs also offer additioanl benefits to an agent by allowing the agent to communicate to past, present and future clients any information which may be time sensitive in real time.
• Product Marketing - Product marketing is the process of marketing individual properties online. This form of marketing focuses on the product being sold in the current market. Where as website marketing in general markets the real estate agent, product marketing promotes the property and not the agent.