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Get Noticed or Die - Design and Search Engine performance
many of us focus on good search engine placement as a component of our Real Estate practice. It is a never ending competition to create sites and content plus SEO to win the first few positions in Google on the phrases that are most relevant to our business. There are tons of resources to learn about Keyword/phrase research, on page SEO, content creation and back linking. What I don’t hear much about is the role design can play in winning.
I have been invited to speak at Inman Connect in SF on design and search engine performance. I contend that sites with great design will crush the sites with poor design. In real estate there is a huge opportunity to “out Design” the competition because most design/innovation is very weak. Go to Google for any city and search for “city name Real estate” click the top ten links and look at the sites…they probably are crappy template sites with poor design and no fun to interact with. Now go to http://thefwa.com/ and look at sites that have been created by artistic creative people who push design.
So what? you say…people just want information you say…those sites have huge budget and we could never do that you say?! Well, here’s the deal, as agents we don’t really have much to say that others can’t say just as well. If the information is the same it becomes about how you package the information into a compelling experience! Create a new fun interactive way to find a house, learn about home inspections, explore you farm neighborhood, or a million other ideas you can come up with. It will cost some money but if you are successful enough to compete at this level you have the Money. And yes it takes work and creativity and passion or it will suck! If you don’t have it then find someone who does pay them and love them.
The reason to focus on design is more practical than you might think. To compete for the most competitive terms you must have strong back links. People and sites must link to you as an authority on relevant terms. You must stand out from the crowd and hold peoples attention. This is what great design does…it carries your information in a nice shiny package. Package your information about real estate so well that people want to show their friends. There are tons of people in our industry looking for new things to talk about and share. Be worthy of their attention.
This is not theory it is why I am speaking at Inman Connect SF. It is why influential sites link to us. And it is a big part of why we do well in Google.
BTW - I don’t consider us to be Great yet.
Tips.
1 - Be in love with your site! -if you are not up at night playing with your site thinking of new ideas your in trouble.
2. We are monkeys and like little shiny things. Little things that move and interact with can hold our attention use this!
3. Don’t explain with lots of words - use design to expose to guide
4. Talk naturally - Your tone should be friendly and match the site.
5. Take some chances - look outside of real estate and try things. ask “wouldn’t it be cool if” and turn off “yes but”
6. Commit long term to design - Make it part of the budget long term
7. Design around Ideas - Look at the core ideas you want to convey and use design to support and enhance.
8. Use API’s and plugins from others - Integrate cool data and widgets from others. makes your site better and they want to show you off!
Examples:
Idea = transparency Design/innovation = show agents activity on a map. MLS listing view by agents.
Idea = Walkscore heatmap is just so cool to look at! = add overlay on our Map. Homes for sale with the Walkscore Map
I just keep going back to this site because it is so damn cool amazing!
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2 Responses to “Get Noticed or Die - Design and Search Engine performance”
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Great blog, very usable ideas. This page is worth being book marked
MLS listing view by agents is very cool!
Liked the amazing web design company website!