This is our second in a series of online marketing tips for real estate.

While a free email service might seem like a bargain, do you really want to be promoting a free email service instead of reinforcing your own branding?

What do we mean by that?   You can get an email from brands like Yahoo, Google, MSN or AOL, for nothing, with instant access wherever you have a browser.  It is a very tempting offer, for sure.  Free is a great price, but not at the expense of your branding opportunities.   Who would you rather build your brand or a brand like Yahoo?

But think of your email address as an extension of your branding.  Every email you send is part of your online marketing strategy and should reflect you in the best possible light.  Not that a free email account brands you poorly, it just isn’t branding you as effectively as it could.  Which do you think makes a better impression?   Charlee78934@aol.com or Charlee@charleehomes.com?  Hosting your email on your own domain gives you a level of professionalism that can’t get with a free account.

Paying to have your email hosted in your own domain can cost as little as $10 year by using a company like GoDaddy.com.  There are other email hosting services online as well; choose the one that works for you.   Typically, these services will interface with Microsoft Outlook and other popular email clients.  Make sure to check ahead of time with your preferred hosting service.

As a small business, using email to market to your leads and prospects is a cost effective tool.  By having your email hosted on your own domain you add an additional level of professionalism and brand impression you don’t get with free email services.

One last thought: Another way to enhance your email brand is to use a branded stationery in addition to hosting your email on your domain.   Each message can carry your photo, logo, and contact information.  Which looks better to you?

Unbranded Stationery

Or

Custom Email Stationery

Posted by:  tara.sybrant@realprosystems.com,   NOT  tara.sybrant16547@hotmail.com

When it comes to technology, things are changing daily and keeping up can be difficult.  We have planned a series of posts to help you sift through the overabundance of technology available and find the right online marketing tools for you and your business.  We have designed each post to present a tip on different online marketing challenges and provide some insight on how to apply appropriate technology to address these challenges.

First up in our online marketing tips for real estate:  Search Engine Visibility

Do you know if the content on your website is visible to the search engines? And what does that even mean?  When you sit down at a computer and look something up on the Internet you are entering a search term into a search engine to get those pages of results.  The search engines use “spiders” or “robots” that are constantly searching the internet for content, which is how they determine where sites rank in those organic results.  Poor website architecture can prevent the search engines from seeing the content on your website, which means your website would not be properly indexed and would not appear in the search results.  There are many well-known real estate websites that essentially hide much of the agent’s content from the search engines.  This happens because they are built on older technology that  enabled them to build pages quickly, but in the process it obscured the page content.  This pretty much defeats the purpose of having website content in the first place.

Put your site to the test using a free tool available at www.SEO-Browser.com.  This website will allow you to see any webpage from the perspective of the search engines.  All of the images will be turned off and it will show the text and the links that are visible to the search engines.

There are a couple of key things you want to see, your website’s navigation, and all of the text on the page.  Each component of the navigation (menu choices and links) such as  home, listings, etc. should be displayed in blue, which indicates a link.  Some website menu selections are implemented in graphics and will not appear a severe limitation.  When a search engine lands on your home page, the only way it will go deeper into your site is if it can find links that take it to each of the pages.  One well known website vendor charges several hundred dollars per month but their menu navigation links are not visible, so a search engine can’t explore the pages the menu points to!

Next, you should see all of the text on this page.  Don’t just check the homepage either.  It is especially important to check the featured properties page to ensure that the description, the remarks and the address (if allowed) are showing.  If you can’t see it in SEO-Browser, the search engines can’t either!  Listing information is valuable content for search engine optimization.

From our Real Pro Silver to our Real Pro Gold and Real Pro Platinum products, our systems are built on the most search engine friendly, Web 2.0 architecture.  Would you like to see one of our real estate websites in action?  Try viewing http://www.RobLevy.com in SEO-Brower!

We offer free educational and product driven webinars that you may find interesting.  To see our upcoming schedule CLICK HERE.

As we near the end of 2009, we want to take a moment to thank you for your continued support and confidence in Real Pro Systems, and wish you the happiest of holiday seasons.

For us, 2009 was an amazing year! We grew the Real Pro Systems team substantially with new positions in development, client care and our sales department. We added to our offering of products and services with the introduction of Technical Services, Search Engine Optimization services, and the newest generation of agent systems, Real Pro Platinum.

We attribute our ongoing success to you, our clients! Your continued loyalty fuels the engine, and your honest feedback gives us direction. We are looking forward to 2010 and anticipate another record-breaking year!

Life is about much more than business, however. At this time of year we are reminded of those things that truly matter, including family and friends. From our family to yours we wish you a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season!

Today is the last day before a four day weekend for the Real Pro Systems team that will kick off tomorrow with Thanksgiving Day.   The office is filled with laughter and banter and perhaps a few more Nerf darts than normal as we prepare to head off and celebrate with our friends, family and loved ones. Thanksgiving is a traditional time of year to reflect on all of the things in our lives that we are thankful for and this year is no different.

The Real Pro Systems team is thankful for a lot this year.  We have an amazing team of people, which has grown this year by seven people so far!  We are lucky enough to work for an innovative company. We truly appreciate the fact that during an economic downturn we have great jobs, especially when so many people do not.    We have an amazing group of people we call clients that we are thankful for, their continued support, input and kind words that make our jobs easier.

Here are a few thoughts from the Real Pro Systems team:

Kristi Healy, Client Care: I am thankful for being able to work at a cutting-edge software company where I have the ability to work with each and every one of our clients.

Terri Renella, Sales Manager: I am thankful to be working with such a great company who has and continues to attract some of the most talented and wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure of working with.   And thank you to the owners for the sacrifices you have made to ensure Real Pro Systems continued growth.

Dan VanOrdstrand, Audio Specialist: I’m thankful for awesome co-workers!  This is a great atmosphere to work in everyday!

Dan Hatfield, SEO Specialist: I’m thankful that we have a product that has proven to be successful, and a team of support that has always been helpful and dedicated to helping and assisting our clients to use the tools we have to the full potential.  I’m thankful that our office is not one filled with constant stress and pessimism, but instead it is carefree but functional with a focus on building a better mouse trap.

Gwyneth Iredale, Sales: Thankful for the opportunity to really help agents solve problems and grow their business, especially in this challenging market. It warms my heart when we receive testimonials about how our products have helped them pull through.

Gary Ulmer, Graphics: I am thankful for my beautiful family, my kind wonderful friends, and the freedom to believe your own beliefs, and have your own thoughts.  I am thankful to have a great job working with fantastic people. It is a special work environment that most people would envy. That being said, I am still thankful that we get a four day weekend.

Donald Hansen, Developer: I’m thankful for an awesome work environment and forward thinking management that continually come up with great ideas.

Tara Sybrant, Marketing Manager: Our team is made up of truly gifted individuals, with a willingness to work together, to strive for something better- day in and day out, that is what I am thankful for.

Caine O’Brien, General Manager: I feel so fortunate to work with such fun, intelligent, and hard-working people.  I’m grateful for our clients who make our success possible and who are the only reason our company is here.  And I’m especially thankful to live and work in a country where the free expression of our ideas and the free pursuit of our beliefs are not only possible, but encouraged.

Tell us what you are thankful for this year.  We would love to hear from you.  Have a wonderful holiday!