More and more, people are turning to social media to try and build connections and even business. But does it work and does it raise your level of SEO on the web?

By using social media, you're able to push out your links and information through the wider World Wide Web as it is syndicated to a larger audience, in turn, increasing your online traffic. Branding yourself with something like a Facebook page offers transparency and growth based on your fans and communications. By connecting with people geniunely, your links and content is more likely to be shared, which builds actual link relevance that Google and other search engines need to actually increase your SEO level.

Building link relevance comes down to building reputation among the social channels you have and who is following you.

But does it really increase your SEO? Houseblogger's Real Estate Marketing SEO Blog says that, at best, it gives you a link. You can read more here.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Real Estate Industry, Technology And YOU, Web 2.0 Marketing

HomeGain has released the results of their survey regarding the marketing preferences and plans for real estate professionals, the complete results of which are listed below.

The leading effective marketing strategy, referrals, is also the one in which most are devoting their time and plans for 2010. While social media is becoming more popular and used, traditional mailers and email campaigns are holding more weight.

The results are based on two surveys, conducted in December 2009 and February 2010, with responses from about 1,300 real estate agents and brokers. Respondents also indicated that they will be less likely to invest their marketing dollars and time on Twitter (3.4), outdoor advertising (2.7), banner ads (2.5), pay-per-click advertising (2.5) and MySpace (2.5).

Top 10 Effective Marketing Strategies for Realtors
(Cumulative Average Scores, 1 = Least Effective / 10 = Most Effective)

• Referrals (8.7)
• Featured Listings (4.8)
• Email Campaigns (4.7)
• Postcards/Mailers (4.6)
• Blogging (4.1)
• Online Lead Generation Services (4.0)
• Facebook (4.0) * LinkedIn (3.6)
• Outdoor Ads (3.6)
• Print Ads (3.6)

Top 10 Marketing Objectives for Realtors in 2010
(Cumulative Average Scores, 1 = Least Likely to Use / 10 = Most Likely to Use)

• Referrals (8.9)
• Email Campaigns (5.7)
• Postcards/Mailers (5.4)
• Featured Listings (5.2)
• Facebook (4.9)
• Print Ads (4.3)
• Blogging (4.2)
• LinkedIn (4.1)
• Online Lead Generation Services (4.0)
• YouTube (3.5)

Read more on the HomeGain Blog and Inman News.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Traditional Marketing, Blogging, Real Estate Industry, Real Estate Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Web 2.0 Marketing, National News

Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services has launched a collaborative, virtual research and development laboratory dubbed PRECIPT, the Prudential Real Estate Collaborative Innovation Partnership.

The non-traditional lab is a combination of three facets: innovation, research and development, and collaboration between IT experts and real estate professionals. This virtual lab will focus on four areas: video gaming and sensory spaces, social networking and media sharing, mobile computing, and the application of semantic Web search engines research.

Prudential is partnering with virtual world developer Immersive Design Studio to create one of its top priorities, an immersive virtual tour.

"This is actually 'Avatar' meets real estate. We demonstrated ... how (two people) could both be in different rooms at opposite ends of the country and be holographically next to each other. Buyers can start to experience homes and what they would do with (a home) even before they actually see it," chairman and CEO Jim Mallozzi said.

In addition, the Prudential Real Estate Network is unveiling other tools and resources: a media center to help real estate professionals create listings presentations quickly and easily from one spot, a rent-to-own calculator for consumers, upgrades to the company's proprietary Online Seller Advantage(SM) customer-contact platform, including direct interface with more than 200 social media sites, and their mobile solution, PruRE.com.

Read more from Inman News or in the press release.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Real Estate Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Technology And YOU, Web 2.0 Marketing, National News

The use of smartphone apps to find real estate information is booming with home buyers.

Realtors and brokerages are using free apps to help their current and potential customers find listings and data about homes on the market or just sold, as well as geo-mapping information, as GPS is used more and more on mobile platforms.

Zillow's free app has been downloaded 970,000 times, with users looking up two million homes a month. With so much useage, it's no wonder why more and more companies are building apps for home buyers.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal online.

photo credit: Nimbuzz

Posted in Real Estate Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Technology And YOU, Web 2.0 Marketing

The time has come--you can now check in on Foursquare with photos and video with the new iPhone app, SquarePik, a joint venture between Pikchur Inc. and 39 Inc..

Find your location, snap a photo or take a video and away you go--just three easy steps to let others know where you are and what you're doing. It's a most-awesome tool for real estate agents and brokers because you can now visually share the properties you're listing, events you're hosting and everything in between.

The app is available now through the AppStore.

Posted in Real Estate Industry Trends, Technology And YOU, Web 2.0 Marketing