By Glenn Houck
RISMEDIA, April 9, 2008–There are lots of different ways to source Internet-based traffic and leads. Some are better than others. But which are the best? Here are five ideas:
1) Live Transfer Leads: Short of your personal referrals or calls from the relocation department, the next best lead source is qualified live transfers. There are a few companies offering Live Transfer leads, but they are hard to come by for the small broker or agent.
2) SEO: We see the next highest quality leads being sourced from organic search. The benefit of this traffic is that the clicks are free. However, the old adage ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’ holds true here. In order to rank highly, you need to invest in providing good content on your website, have an appropriate web structure and have people link to your site. That takes investment dollars and time.
3) Paid Search: The third best source would be your own paid search efforts. There are four areas you need to perfect in order to be successful, including: expansive keyword list, good ad copy, diligent bid management and quality landing pages. If these terms are foreign to you, be sure to either read up on this or hire a firm to help you.
4) Lead Generators: Partner- and lead generator-based traffic can be tricky, as each provider uses different techniques to acquire leads. Quality in, quality out – if these partners buy from poor sources, then you will be getting bad leads. Many of these partners blend their sources so the buyers of the leads only see a blend.
5) Co-Reg and/or E-mail Lead Generation: Lowest on the list is e-mail and co-registration platforms. Co-registration leads are generated via checked boxes after the end of a form you completed (for a completely different product that you wanted). That lead is then sold pursuant to the ‘fine print’ that we never read.
In summary, it’s best to purchase qualified leads or traffic you source directly. If you do buy leads from other partners, be sure to measure your quality and price accordingly. Good luck!
Glenn Houck, is the co-founder of LeadQual, LLC. LeadQual helps brokers with Paid Search Marketing, SEO and Internet Lead Response, Qualification and Live Transfer. This reduces the cost of getting visitors to broker websites and improves conversion from Internet inquiry to closed home sale.
For more information visit www.LeadQual.com/RealEstate. To contact Glenn Houck e-mail Glenn@LeadQual.com or call (203) 644-1320
