Laying the Foundation for your Online Business

Research - It's Important

Just like how any business starts, research is a key component of starting a website. This aspect is many times overlooked and people design elaborate websites with extreme marketing campaigns but see little to no traffic yield. 

You research before you purchase a rental income home right? Well, think of your online business as another stream of rental income. Research it - it deserves the same respect if not more than your properties.  

What to Research? 

The Real Estate website structure is going to be a bit different than the typical online retailer structure – one reason is because you are not selling anything. Well, you are selling homes, but chances are, your buyers will not be buying it with a credit card through a shopping cart. (Although I can see this happening in the future) The Real Estate website should be in it’s entirety, a lead generating source and a tool to leverage your time and efforts.

Keywords – Content – Social Media
These are the three pillars I focus on when designing my websites. With Real Estate, I place a higher emphasis on Content and Social Media than with retail. For retail, there should be more emphasis on Keyword. So let’s get a quick overview on how we are going to be building our foundation.

1. Keywords
Essentially, there are words, “Keywords” in which your website targets. The keywords should be the service or product your website offers. For my “Super Pocket Bike” retail website, my main keyword is, well, “Super Pocket Bikes”. Because it’s exactly what I offer. Keywords selection is tricky and it takes time. It’s integrated with Pay Per Click Advertising and Search Engine Optimization. More on Keyword Selection in the official article.

2. Content
Content will be a key aspect to your REI website. Why? Well what do you think this is? What I am writing right now is Content. It’s effective because it is in actuality a service. It answers questions and ultimately provides solutions. People pay for solutions. People that get free solutions, well, they are just even more happy and refer friends and colleagues to the same free solution. Content can also be distributed and leveraged. This article I am writing, I can post to my numerous blogs, Facebook, myspace and more. Content can also take in many forms. Most cases, its direct words and text, but it can also be video, audio, and pictures. So content is a crucial. I will go more in depth in content as well and it ties in with Social Media.

3. Social Media
Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Youtube, and even BiggerPockets. That’s all social media. Needless to say, such website’s influence is substantial to the growth of your own. Social Media becomes a hub in which you can post content and ads. Leveraging your time is what Internet Marketing is all about for the Real Estate Investor. What better way than to connect with all of your colleagues on the go wherever and whenever you want. 

 

(The Topic is Research. The next post will explain how to research for the correct Keywords to build your website upon)