How Net Neutrality Will Affect You in the Real Estate Industry
Still not sure what net neutrality is? In short, net neutrality creates an even playing field among content providers — both large and small — to the web. Which means it also creates an equal playing field for realtors, brokerages and developers. The FCC has proposed rules to create a two-tiered Internet, one with “fast lanes” and higher download speeds, and another that operates more slowly. Companies would pay a premium to their internet service provider (Comcast, Verizon etc.) for faster download speeds.
“In a comment letter to the FCC, NAR described the negative impacts that the ‘fast lanes’ proposal would have on the real estate industry and especially the hundreds of thousands of independent Realtor-owned businesses. Because the business of real estate is increasingly conducted on-line – streaming video, virtual tours and voice-over-Internet-protocol are just some of the technologies that are commonly used by real estate professionals today – net neutral practices are essential to ensuring that real estate content may be freely and efficiently distributed online,” said National Association of Realtors’ President Chris Polychron.
For more coverage on this complex issue within the real estate industry, check out Housing Wire, Inman and the NAR’s official press release.
3D Interactive Technology for Luxury Real Estate Developers
ArX Solutions, an internationally-recognized 3-D architecture visualization firm, has just announced the launch of their latest real-time interactive technology—ArXperience 3-D. Combining some amazing 3-D rendering quality with virtual reality, ArXperience 3-D allows users to visualize, interact and experience an environment in the most realistic quality ever before seen in the real estate market. The revolutionary technology seems to be making virtual reality less virtual and more real than ever before.
This technology is meant to serve as a high end, ultra high tech luxury real estate marketing tool, allowing for developers and brokers to showcase pre-construction developments and individual units to potential buyers with an interactive presentation that resembles reality. Users can then participate in a one-of-a-kind encounter with a space as if they were physically there. Potential buyers can experience and virtually explore any space. This solution allows the end user to have the closest experience to the real product available.
“By presenting a product through ArXperience 3-D, developers and brokers can take the marketing and selling of a project that has yet to be constructed to the next level.” Says Gonzalo Navarro, Principal of the Miami office for ArX Solutions. Using a virtual reality headset, the device’s tracking technology allows for users to look around their surroundings in the virtual world just as they would in real life by turning their head, creating an extraordinarily realistic experience.
Read more here or visit ArX Solutions for their latest updates.
3 Tips to Convert Your Prospects into High Quality Real Estate Leads
Sick of getting the 505-555-1212 phone numbers and “John Smith” for a name for your online leads? Inman has just published 3 steps to turn your D quality leads into higher quality opportunities.
Step 1: Find the consumer – there are plenty of big data resources such as Spokeo.com and whitepagesgogreen.com if Google doesn’t pan out. If a lead uses only an email address, Google it. You’ll be surprised how much information pops up.
Step 2: Lead Profiling – By using step 1, you should have more details about your contact. Build a profile with whatever you can find. Once you finally get ahold of them, you’ll have something to talk about. How could they not be impressed?
Step 3: Make Contact – Lead Response (or lack thereof) is one of the most overlooked and yet crucial points in a successful sales process. Inman suggests calling up to 5 times at various times of day, emailing no more than twice and sending a personal note or letter once. Personally, I would add contacting them on Facebook or Twitter if you can find their social media profiles.
For more information on converting low quality leads check out the original article at Inman.
SEO for Real Estate: Why Every Realtor Needs a Topical Hub
If you are looking to increase your real estate blog rankings then topical hubs may be the answer. As Google gets more and more advanced in it’s search algorithms, high quality real estate backlinks can have a big impact on your rankings. If you can use some of these SEO strategies ahead of your competition you will definitely come out ahead of the game.
A topical hub is the relationships with 2 or more entities. A real estate example would be: The relationship between a specific neighborhood and it’s city. With Google’s latest search engine algorithm: Hummingbird, the relationship between these entities actually increases your on-page SEO factors. How many times have you typed in a search and Google finishes the phrase for you? Think about the “Searches related to”——” options that are presented at the end of a Google page.
Google wants the best results for users. When you have a topical hub on your content page, it tells Google that you have a full story not just a chapter that is your targeted keyword. Relationships are essential in your SEO for real estate blog rankings. Take it a step further and use the Google Adwords Keyword Planner to see what other relate keywords you can integrate into your posts.
Read more about this essential real estate SEO strategy.at GeekEstateBlog or watch the above video with Gianluca Fiorelli, from ILoveSEO.net.
Clearview’s Tech Tip: Google Alerts
This may seem like an obvious one but I’m always surprised at how many people I come across that don’t use Google Alerts. Google Alerts is a powerful & extremely easy tool for real estate brand management. Set up a few with your name or brokerage and have alerts sent daily, weekly or as published to keep up to date what people are saying about your brand. Whether it’s good or bad, you will want to respond immediately. If it’s a negative review, you’ll be able to do damage control immediately before anyone fans the flames. If it’s positive, you can chime in with your appreciation and build more connection with your fans. Google Alerts can also be used to keep track of any new trends or interesting topics to help you keep your blog content up to date. It can also be used to reach out to specific target markets on websites where top issues are getting addressed. If you start commenting just when an article is published, you can present your brand as an authority in that sector and leave a trail for others to find you. You can set up your own Google Alerts here or read some more creative uses for Google Alerts over at Lifehacker.
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