Real Estate Marketing Tips

Learn what it takes to build a successful online marketing campaign and start leveraging the Internet's potential today.

Keyword Friendly Domain Names

A domain name is the text name corresponding to the numeric IP address of a computer on the Internet. In other words it allows clients to be able to associate an easy to remember name or phrase such as "OCRealEstate.com" instead of the much more difficult numeric IP address of your web site on the internet such as (1.160.10.240).

Choosing Your Domain Nam

Most realtors don.t realize that a successful online marketing campaign begins with their domain name. For example ask yourself is my domain name easy to remember? Is it to long, or hard to spell? If the answer is yes, then you are making it unnecessarily hard for people to get to your web site and potentially missing out on leads.

When deciding on a web site domain name, an obvious choice for many realtors is to use their own name, for example "JohnDoe.com". This choice makes sense when you think about how your existing clients will likely want to find your web site. However, don.t you also want your web site to generate new leads? Of course, which is why you not only need to register your name and point it to your website but also try to register additional domain names such as "MissionViejoRealEstate.com" which is much easier to remember and descriptive.

Search engines will also consider domain names to be very relevant in searching. For example, suppose a potential homebuyer goes to google and types in "Mission Viejo Real Estate Listings". Google is going to take into consideration the fact that many of the keywords the user typed in are reflected in your domain name and this will help pull your web site to the top of the search results.

As you can see, the best domain names should be descriptive and serve to identify your target market. Ideally it would also contain keywords that potential clients would search by. Words such as "Real Estate", "Properties", or "Homes" can be easily combined with the locations you serve, creating a domain name that is both descriptive and contains the highly important keywords.

Checking Domain Name Availability

Now that you have a good idea of what to look for in a domain name, you will need to find one that is available and register it. If you have a few specific names you're considering, you can go directly to a registrar site such as NetworkSolutions.com or Register.com. If it turns out the ideas you had are already taken, you can try using the WHOIS Domain Suggestion Tool. This handy tool will automatically suggest available domain names based on the keywords you provide.

Additional Considerations When Choosing Your Domain Name

1. Try to get a Dot-Com extension - The dot-com extension was the first one available publicly, and thus also the one everyone tends to remember. In fact the creation of additional extensions such as Dot-Net, Dot-TV and Dot-Biz to name a few were only due to the fact that good Dot-Com domain names were no longer available. In fact the reason many of the non Dot.Com domain names are registered is due to the fact that the Dot-Com name is taken. If you do register a non Dot-Com domain name you run the risk of advertising and promoting your web site only to send a large portion of your clients to your competitor's site.
2. Keep It Short - You definitely want a descriptive and keyword filled domain name, however you don.t want to do it at the expense of size. The goal should be to create as descriptive a domain name as possible without compromising the professional, easier to spell and more memorable attributes of a shorter domain name. Also you should be planning to print your domain name on all your marketing materials, and when you do a shorter more precise domain name looks more professional.