Why Being First in Google Will Really Help Grow Your Real Estate Business
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So you think that being first or second in Google is not that important? This study from Cornell done in 2006 shows that just holding the 1st position in Google will get you more than half of the clicks on a given search. And the difference between holding 1st and 2nd position?
Being first in Google will get you 4 times the clicks that the second position will. So pay attention to your search optimization strategies. For example if you are getting 100 clicks in 2nd position a week for your top search term you could be getting 400 clicks if you got into the 1st position.
That extra little bit of work can make a huge difference in your business.
As you can see from the graph below and a SERP ‘heat-map’ based on it, the first two listings capture over a half of the user’s attention in terms of time of the eye fixation. Whereas the attention is shared almost equally, the difference in number of click between the first two listings is much more surprising: over four times! via SeoResearcher.
Hat tip to Jon Warass SEO Blog for finding the chart.
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Comment by dean on 12 February 2008:
Tommy,
My buddy Pat Kitano calls it the “Google Land Grab” with the top 10 positions on page 1 of a Google search being the “marketing real estate” of choice.
From the sounds of this report, the “Beverly Hills” of placement is #1 page one with #2 looking like Irvine followed by a bunch of San Pedros and Riversides!
If you don’t mind I am going to use this article as a source for a few “students” have difficulty grasping the fact that Google placement is huge to their businesses.
Great job!
dean http://deansguide.wordpress.com
Pingback by “Why Being First In Google Will Really Help Grow Your Real Estate Business”: Cornell Study Latest Blast To Realtor Community « DeansGuide on 12 February 2008:
[...] the article “Why Being First in Google Will Really Help Grow Your Real Estate Business” the following points are vital to your [...]
Comment by Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice on 13 February 2008:
Great Job on this post. I have been following my own stats and have noticed huge traffic when I am in just the first 4 positions of Google. Very interesting to see the difference as was pointed out in your article.
Comment by Cursor_ on 20 February 2008:
Actually that may indeed get you clicks.
But IF the clicks do NOT become sales, it is meaningless.
A recent study showed that 6% of people that click on ads make up to 50% of the clicks. And those people made less than 40k a year. A less than thrilling income if you want to sell homes even cheap ones.
http://tinyurl.com/2rw8rr
So being numero uno at at search engine does not mean a great deal.
Comment by dean on 20 February 2008:
Cursor,
I can’t agree with you. If you consider the fact that Realtor.com, Trulia and a number of other real estate related sites have been quoting the following statistic:
70% of consumers interested in buying or selling property first search online for their Realtor and property.
If a Realtor captures the top search terms Big Head or Long Tail for a city, town, neighborhood or even down to the district level, that Realtor will win the next generation marketing wars.
If you have read this blog, we have learned that print media advertising has been declining at an alarming rate (for them) due to online competion ie blogs.
As for your answer to click conversion–you are missing the point.
Blogging for a Realtor becomes a moving resume, promotional tool, and it engages readers. The students I speak with as well as the well established bloggers ie Kevin Boer http://3oceansrealestate.com, John Harper http://theharperteam.com, Jim http://realestatetomato.typepad.com, and Teresa Boardman http://stpaulrealestateblog.com all support the advantages writing a blog brings to Realtors.
Boer, Boardman, and Kitano have all been recognized by Inman News as authoring the top 25 innovative blogs in the real estate industry.
Those are the experts and they and I disagree with your assessment.
Dean Guadagni
http://deansguide.wordpress.com