Course Outline

Establish a Website or Blog and BRANDING You!

Own Your Domain eMailing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Marketing Materials/ Web – Continue the

Branding! History and Acronyms Setting Up Your Domain Planning your Real Estate website in

WordPress WordPress Flexibility

Establish a Website or Blog and BRANDING You! One undeniable fact is that your customers use search

engines to do research about you, connect with you, and to decide if they will do business with you. This is the most compelling reason for you to purchase your full name as a domain name for your web site (yourfullname.com). Through the development of either a static website or a blog under “yourfullname.com,” you own the first search engine result (SER) for your name in Google and the many other search engines which is the first information a potential customer will read about you and your business.

When you contribute information to your affiliate web site (HAR or your brokerage web site,) you might have been given guidelines as what to write for a bio and that may be edited by another person and not reflect exactly what you want to impart to your clients.

Own Your Domain

It can be very tempting to go with a free web hosting service that takes care of all the details eliminating the need for you to own your own domain name. It’s a route many individuals, bloggers, and even small businesses take. However if you’re building a brand of yourself you should start with 'yourfullname.com' or a domain name which reflects exactly what you are achieving in business 'yournamesellsrealestate.com' as an example.

So, understand that your domain should be a site independent of any other brand or company names. Also, after purchasing the rights to your domain name remember to be sure to add your picture, a bio for yourself, your e-mail address and links to the rest of your online presence (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, HAR, your brokerage web page, etc.). This expands the way people can conveniently get in touch with you using the medium of their choosing.

Own Your Domain

Let’s start from the assumption that you either have or are planning to launch a small business. It doesn’t matter what kind of business. The Internet is a way for you to reach customers, and you want to project professionalism. Even if you’re aiming for a “down-home” friendly feeling to your business, you want your potential customers to trust you’ll handle their orders promptly and properly, fix any problems, and – above all –you’re not going to pack up and vanish overnight. If you’re using a free web host, your site will probably have a domain name like http://www.freewebhost.com/yourname. How professional is that?

Own Your Domain

A domain name such as http://www.yourname.com gives a greater sense of permanence and professionalism. It gives you a brand that you can build on. With the other URL, people can tell at a glance that you’re using a free web host, and what kind of message does that convey? It says that you’re not willing to invest money in your own business (and with how little it costs to register a domain name, there really is no excuse for that). Would you buy from someone like that? If not, why would you expect prospective customers to buy from you?

Own Your Domain

Also, if you’re using a free web host, as you would have to if you don’t have your own domain name, you can expect that host to place ads for its service on your site. It doesn’t matter what kind of site you have. To make matters worse, the free web host might even place AdSense or other search-related ads on your site. Think about it. If you don’t own your own domain name, your free web host could even place ads for your competitors on your site – and make money from them! If that doesn’t seem likely, remember that AdSense and similar services display ads related to the content on the web page, so it’s entirely possible ads promoting your rivals could show up on your site.

Planning your web site in WordPress Once you’ve got your domain name we want to setup

WordPress . Without a doubt WordPress has had its coming of age in

the Real Estate industry and has been established as a premier CMS (content management system) for REALTORS® throughout the United States and Canada. The popular blogging software is now successfully powering massive real estate websites in major markets.

In an age where 84% of ALL real estate transaction begin on the Internet why would a Broker or Agent trust his/her livelihood to a free software program you ask? There is a multitude of reasons but the short answer is; Flexibility, Dependability, Scalability and SEO Search Engine Optimization.