By Jacky Hill

The Internet is full of tips and resources to help you build your online presence.  But where do you start?  To help navigate through the clutter, here is a short list of top online resources and tools that will help you and your business become more digital and improve your online presence.

1. Jumpstart your social media journey on Facebook with your own business page. A Facebook business page is a top resource for any business looking to make the most out of Facebook.

To get started, visit www.facebook.com/business and learn more about the ABC’s of how to succeed on Facebook. Read success stories and view quick videos on how to get started.  You’ll also find step-by-step guides on how to build and maintain your business page. Keeping it optimized is just as important. There is help on how to connect with people, using your existing network or Facebook ads to help you reach the right audience. There is also information about how to engage with your audience using rich, popular and viral content – quality and timely posts to keep people interested.

2. Be social with Google; stay local with Google+ Local. To find new customers, customers need to find you. These days almost everyone resorts to ‘Googling’ before making a purchase or for research. To ensure your customers can find you geographically, ensure that your Google Places page (now called Google+ Local) is optimized. Your page lists your company name, address, phone number and website, along with a map of your location. It doesn’t cost you a thing. This is an easy way to maintain an online presence even if you don’t have a website. You can edit your information or see how many people have seen and clicked on your page at any time.

Learn more about Google+ Local at www.google.com/+/learnmore/local.  If optimized correctly, your page can improve your online results. If you’re investing in search solutions like search engine optimization or pay-per-click marketing you should also consider a Google+ Local page to help increase the chances of customers finding you online quickly. Don’t forget that building your Google+ Local page doesn’t end here – ongoing maintenance and optimization is essential.

3. Learn more about search engine optimization (SEO). It is extremely important to help increase your visibility on search engines like Google where most consumers go first to search for real estate content.  Searchengineland.com is a great resource to help you learn more about SEO, providing useful tips and tools.  Learn the basics of SEO in three minutes on the site. Search “what is search engine optimization the three minute video” on Google and you’ll be easily redirected. 

Many companies offer SEO services. When engaging a search solution provider, consider their reputation and transparency when executing your campaign, as well as their real estate industry knowledge and ability to provide proven results.  Poor ethics and SEO tactics can unfortunately be penalized by Google and may work against you.

4. The great thing about digital marketing is that your online tactics are easily measurable.  Tracking the success of campaigns and online efforts is crucial to determining return on investment and the time allocated to those tactics.  Your customers research, compare and make purchasing decisions at different stages in a customer lifecycle and it’s important to understand which marketing channels help in that process. Google’s new Multi-Channel Funnels tool in Google Analytics allows you to view interactions across different digital and marketing channels, showing how these work together to create sales and conversions. This tool can help you make important marketing, advertising and communications decisions, including which keywords and ad placements convert best. This resource tool explains how Multi-Channel Funnels works and why you should integrate this into your analysis process:   google.com/analytics/features/multichannel-funnels.html.

Jacky Hill has more than 21 years of experience in real estate and media and is responsible for managing and leading Wall2Wall Media’s corporate strategy, go-to-market products, brand strategy, change management and mentoring senior management. She has served on the board of directors for two consecutive terms for two home-building industry associations and is a past sales & marketing chair with GTHBA (now BILD). She has been recognized in the real estate industry with several awards. www.wall2wallmedia.com.