Resource Techniques

Damn good reasons why estate agents should invest time and effort into social networking

For those estate agents that are unsure, Google (the UK's largest search engine with over 90% of the search engine market) scans the internet for web pages that it can use in its SERP (Search Engine Results Page) and good news is that this includes your social networking profiles!

Facebook

A recent statistic said that 5% of all internet usage is on Facebook. Facebook allows users to create personal profiles, Facebook 'pages', groups and applications, all of which is indexed by Google. Another recent fact, for estate agents considering a Facebook page, is that Google has indexed 503 million pages. Estate agents should not take this social network lightly when trying to gain online exposure.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'Estate agents now, more than ever, need to be on Facebook. Facebook has over 300 million people worldwide, which is almost the same as the U.S. population and the UK has approximately 20 million users, meaning that 1 in 3 people, in the UK, has a Facebook account.'

Troy Stanley, continues, 'Facebook is a great way for estate agents to support their online presence. Estate agents do not need to spend as much time as users do, but they [estate agents] need to start regularly updating and expanding their profile by spending 5 minutes or-so a week.'

Troy Stanley confirms, 'Spending more time updating your estate agent website will benefit your website. Google is more likely scan a webpage the more it is updated which will improve your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). To improve you SEO using Facebook, fill your Facebook page with as much information as possible and use related keywords such as 'Estate agent in' or 'property for sale in' and your local area...'

'Once your page has filled out with all your business information, estate agents must then post content that property searchers will be interested in reading.' Troy Stanley reveals 'Users will be interested to know your latest properties for sale as well as the estate agent's latest events, socially and officially. Colin Bibra, an estate agent in Ealing, has an excellent online activity on both Facebook and Twitter.'

'Don't forget that this is not taking into account the possible communication between you, the estate agent, and members of public looking for property online. Giving them an opportunity to start an online conversation has become more attractive than ever before.' - Troy Stanley

Twitter

Twitter expanding at an enormous rate and is the 27th most visited website in the UK. A large amount of estate agents and users 'do not get' Twitter yet it is still expanding. Some high profile celebrities use Twitter in the UK including; Steven Fry, John Cleese, Jonathan Ross, Philip Schofield, Russell Brand and many more.

Estate agents can use Twitter to their advantage, by 'Tweeting' a link to the latest properties on their website, estate agents can boost traffic to their own estate agent website.

Troy Stanley comments, 'Estate agent should think Twitter as not just a social networking site where they can directly communicate with members of the public, but a type of media that is free. Again, estate agents do not need to devote an enormous amount of time using Twitter, but a few minutes a week 'Tweeting' their latest properties for people to access firsthand.

'Setting up a social network profile only takes 5 minutes. Estate agents can call Resource Techniques on 0208 457 4777 for free advice on setting up and utilising their social networking. - Troy Stanley.

Resource Techniques is a specialist in providing IT services for estate agents. Services include web design for estate agents, SEO for estate agents, SEO services, web sites for estate agents and estate agent software. Visit our portfolio page for our estate agent website designs or contact us page for more information.

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