Great info Greg can you send me a link to your landing page I would love to take a look at it. We have been looking to do this as well.

I'll post it here as well.  Thanks for the comments!!!  http://www.realtyworldwichita.com/buyerlink1.shtml

Greg, well said! PPC and many other tools can have a big ROI if used correctly. Personally, I am not a fan of being a gatekeeper of the information but I am glad to hear it's working for you.

Nice post Greg... I have used google adwords with a nice landing page for both buyers and sellers. The PPC for the seller landing page was nearly 3x that of the buyer.

The thing is that there are sooo many tools we need these days...

Mama mia! There's gotta be a better way. 

Good post Greg.  You made a great point in that if you are going to do it, you need to do it right to see the ROI you need.  I have been wanting to start a campaign but I wanted to do some research first.  Being in our business is expensive enough so I definitely did NOT want to waste anymore.  I want to keep my eye on this post to see more of the comments you receive

Good post. I think you need a combination of tool because it would be impossible to cover all your bases with just a single tool. For example if you SEO your site, you can only optimize your site for a finite number of keywords so PPC could be used to cover the keywords your site is not optimized for.

Thanks for all the comments:

Brad, normally I don't like "gatekeeper" mentality.  On my site, unlimited searches, but 3 home details before I need register.  As for the PPC, I guess if I'm paying, I need to see if the clicks result in sales.  We assign the leads to agents, and track the return in Lucero to see if it results in a closing.  I'm trying to develop "How many visitors to get a sale", and the sources.

Adam, I'm more a fan of Homegain than I will be of Google adwords.  Google places you at the top, and I think more people are aware that's a paid advertising slot.  Homegain has reached the top thru SEO and PR.  I'm looking more for buyers, so I haven't set up a Sellers page.

Kimberly, RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!  Like real estate, Location.....  No what term is the most searched term, and find out if the vehicle you choose is high up in that term.  #1 term here is "Wichita Kansas Real Estate".  Lots of competition, and I'm not that high yet (but working on it).  Homegain is always on the first page of that phrase.  In other phrases I'm higher than Homegain, so I don't pay for those phrases.

Ales, my answer to Kimberly sort of addresses that.  I know where my site hits well, and I'm willing to pay for where my reach is a little short.  Does it cost?  Yes!  Could I seo it up better?  Yes, but it takes time, and time is money.  I've "bought" myself a little time here....

Hi Everyone!

 I have been monitoring this post and have found it interesting.  I have spent a fortune testing different systems to figure out what is the best means of generating visitors, converting them to leads and then converting them to sales.  After 4 years we have it down to a science.  At first I did the usual Google and Overture with varied results.  I did manage to capture 7% of the visits to leads and then one out of 55 raw leads became a sale.  Last August I was called by Homegain and they pitched their product.  At first I was not trusting of them at all.  After all I have had everyone and their mother calling me trying to sell me everything...as I am sure you have too!  Even though it made sense, I resisted.  I decided to test is with $1,000 per month...the results were instant.  My lead conversion went from 7% to 16.5% just by switching to Homegain.  Within two weeks I dumped all my Google and Overture budget and dumped it all into Homegain.  The results speak for themselves.  Our business has doubled since last August, my Agents are making money, I'm making money, my customers are happy...life is good! 

With all that said, no matter what you are doing, if you are not using the correct process to convert leads to sales, all is for not.  We have developed our own software to help us convert leads.  Our software, under the 100MPH Marketing title, will be available in the next month or so.  The problem with most of the conversion tools out there is that there are too many options.  I'm a big believer of the keep it simple stupid (KISS) method.  Our software does not give you a lot of options however it does work hard to convert sales by following a 5 step process.  In a market (Florida) where we have seen record lows in sales, we are continuing to grow.  If you are interested in finding out more about how I can help you create more sales at mitch@mitchrealty.com.

Have a great day!

Mitch,

I am curious about your solution and homegain experience.  I shot your an email and hope to hear from you soon.

Stefan

http://www.realtyworldwichita.com/buyerlink1.shtml is what I have in mind for a landing page.  Going to your front page won't help you capture info.  about 50% of those visiting this landing page register, about 10% with phone numbers.  Going to the front page won't help capture, and you can't track results as well.

As for your site.  Try and find a domain name with your area and profession (ie http://www.stefansellshomes.com/) would be my first advice.  Next, I ran your site thru http://www.seotoolset.com/.  Cost is $90 per quarter.  You could use some text help on the opening page, your keywords are too long, but the worst part is how complicate your text is.  You need to "Dumb Down" your site (I hate thinking we have to make them stupid, but remember that Newspapers are written for 8th graders).  From the chart below, that your text is too complicated, and not long enough.  I don't think anyone will read everything on a front page, but length means you can get your meaning across more simply.  Try dumbing it down some!!

http://www.stefanwest.com/

I'm not familiar with Park Place, but it looks like a IDX solution.  Not knowing what the inside looks like, I'm using Z57 web provider.  The IDX and Drip Email talk to each other.  I find the Drip has pretty low click thru, but I'll be setting up a different IDX setup shortly to track save searches much better.  I'll let you know what happens with that.

Finally, you asked about Ring Central.  Because I'm a brokerage, it may have different results than an agent.  I have only 3 or 4 click thrus on Ring Central, but cost is nominal, and we use it for the company 800 number as well.  I can't call it a success, but I'll continue for the time being.

Greg,

Thanks for the information.  So when you are using your landing page, you drive your PPC stuff there I assume versus your home page.

For SEO purposes though, your home page is going to be dominate, no?  It would be very easy to use my IDX (it does set up drip - automatically) as a landing page.  A very simple one would be a few minutes tops. 

Trying to drive Organic traffic to a landing page would be less easy though.  I appreciate your thoughts and advice.  I am always going to want to have my own site - www.stefanwest.com and it ranks very well.  But perhaps I will create a sub-domain off of it as well or a new page.  Have to think on that one.

Stefan

Greg,

Good thoughts on the capture landing page. Is it possible to analyze my site (www.mattyogerst.com) like you did for stefan? I have put it together myself for now, and yes it still does need major work. I am doing my research now to get things moving.

Matt