Is Real Estate Really Picking Up?

Every so often I hear reports on the news of the real estate industry improving. Then I see news articles and information about how interest rates are going up. Those factors make me wonder just how much of an increase in real estate activity there is. And then the next thing you know, there are new real estate firms being started.

That last factor is what made me really start thinking that there might be some truth in what everybody is saying about the real estate industry. Not long ago I was approached by a friend of mine that was looking for someone to build them a web site for real estate. She said that she was starting her own real estate firm and would need somewhere on the Internet to show her listings. I thought  to myself, "is there really that much activity in the real estate industry?" It turns out that there actually is a lot of activity going in the Branson real estate market. I would never have noticed it if I had not taken on my friend's project since it has been a few years since I built a web site for a REALTOR®. But now that I have had to keep up with the market better because of having worked on a Branson real estate site, I see the trends more clearly.

With all the real estate activity in the Branson area, it means that the potential is there for more homes to go on the market. If you have been thinking about selling your property now might be the time to do it according to some experts. However, keep from making any of these home selling mistakes when you go to sell.

So, my unprofessional opinion is yes, it is picking up. That is just what I have concluded from my perspective. But what do I know, I am not a real estate market expert. I am a web developer.

What Value Does Good Content Carry?

That is really a good question, because if a webmaster does not understand the value, then what will motivate her to create good content.

Is Your Content Worth Link To?

Perhaps you have heard that question before. Then again, maybe you haven't ever thought about it. The truth is there is no shortcut to creating good quality content for your web site. Sure, there are ways to get quick links back to a site and picking a few of those up here and there isn't bad, but using those methods exclusively can be a problem. I posted on Active Rain just a bit ago to try to explain and demonstrate the benefits of good content that gets links. At the end of the blog post, I give a couple of examples of good content (in my opinion).

Sneaky Link Builders

I Found Your Web Site

That's what the subject line said in the email that one of customers got. The author of the email said they had checked out the site and that they wanted to talk about linking to each other. So, I decided to go see what the site was all about to see if it was worth linking to. I like to consider options reasonably.  Here is what I found.

I followed the link to the 'page' that the person cited in the email and what do you know, it went to a legitimate page on the site. However, the page took a while to load, which makes me think that the page was not really a unique page that exists but is one that is used to produce a generic page with filled in parameters that could be used for baiting someone into linking to the site, after which they make a legitimate page.

The other thing I noticed is that while the page is there when you follow the link, there is no way to click to it on the web site. It isn't included in any navigation, or used in any page copy that I could find on the site by browsing.

What that means is, I don't see how the link the author of the site is offering can benefit my customer. I cannot see how a search engine will find the page since there isn't a link to it on the site. So the link they say they have 'given' is really not valuable at all.

What I am saying is this:

The amount of effort the author took to set up this 'trick' (for lack of a better word) could have just as easily been used to actually help the site visitors find what they are looking for by creating an actual page for fashion jewelry or something like that and leaving it at that.

But instead, in my opinion it doesn't look beneficial at this point. Why do I say that? Because there is a page, but unless a search engine finds that page, it won't ever generate traffic.

Tips on Getting Website Traffic

Getting Website Traffic

 That is the recommended search phrase a major search engine suggested when I typed in "getting we..". What that means is that people are searching for that phrase enough that the search engine thought that might be what I wanted. That got me thinking that often times that is what people think will help their web site do well. In reality though, that is not necessarily the case.

Thinking it Through 

In truth, what people often want from their web site is actually one or more of the following.

• An Income
• To Help Others
• A Sense of Accomplishment

Granted, some people want more than one of those items, but truthfully, if you can monetize the site, then the other two become easier. So what people often focus on is making money with their web site.

Now, if a person wants to make money with a web site, ask yourself "should my goal be to simply get traffic?" and you'll more than likely answer with a "no". So what should the objective be if it is not to just get web traffic? Well, many successful web site owners have found that helping people find what they are looking for is what really ends up getting them the most sales in the end. Why is that the case?

Well, if you ponder the behavior and imagine what actually happens during the overall process, you begin to realize that traffic does not equal success. So more is needed.

Actually, what is needed is a different goal. If all web site owners had the goal of helping site visitors find what they are looking for then ultimately every business would be found by the customer that is searching for that respective business.

So, here is my contribution to that outcome: a list of web sites grouped by subject

Web Site Traffic Does Not Equal Success

What Do Web Sites and Cruising Town Have in Common?

Sounds like the beginning to joke right? But they are actually related because they both deal with "traffic" and "making money".

Having a web site that chews up bandwidth might seem like a great accomplishment on the surface, but does cruising the square endlessly ever get you to a destination? You get the idea. Many cars cruising the downtown square causes traffic and may even get people excited, but how do they continue to fuel the cars? Not by cruising more. In fact, that could result in no more cruising period.

Now lets say you are a taxi driver that cruises the square to pick people up and get them to a destination. Aha! Now you can actually make more money the more you cruise town. Provided that there are individuals that want and need your taxi service in that particular spot.

And so it goes with web site traffic unless the "driving" results in payment of some sort, then it is just a waste of fuel.