Tag Archives: Internet Marketing

John Merse

Search Engine Giant Google Drops Its Real Estate Listings

Your Website Is Still Number One

Don’t be fooled by Google’s decision to eliminate real estate listings from its classified listings site. This doesn’t mean shoppers aren’t looking for homes online or the imminent collapse of real estate search forever! From the outside, this change to Google’s classifieds section, Google Base, sounds like a big deal (mostly because it is Google)! However, Google freely admits that their decision to make this change is a result of low usage and the increased development of agent website tools.

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John Merse

Earning web traffic the old fashioned way


For many businesses, launching a website feels like the finish line.  You’ve worked hard to have a final product and you’re excited to move on to other things. Unfortunately, there is no simple finish line for web success.  It’s important to celebrate a website launch, but the true test of your website is how well it works for you in the long run (how many new customers, donors, or volunteers it brings in, how much you grow your email list, how many new leads you’ve gotten).  Having a site that works for you and makes you money doesn’t just happen on its own.  What was true for Smith Barney in 1986 in the above video (go to the 20 second mark) is true for keeping your website up to date now.  Old fashioned hard work pays off, even if the tools and strategies you must learn to use in the cutting edge of the web are far from old-fashioned.

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Union Street Media News

Blogging Your Way Past Writer’s Block

You’ve heard the buzz about blogs by now, and perhaps you have an understanding of their business value.   If not, you may want to check out our recent post about the HubSpot study that found that blogging businesses experience significant benefits in terms of lead growth, page visits, and search engine optimization, for their website.

We recommend that our customers blog regularly and frequently for maximum benefit. (Once a week seems to be a realistic goal for most people.)   This tends to bring up a couple of common concerns:  “What am I supposed to write about?” and  “Where do I find the time?”  

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Ted Adler

Determine your Social Media Strategy

The appeal of social media is strong. According to Econsultancy, social media and blogs are the 4th most popular online activities, even beating out email. The mystery of social media is almost as great as it’s appeal, however.

There are a lot of social media terms thrown around these days, and sorting through all of the jargon can be tough. First, let’s differentiate between the “big three” social networks.

Facebook logo

Facebook logo

Facebook is a social network site that connects friends, family, and businesses. People can share updated statuses, pictures, personal information, links, and more. With more than 250 million users in the world, 120 million of which log on daily, there is a large market to reach here.

Twitter logo

Twitter logo

Twitter is another social network/micro-blog that allows users to to send and read messages (or “tweets”). Tweets can be up to 140 characters, and they are shared on your personal page and distributed to people who choose to “follow” you. In the last year, Twitter’s growth rate surpassed 1,000%. The potential here to reach customers is huge.

Wordpress logo

Wordpress logo

WordPress is a personal publishing platform that works as a blogging service and as a web hosting service that is run on PHP code and a SQL data backend. Confused? WordPress.com offers a free blog hosting service that requires no PHP code knowledge and a user friendly interface that allows easy updating, customization, and built in widgets to add to your blog. 77% of internet users actively follow and read blogs, so this platform also provides great opportunity to reach and engage potential customers. WordPress isn’t the only blog hosting application out there; there is also Blogger, Vox, and more.

Now that we’ve covered some basics, let’s go into more depth…

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Union Street Media News

Facebook vs Blog: Where Should You Post Your Content?

This is the third installment of the Facebook for Business series.

As the number of businesses using multiple social media platforms continues to grow, the question frequently comes up:  Which content should go where?

Is it Facebook content or blog content?

Is it Facebook content or blog content?

The two platforms that provide the biggest source of confusion are blogs and Facebook. There is a purpose for both, and each is ideal for particular types of content. It is important to understand the intention of each of these channels.

So, should you put your next update in your blog or on your Facebook page?

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Union Street Media News

8 Ways Facebook can Unlock your Business Potential

social-media-peopleThis post is post #2 of the Facebook for Business Series.

Facebook this, Facebook that… You can talk all day about what you can do with this tool, but before getting into the details of how to use the site, we should first establish why to use it.

There are a number of areas where this social networking platform can help your business on and offline. Here are 8 reasons why you should take advantage of them.

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Union Street Media News

Facebook for Business

The Social Media boom may be bigger than you think; Facebook is at its forefront. Our “Facebook for Business” series will help you make sense of this powerful tool. You’ll learn how to tame the beast and harness it for your business. Follow our series during the next several weeks and:

  • Learn Facebook basics
  • Learn how to leverage Facebook to underscore your brand
  • Learn how to get fans (and what to do with those fans)
  • Learn how to optimize your Facebook page
  • Learn about applications and FBML (Facebook Mark up Language)
  • Learn how to measure your Facebook traffic
  • Learn how to effectively link your networks

With over 300,000,000 Facebook users, 120,000,000 of whom log on daily, the business opportunity Facebook presents cannot be ignored. According to Socialnomics, social media has claimed the number one web activity spot over the previous “less acceptable” contender. Facebook is a free way to improve your online presence. To increase your success online, your business must be part of this popular activity.

Leading companies have joined the crowd and are successfully using their Facebook pages to keep their customers happy and connected with with their brand.

Look at who is making the best of Facebook: 10 Successful Facebook Business Pages (from the Penn Olsen Social Media blog). With due diligence, and focused hard work, your business could be among the leaders.

Facebook logo

Facebook logo

A business Facebook page is different than your personal Facebook page.

  • You have “fans” instead of “friends”
  • It represents your brand, not you.
  • You have access to much more information about your traffic.
  • There is more customization for privacy settings.

The business page is built off of your personal account and gives you plenty of tools to reach the growing network of individuals using Facebook. You can run ads on the Facebook sidebar, track the demographics of your page traffic with Facebook Insights, create a badge or fanbox to promote your page, start discussion boards with the fans, add company information and events, and much more.

There are many ways to use these features and many ways to optimize your page; but to start, how do you create a business page?

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Union Street Media News

The Future of Online Marketing Has Already Begun

The Future of The Internet, is a very grand title, the new report from Pew Internet and American Life Project  doesn’t stop there however. This latest of three installments by The Pew Project focuses on how the integration of technology and communication systems will eliminate the concept of being “at work” or “at home.” To quote

“few lines divide professional time from personal time,” and those professionals are happy with the way work and play are “seamlessly integrated in most of these workers’ lives.” (Pew Report).

Regardless of your stance on that issue the future of wireless technology and the growing breadth of web applications has come a very long in not much time. This is especially true considering I had my first email account in seventh grade (I know I am dating my self there), which was a scant 14 years ago. When you think of how technology continues to develop at an ever increasing rate it is hard to imagine where we will be in 2020, which is the point which the study hypothesizes about. The iphone still looks like something out of Star Trek as far as I can tell. I am sure Steve Jobs already has one that has the ability to scan humans for sickness.

All this aside the report raises some interesting questions particularly for the online real estate market. To use my self as an example; as I told you before, I got my first email account in seventh grade and I just bought my first house, which I found … you guessed it … online. The generation of E-mail and blogging are buying houses and if you are not ready for them then you will be left by the wayside. Online applications are getting more and more important and the best sales tool that will be at your disposal in 2020 is only a glimmer in some programmer’s eye. Read up and stay ahead of the curve.

Here is a link to the full article – The Pew Report

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Amanda Everse

Real Estate Agents – Time to Refocus Your Ad Budget

If you’re a Realtor looking to justify the investment of time and money that you’ve made into your website and/or blog, this article from RISMedia about Yahoo!’s recent study of real estate consumers’ online behavior should give you some reassurance. It might have you considering shifting your budget even further towards support of your site and/or Pay-Per-Click campaigns.

In a recent study of 500 consumers, Yahoo! confirmed that people use the Web to ensure that the selected agent will best meet their specific needs.

Key findings include:

  • Home buyers and sellers consider approximately two agents on average before making a final decision
  • The Internet impacts consumer trust. Forty percent of respondents credited a site in increasing their trust in the agent
  • 74% of people who accessed an agent website got there with the help of a search engine
  • The online research process is quick and intense: consumers spent an average of 12 hours online researching agents and 75% selected an agent within one week of starting their search

Online resources provided introduction to new agents as well as promotional deals:

  • 45% of respondents used the Internet to learn about agents they didn’t know existed
  • 41% discovered special deals and promotions offered from an agent through the Internet

However, there is a disconnect between advertising dollars and consumer behavior. Based on Yahoo!’s study, 77% of respondents used an online source for information during their research process compared to 34% for print. But, according to a recent analysis by Borrell Associates, Realtor advertising dollars have yet to catch up to where home buyers are going – the Internet. While this year’s online media spend did in fact double from 2005, capturing 32% of the overall advertising spend, newspapers continue to get more share of dollars with 40%.

So, if you’ve been struggling with where to focus your advertising budget, these numbers should help resolve the debate. While print-advertising will always be demanded by your sellers, you’ll find your buyers via a well-optimized web site that is found easily on search engines. If you want some support, Union Street Media’s Internet Marketing Team is here to help. You can choose from a variety of services that suit your budget.

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