Hiring a professional photographer versus shooting photos yourself. There are many things that real estate agents can agree upon, and one of these is that most people are finding their new homes via the Internet. It is absolutely essential for any real estate agent to advertise online if the agent wants to be successful.

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Once you have your website up and running, you need to provide as much information as you can to potential buyers. People are looking at homes and basing their opinions on the things that you write and the pictures they see. The pictures really do so much to make buyers want to see the property, so the best real estate agents hire professional photographers to take these pictures for the website and other forms of marketing. Continue reading →

Most local business owners today know that their reputation is everything when it comes to building a brand and getting new and repeat customers. A bad reputation within your industry or within your community can have devastating effects on your business.

Bad reputations are traveling by more than just word of mouth in today’s market. The internet has become a popular resource for sharing information, and unfortunately for those with a poor reputation, it has become a tool to spread negative information about businesses as well.

Whether it’s bad reviews, poor ratings on listing websites, or negative press, there are a number of ways that the internet can be used to spread negativity about a company.

The good news is the internet is also a great place for companies to create a strong reputation and fight off any negativity surrounding their brands.

With the right online reputation management campaign, you can ensure that consumers will let their guards down when it comes to doing business with you. It is important that your company is portrayed in a positive light in the eyes of all of your existing and potential future customers. Otherwise, they will continue their search and choose one of your competitors instead.

One of the most important factors of online reputation management is using reviews to your advantage. For many businesses, even a single bad review has done some serious damage to their ability to bring in more sales.

If you currently have one or more negative reviews, make it a top priority to encourage your happy customers to write positive reviews; this can soften the blow and outweigh the negative ones.

Also, if you have bad reviews, make sure you write a public response. Apologize, be kind and courteous, explain the situation without sounding like you are making excuses, and provide the upset customer with a solution if there is one.

If you have been dealing with negative press about your local company, try to start a positive PR campaign. Write and distribute press releases about newsworthy endeavors that your company is participating in. You can also get mentions in local media outlets by participating in area community events, fundraisers or outings.

This can get your name in the local online news outlets and start building positive mentions of your company. This means when people search for your company in the future, the first thing they see won’t be negative press or a negative review. Instead, they will be directed to articles or information about you that is positive. The internet can be a powerful tool for you to create a positive reputation; all you need to do is start a campaign that will help spread this positivity around the web.

There are many who claim the future of marketing lies in the internet. However, the future of the internet is mobile, which is why all local businesses need to have a mobile website.

Smartphones are quickly becoming the most popular way to use the internet. This is why savvy local business owners not only need to have an online presence, but a mobile online presence.

Recent statistics have shown that more than half of mobile phone users in the United States are using their smartphone’s internet. Not only that, but most of these individuals are actually researching potential purchase opportunities while on their phone’s web browser. This means well over 120 million people in the United States are using their smart phones as a way to access the internet to research potential purchases.

The primary goal of any mobile website should be to keep your company name in the minds of existing customers, while making your small business more visible to those who aren’t already familiar with your services. Approximately 95% of people who own smartphones look for local information on their devices.

More than half of these people will then contact a company after they have searched for information. If potential customers are not able to find your company’s information on their mobile devices; you may be losing potential business.

When it comes to making sure your mobile website truly captures the attention of new and existing customers, there are a few things you will want to keep in mind.

First, make sure that you have created a website that has been specifically designed for use on mobile devices. An exact copy of an existing desktop website will not always transfer to mobile devices.

Next, make sure you are consistently updating your site. Much of the success behind smart phones comes with users’ desire to access new information on the go. If you are keeping your website fresh and relevant, you can provide the valuable information that most smart phone users look for.

Just as you can use different strategies to advertise a traditional website, there are a few strategies you can utilize to specifically advertise your mobile site as well.

QR code advertising is one way to make sure the word about your mobile website is getting out to the public. QR codes are small square barcodes that can be printed on everything from signs and pamphlets to t-shirts and bumper stickers. Smart phone users can scan these codes directly with their devices and it will take them to your company’s mobile website, special discounts, coupons, or just about any other digital destination you want.

Finally, if you are looking to stay in contact with “the Mobile World” it is important that content is easy to read and is smartphone-friendly. Content on mobile sites needs to be even more succinct than on regular websites as it can difficult to read lengthy information while on the go.

Your brochures and catalogs are great. Your site is superbly designed and constructed; the content is simple and enticing. You just wait for your visitors to flood in but after long waiting hours, no one is still registering. You may now be asking yourself: “Why aren’t there any sales?” Think again! You maybe missing an important an important area which is: THE CALL TO ACTION.

A call to action is a web copy which instructs a reader on what you wanted him to do. This call to action can be in the form of a declarative, imperative and a command statement or just mere suggestions. With any marketing materials, it’s important to get your prospective clients to act… NOW! Here are several steps to follow to make a call to action that will definitely have your phones ringing and your sales increasing.

The first step is to do your research on the terms to be used for your call to action. The term must be associated with what your content is advertising. Chances are, the terms you maybe thinking had already been used by other copywriters and you should pay attention to this.

The second step is to write your content to lead to a straight call to action. Write the call to action clearly so that your visitors will know precisely what to do and how. Use phrases like “Register Now” or Click here” at an exact location where there is a button or a click through. Tell readers to call a toll number that is correct and still available.

Third step is to try to put your call to action on several locations on the web site, especially if there’s a lot of copy on your page. You can put the call to action after an introductory paragraph, the top of the page, and other parts of the site.

The fourth step is to make your site as direct as possible. Your visitors will want to know what they’re getting from your page as soon as they land on it. Get straight to the point immediately without having making your copy awkward.

The call to action may include a registration blank which ask for information such as the email address. The fifth step is to link these details to a shopping cart or an autoresponder to create your mailing list. Once you add a centered call to action to your copy, your efforts will make your web visitors to take your call to action.

As a word of advice, there are certain tips that you can apply. One is to start your call to action with a verb. To achieve clarity, keep the subject and verb close together; for example: “Ask your sales representative for details”. You must keep your call to action on your screen the entire time. If this would not be possible, you must let it pop several times so that irregular viewers may have a chance to see it. Lastly, inform yourself more about contextual relevance, serial position effect and chunking and coding.

Creating a simple, smooth and effective call to action is still an art. A straightforward and strong call to action can really bring a difference to your copy content and can convert it. The message on your call to action is really vital to the performance of your website. As an end note, always remember that a good copywriting will always include a call to action.