Is Your Online Marketing Costing You Too Much?
As one of those with an online presence, I am always interested in how others attract “eyeballs”. Back in the early days of Google, I proudly staked my claim on some choice keywords in their pay-per-click program – which brought me a great deal of traffic at a relatively low cost.
But that was then – and this is now.
The pay-per-click rates for the major cities are now – in some cases – astronomical.
Currently, the rate for Atlanta Real Estate is between $0.80 – $3.17… which is what is was a few years back when I quit advertising there. Three bucks a click is too rich for my blood. Average daily clicks on that search term is between 38 and 48… not that much, really.
For Houston Real Estate, the rates are between $0.86 – $3.76… with between 89 and 113 daily clicks for that term. A little more expensive – but there is more activity.
For New York Real Estate, the rates are between $0.65 and $2.18… with between 32 and 41 daily clicks. I thought that was odd, so when I researched New York City Real Estate, I see that rates are $0.69 – $2.44… and only 7 to 11 clicks daily on that search term. Unbelievable.
Manhattan Real Estate, on the other hand, has rates of $0.67 – $2.32… with daily clicks of between 10 and 13. You would think that in the Manhattan market, there would be more online competition for that Google space… but the truth is in the numbers – the searches just aren’t there.
For Los Angeles Real Estate, we find rates of $0.96 – $4.85… with daily clicks between 105 and 133.
For San Francisco Real Estate, the rates are $0.93 – $.43… with daily clicks between 43 and 55.
For Chicago Real Estate, the rates are $1.03 – $5.97… with daily clicks betwteen 122 and 154.
For Las Vegas Real Estate, the rates are $1.07 – $9.92… with daily clicks between 76 and 97. Getting kinda pricey, eh?
For Phoenix Real Estate, the rates are $0.77 – $3.01… with daily clicks between 29 to 37.
I remember a few years ago, the term Seattle Real Estate was actually fetching $13.00 or more… but no longer, as the current rates are $1.04 – $6.39… with daily clicks between 37 and 48.
A big surprise for me, however, was the term Salt Lake City Real Estate, as the rates are $1.07 – $7.37… with daily clicks of only 13 to 17. That’s a lot of cash for a click for a search term with so little activity.
Why are agents and firms willing to pay so much for a single click?
Apparently they are still willing to pay top dollar per click in the hope that the conversion rate will make the investment profitable. The current lack of buyers makes some of them willing to pay more for what few “eyeballs” there are left.
Unfortunately, the conversion rate for most agents is low.
My advice? Try the no-cost alternatives, first.
Fellow Bloodhound Blog contributor Dave Phillips posted a list of online communities to consider, and I was most interested in Squidoo, as I was familiar with the others.
I went to Squidoo and set up a profile, then placed several pages (or lenses, as they call them) into their system to pick up a little “link love” that helps with the organic ranking of one’s website. That is, I built pages that have many links back to my main web site.
Working on fresh content and developing back links for your website – or preferably your blog – will help you gain favor with Google for page rank – and that will help you with the long tail. And you can do all of it for nearly no money at all.
Another thing about Squidoo – it’s Seth Godin’s creation. Need I say more?
(Oh – don’t forget to leave the breadcrumbs of your creations like these: alpharetta real estate norcross real estate smyrna real estate woodstock real estate tucker real estate suwanee real estate stone mountain real estate snellville real estate marietta real estate lithonia real estate lilburn real estate kennesaw real estate grayson real estate fayetteville real estate duluth real estate douglasville real estate decatur real estate dacula real estate cumming real estate buford real estate atlanta real estate peachtree city real estate lawrenceville real estate)
Will says:
Poor naive agents giving Google money. In my experience the only clicks you get from PPC are mostly made of PPC fraudsters. I mean, look at an ad and then look halfway down the page and see all the great relevant content (not from PPC) and most go there. More to the point, we are all so used to the ads that I don’t think we (normal surfers) even glance at them. Not first glance, anyway.
March 24, 2008 — 2:02 pm
Greg Swann says:
Very clever, Doug. I think the long run prospects for Squidoo are not good, though. It’s never really taken off as an organic resource, so to Google it’s going to look more and more like a link brothel.
March 24, 2008 — 2:26 pm
Doug Quance says:
>Greg: I hope the prospects are better than that. I don’t know about the organic rankings of Squidoo, but their page rank is a nice, solid 7… and since there are so many Google ads on it, it would behoove them to give Squidoo a push.
March 24, 2008 — 3:35 pm
Brian Brady says:
I hate to overtly suggest a particular vendor but the BuyerLink PPC from HomeGain seems affordable and effective:
http://blog.homegain.com/building-pipeline-with-homegain-buyerlink
March 24, 2008 — 9:48 pm
Greg Cremia says:
PPC works if you do your homework. You don’t have to be in the #1 spot to make money. A trend I noticed was:
1. Most of the fraudulent clicks occurred during working hours. Probably agents checking out my site and/or trying to deplete my budget.
2. If I was not at the top I did not feel that pain.
3. Most of the sites at the top have a budget that runs out as the day progresses.
4. As the day progresses and the top sites run out of budget money, the low priced PPC sites at the bottom moved up to fill the void.
5. Low priced positions #5 thru #10 will be in the money making spots by the time most agents are done working.
6. The evening is a good time to get real leads with PPC.
PS. Don’t forget misspellings. ie. Reality gets searched about half as much as realty and is wayyyy cheaper.
March 25, 2008 — 2:03 pm
Bob says:
Yea – Squidoo hasn’t passed juice for some time.
March 25, 2008 — 5:28 pm
David Faudman says:
I know that agents, especially in this slower market, are anxious to get clients. Unfortunately, when it comes to actually closing escrows, residential real estate is a Relationship Game. (http://www.cleanoffer.com/home/index.php/blog/where_do_real_home_buyers_come_from/).
Even though I run an online real estate tool, as an agent myself the best tool I find for making sales is directly calling or emailing people who already know me. Stop spending time and money on those so called “lead-generators” and instead take a somebody well connected to lunch.
March 26, 2008 — 10:53 am