There are two types of property management companies when it comes to generating new business through the Internet:
- Companies who are showing up on the first page of Google
- Companies who want to show up on the first page of Google
With over 4000 Google monthly searches for “San Francisco Property Management,” “Dallas Property Management,” or “Tampa Property Management,” chances are the search term, “Your town property management” logs over 2000 monthly searches. No matter how large or small your market is, there is plenty of new, quality business to be had beyond referrals.
Let’s assume that in the average city, there are 500 new management contracts signed through internet research, in addition to those generated through referrals. Google’s first page usually displays around 7 local search results, while the rest of the page consists of 8 organic search results and as many as 11 sponsored search results.
I think we can safely say that 80% or more of the 500 Internet-generated new business contracts will go to the 26 companies that show up on Google’s first page of search results.
The exact distribution of phone calls between various sites is impossible to predict; however, companies with a well-developed and consistent online identity will get the bulk of the attention.
Two ways to get your website listed on the first page of Google’s search results for a particular term:
- Organic
- Pay-Per-Click
We’ll focus on the lowest hanging fruit of organic SEO – Local Search. In the last 6 months, Google has been hard at work merging their Google Places into Google+, which they now call Google+ Local. Their nomenclature is still confusing to most; however, for simplicity’s sake, we’ll call this segment “Local Search” results. There are a few ways to optimize your website to rank well in Local Search:
- Optimize your business profiles
- Spruce up your Google+ Page and Google+ Local (formally Google Places)
- Obtain local citations and links
- Encourage customer reviews
- Have an active social network presence
Why blogging is a property manager’s secret weapon…
Since many Property Management companies (those in the “showing up on 1st page of Google” category) are doing essentially the same activities – they’re jostling for position, moving up and down the front page.
But – if one property management company starts blogging consistently, it will separate itself from the competition in a number of ways:
Company Identity
Anyone searching for property management services in their town wants to find a company that is reputable, honest, and experienced. Your potential client will likely do their research: look at business reviews, read the information on your website, watch the videos, read few of your blog posts, and navigate to your Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn social networks. Your business blog is the foundation of your Internet presence.
If the website showing up on top on Google’s results is a standard business page, with no personality, broken links, no blog articles, no videos, no social networks or reviews, we argue that the only phone calls this company will get will boil down to a single question: “What are your fees?”
Increased Google Rankings
Google and other search engines use multiple ranking algorithms to figure out if your website matches the search query. As an original content creator, property managers who blog will influence a part of Google’s algorithm to favor them.
Besides being rewarded as the original content producer, with time, the blog will attract incoming links from other bloggers, associations and websites, influencing another part of Google’s algorithm – incoming links.
Dominate “Long Tail” Search
Many people try to go it on their own before, eventually, searching for a property manager in their town. They’ll have to deal with issues new to them, like late-paying tenants, rent-readiness, move out problems, security deposits, pricing their rental, etc. Because there is likely no one, locally, telling them how to do these things, a blog post actually providing the answers will have a good chance to get on the first page of Google results during their search for help.
Imagine getting in front of your prospective customers even before they search for “Your town Property Management”. Being helpful is very good for business, as it turns out.
The Foundation for a meaningful Social Media Presence
Properly set up and laser-targeted, a company blog provides an excellent foundation for your company’s Social Media presence. Social Media will help a property management company amplify their voice and educate their prospective clients. In turn, a meaningful and consistent Social Media presence helps the company’s rise in search engine prominence.
Overall, creating and running a professional business blog can help create that winning edge, while your competition will be hard pressed to catch up, stumbling through a number of false starts.
Here at Fourandhalf, we only work with Property Management companies, and our only goal is to help you develop and manage your company’s Online Identity, through Reputation Management, Social Media and Inbound Marketing (aka blogging).
Contact us to learn more.
