There's an old saying;

"I know I'm wasting half of my advertising dollars." "If only I knew which half!"

So what about your online efforts?  Are they producing results?

The unfortunate truth is that over 95% of real estate agents are not getting their fair share of customers from the internet. This is pretty sad when you consider that over 80% of potential real estate customers use the internet on a regular basis.

• You have a portal on the broker's website
• You're listed in the online realtor directories.
• You've purchased domain names that include the addresses of your listings.

So why aren't you getting leads?

The answer will be found by following these easy instructions;

• Enter this search term into Google; "homes for sale yourtown", or "houses for sale    yourtown".
• Is a page from your website listed on the first or second page in the search results? If the answer is NO, you now know why you're not getting your share of internet leads. You are not in front of potential clients when they are searching for you...in other words..."they can't find you!"

I'm not going to suggest any kind of paid advertising on Google.  Use the tips below to get FREE listings the Google search results.

1. Get your own website, on your own domain and hosting account. Tip: You can spend a lot of cash on a website but fancy flash elements won't improve your results. (Google can't read flash). I suggest a Wordpress platform with a premium Wordpress Theme, and a HostGator hosting account (approx. $10.00 bucks per month. A domain name will cost around $10.00 for one year.
2. Find out what people are searching for online. Do some keyword research. Tip: Don't try to guess what terms people are using to search for real estate in your area.  Let Google tell you! Do a search for "Google Keyword Tool". This is a free service from Google. Type in a term such as "real estate agent Toronto". Google will then show you the search volume and competition for that term. But it will also provide you with a list of several terms that you may consider as well. Tip: Pick keywords that are low to medium in the competition category.
3. Register a domain name that includes a valuable keyword. Tip: If you have a site already with your name as the domain, use the new domain to attract visitors and redirect them to your main site.
4. Optimize your website for Google.  A lack of proper optimization and/or keyword research is the #1 reason that over 95% of Real Estate Agent websites fail in the search engines. On-page SEO is designed to let Google know what your site is about. Place your valuable keywords and variables of those keywords on the web page and in these areas as well; Title tag, description tag, Meta keyword tag, alt tags, and body copy. Tip: try to rank for a maximum of 2 keywords per page. Getting this right will produce great results. Getting it wrong can cause Google to suspect you're trying to spam the search engine and cause further damage to your online visibility. If you don't have at least an introductory level of SEO knowledge, get some professional SEO advice. Caution; There's lots of SEO information on the internet... lots of so called experts, be careful of who you listen to.  SEO isn't rocket science but it is a specialized field.  Good SEOs continuously invest a large amount of money and time to keep on top of the continual changes in Google.  Hiring a professional is usually the best practice.
5. Set up a Blog on your website. A blog is a great way to provide your site visitors with valuable information and provides a social means of communication. Google and the other search engines love blogs because they are a terrific resource for fresh content. More blog entries will equate to more visitors. Tip: Write blogs that are relevant to the keywords you found above and place links from your blog post to a relevant page on your site. (This can help you to get a double listing on Google).
6. Get listed in the Google Local Business Center. This is a great way to get page one results for local search and it's FREE!
7. Install Google Analytics (free), on your website to track the number of visitors, monitor what pages they like, and how they found your website.
8. Submit your website to; Yahoo, MSN (Bing), and Local Directories. Tip: Do not submit your site to Google! You'll achieve quicker and better results if Google finds your site through incoming links.
9. Build incoming links. One of the most important factors to Google is quality, relevant, links from another webpage to yours.  This is the most difficult and time consuming part of SEO.  Some great ways to create incoming links are; Submit Videos to YouTube and other video sharing sites, submit articles to article sites, such as EzineArticles.com, submit photos of your listings to photo sharing sites such as Flickr.com, submit your blogs, web pages, videos, photos, and articles, to social bookmarking sites.
10. Update your content frequently!  There is nothing better than fresh new content to get Google's attention. If you already have a website, try to implement as many of the Search Engine Optimization tips as your site will allow. Having done a significant amount of online research in the Real Estate Industry, I have discovered that there is a tremendous opportunity.  Think about it, over 95% of Real Estate Agents get it wrong! Get this stuff right, and you'll blow past your online competition and begin to receive a continuous flow of fresh new leads.