For years real estate professionals have always said, “All real estate is local.” More than ever, that is true today, especially if you are in the luxury market. The secret to dominating your market as well as obtaining great search engine placement is hyperlocalism. Many top-producing luxury agents have reached the top by narrowly focusing on a single area. In fact, John Aaroe, the founder of one of the leading luxury firms in the country, once said,
"When I first started in the business, I tried to help anyone who wanted to purchase a luxury property. I didn't start making any serious money, however, until I decided to specialize."
Of course, it didn't hurt that he decided to specialize in Bel Air, the priciest area in Southern California with perhaps the exception of Beverly Hills.
How can you take advantage of the trend towards hyperlocalism? Here are some important tips.
1. Choose a company that has a strong luxury presence in your area.
While it's possible to list a property when you are with a non-luxury brand, the wealthiest clients expect white-glove service from both their agent as well as the company that represents them as well.
2. Select a URL that identifies your hyperlocal luxury niche.
For example, you might obtain LuxuryWilshireCondos90024.com. This URL includes the street address, the city, and the zip code. This fits with what Oodle.com has shown how people search online--by street, city, and zip code. In this case, anyone who searches for Wilshire Blvd. Condominiums in Westwood California (zip code 90024) would normally see your website displaying at the top of the page.
3. Make your site a destination site
Discover what matters to local residents in terms of their lifestyle. This is absolutely critical. To illustrate, if your area is home to a large number of young families, provide resources designed to capture their attention. This could be an upcoming puppet show, swimming lessons for toddlers, or a holiday “parade” where the kids decorate their bikes and ride through the area together.
4. Use video to build search engine ranking
The search engines place a premium on fresh content. Video, espcially on Google because of their ownership of YouTubes, ranks the most highly. To strengthen your site, interview local business owners about what they do. Keep your focus on luxury by focusing on the high end brands and stores. Y The point is to be a resource for the lifestyle people enjoy while living in their homes—not just the place to go to buy or sell property.
By following these steps, you will become the go-to expert for your luxury market niche. This results in higher search engine placement and more traffic to your site. Given all the great resources that you provide, you will also convert more luxury leads as well.
Posted by Bernice Ross
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