Over the past 24 months, particularly in large metropolitan markets like Atlanta, the real estate print media has all but disappeared in favor of promoting listings and services on the Internet. Web advertising continues to evolve; Agents’ ability to provide enhanced listing details has captivated consumers who want easy access to all the information online that can be provided before getting into a car to begin their search. In the busy Atlanta market of 2009 with huge and stagnant inventories, differentiation is crucial. With approximately 45,000 single-family homes and 10,000 condos available for purchase, there is significant motivation for sellers and listing agents to understand and implement high-impact web marketing.

Customizable search criteria, bird’s-eye views, street views, backyards, parking, amenities, questionable structures, bodies of water, and topography are information used by enlightened Atlanta-area buyers to Eliminate properties in an oversupplied inventory. The greater Atlanta area has two MLS systems with significant overlap, so many agents list properties in both. In practice, a Multiple Listing System creates a level playing field, so to take advantage of your listings, proactive agents are likely to advertise beyond the content of these systems. Powerful area-specific websites like The Atlanta Journal Homefinder, Craigslist, Backpage, and Creative Loafing have rapidly evolved to include extras like mapping tools and photo tours. However, these opportunities remain underutilized by listing agents, even when advertising is free.

Specialty internet marketing is not included in the skill set of most agents. The tech savvy agents who really get internet marketing and property promotion are unique. An example of the typical disconnect is the property listing website, indexed by the home’s URL. Which buyer knows their address before looking for their target dream home? How many web paths does your listing agent provide to move the buyer to a site that shows the most attractive features of your home?

More importantly, how does your agent achieve Google cover rankings for your home? Every now and then I see listings that have placed an informational link in the private comment section of the MLS listing so that only agents can see it. If that’s the only online visibility on the way to a virtual home tour, everyone loses. The consumer browsing a public access list website misses some of the most compelling information. When I see this error, I know that the agent has limited knowledge of Internet marketing; the chances of this house ranking high on Google are slim.

Property description pages that rank high on Google are not the result of large corporate brokerages “populating” listings on national real estate websites. In Atlanta’s large inventory of urban, suburban, and rural homes, a home search can quickly confuse and frustrate buyers. The most successful web advertising for your home is a product carefully crafted and managed by an agent who knows what really matters when consumers begin the search process. If Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield National Park, The Avenue of East Cobb, or Roswell Square are popular destinations near your home, the agent will incorporate this information into the title of the web page to capture additional traffic.

Relevant interview questions to help you identify a web-savvy ad agent capable of creating a high-impact marketing campaign to sell your home are:

* On what local and national real estate websites will my home be listed?
* How often do you update my home listing information on these sites?
* What keyword searches can consumers use to find my home on the Google home page?
* Explain how you incorporate SEO techniques into your overall marketing plan.
* What Atlanta-area-specific domain names do you own that help potential customers find my home?
* Do you hire a professional photographer to show the interior and exterior of my home?
* How many images will appear on my tour home and which websites will show the tour?
* Will you add information to images to create additional interest?
* How many seconds does it take for a buyer to load and view my tour?
* Can my home photo tour be emailed?
* Can you show me an example of your high impact ads?
* Will you walk me through the process of demonstrating how a buyer will find my home online?
* Will you show me all the details of my home listing profile as the public will see it?
* Will I receive weekly emails showing the number of views of my virtual home tour?

In the busy Atlanta real estate market of 2009, the answers to these questions and the resulting benefits are important differentiators between top sellers and those who don’t make it to the closing table.