Part One: What is it all about?
If there’s one thing you can count on with Google, it’s their influence on how people perceive your business. While many Agents get leads from referrals, Facebook, or other methods, sellers and homebuyers are still going to check you out on Google. They want to see if you exist, if you look professional, and if you have good reviews. It may not be the direct source of a lead, but it will influence wether or not someone will do business with you.
If your business hasn’t adapted to this, your business almost doesn’t exist.
Perusing websites has slowly become a thing of the past. Largely because we have shorter attention spans and we want small bite size information. Google knows this and has evolved themselves to serve just that. They have redesigned much of the search experience into online functional business cards. If your business hasn’t adapted to this, your business almost doesn’t exist.
Where does this show?
The best way to think of Google for real estate at the entry level is to picture it as your online business card. Your profile will show images of you, your contact and website information, your reviews, and possibly links to your social media. It will display when someone types in your name. It also has the chance to show up when people are looking for Agents in a specific area. Mostly Agents running ads will show up this way at the top, but if people are using Google maps, you have a chance.
To see how Google puts this to use, try typing “Chinese Food” into your browser on your phone or laptop. What comes up at the top are Google Business Profiles with reviews, menus and call buttons. It’s the same if you type in “Atlanta Real Estate Agents”. Now that you see this, you know just how important it is that you, not only have a profile on Google, but that it is properly set up and has positive reviews.
In the next part of this series, we’ll talk about how to make your profile and some best practices. For the do it yourself Agents, I’ve put some helpful links below.
Helpful Google Profile Links
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