Written by Tammie White, Principal Broker/Owner of Franklin Homes Realty LLC
Last week, Franklin Homes Realty LLC was contacted by a buyer who was interested in seeing a Franklin condo for sale. She thought we were the listing agents and wanted to see the condo.
We explained that the condo wasn't our listing and asked if she was working with an agent. Once it had been determined that she wasn't, we agreed to meet her for a Buyer's Consultation.
During our meeting, she said she had Googled the condo address and our website popped up. She was confused why the listing agent's information hadn't shown up.
Google is a search engine. It isn't the only search engine but it strives to be the best. As a result, they want consumers to find the information they desire immediately. Otherwise, consumers are more likely to use a different search engine. When this happens then advertisers go to the other search engines and Google loses their income flow. All of this to say, Google wants to provide the best sources for consumers to get the information they desire.
Google has developed a complicated algorithm that measures the activity on websites. There are several things they consider; the length of time spent on a site, click through rates (clicking from one page to another on the same site), bounce rates (leaving the site because consumers don't find what they are looking for), and how often the same consumer returns to a site (Google is able to determine if you've visited a website before by your IP address). This is all taken into consideration and then sites are ranked according to how well a website performed.
Let's use coffee shops as an example. Input coffee shops into the Google search, I'm sure we can all guess that Starbucks is going to come back as the number one search result. However, because Google can determine my geographic location it also provides me with several local coffee shops including The Good Cup, High Brow Brew and Frothy Monkey. All coffee shops located in Franklin. Google regards these businesses as the authorities for coffee shops in Franklin TN. They want to do the same for every search that is performed on their search engine.
It only makes sense when you input a Franklin home search into Google, they will provide you with what they believe will be the top 10 sites to help you get this information. For the woman who Googled the Franklin condo address, Google determined that Franklin Homes Realty LLC was the best place to satisfy her query. Even though, this condo wasn't our listing. While it seems that the most accurate information would be with the listing agent, Google has based their results on websites that have consistently proven to provide that information. That's why this woman got our website rather than the listing agent's.
Google views Franklin Homes Realty LLC as an authority on the Franklin TN housing market. They base that upon the engagement other visitors have had on our site. The length of time they stay there and even returning guests who continually come back to our site. We have visited thousands of homes in many of the 200 Franklin neighborhoods. We've then reported our findings on these neighborhoods on our website. All this activity on our site, boosts our ranking on Google. We rank number one for many neighborhood search terms for Franklin housing.
The next time you perform a Google search, pay close attention to the businesses that rank highly. Google recognizes these businesses as authorities in their fields.
How does this help you as a buyer? Don't just use any agent when buying a Franklin TN home, be sure to use an agent who has consistently ranked in the search engines. In the same way that Starbucks is known as a coffee authority, Franklin Homes Realty LLC is an authority on Franklin housing.
How does this information help you as a seller? Google your neighborhood. Which agent is ranking highly in the Google searches? Google "What's my (Insert Neighborhood Name) home worth?", click on the top-ranking sites to determine who is going to provide your listing with the best online coverage. Ideally, you want an agent who will feature your property on their feature page, the neighborhood page, the school page and so on. In other words, you want your home to be seen multiple times on an agent's website. Ask if they promote their listings through blogging and social media? Are they using professional photography and video? Being well-versed in internet marketing gets your home the exposure it needs to sell.
The next time you Google a Franklin home search and Franklin Homes Realty LLC pops up, don't be surprised. We've worked hard to become the Franklin TN housing authorities. We expand our knowledge base daily to help buyers and sellers during the real estate process.
Searching for Franklin TN homes for sale? Trust Google!
About Tammie White, Franklin TN REALTOR®
Tammie White is a REALTOR® and Principal Broker/Owner of Franklin Homes Realty LLC in Franklin TN. Tammie works with relocation buyers looking to purchase a home in Franklin and the surrounding Williamson County area. She understands the way buyers search for homes making her an invaluable asset to Franklin home sellers. Tammie's website, www.FranklinHomesRealty.com, has become the premiere search tool for buyers relocating to Franklin TN. She has been writing a real estate blog since 2009 and quoted in various publications including the LA Times, Skype.com, The Tennessean and Williamson Source.