Achieving success and dominance in the search engines is a topic that has many real estate professionals eager to change their website or BLOG.  In fact, it is hopefully the reason you started reading this post!

A recent study performed by Jupiter Research  stated that 68% of searches on search engines were generated from offline sources.  With 68% of online searches being generated from offline resources, it makes you consider what is the source of all of these searches?  Understanding the source of these searches can help us to develop our content and online strategy to enable us to satisfy all of these people who are originating from different mediums.

So what is the source of these searches?  Here are some places where searches have been inspired from:

• Real Estate Magazines – Yes, even though we are online crazy, many people still pick up publications like the Real Estate Book.  In fact we have been advertising in our local real estate book for over 3 years now which has helped us get our information to more online sources.  The real estate book actually has a good online presence and distribution as well
• The Real World – Sound obvious?  Let it be known that as people drive by new developments or particular areas in town they may not pick up the phone and call their local Realtor®.  They may go home and then type searches into Google and Yahoo® until they find the information they are looking for.
• Billboards – Billboards along your local freeway may be annoying but people still read them.  I am certainly not encouraging anyone pay for a billboard, but you can tailor your online efforts along with that builder (who participates of course :)) who has the budget to take out those billboards.

So the real key is what are you going to do with this information? 

If you know that a new builder is coming into town putting in new home models and putting up billboards, take the time to write about it!  You can create new BLOG posts and new pages on your website about that builder identifying that you can guide buyers through the process of choosing the best model for their needs!

Having a half page or full page ad in your local Real Estate Book, Harmon Homes, or other magazine can have online benefits!  Speak with your local representative to ensure you are taking advantage of the latest tools available.  Many of them have feeds to major services like Zillow, GoogleBase, etc, so find out what you have access to.
So mastering success in the search engines may not always be about linking strategies and keyword :).  Remember the real world comes into play so think about how your world is changing everyday and make sure your online presence is up to date to grab the latest new customers!