How a Maine Realtor became HGTV`s top choice for a House

CASE STUDY:
A Disciplined Web Content Optimization Approach for Differentiating a Realtor®
How a Maine Realtor became HGTV’s top choice for a
House Hunters TV episode
By Pam Foster, Founder and Senior Copywriter, Web Content Optimization
ContentClear Marketing www.contentclear.com
When Keller Williams Realtor Tom Ferent first approached me a couple of years ago, he had already
uniquely positioned himself as Mr. Lakefront, Maine’s lakefront property expert. And he had a website
full of information and search functions to help home buyers find Maine lakefront properties.
However, Tom was missing a key ingredient: search engine traffic.
He was fighting for attention with 5,375 licensed Maine real estate agents and countless web pages
featuring Maine real estate. As you can imagine, achieving first-page Google ranking was no easy feat.
But here’s the secret to Tom’s success.
A strategic approach to SEO traffic and website conversions
Using ContentClear Marketing’s 7-step method for content optimization, we started by defining the
following main goals of his website, focused on the purpose of generating leads (buyers) for his real
estate team:
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Make it easier for prospective buyers to find his website,
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Once they arrive at the site, help visitors find useful information and feel good about working with
Tom’s team, and
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Entice visitors to sign up for several free PDF reports about buying Maine lakefront property, and
also to contact his team for follow-up.
Then we looked at keywords, the foundation for optimizing website content.
Tom had a list of keywords to consider using. But I worked with Tom further to identify keywords with
the highest traffic potential for his niche of representing Maine lakefront properties in the 16 lake regions
of Maine.
In order to identify the best keywords, I asked Tom to complete my Web Creative Brief to provide the
following insights:
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What is the main purpose of your site? (Generating qualified inquiries/leads for Tom’s agents)
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Who is your target audience? (Anyone looking for lakefront or lake community properties,
including primary residence homes, vacation homes and building lots)
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What is their biggest concern or desire regarding Maine lakefront property? (The prospects had
been dreaming about living the Maine lakefront life and were anxious to make their dreams come true
with the “just perfect” property.)
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What emotions are involved? (Feeling overwhelmed and in some cases, uninformed about buying
Maine lake property. Anxious about finding the best agent who would understand their needs.)
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What action do you want them to take when they arrive at your home page? (Review the
information and contact Tom’s team for a consultation.)
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What unique promise can you make compared to other Maine real estate agents? (There were
several, including Tom’s 100% focus on Maine lakefront properties and communities.)
Together we pinpointed the most relevant keywords for each of his web pages, such as “maine lakefront
property,” “maine lakes region,” and “waterfront property in maine.”
Following the industry’s best practices for web content that works: optimization and coding.
Working with Tom’s web designer, I revised and optimized every page of the website with a careful
blend of keywords, sales copy, and clear information. This included the text on each page as well as the
page titles and meta tags (coding) — following the best practices for SEO and conversion-focused copy.
The result? A clear, user-friendly website showcasing Mr. Lakefront’s unique ability to help clients find
the perfect Maine lakefront home. Here’s his “About Us” page:
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Remembering that it can take weeks for Google’s web crawlers to pick up new content, we were
delighted to see Tom’s site climb to the top of page 1 for organic (non-paid) rankings, as you’ll see here
underneath the sponsored links.
Tom said, “I have yet to spend a dime with Google for pay per click campaigns. During the summer, I
average over 500 daily visitors. Even in the dead of winter, we’re averaging over 400 daily visits.”
When you consider the slow real estate market, the substantial investment involved in buying Maine
lakefront property, and quite often, these are second homes… this is a very nice amount of traffic.
But the story gets even better as HGTV comes knocking at Tom’s door…
“The folks from House Hunters contacted me because of the website,” according to Tom.
And as a result, HGTV worked with Diane Monaco, a Buyer’s Agent with Tom’s firm, to film a House
Hunters episode featuring a couple looking for the perfect lakefront home in Maine. The program has
aired a number of times since its debut in January 2009 and still runs now. Each time, Mr. Lakefront.net
gets incredible national exposure.
You can watch the HGTV House Hunters episode right now on his home page.
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Here’s what Tom had to say about this exciting turn of events:
“House Hunters producers were able to find me because my website is always on the first page of
Google, in the first or second position.
Just Google ‘Maine lakefront property’ or ‘Maine lakefront real estate’ and you'll see what I mean.”
Pam, I recommend that anyone serious about online marketing should seek you out in order to
artfully weave keywords into great copy. Thanks.”
Tom Ferent
Mr. Lakefront Keller Williams Realty
www.mrlakefront.net
Conclusion
This is just one small example of a business that has reaped the many rewards of a disciplined, methodical
approach to website optimization. Any size business can benefit from a strategic, clear process that will
improve website performance with prospects, search engines, and even TV producers.
No matter how you approach your Internet marketing strategy, a clear website optimization system can go
a long way toward:
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growing your leads,
increasing sales,
boosting conversions,
generating media buzz, and
enhancing your competitive positioning.
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To learn more, check out the ContentClear™ Marketing Method for Web Site Optimization, a clear,
methodical 7-step approach to increasing web conversions and sales.
Pam Foster, senior copywriter and online content consultant, is the founder of the ContentClear™
Marketing Method for Web Site Optimization (www.contentclear.com). Her diverse 29-year marketing
communications background includes writing and consulting for many types of industries promoting B2C
and B2B products and services. She has 13 years of experience in web content writing and strategy, SEO
and usability/information architecture, as well as direct response – all for clients such as L.L. Bean, Blue
Cross and Blue Shield of Maine, the American Cancer Society, Harper College, Downeast Energy and
many others.
Pam is also a web copywriting coach and teacher who has authored training programs for AWAI
(American Artists and Writers, Inc.). She’s an AWAI Copywriters Wall-of-Fame honoree and AWAI’s
2009 $10K Challenge winner. Pam works mainly with mid-size business and organizations, helping them
optimize their websites to boost conversions that lead to sales. You can reach Pam at
[email protected].
© 2010 Pam Foster, ContentClear Marketing www.contentclear.com
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