Written by Aman Makkar Wednesday, 18 June 2008 12:32
How do we overcome sales objections? How do we turn leads into sales? Or, better yet... how do we get those leads into our office? Much of our June issue is about sales and marketing. It seems that everyone has their own unique manner in which they market and sell a reverse mortgage. Some work better than others, but that’s how we each attain our competitive advantage. One aspect of marketing where I’ve had a tremendous amount of experience, but where most reverse mortgage companies don’t tend to focus is search engine optimization (SEO).
Has you ever been asked, “Is your site optimized for Google” or “Have you done any SEO”? Every company has a website. Every business card I receive and you hand out has a website listed. Is that the extent of how we’re going to use our website? A company website has minimal benefit if we can’t bring traffic or visitors there. Search engine optimization is one of the most cost effective methods of drawing traffic to your website.
Search engine optimization, according to Wikipedia, is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results for targeted keywords. Simply stated, it’s getting your website to show up in search results without paying the search engines.
Why is it so important?
Majority of web traffic is driven by the major search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask.com. If your site cannot be found by these search engines, you’re missing out on sales leads your competitor may be receiving. There are seniors trying to learn about reverse mortgages, and your company sells them, however if they can’t find your company you’re losing that potential customer. It’s that simple. Whether your site provides content, services, products, or information, search engines are a primary method of navigation for almost all Internet users.
Content is Key!
Web content is very important for two reasons: SEO and generating sales leads. One fact we all know about seniors is they have time, and if they’re online, they like to read. Most of us cannot read a full page of text on a web page. If there’s a phone number, we’ll pick up the phone, call, and let someone else explain what we could have read online. Generally speaking, seniors are patient people. They’ll read 10 pages on your website before they pick up the phone and call you. So, make sure you have 10 pages for them to read. The more content you have on your website, the better the search engines understand your website, your company, and your product offering. Creating online content can be a cumbersome task, but it’s truly important.
Make the web your competitive advantage!
Many reverse mortgage companies focus heavily on direct mail, television advertising, or radio spots, but few optimize their websites for seniors online. This alone can be a competitive advantage, especially for smaller organizations that primarily focus on local clients. SEO is definitely easier when targeted towards a geographic area. I can’t repeat this enough, if you’re selling reverse mortgages, make sure your clients can find you online. With the number of new originators we’re seeing in this industry, you’re going to need a competitive advantage.
Search engine optimization does take some time. Results don’t come immediately, but once your site is optimized, you’ll be receiving leads without any effort (and very little cost)! Research SEO online (90% of the information on SEO is available free online). Start on your quest for optimization today to set yourself apart in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoy our June issue of The Reverse Review.
Aman Makkar
Editor
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