At least if you live in Manhattan...
Several things become readily apparent from the graph:
There is one campaign — Extreme Geeks — that has a very high CTR and conversion rate. While the CPLs are very low on this campaign, it does have a small reach.
There is a relationship between CTR and Conversion Rate (CVR). The higher the CTR the higher the CVR. However, the relationship is only moderately strong.
The broad targeted campaigns have good reach but poor conversion rates.
There are some campaigns that have good reach, good conversion rates but poor CTR. These are campaigns above the regression line.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Trulia copying one of Zillow's poorer ideas, when they launched Trulia Luxe Living, a dishy celebrity blog gossiping about the real estate deals of the uber-rich. This is just my opinion, but I found both the lifestyles of the rich and famous and the Perez Hilton style approach, slightly in bad taste and inappropriate for a serious transactional real estate site in the current market.
Now, Trulia is still one of my favorite innovators of real estate tech, advertising and data visualization. Yet again, they seem to be simply regurgitating another extremely controversial Zillow product, the Zestimate. Zestimates have infuriated owners and buyers alike, providing wildly inaccurate (just look at their own forums) estimates, as their secret proprietary algorithm has proven incapable of distinguishing actual comparable properties. Home values fluctuate drastically by neighborhood, by amenities and even by renovations, especially in New York City, where many owners choose not to list their properties on Zillow, because the Zestimate is so consistently wrong.
Trulia is now jumping on the home valuation bandwagon, launching a beta version of what looks like exactly the same thing as a Zestimate, called a “Trulia Estimate,” for the San Francisco area. I don’t know if Trulia is envious of Zillow’s successful IPO, or if they are just trying to expand the resources on their site, but I wish it wasn't by copying Zillow to the letter. At least they are not calling it a “TEstimate.”
My musing on Trulia's beta launch of their home valuation tool.
I recently piped in on a REW thread concerning links from .edu’s and .gov’s, and it got me a little “miffed”. I thought it would make for a good post topic to cover here because there are ways of getting these links without being spammy. My ideas come from real world knowledge that doesn’t require a black hat, and they’re something you can do even without needing to hire me!
There is always a buzz and attraction to want links from those TLD’s, but there are a few concerns I have about this. First of all, those TLD’s have no more magical link juice power than others. The reason they can be such a great link is because that page and or site has an insane amount of quality links pointing to it. Secondly, you have no business (99% of the time) getting a link from NYU if you’re over in Vancouver BC.I know it’s so tempting to go comment on blogs, forums and other guest scripts that reside on .edu’s and .gov’s. The reality is you’re just spamming and this can reflect poorly on your link profile. Do it too much and risk getting an anchor text filter slap or even worse, a demotion across the keyword spectrum. Too many gamed links can lead to trouble in the long run, even so if you’re heavily targeting certain anchor text. Overstock.com and Google teamed up to give us a public example of this very thing happening…what a nightmare!
Keep It Local & Start Snooping:
I want you to bust out your favorite spreadsheet editor and make a system up for keeping track of link targets. I personally like to keep the .edu and .gov separate but otherwise make a column for;
- link target URL
- contact information including name/twitter/skype/phone
- # of links pointing to the target page
- topic of the page at hand
- a score 1 out of 10 on what you think your chances are of nabbing a link
- and if you’re anal like me, perhaps a score based on what quality you think the page rates in at
- when last contacted
- status of contact details
This is a great way to keep track, especially if you don’t get any response in your first round of reaching out. The more information you have prepared the better off you’ll be, even if you only manage to get one link it is worth it. If you’re the first agent in your area to get that link, chances are good no one will follow suite since you have things on lock.
Most importantly, take note of what types of sites and content they’re linking out to. Put yourself in the shoes of the webmaster and see if you deserve to be considered a response, let alone a link.
Attainable .EDU/.GOV Links:
So what are ways of getting legit links from these TLD’s? Well, we’re finally at the good bits but I’ll tell you now it will require some work on your part. There are no shortcuts, no paying off anyone and it certainly isn’t going to magically do it out of thin air. We’re going after prime target links that will make your competitors dream about at night while they toss and turn.
I covered the basics in that REW post, but I’ll go in depth a little more here to get your brain juices flowing. There are going to be opportunities presented that I cannot predict, it’ll all depend on what’s going on in your local market.
Blogs – There are sure a lot of blogs within the two TLD’s and most people resort to making some lame comment and they’re gone. If you’re wanting a nice in-content followed link then you’re left with a few options. If there’s a business/marketing/real estate class or course then you may be able to swing a guest post or get interviewed. It may be a long shot but give it a try.
I’d even try to come up with some awesome link bait that might be worth asking for a mention in a future post. It of course will completely rely on how relatable you are to that department so be creative.
Job Boards – This can apply to both TLD’s and obviously requires a certain proper job opening to work out. I highly recommend local marketing, business and design students to help out with the day to day. Not every local .gov or .edu will have one, but keep an eye out and think about it the next time you’re hiring.
Speaking Engagements – If you have the gift of gab, and as an agent you most likely do, then a speaking engagement might be a great opportunity. Do all you can to find the right connection and do some networking. Remember that building the best links requires you to build relationships.
Local Business Resources – There are a surprising amount of link/resource pages on these TLD’s so make sure you look hard. A lot of them also have real estate resources, so if you have a really cool tool, app or widget then you’re off to a good start for earning a link. I wouldn’t chance it just asking if you have nothing but your MLS listings.
Student Internship – A lot of universities have a program in many of the classes and we’re even a recipient over at Linkbuildr. For example, giving marketing students a chance to prove themselves can be a really great experience. They’ll definitely have a blog going over in that department, so be on the lookout and see how you could get in on that. Other than that, look for lists of companies in on the internship program because usually links are offered.
Donations/Sponsorship – While we’re treading on paid links territory here, there are usually a couple of opportunities a year for donations or sponsorship opportunities. You’ll have to really scour on a monthly basis to hunt these down, but set up a Google Alert to see if you can catch anything without any hassle.
Offer A Free Event – This is another tactic that works for both TLD’s so hunt down all the event boards you can locally and see what’s being offered. I imagine more than a few aspiring real estate agents are in the house, so that’s a great opportunity. Do a once a month event, or at least quarterly and score some links. You’ll usually find the event being pushed on blogs, event listings and other random places.
Reaching Out For The Links:
So you got your spreadsheet ready and it’s time to start reaching out. I want and hope you also took down names, phone numbers, Skype contacts and even Twitter profiles of people you’re going to reach out to. Sticking to email only will leave you to experience more FAIL than not, so be prepared to pick up that phone.
I have a lot of luck scoring links via phone calls, so don’t be afraid to go down this road. Don’t be pushy either, just be your normal friendly self and your link acquisition numbers should increase significantly.
Final Thoughts:
I know how tempting it might be to go with one of those “services” you’ve seen out there selling .edu/.gov links, but don’t bite. You’re paying for pure spam, and most of it will be institutions from Asia and other places. I don’t want you setting off any flags with Google due to links, so go down the right path kimosabe.
Don’t ask for any specific anchor text either, just get a natural site/brand name link because this will also start to look like a link scheme. As long as your on-page SEO is sound, those links will still be a big help in pushing juice. Hopefully this has helped some of you move toward getting some great links. The hard work will be worth it and your competition will really have a hard time copying what you’ve done!
The great thing about web apps is that you can access all of your information on the go, and we’ve introduced ways to use Google Apps on a variety of devices like mobile phones and tablets. But it’s inevitable that you’ll occasionally find yourself in situations when you don’t have an Internet connection, like planes, trains and carpools. When we announced Chromebooks at Google I/O 2011, we talked about bringing offline access to our web apps, and now we’re taking our first steps in that direction. Gmail offline will be available today, and offline for Google Calendar and Google Docs will be rolling out over the next week, starting today.
Gmail Offline is a Chrome Web Store app that’s intended for situations when you need to read, respond to, organize and archive email without an internet connection. This HTML5-powered app is based on the Gmail web app for tablets, which was built to function with or without web access. After you install the Gmail Offline app from the Chrome Web Store, you can continue using Gmail when you lose your connection by clicking the Gmail Offline icon on Chrome’s “new tab” page.
Google Calendar and Google Docs let you seamlessly transition between on- and offline modes. When you’re offline in Google Calendar, you can view events from your calendars and RSVP to appointments. With Google Docs you can view documents and spreadsheets when you don’t have a connection. Offline editing isn’t ready yet, but we know it’s important to many of you, and we’re working hard to make it a reality. To get started using Google Calendar or Google Docs offline, just click the gear icon at the top right corner of the web app and select the option for offline access.IT administrators can deploy Chrome Web Store apps to users en masse by setting up organizational policies for Chrome.
Today’s world doesn’t slow down when you’re offline and it’s a great feeling to be productive from anywhere, on any device, at any time. We’re pushing the boundaries of modern browsers to make this possible, and while we hope that many users will already find today’s offline functionality useful, this is only the beginning. Support for offline document editing and customizing the amount of email to be synchronized will be coming in the future. We also look forward to making offline access more widely available when other browsers support advanced functionality (like background pages).
