The Mumbo: What Makes You So Special?

Did you miss me?? Aww, I missed you, too. Sorry about the hiatus, but sometimes life gets in the way of life, and the past two weeks have been like that.

In an effort to expand my network of like-minded folk, I have been meeting with some local search firms in the Denver area. Their reaction to the projects that Multifamily Edge takes on was amusing and reminded me just why we're so great. (Pardon the lack of humility.) Working in industries like multifamily is completely out of the comfort zone for most online marketing agencies. Here are a few reasons why the multifamily industry is so special:

1. Multiple Brands. Multiple Websites. Multiple Locations. Whether or not multifamily companies have a strong corporate brand, they all have community-level brands. Each community is a separate business operation with its own brand, its own name, its own challenges, its own opportunities, its own amenities, and its own address. Each community needs to have presence on the web, whether as a separate website or a subdomain. Each community needs to have a presence on local search. Domain type (corporate, regional, community) needs to be matched to the proper phase of the search cycle. When I tell other online marketers that I work exclusively with website suites of tens or hundreds of sites, jaws drop.

2. Consumer Behavior. One benefit of my background in multifamily is that I know how people search for apartments, and not just because I read articles about Gen Y. When you work with someone outside of the industry, their inclination is to fit multifamily into a box they can handle, like retail. (Ask me later for a list of reasons why multifamily is NOT retail.) Rental search is different in both subtle and dramatic ways than other consumer behavior. Renters tend to use a consistent search path online and offline. Here are a few examples off the top of my head: renters usually look approximately 3 months out and within 5-25 miles. They typically start their search online, then offline (driving around), then online, then traditional (for a certain demographic), then online again. They typically do seven online searches during their apartment hunt. They are more pragmatic and less emotional than home buyers and car buyers. Don't pay (directly or indirectly) for someone to do this research, or find out the hard way that the search strategy doesn't fit search behavior.

3. Keyword Research. A lot of search agencies require that companies use them for a pay-per-click campaign in addition to search engine optimization. Why? Because otherwise they don't know what keywords are effective. We know how to research keyword combinations specifically for multifamily so that the keywords implemented from the get-go are the ones that will bring a high volume of high quality traffic. (Tip: it's not "Miami apartments" or "2 bedroom floorplans"!)

4. Conversions. A typical conversation with an online marketer goes like this. OM: "What kind of sites are they?" Me: "Lead gen." OM: "Ok." And that's all they need to know. But it's not all you would want them to know, is it? Anyone can generate leads. Just make a big, shiny, prominent simple lead form and give away free stuff. Then push a bunch of traffic to it. What you want is leads that will convert to leases, and that's a whole different story. It takes a more sophisticated strategy to drive qualified leads, from traffic to design to tracking.

You're special, multifamily people, and don't you forget it. Don't let anyone try to put you in someone else's box. You won't fit.

The Mumbo: Searching for that Special [SEO] Someone

Last night my dad came over to watch Princeton lose in the CBI. (Oh, you didn't know there was a third tier college basketball tournament?) While he was here, he asked my two year-old to see her new pink bow. She replied, "Is Louie Pesho." He asked again. She replied, "Louie Lilly Pesho." He laughed and said, "I don't know what you're saying." I translated, "It's really special. . .really, really special."

Today's topic is finding a Louie Pesho SEO provider. How do you know that the SEO firm you are hiring is going to provide you with some value, with a return on your investment? Here are a few tips:

1. Be wary of an SEO provider that requires a high-priced long-term contract.
Most SEO is done right at the out-set. It's most efficient to do it when a sight is being built, but ok to do it after a site is live. (Almost all of the work we do at Multifamily Edge is post-production.) It is not efficient to string out the work across several months. The only thing that can and should be done on a continuous basis is link building.

2. Be wary of an optimizer that sells you on being "number one" in the search results.
Your SEO provider should always keep in mind that what is most valuable to your company is getting a high volume of high quality traffic that will be engaged in your site and convert. I can make any site "number one in the search results" if I am at liberty to be undiscerning about the search term. Optimizers that promise top results are often the same ones that use black hat tactics.

3. Price check.
SEO consultants typicall charge $225-$350 per hour, around $3,000-$5,000 per site. If the price is much higher than that, they should offer you a compelling explanation. If the price is much lower than that, they should offer you a compelling explanation. (BTW, Multifamily Edge has lower pricing. Our explanation: we spent two years designing a very efficient system.)

4. Review the data.
Your SEO provider should help you to track the performance of your site in at least three ways: 1) Ranking tables will show you where you rank in the search results for keyword terms used in optimization. It's best to get a benchmark before you start so that you know your rank is improving. 2) Traffic volume. Use an analytics program to track the amount of traffic that is going to your site. 3) Traffic qualtiy. Use an analytics program to track the level of engagement of your site visitors. How long are they staying on the site? How many pages are they viewing? Are they converting?

Now you have a place to start. Now get out there and find your own Louie Pesho someone!