Need some direction for a client I just got.

Seems the obvious, but offering a SEO service to get his site ranked locally would be a very good foundation to start with. Fixing the links, etc, would be part of that offer. That is the on-page factors. Then you can offer off-page factors: back links, registering with directories, etc, Google Places, then can offer a Social Media Marketing campaign, ie, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.

Don't forget the time involved in background research of the competitors. I don't like to quote figures until I do a preliminary of the comp to see the work that's involved in beating out the competition.

I got a boatload more, but if you offer up that, he's on his way to dominating his niche.

Good luck,

LastWarrior

1. Ask to see what he's currently doing with his adwords campaign. If he's not directing traffic to a direct response lead capture (many novices do not do this), he's wasting his money Also, take a look at his keywords. Make sure that he's using good keywords (long and short) and that his landing page is a good match for the keywords. Find out & let us know what he's currently doing, itb will be easier to determine what needs to be "fixed".

2. The broken links can be repaired. If you don't want to do it, just head on over to vworker.com & there are plenty of workers happy to complete it for you at a super low cost.

3. For someone like this, you should obviously work on their Google Local to rank them higher. Get photos, videos, citations & reviews up. I would also set up a video service as well. You can do a short interview - and a few videos of them going through properties. Break the content up into numerous videos (ex: Video 1. What to look for in a property Video 2. How a first time homebuyer can get financing.)

Indeed it would be cool. A few of those and I am sure we could all make the rent

To start off, let me say that instead of offering new services or a laundry list per say, focus on what they did in the past and fine tune it.

If their adwords were not converting, analyze the reports. Find out what benchmarks where set and how they failed. A good adwords person hits benchmarks. If the client says they "did it in the past", chances are they probably did it themselves and perceived it not to be working right so they pulled the plug. Adwords ( as with most effective advertising ) is a full time job and often times is shortchanged by the small business owner. Working with a certified ( or working towards certification) adwords person may help you in those regards.

You mention a mobile website. Are you referring to a mobile compatible site or an actual .mobi or equivalent subdomain. If you are indeed building the latter, then another adwords campaign pushing traffic through the mobile arena may be in order. Mobile search is huge, and mobile adwords go to only .mobi sites or equivalent subdomains.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that there are better options other than adwords, or worse for that matter. With the Yahoo and MSN merger, buying adspace from them is still getting streamlined. Good audience and their market share is growing.

The text messaging that you mentioned they did, was it a bought list or did they build it themselves? How many times are they hitting that list? What types of messages are they sending?

Just these three topics alone plus the research, planning and implementation of a balanced online/mobile campaign should be more than enough to keep you busy. By understanding what wasn't done properly in the past, you can strive to get done properly this time and thus garner better results. I wouldn't offer anything new, just results on the old

Off hand, I'd recommend a couple of things:

1) Make sure the real estate company has a solid local listing - with Google and Yelp. If the potential clients are mobile and looking within a particular region, then your client should show up.
2) All properties that they are listing - PUT a QR code on the sign, posters, ads, door, etc. This prospective buyers can just scan the link to a) get a video of the inside or 2) be directed to a website with photos and/or more information, etc.
3) No really mobile - but do some forum marketing to drive new clients to your client's site(s)

Reading your post, I'm not really certain exactly what you are looking for, or what your client wants.

The vast majority of real estate folks I've dealt with have wanted sites that got them prospects, and weren't interested in anything that caused their potential prospects to leave their site. Putting together an adwords campaign that converts (into prospects, in this case) is probably number one on the list, so the main site works well, before going off to do a mobile site. If the site contains any other advertising, this may be sending folks away before they are captured. Today (which could change somewhat soon) a mobile site tends to serve as a funnel into a full featured regular site, to create interest for additional information or contact.

However, if he feels that having a mobile site (mobile capable) will be somehow more productive than a conventional site, he's probably been hearing that the "old internet is dead" and the new world is all mobile. Some people actually believe this. My take is that the "old internet" is far from over, but it really can pay to be mobile compatible...

Davechan had the right idea with putting QR codes on all of the property and collateral, but failed to indicate it is a LOT of work generating all of the back of the house information, videos, pages and such that the QR codes refer to. Just something to keep in mind.

Even with a mobile site, if the owner is using adwords to drive traffic, he needs to be sure that his adwords campaigns are focused so the visitors find what they are looking for when they arrive at his site. With a conventional site, there is a relatively huge amount of space to deal with, but on a mobile site, everthing needs to display on a relatively small screen. This means high-impact, simple site pages that get the point across right away, and allow easy navigation, while at the same time, providing what the visitor is looking for or expecting. It also means that the adwords campaigns are specific, to avoid disconnects. The ads should at least provide details such as the property location (area) for example. It doesn't do much good to get someone to your site looking for properties in New York, if the realtor is in Montana...

Having been in the "website development" biz in the past, I'd be sure to define the expectations of your client and determine your deliverables before you take on the client, unless you have an open ended budget from him (which would be very unusual).

You gotta be really careful with real estate sites, because if you don't have the connections (or api and information to create the connections) into the databases, you really can't do an acceptable real estate site these days (at least one that meets the expectation of the visitors). Most people are expecting an interactive site that allows them to use the site as the first level of search, only dealing in person with a realtor once they find a house/property they think they might be interested in. Very often, a large percentage of the folks using these sites are "lookie loos" that are dreaming, with no intent, or no means to purchase a new (to them) home or property. If the site requires some sort of signup to get any information, it greatly reduces the amount of long term traffic (and conversions the owner is looking for). Often, what is being asked for in the signup process is a large initial hurdle. Most people will provide their name and email address, but if a phone number is required, will move elsewhere looking for the information they desire.

Perhaps this is one reason the current site isn't getting the conversions the owner desires, too much information is being requested at initial contact. I've seen more success with sites that ask for just name and email address, then later, after they show interest (click throughs on emails) an email request for better contact (phone number) to provide a more focused search for them.

Start by asking them their goals. Have them define a conversion. Have the client tell you what GOOD looks like to him. You cannot make any suggestions until you know what they need.

Fixing links? That's an obvious one, it needs to be done.

Adwords? They probably aren't getting any "conversions" from adwords because they don't have a goal and plan in place. Start there.

Thank you for all your suggestions. I definately have a better feel for moving forward. I know very little of all this, just what I have read on here. But as I have learned with other ventures I have done - once you learn what you need to know, you know more than the other 80% out there. And there is outsourcing. If anyone is interested in doing a bit of work on this, pm me please.
One of the theme's I got from above is start by figuring out whats wrong with his existing marketing strategies. And find out what his marketing goals are.
They have text message marketing on all their houses, but are also interested in QR codes.
I have made a few real estate sites already and the realtors are happy with the product. I think a mobile site will enhance their main site. I agree, that is important too.

Thanks MK