Not including the things we are doing to help with search engine
ranking, and not including putting our URL on all of our
communications... (we are already doing these things) what can we do
to drive NEW traffic to a commercial real estate listings website?

We attempted to use a Google Ad Words campaign, however, of the 40 or
so keywords that are associated with researching and locating
commercial real estate, NONE of them have high-enough clicks or CTRs
to warrant a Google advertising campaign (which we use successfully
for other businesses.)

We used the keyword suggestion tools as well, but the things that came
up weren't relevant.

I'm looking for advice from a marketer moreso than technical advice
about search engine and directory listings. (That's why I categorized
this under advertising/marketing rather than eCommerce.) We are
already working on web positioning, but we are trying to come up with
a CPC program or some other type of paid advertising in order to get
the response we want. We already do heavy newsletter and direct mail
programs that work well, but are looking for more ideas to bolster
this marketing effort -- perhaps something vertical?

I promise a great tip for great advice.

Thank you Google researchers.

As a marketing professional, I can suggest some cpc advertising that
can drive new traffic to your site.
You have tried Google AdWords, and said it didn't work well for you,
but you should also consider Overture (they distribute keyword
listings to Yahoo, MSN and others). On Overture the term "commercial
real estate" generates over 32,000 searches a month, so this volume
might be worth your time.

http://www.overture.com/d/home/

Additionally, Looksmart provides directory listings for MSN and other
engines, which you can also implement at a cpc price. They also have
sponsored listings for their own search engine and other distribution
partners.

http://looklistings.looksmart.com/

Besides search engine listings (and I just named two big ones you
hadn't tried, you can also try smaller (and cheaper) engines that I
will list at the end of this answer), you can also purchase banners or
other graphical ads with sites that you think have visitors who would
be interested in your company. Often these can be purchased at a cpc
rate. For instance, some non-commercial real estate sites might be
willing to sell you some ad space since you aren't a competitor, and
people visiting these sites may be looking for commercial real estate.

Hopefully this information gives you a good starting place for search
engine and directory listing advertising options. I would also
recommend you consider attending the Search Engine Strategies
conference about advertising with search engines, it provides some
excellent seminars (I went last year) about paid listings and site
optimization, and provides a chance to meet all these companies I have
been listing. They hold the conference in various major metros around
the U.S. during the year.

http://searchenginestrategies.com/

Other search engines with paid cpc listings:
ah-ha-
http://www.ah-ha.com/ad_services/ 
FindWhat-
http://www.findwhat.com/content/advertiser/index.asp
Ask Jeeves-
http://static.wc.ask.com/docs/advertise/advertising.html
Alta Vista-
http://www.altavista.com/help/contact/advertise
ePilot-
http://adcenter.epilot.com/
Lycos-
http://advertising.lycos.com/contactus.html
Kanoodle-
https://safe.kanoodle.com/client_services/listings/index.cool


Best of luck with your site!

~Mechante-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by margi-ga on 20 Mar 2003 17:48 PST

Dear Mechante-ga:

Thank you for your response. I do need a more detailed answer,
however. I'm aware of all of the major CPC services. What I'm looking
for is a suggested approach to implementing some sort of CPC or paid
advertising program in order to specifically generate new prospects
for this commercial real estate site. I was not looking for a list of
CPC venues.

Had we simply typed in "commercial real estate" into Google, that also
would bring a similar small amount of searches, and consequently the
proportionate clickthroughs.  We successfully use Overture, Google,
Find What, etc. in CPC programs, but as with any advertising, the key
is in delivering a targeted message/targeted offering to a targeted
audience.  In this case, it's new prospects for purchasing commercial
real estate moreso than a generic inquiry about anything to do with
commercial real estate.

Can you please provide more detail regarding program implementation
for a CPC or paid advertising program that will generate new traffic
to a commercial real estate listings site?

I tip well for great advice, however, you haven't told me anything I
didn't already know. (At the same time, I realize that you didn't know
that I already knew.)

I'd appreciate a more detailed response from a strategic marketing
perspective regarding ideas of how to use paid advertising to generate
traffic. This is why I placed this question in marketing, not under
computers.

Thank you for your time and talent.

Margi

---

Clarification of Answer by mechante-ga on 21 Mar 2003 09:33 PST

Thanks for clarifying your question, it did seem you were just asking
about venues for implementation before.

In terms of making a successful campaign, its hard for me to give any
specific advice without knowing lots more about your business and its
goals (this is after all what online ad agencies are paid thousands of
dollars to do), but I can give you some general guidelines for
implementing a successful campaign.

If you just want to increase traffic (i.e., clicks) you should use
copy for your ad that encourages users to visit your site. Be broad.
"Search thousands of listings for commerical real estate nationwide".
The point is to make everyone seeing your ad believe it is relevant to
them. Use the specific keyword asked in the copy, so the searcher is
convinced your ad understands them. For example if they ask "office
rentals in michigan", include that in the title (Google AdWords will
automatically populate this for you by using {KeyWord} in the title).
The more you convince the searcher you know exactly what they want,
the more likely they are to click. Also, buy as many keywords as you
can, the more you have, the more traffic you get.

If your goal is to drive more targeted traffic (visitors who are more
likely to search or follow up on a real estate lead),you want your ads
to pre-qualify visitors. Using phrases in your copy like, "If you're
looking to purchase or lease commercial real estate" or something
similar will make searchers evaluate if they really want your site. If
you only offer services for one area (ie-Florida), you'll want to say
that in your copy. "Search commercial real estate in Florida only",
then you won't pay for lots of extra clicks by users who want to
search other areas. Essentially pre-qualifying is honing in on the
most targeted customers for your business. In this case, you would
only want to buy keywords that are the most relevant, keywords that
are too broad don't reflect what you really offer, and will only drive
untargeted searchers.

Creating the best copy requires a lot of trial and error. Google
provides a utility to rotate different copy, and you can individually
see which message had the highest click-through rate, and if you apply
different urls to each copy, you can internally track which copy
generated the most successful leads for your business.

Again I encourage you to attend or learn more about he Search Engine
Strategies conference, as these topics are addressed in detail there,
and as I say, short of hiring an agency to do this for you, I can only
provide some generic advice.

Hope this clarifies things, best of luck!

Mechante -ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by margi-ga on 21 Mar 2003 11:27 PST

Hmmm... Well, I believe I've done a poor job of expressing what I'm
looking for as this answer doesn't hit the mark either, and doesn't
tell me anything I don't already know.  Regarding search engines and
CPC advertising ... As VP of Global Marketing for a
public/international company, I was one of the first CPC advertisers
years ago.  I'm already aware of what the various business models and
processes are -- in fact I've written a white paper on it that has
been published by a leading technical analyst firm.  What I was
looking for was specific vertical (commercial real estate) industry
advice regarding suggested (or proven successful) tactical
implementation of paid advertising. I was looking for this information
from someone with expertise in commercial real estate marketing, not
the Internet, or CPC-specific tactics, nor search engines.  I'll end
it here by thanking you for your time and acknoledging that the fault
is mine in not providing a clearer explanation of what I'm looking
for. I'll rework my question and post it again with the hopes of
getting a more marketing-oriented, tactical/strategic answer from
someone with real estate marketing experience.  Thank you again for
your time. I do appreciate it regardless.

---

Clarification of Answer by mechante-ga on 21 Mar 2003 12:20 PST

What you seem to want is really a case study of a successful
commercial real estate cpc campaign. Sorry I can't provide that, and I
apologize for any confusion on my behalf. I can suggest that you
should include something about wanting a specific industry case study
in your next question, and then you'll likely get more expert help in
that area.

Good Luck!
mechante -ga

I didn't get the type of answers I was looking for, but recognize that
he/she was answering to the best of his/her ability within the context
of his/her area of expertise. It just wasn't what I was looking for...