Name of your website?Atlanta Georgia NE Suburban Metro Real Estate Services
Your name?
Ron Melin
Your Location (city, etc)
Lawrenceville
Please give us a short summary of your website?
My website provides over 300 pages of helpful information to people seeking knowledge about the NE Suburban Real Estate market. Clients can interact for hours by reading the tips and resource tabs regarding buying or selling their home. Complete local and national property searches can be made with a few keystrokes. Tons of photos can be seen on every listing on the site. There are numerous free offers available. There is a complete library of reading materials on the entire real estate process.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I am the owner-broker of my own company, Eagle Realty Associates, LLC, and I want clients to have total confidence in my abilities to serve them on both sides of a real estate transaction. Websites are great tools for providing lots of information in a condensed format, and they are great for generating new business potential leads.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
In 1996, when I was a Re/Max agent. The site was only several pages in depth, and it did not start out with IDX home search capability. At the time, it was OK, but sites today must be much more interactive and informative.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
It was all about existing name recognition. I've been in the Real Estate business for the past 26 years, and my target market hasn't changed over this time frame. So, my website is named after me: http://www.RonMelin.com. I did the same thing with my permanent email address by having it assigned to my own domain as well, all for ease of memory and customer retention...RonMelin@RonMelin.com.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
Most websites have only a few pages to offer a client. Many do not offer MLS data base IDX searching. Others are very low in search engine optimization popularity and very limited in visibilty for page placement on search engine findings. My goal is to become a dominant player in my local market for key internet search phrases.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My long range plans include growing my business both in size and scope, while still serving the same local marketplace. There are no plans to sell it, merge it, or try to retire from it, anytime in the next 10 years.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Very good actually. My success with the local board of Realtors has enabled me to earn their coveted Double-Phoenix award, for 20 consecutive years in the Elite Million Dollar club. There have only been about 50 agents to accomplish this goal in our board in the past 25 years. We currently have 6000 agents that are active in Gwinnett County, and less than 10 of those are Double Phoenix recipients.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would have a huge blog forum, tons of additional listings, thousands of inbound high-quality (high page rank) links from related sites, a super SEO program in place, and about 500 more site pages of information for clients to interact with.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes. I would hire agressive agents that need the work.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Marketing costs can become enormous, so a monthly budget must be in place to avoid the temptation to always spend a little bit more. It must also continue, even when the revenue side is lean.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Keeping a large enough inventory of quality listings is always challenging. Prospecting in slow markets is also difficult as well.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
My own personal SEO efforts by adding quality link partners and joining scores of real estate directories, adding tons of photos on key sites, & having memberships in prominent organizations that have great referral programs.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It requires lots of extra attention to make it better than my competitors. I could see the benefit of a full time IT staff person, totally dedicated to website enhancement and maintenance.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
I started with this specific site 8 months ago. I have had previous sites since 1996, but this one has been the most effective at driving traffic and emails. I plan to use internet marketing as long as it remains effective, expecting it to stay that way for many years to come.
What is your driving motivator?
My wife and I are still raising our 6 children, 3 of which are currently in college and 2 left in High school. We have a strong desire to see them finsh their education. I am driven by need, rather than greed!
What is your website address?
Atlanta Georgia NE Suburban Metro Real Estate Services
