The Internet is the most remarkable innovation of our time. It has changed the rules of marketing engagement to such a degree, and in such a short period of time, that employers cannot find people with the skills we need – even in this recession. Colleges don’t offer SEO 101 yet. Universities aren’t offering degree programs in Internet Savvy … yet. I’ve often said that the past five years have been like drinking from a fire hydrant of Internet information. I know you understand!

So what is another key to success on the Internet? In this month’s article I am going to address the topic of relevance on the Internet. What exactly is relevance? Here is the Wikipedia answer: Relevance is a term used to describe how pertinent, connected, or applicable something is to a given matter. A thing is relevant if it serves as a means to a given purpose. What does it mean to be relevant? Why does Google and other search engines rank relevance so high in their search criteria?

The answer is so simple it may surprise you. Google and other search engines exist to provide answers to search queries. A search engine’s primary audience is the searcher, not the website owner or the advertiser. When you – as a random Internet searcher – key in a search term and find exactly what you want; Google feels it has done its job. But when you key in your search term and are sent to a page full of links that are not relevant to your query Google has failed you. A search engine’s raison d’etre (reason for being, in case you don’t speak French) is to help searchers bridge the gap between need and discovery. The primary way they do it is relevance!

The primary tools for achieving relevance are words, sentences, and paragraphs that utilize the right keywords and keyword phrases. So as a homebuilder, Realtor, commercial builder or developer or even water treatment company; how do you know which keywords are relevant? The more relevant your keywords and keyword phrases are, the more buoyant your website will be in a organic Google search. The goal is to get your site to float to the top of page one. There are two issues here: The first is the search engine and how it interprets relevance. The second is the human mind and how it interprets relevance. What is the key to opening the human mind? Why does a consumer who is looking for a gas grill key in barbecue grill and not gas grill? Why does a mother shopping for a child’s car seat key in safety seat? … Relevance!

Let’s talk about the human mind first. Are you familiar with the brain’s reticular activating system (RAS)? The RAS is a crucial key in unlocking an Internet searcher’s brain; it’s how the brain determines relevance! By definition, the RAS is a complex collection of neurons located at the base of the spinal cord. It serves as a point of convergence for signals from the external world (specifically our five senses) and the internal world (our intuitions, emotions, etc.). What does the RAS have to do with the Internet?

To answer that question, you need to understand the three main functions of the reticular activating system. They are:

1. Positive Focusing – Allows a mother to hear her whimpering baby roll over while dad sleeps soundly next to her.
2. Negative Filtering – Allows the person who lives beside the airport runway to unconsciously screen out the noise created by the overhead airplanes.
3. Individual Perceiving – Explains how five people who saw the same car crash can describe it in five different ways.

According to scientists, the RAS allows the human mind to perceive three types of information on a consistent basis: things that are valued, things that are unique and things that are threatening.

Now, remember the NICE message I talked about in February’s Builder Bulletin? Unlike a more traditional unique selling proposition – which is still critically important – the NICE message is about speed and the Internet. As a builder, the way your prospects buy homes has changed radically over the past five years. People shop for new homes online and buy new homes onsite. The NICE message is the Nearly Instant Compelling Effect your website has on a visitor: an instant message that clearly communicates your product’s most sustainable, distinctive and compelling message with copy, images and clear navigation.

To be effective, your NICE message must answer the question every consumer asks: Why should I buy from you? Remember, customers normally don’t come to you to buy from you. They want to eliminate you from their decision-making process. The fewer choices they have, the faster they can make a decision.

Imagine the entire scope of marketing noise consumers encounter from magazine ads, billboards, television, radio, newspapers, direct mail and the Internet. Because the brain’s RAS interprets it to be negative like the roar of a jet overhead, the majority of the “noise” is filtered out. Without your consent or conscious decision, your brain determines if the noise is relevant.

This means that, to be successful, your marketing message must penetrate the RAS and connect with the consumer’s mind by being important. How does it do this? By conforming to the “gateway” processes of the RAS, which allow three types of information to enter.

Pay attention here: all three things are RELEVANT.

1. Things that are valued – This goes right back to, “What’s in it for me?” All of us care about what we value and are much less concerned about what we don’t value. When you select the keywords that can strike a value nerve, the RAS opens the gateway and says to the brain, “Hey! Pay attention here. This is relevant.”

Are your keywords focused on what you like or what the consumer finds Relevant?

2. Things that are unique – Uniqueness seems to be one of those factors that arrests our attention. In the old days, people flocked to see the bearded lady or the elephant man at the circus. Why? Clearly because they were highly unique – even to the point of being called a freak show. P.T. Barnum clearly understood the compelling nature of these human oddities and exploited them to his advantage.

Are your keywords unique?

3. Things that are threatening – Obviously you don’t want to say, “Buy this house or I will send my cousin Vinnie to break your knees!” However, you can use the tried-and-true method of writing a message that appeals to the consumer’s fear of loss, such as “$8000,Tax Credit Expires on June 30th.”

The fear of loss is a powerful motivator, but it has a very short shelf life. In my opinion, positive messages that focus on values have a more lasting effect than negative ones.

Your goal with your website is to determine and use the keywords that are most relevant to your prospective buyers. Attempt to think like a buyer! Ask yourself what is most relevant? Or you can hire us to do a keyword study for your website.

Google is looking for keywords, title tags, body copy, headers and description meta tags that produce the search results their searcher wants. Your job is to think like a customer and give the search engine what it wants: relevance. If you want help with finding your way to the top of search engines call us today (800) 932-0494 or visit our website at www.power-marketing.com. Search engine optimization is not an event, it is a process. It takes time and it costs money. An organic listing on page one of Google is not free. You don’t have to pay Google for it, but it does cost.

Brian Flook · builder home sales training · builder marketing · builder sales · builder sales training · builders · home builder sales training · homebuilder marketing · housing market · Internet marketing · marketing ideas · Power MARKETING · real estate marketing · Uncategorized