Bringing It All Together – Live Chat, Google Search & Twitter

I had a cool Internet marketing experience this morning! I was working on the next edition of our eNewsletter when our Live Chat account dinged to let me know someone was visiting our Web site. I checked the Live Chat operator control panel and was able to see the visitor’s IP address, what pages had been viewed  and the Google search terms used to find our Web site. This is one of the huge benefits to Live Chat; you can see everyone who is on your site in real time!

Live Chat Operator Control Panel

The Google search term this person used was “meredith oliver seminar.” I clicked on the link in the Live Chat operator control panel and it took me to Google where I was able to see what the Web visitor searched! Cool!

Imagine my surprise when my Twitter account ranked number one in the search results for a March 12th tweet regarding a Web seminar.

Google Screenshot "meredith oliver seminar" Search

There has been a lot of debate among esteemed SEO types as to whether Twitter has any search engine optimization value. Hmmm… maybe so! This blog has an interesting perspective on the topic http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/google-starts-ranking-twitter-search-results-pages/

Whether you use Twitter, Move.com or Google, it is important to use other Web sites to drive traffic to your Web site. Most homebuilders assume traditional marketing is the best way to drive online traffic and while it can drive some online traffic, the best traffic drivers are other Web sites. Every company should have three to four online traffic drivers that all point visitors to your company Web site. What is your online marketing strategy? How do prospective homebuyers find your Web site if they don’t know your name?

Traffic driving options include:

>Banners
>Blogs
>Email marketing
>Photo sharing sites
>Social networking sites
>Online newswires
>Podcasting
>Free listing sites
>Search engine marketing
>Video sharing sites
>Referral sites

My experience today highlights how your online sales and marketing tools can interact to give you a very clear picture of who visits your site, the length of the visit, what pages are viewed and what search term is used to find you! AND, you have the chance to chat live with the person in real time and hopefully set up an appointment to visit a community.

Best of luck bringing your offline and online marketing together into one cohesive strategy. It isn’t always easy at first, but well worth the effort in the long run.

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