QR Codes are all the rage today in many industries – in particular the real estate business. More and more companies are using QR codes to engage consumers and help promote their products. If you don’t know QR Code are two dimensional barcodes that are gaining a lot of traction for marketing as they can be scanned by an appropriate app on a smart phone which gives access to hidden information or a link to a webpage.

However, due to their popularity and as QR codes are being printed everywhere, perhaps now is the time to take a step back and look at the right and wrong ways to use QR Codes.

The Right Way

1. Use them in your print marketing campaigns – Do you advertise in magazines? Use flyers, posters or physical banners? Include a QR Code on these to add another level of marketing to drive traffic to your online presence.

2. Have your QR Code link to a mobile optimized page – QR Codes are being read by smart phones so, shouldn’t the web page that users are directed to be a mobile optimized page?

3. Use QR Codes to give users “something extra” – this is clever marketing indeed! By giving someone something “extra” by finding and scanning the QR Code it makes them feel special and can make them feel more inclined to use your services or buy your product.

4. Think of unique ways of using it where people have their phones – if you are in the real estate business, perhaps think about putting a QR Code on a lawn sign in front of a property if the property is in a walkable neighborhood – have the code link to the property listing page! Or how about having one on your stationery? Some people have even had them put on their cars!

5. Educate people – QR Codes are still new technology and not everyone knows what they are – perhaps include a line under it saying “Scan this QR Code with your smart phone” just to show people it will scan for them.

The Wrong Way

1. Using a QR Code on your website – People want to click on a link and are unlikely to scan a QR code which is on your website. QR codes are being scanned by smartphones which have mobile browsers and small screens, so keep this in mind.

2. Generating bar-codes with too much information in them – The more information you have in a bar-code the higher the density of black squares meaning that it is more likely that someone will not be able to scan the QR Code at all making it definitely a wasted effort.

3. Linking to your main website homepage – while not terrible, this really does defeat the object of using this kind of marketing. Users who have bothered to download an app and scan a QR Code want the relevant information immediately and not to then go through your entire site to find what they are looking for.

4. Printing QR Codes too small – people sometimes try to shrink them on their print marketing to save space, but be careful, if the code is too small it might not be scanned. Spend time testing and experimenting before sending your code to print.

One bad example of use is using it on a television commercial which has been reported, the code will not be on screen long enough for someone to get their phone out and scan! Poor use of QR Codes aside, they can be used very successfully in your marketing strategy if thought goes into their implementation.

An exciting possibility these days is where people are using QR Codes on their business cards but these days perhaps business cards are becoming a thing of the past? Check out http://www.qbizmo.com/ launching soon for more!

First it is prudent to give a little potted history of the web and the use of iframes.

When the web was starting out most pages were just text pages. Browsers were text based and the use of graphics as we see today was a futuristic dream! After the arrival of Windows 95 (which really kick started modern computer usage) users became more used to a Graphical User Interface (the GUI) meaning that web browsers had to catch up. Do you remember Netscape Navigator? That pioneered an age where the web was no longer text based but now allowed graphics, colors and shapes.

Now, from this grew the use of frames, frames are a way of piecing together a single web page referencing several web pages to make up that page. The use of iframes grew from this. Today iframes, while an older technology are  still often used as a way for presenting content from another site within the framework of your site. In the case of Real Estate agents – property search pages are often framed in when using an older web site or search technology. Which is generally a bad idea for Realtors and their business.

From the user perspective iframes serve up the required information as you want them to see it, so where is the issue? Well, as the business owner you want to be able to track a user on a site and make sure that you keep their attention to your site as much as possible. Using iframes does not allow this to be done. Imagine the scenario where you go to a Real Estate site and go to a property search page with an framed search function. Suddenly when you click on the search results you are redirected to the individual listing which is an UNBRANDED property page. That is a problem – unbranded property search pages are common and once you have a potential client in to those unbranded pages you have effectively “lost” them from your site.

Those unbranded search pages often have their own menus which of course do not correspond with pages on your site;it’s the unbranded property search. So, in essence you are now unable to track a visitor who has come to your site!

Also many of these iframed property search pages also have the capability for visitors to sign up for email drip programs which will be from that system and not from perhaps the intended system you wanted. These emails will again likely be unbranded and could drive the visitor to other pages. Asides from the extra complication, by this time the visitor has likely forgotten about your site and contacting you!

The iframes therefore have several knock on effects – analytics will suffer, page count will suffer and time on your site will suffer and all of these important measures are used to track the profitability of your site. You can’t manage what you can’t measure.

So, what is the solution? An integrated property search solution that creates dynamic pages within your sites framework and architecture. All of the sites that Arranging Pixels develops use this method which allows better tracking of visitors, looks better due to continuous branding and helps people stay on your site longer.

It has been noticed across all industries that Social Networks and Social Media can be used to help promote a business and naturally increase its sales through a more subtle type of marketing.

Why Should You Add A Facebook/Twitter Icon? What Benefits Do I Get?

If you read out post “5 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Facebook Page” then you understand why you need to set up a Facebook page for your business so that you can improve your SEO, Build Customer Loyalty and of course keep customers up to date on your business and its activities. Adding a Facebook icon will allow your site visitors to click to an extension of your brand – your Facebook page.

Twitter of course works in a similar way to Facebook, you “Tweet” updates and allow people to “follow” you and interact with you almost instantaneously. In fact, there have been many controversial news stories involving information released through twitter to the public. So it is indeed a powerful marketing tool when used in the right way to get your message out there and heard.

In fact there has been an increasing trend whereby consumers leave comments reviewing a certain company and their products or complaining on their Facebook and Twitter pages. So being active in your social media can definitely help build a personal relationship between you and your clients.

How Do You Promote Your Social Media Outlets On Your Website?

Using phrases like “Join Me On…” can be a great way to engage a potential customer when combined with a recognizable social networking logo. There are often many different styles of logo these days for each social network. Using the most common version of a particular social media websites logo is often the best practice as it ensures that people will immediately be able to recognize that it relates to a particular site. Consider also how big your social media icons should be.

Where Should I Place My Social Media Icons?

You want to ensure that the placement of the relevant social network icon is both subtle, yet prominently placed as a Call To Action item for people to interact with your business. Think of it as no different to placing an advertisement on your site. You WANT people to click on it and not ignore it.

Of course if your social media icons are buried deep in your site or not in a easy to access place then your efforts to create your own social media following are definitely at a disadvantage. You always want to make sure your icons are “above the fold” – that is in a location which is immediately seen when your homepage is loaded.