by TitleTap | Jun 11, 2017 | Advertising, Articles, SEO
Here is a short story about how Real Estate Closing Services and Title Insurance can and should be sold online… Several years ago I was sold an insurance policy from someone I had never met who lived across across the country from me. The truth is no one likes to be sold anything. Even though I understand how sales and marketing works, my guard was down and I was able to pull out my wallet and make a significant purchase from a complete stranger. Here is how it happened… Shortly after my kids were born my wife and I were considering buying a life insurance policy. However, we didn’t really know much about life insurance. What should we look for in a policy? How much life insurance do we really need to purchase? What was the difference between whole and term again? All of these questions and more were running through our minds. Indecision and the unknown held us back from making a decision for over a year. One day I was listening to my normal podcasts and the special guest was a life insurance agent. Just in the casual 20 minute conversation with the host, the agent answered nearly all the questions that were holding me back, seemed knowledgable on the subject, and was a family man, like myself. I found him very relatable. Since he had answered my questions, I had my wife listen to the interview and she found him personable as well. So we decided to give him a call to find out if he had any recommendations on our specific scenario. Fast forward, 3 emails and...
by TitleTap | May 31, 2017 | Compliance, Cyber Security, Pillar 3 Best Practices
Real estate transactions are some of the higher value transactions commonly done by individuals and companies. As such, they have become an increasing large target for hackers. The way a typical scam works is first the hacker gains access to the email of one of the involved parties – the buyer, seller, real estate agent, lender, attorney or title agent. Next, they take note of important transaction details such as down payment amounts and closing dates. As the closing date approaches, the scammer poses as one of the other parties and sends new instructions for wiring funds. For example, if the law firm’s domain is www.somelawfirm.com the hacker might register the domain www.s0melawfirm.com and send the email from that domain. Most people wouldn’t notice the “O” in the word “some” is actually the number “0” in the second domain name. The unsuspecting victim then mistakenly sends funds to the scammer and not the correct party. By the time everyone realizes that a mistake has been made, the scammer is long gone. How to help protect yourself, your company, and clients: Use Secure Passwords We usually recommend 10-12 characters minimum with a mixture of capital letters, lower case letters, numbers, and symbols. 6 to 8 characters may not be secure enough anymore. Never Click Links In Email Instruct your staff, partners and clients to never click links or buttons in email, even if they know the sender. Emails can easily be spoofed to appear legitimate. Secure Your Email and Website If your email isn’t secure, your data could be compromised if someone were to hack your email server. Also,...
by TitleTap | May 19, 2017 | Articles, SEO, Social Media, TRID, Video, Web Design
One of the biggest things our title agency website builder customers ask us after we launch their shiny new website is “how to be found online.” What they are really asking here is how do we use this website to bring in more business with their website. Although TitleTap website templates come search engine optimized out of the box, when a new website is launched, oftentimes the domain and website is new. As a result it can take Google some time to index the website and start ranking it. This can take months because Google doesn’t yet know if you are a legitimate business or not. So in a lot of cases it is just a waiting game. However, here are a 5 tips you can do to expedite the process to attract more Realtors, Lenders, and Homebuyers right away. Tip #1 Submit a sitemap Ask your web designer for a sitemap of your website and submit it to Google and Bing. Google’s Free Search Console and Bing’s Webmaster Tools are both an invaluable tool for getting your site crawled and listed quickly. Tip #2 Complete your company listing on the popular directory sites This is called off-page SEO because it occurs off of your website. There is an old rule in marketing that you should go where the people are. This is what we are doing here by getting a presence on very busy websites – the equivalent of putting up a billboard on a busy interstate, for example. These sites include Google Places, Yahoo Local, Bing Local, Yelp, Zillow (service providers section), YellowPages.com, BBB, and by building...
by TitleTap | Apr 19, 2017 | Advertising, Articles, Compliance, Marketing, Social Media
In 1985 when Nike released the first pair of Air Jordans, Michael Jordan’s signature shoe, Jordan was fined $5,000 every time he stepped on the court wearing them. The infamous red and black colors were not only very different than the more common white Converse, they were also in violation of the NBA’s uniform requirements at that time. The controversy caused such demand for the shoe that Nike happily paid Jordan’s fines and even worked with the NBA to produce a court-friendly version of the shoe – all before the shoes were ever released to the public. The move paid off and both Nike and Jordan eventually watched the money roll in. To this day, those same Air Jordans and the those that came during the years after are still in style, being retroed by Nike, and often sell for multiples of their original price. What do Air Jordans have to do with Title Insurance? I’m not suggesting you commit a RESPA violation for the sake of publicity. But what I am suggesting is that you think of your marketing a little differently like Nike did with the Air Jordans. In marketing, he who is both “different” and “authentic” wins. Just because you’ve always attended a certain event or done things a specific way, doesn’t mean that you should continue to do so. In other words, be the exception, not the rule. The “Congratulations” Facebook Post: For example, one common mistake I see real estate attorneys and title agents make all the time is when they post a photo of a family that recently closed with comments such as:...
by TitleTap | Jan 27, 2017 | Articles, Social Media
Often times we see real estate professionals wondering why their social media posts aren’t getting much traction. The reason is that posting articles by itself is no longer effective – between Facebook’s algorithm change and the amount of information out there, you need to be more creative with the split second you have to grab someone’s attention. Here are 9 ways to get attention and more interaction with your social media posts: 1) Tell a Story People love stories. Use headlines that allude to a story when someone clicks. One example might be “Learn how [Person’s Name] achieved [some amazing result] without [some undesirable task].” 2) Trigger emotion with images The eyes are said to be the gateway to the soul. In short, use images with people’s faces. This has been proven in multiple industries time and time again. Images with people’s faces typically get the best click through rates. So if you want something to be seen, use relevant faces to complement your posts. 3) Position ads as “helpful resources” not “advertisements” People on social channels are mostly immune to traditional advertisements. As such you need to position your posts and ads as helpful resources or interesting articles, not a sales ad. Here are a few examples of how you might do this in the real estate space: The Real Estate Agent – Let me help you find the perfect home you might not find published online. The Title Company – Tired of not knowing the status of your closings? See how [Title Company] can keep your clients happy through the closing process. The Mortgage Company – This...
by TitleTap | Jan 20, 2017 | Advertising, Articles, Pillar 3 Best Practices, SEO, Social Media, Video, Web Design
In the early 1940s Schlitz beer company was one of the least popular beers. So they brought in a legendary marketer Claude Hopkins to tour the factory and create a new advertising campaign for them. They showed him how they had dug their own wells to get the cleanest water even though most water came from lake Michigan at the time. They showed him how their hops were the freshest, and how they sterilized the bottles 4 times before filling them with beer. At the end of the tour he asked why Schlitz wasn’t telling people about all of the ways they make quality beer in their marketing? Their reply was simply that every brewery makes beer the same way. Hopkins’ reply was that they’ll be the first to tell people about it and gain a big advantage to other companies. Within a year they were #1 and they remained #1 or #2 until the 1970s. The same is true in Title Insurance… Just because everyone has to be compliant, doesn’t mean they are using it to effectively market their services. Tip #1: Compliance is the New Marketing You have a clean desk policy. You have a secure website. You have redundant offsite backups. You have monthly staff training sessions on to help prevent your company from being a hacked or a victim of fraud. Tell people about it in your marketing! But instead of saying “we are ALTA Best Practices Certified” why not elaborate on it by saying “With all of the identity theft and cybercrime today, we have taken safeguards above and beyond industry regulations to protect...
by TitleTap | Jan 18, 2017 | Advertising, Articles, Coaching, SEO, Web Design, Webinar
One of the common questions we get after someone launches with TitleTap is “now what?” Please join us for our upcoming webinar: WHAT: “How To Get The Most From TitleTap – 5 Little Marketing Tips That Get Big Results” WHEN: Tuesday, February, 7th @ 2PM ET Register Here On this webinar we are going to walk you through the little things you or your staff can do with and without our products that can get you BIG results. Topics will include: – The Fastest Way to Get Found In Google – What In The World to do with 100 Videos – How EASILY to Stay Top-Of-Mind to win that Next Deal – Get More People Using Your Calculator for Quotes – And How We Help You Avoid Being a Target of Cyber Fraud We at TitleTap want you to be successful and reach your goals in 2017. I’m confident these tips can help you get there. Hope to see you on the webinar! Click Here To...
by TitleTap | Jan 16, 2017 | News, Press Release, Press Releases, SEO, Web Design
Tampa, FL: TitleTap, leading provider of marketing solutions and website designs for title agents, announced 10 new customizable website templates specifically tuned for the land title industry. “Over the past 4 years we’ve learned which pages and features are most important for title companies – not only to attract real estate agents or lenders, but also as a reference for internal staff and for compliance purposes,” company co-founder Eliot Dill said about the new website designs. Also, due to the close correlation between title companies and real estate law firms, TitleTap included several designs that will also appeal to agents in attorney-driven states, not just attorney-owned and independent agencies. The biggest problem that title insurance agents face when investing in their web presence is deciding what content will attract Realtors, Consumers, and Lenders from Google while keeping them compliant with industry Best Practices. Many web designers and marketing agencies understand what looks good but not necessarily how to market a title agency or law office, nor about their strict compliance requirements. “We’ve streamlined the ability for them to get a new website off the ground painlessly and within weeks by including the pages they should have to attract business and the Best Practices to keep them in business,” Dill said. “We can then simply add or delete specific pages or tabs to further customize the their site for their local market. This solves the challenge for many who do not know where to start or don’t have a lot of spare time.” TitleTap was founded in 2013 by a former Title Agent who helped grow a title company from...
by TitleTap | Nov 2, 2016 | Webinar
Between ALTA Best Practices, TRID, and RESPA, the past couple of years have been quite the learning experience on staying compliant while still effectively marketing your title agency or real estate law firm. Join us for a FREE webinar on Tuesday December 6th at 2 PM EST: “Market Title Insurance Like Beer: 7 Proven Ways to Market Your Title Agency in 2017” We’ll open up the curtains on the best ways we’ve been able to market the title companies and law firms we work with. You’ll learn: How to make your website more “findable” in Google with just a few tweaks The best social media post a title agent or closing attorney can do. Period. How to attract Realtors and “in-the-market” Homebuyers like a magnet The importance of top of mind marketing in title insurance How “Video Killed the Radio Star” (for you 1980s fans) and much more! If you are serious about improving your Law Firm or Title Company’s marketing you won’t want to miss this webinar! Consider it the “best of” in digital marketing advice from years of our trial and error working in the industry… Seats are limited to the first 100 registrants. Register now! Click here to register After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the...
by TitleTap | Oct 2, 2016 | Advertising, Articles, Pillar 3 Best Practices
What do the technology giant Google and and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have in common? Keeping pace with the changing landscape of business in the era of the internet, its risks and rewards, has made it more difficult for title agents to continue doing business the way they always have. For example, you are probably aware of how the CFPB has changed regulation in the Title Insurance and Mortgage industries. What you may not know about are all of the changes that Google has made to their search algorithm that can have a negative impact on your title company. “These changes essentially make it harder for real estate agents and home buyers to find you online.” Here are 4 things that every Title Agent needs to know about Google’s recent changes: Mobile-Friendly Required Have you ever visited a website only to find that it was difficult to click on links from your phone? A mobile-friendly or mobile ready website simply means that the website automatically formats to fit mobile phones and tablets. In 2015, Google changed their search algorithm to give mobile-friendly websites search priority. Around that same time it was surveyed that 8 out of 10 title insurance websites were not “mobile ready” – which is really shocking since real estate agents often spend the majority of time on their smart phones. Why does Google prefer mobile-ready websites? Because in 2015 over 55% of Google’s traffic came from mobile devices like Androids, iPhones, & iPads. As such, those websites that are easier to navigate on both desktops and mobile screens deserve search priority. Security Recommended The...
