Location and Virtual Maps

"Location, location, location" is the real estate refrain. As a real estate professional, you know the importance of location. But, what makes location important to home buyers? On the practical side of life, location is so much more than just a neighborhood.

Location, its more than where your home is located:

* Location can mean access to transportation and byways (Park-n-Ride lots, freeway access and main thoroughfares).
* Location can mean education (schools, colleges and libraries).
* Location can mean shopping convenience (markets, specialty stores and shopping centers).
* Location can mean entertainment (parks, biking trails or restraunts and theatres).
* Location can mean cultures (museums, historical sites, art galleries and cultural venues).

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is location to the home buyer. Today's savvy internet house hunter wants to know what surrounds a location, in addition to physical location of a neighborhood. You can assist your website visitors in learning more about their neighborhood by creating a virtual map.

Creating a map which focuses on these aspects is fairly simple using a map app such as Google Maps, Google Earth or MSN Maps Live and is a great way to help your website visitors to learn more about their location of choice. Once you have created your map, you can embed it on a webpage on your site. Now your visitors can cruise the neighborhood without leaving their home or your site.

Virtual maps are a win-win for both the website visitor and you.

* Virtual Maps posted on your website enhance a user's experience.
* A happy user is more likely to bookmark your site and return again.
* The more times a user returns to your site increases the chances of a visitor becoming a client.

Virtual Map Bonuses:

* Creating and embedding virtual maps is easy.
* Virtual map apps using Google Maps, Google Earth or MSN Live are free.
* Google allows you to place a link to the map. If your map comes up in search results, web users can click through to your website.
* Google allows you to attach a pop-up video, which appears as a map pin.

More about maps coming soon.

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