Dubai Real Estate Agents STEAL photos from Forums for their own use

You know the really cool thing about the Internet (apart from this blog) is that little people can have a big impact on many people all over the world. By little people I mean the ordinary Tom,Dick and Harry (or is it Hari?) on the street who dedicates his time and effort to a passion which then becomes an Internet site and gives much pleasure and help to many.

One such site is SkyScraprerCity.com ok it seem's on the outset to be a "Big Buildings geeks" guide to the world of errm Big Buildings but delve a little deeper and you find a vibrant community discussing property investment , Architecture and all sorts of other sutff. I have been using this site for nearly a year now mainly the UAE Forum section as it is geared towards my area of the world, it provides the BEST bar NONE construction updates to the massive building boom in Dubai with pictures. If you want to buy in Dubai look here first ask for advice and you will get it , if you have already bought in Dubai and want to know how far your new home as progressed look here they will even have pictures of the building work all very up to date.

These very same pictures are now causing a stir on the forums and I hope further a field. For every building in "Dubai Real Estate" there is about 10 agents trying to flog apartments to people , and they all want cool pictures of construction progression to show clients especially those abroad, I mean i wouldn't make a payment on my property if i thought the construction had stopped. So what do the bigger estate agents do? Yes you guessed it they STEAL the photos from this forum and post them on their own site without any credit to the original photographers who are just normal "little" people taking photos for the love of it and not for commercial gain. Some estate agents such as GoWealthy (one of the biggest) proudly display photos stolen from the forum along side awards thy have got for their great work, they even watermark them so no one can steal the photos off their site, clever thinking sherlock.

The main perpetrates of this theft are :

GOWEALTHY and BETTER HOMES " Real Estate Dubai " , notice no links to their websites I don't want to give them any traffic.

For more info on this incident please visit the Thread on the forum and read their open message to the real estate companies.

I'm tired im off to bed to sleep I know I will sleep well tonight as for these kind of unscruplios pepople I have NO IDEA how they could get a good nights sleep at all.

If you want to help please email : editor@gowealthy.com and Click Here for the Better Homes Contact form and ask them why their site is using pictures from a SkyScraperCity.com.

Source:http://www.thedubailife.com/index.php/main/blog/real_estate_agents_steal_photos_from_forums_for_their_own_use

Internet Marketing

So here we go plain text for Real Estate Dubai experimenting Internet Marketing using Organic Search Engine Optimization

Effective keywords for your Real Estate Website

Search Engines: Choosing Effective Keywords

Learn what keywords your potential clients are searching for

It's extremely important to choose and focus on the right keywords. Very few sites spend enough time analyzing what terms and phrases they should be focusing on. What terms do your customers search by to find your competitors? What keywords are your competitors using? Obviously, these are important things to know when choosing your own keywords.

What many people don't know is that choosing your keywords isn't all guesswork. There are ways to find out exactly what terms users are searching for.

A tool we highly recommend is Wordtracker. It allows you to find the top related keywords searched for (by your target clients) by simply submitting a phrase on Wordtracker. Wordtracker not only gives you the list of most popular search phrases, but also lets you know how many competing sites there are for those particular keywords. We'll explain why this is valuable next.

The most highly searched keywords aren't always the best -- Target a niche market

It isn't enough to just know what the most popular terms are. The best terms are those that are not only popular, but also specifically targeted to your market, and have the least competition.

In recent years, the real estate industry has become one of the most competitive online. Large corporate real estate sites dominate most of the top search engine rankings and it is nearly impossible for a new web site to get a top ranking for terms such as "New York real estate" or "New York realtor".

While most large real estate firms and portals are focusing on greater metropolitan areas and broader real estate search phrases, individual agents and small brokerages should be concentrating on a much more targeted market. Be as specific as possible about your target market with your keywords. It's a common misconception to think that including a highly used search phrase in your site will generate a proportionate number of visits. This is because the popular search phrases will also have the most competition.

For example, if 100 searches are done on the term "San Francisco real estate" every minute but there are 75,000 web sites targeting the keywords "San Francisco real estate", your chances for getting many visitors from that term are very low. On the other hand, let's say you target each smaller neighborhood such as "Richmond District homes" or "Sunset District properties" specifically. Even if there are only a few searches per minute for these, your actual clickthroughs will be much higher with only 10-20 sites competing for them.

Your visitors will also be better qualified for your services and your web site will better demonstrate to them that you specialize in what they need. See our article on Targeting a Niche Market.

Brainstorming for additional keywords

Keep in mind that some keywords will be extremely competitive and you may not be able to get into the top 10 listings for quite some time, even if you've narrowed down your focus. More established sites with higher traffic and link popularity will be able to muscle out the top rankings even if you do use the all the right keywords in all the right places.

Don't be discouraged as there are always other keywords and phrases that are overlooked. Be clever and think of other less-competitive phrases to start while you work on building your site's link popularity. There are more people searching for these overlooked keyword phrases than you think.

Write down all the possible keywords that someone might enter into a search engine to find your site. Try entering different word combinations in Wordtracker and see what else you come up with.

Do not target single keywords

One common mistake is to target single keywords. With a few rare exceptions, searches on single words will match millions of web pages in any search engine. Your potential clients quickly learn that if they perform a search on "homes" or "properties" that they'll get hundreds of thousands of listings for real estate from all over the world. They will most likely use a much more specific search phrase to eliminate the irrelevant matches before continuing. For example, the following list of keywords will not be very effective.

real	properties
estate	house
agent	single
broker	family
realtor	homes

These terms need to be combined to take on the correct context.

Use the longer version of a keyword phrase

If possible, choose a longer form of a keyword phrase that also contains the shorter version. For example, if you use "Brooklyn real estate agent", you are also covering the shorter phrase "Brooklyn real estate". This way you can use the shorter and more popular search phrase as many times as possible in your web site while still covering the less competitive longer phrase.

Source:http://www.blitzdevelopment.com/real-estate-marketing-09.php

Target Market in Real Estate World in Dubai

Advantages of Carefully Targeting your Website in Dubai

Having a well-defined niche market enables you to deliver more compelling sales messages. Most homebuyers begin their search in a large metropolitan area with broad criteria in mind. As their research continues, they begin to get an idea of where they'd like to live, what properties they can afford, and what brokers they can go to for assistance. The key is for you to stand out from the other agents in the area, and be the one the homebuyer contacts.

For someone Dubai Real Estate who is looking to purchase a home in the Berkeley Hills area of CA, a real estate agent who is the "Berkeley Hills Expert" will be a much better choice than one who is "Serving the San Francisco Bay Area". You should always try to establish yourself as the expert in whatever market you are targeting.

Focus your site's content on your "Dubai Property" and provide as much information as possible. Include links to the schools, restaurants, transportation, and shopping centers. Your web site should demonstrate your knowledge of the area and convince the homebuyer to choose you over other Realtors serving the same area.

Another advantage of focusing on a niche market in "Dubai Real Estate" is that your site will perform much better in search engines. While there may be 400,000 sites that deal with San Francisco real estate, there may only be a handful dealing with the Berkeley Hills. Because your site will be focused on a specific area, you'll come up ahead of all the other Realtors who serve a dozen different cities and give them equal weight on their sites. Please refer to our articles on Search Engine Optimization fo "Real Estate in Dubai" for more information.

Finding a Good Niche Market in Real Estate

While location is the most obvious divider for real estate, perhaps your niche involves other factors. You can target specific property types, such as income properties, condos, waterfront homes, luxury homes, or villa, apartment, rent or buy in "Dubai Property". Perhaps you specialize in different demographics such as Spanish speaking, senior citizens, or first time buyers for "Dubai Property".

A well-defined niche should consist of people with the same specialized needs that you offer. You should be able to provide a compelling reason for individuals in this group to do business with you instead of your competition. Also make sure that the target group is large enough to sustain the volume of business needed to meet your goals.

Using Multiple Websites For Better Targeting

One option that is often "Property in Dubai" overlooked is to have more than one domain name and web site. If you would like to target a large market or area, it may be a good idea to create multiple sites each targeted to a more specific market. This way you can use each web site to establish yourself as the expert in each of the smaller communities without sacrificing the larger area.

Source:http://www.blitzdevelopment.com/real-estate-marketing-02.php

Why Dubai Real Estate Marketing is Important.

There are several reason why dubai internet marketing online has become extremely important to the competitive real estate agent.

• 71% of homebuyers use the Internet for research and to search for listings and services
• Internet homebuyers make better clients
• It saves time and is more cost effective than most traditional forms of marketing

Millions of Homebuyers Hit the Internet for Information

The Internet is the first "Dubai Real Estate" place more and more homebuyers are beginning their search for a home. According to a study done by the National Association of Realtors, 71% of homebuyers take their search online.

These numbers will only increase with the Internet reaching more and more households. Nearly 70,000 new people are getting Internet access every day. Studies also show that the average homebuyer is also getting younger, and increasingly grew up with the Internet.

Internet Homebuyers Make Better Clients in Dubai

According to "Dubai Real Estate" a study commissioned by the California Association of Realtors, Internet homebuyers were reported to be wealthier and purchasing more expensive homes. Internet homebuyers bought a median priced home of $452,000 while traditional buyers purchased a median priced home of $310,000.

In the same study, homebuyers Dubai Real Estate also reported that the Internet shortened their home search. The entire home purchasing process took half as long for homebuyers who used the Internet as those who did not. More importantly, Internet buyers spent half as much time with their real estate agents, visiting only half as many homes as traditional buyers before making Dubai Real Estate their purchase. They were able to view listings online and narrow down their search to the few homes they were strongly interested in.

Homebuyers using the Internet were also more knowledgeable about the purchasing process, and expressed greater satisfaction with their real estate agents.

More expensive purchases, Dubai Real Estateshorter search cycles, and happy clients who are better informed about the home-buying process -- could it get any better?

In fact it does! Homebuyers who search the Internet are actually more likely than traditional buyers to use a real estate agent to find their home and complete the purchase. 77% of Internet homebuyers use a real estate agent, "Real Estate Dubai" compared to only 70% of those who do not take advantage of the Internet.

If you're not marketing online, you're losing a goldmine of prospective clients dubai internet marketing.

Online Marketing Saves Time and is Cost Effective

In addition to the huge audience of excellent prospective clients, the Internet offers both convenience and cost effectiveness that traditional media cannot. Web sites are more engaging and informative than even the best brochures. Emails make it easier and cheaper to keep in touch with existing clients. You do not need to have a four or five-figure marketing budget to create a professional online presence.

Source:http://www.blitzdevelopment.com/real-estate-marketing-01.php

Sheffield to invest $1.5b in Dubai real estate

Dubai: The Dubai-based Sheffield Real Estate yesterday said it plans to invest up to $1.5 billion in Dubai's property market in the next year.

The company yesterday conducted a ground-breaking ceremony for its Dh1.4 billion Marina 101, which is being developed in partnership with the leading Russian property developer Rustar Real Estate.

At 101 floors and 412 metres, Marina 101, situated at the Dubai Marina, is the tallest hotel apartment tower in the world. The Marina 101 project, spread across approximately 1.65 million square feet, will offer investors 252 one bed, 204 two bed and 42 three bedroom apartments, besides eight luxury duplex penthouses and is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2010.

Abuali Malik Shroff, Managing Director, Sheffield Real Estate, said: "Our intention in conceiving our projects is to offer investors an excellent investment option which will generate higher returns through increasing asset and income yields. It is in this vein we have conceived Marina 101, which has attracted tremendous investor enthusiasm, thanks to its first-of-its-kind money-back concept which ensures investors 75 per cent returns on its net revenue from the property after possession," he said.

Shroff said Sheffield Real Estate is gearing up to launch a retail shopping mall in one of the upcoming area of Dubai, while the company is also working on putting up a hotel apartment project in Dubai Marina.

"Investors in Dubai have become more discerning and are very particular in ensuring the quality of the project as well as the returns it could generate in the medium to long-term. We have factored in these needs while conceiving our projects, including the new developments in the pipe-line. The money back concept of Marina 101 has also put us in the forefront bringing us a reputation as a developer focused on returns, to the investors" he added.

Marina 101 has a hotel component which will occupy the first 32 floors. The hotel will be owned by Sheffield Real Estate and Rustar Real Estate jointly and managed by the world's leading hotel company, the InterContinental Hotels Group.

Source: http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Real_Estate_Property/10091039.html

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

One of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf

Dubai is the most populous and second largest emirate of the United Arab Emirates after. Dubai is distinct from other members of the UAE in that revenues from oil account for only 6% of its gross doemstic products. A majority of the emirate's revenues are from the Jebel Ali Freezone and increasingly from tourism.

The government's decision to diversify from a trade-based but oil-reliant economy to one that is service- and tourism-oriented has made real estate more valuable, resulting in the property boom from 2004-2006. Construction on a large scale has turned Dubai into one of the fastest growing cities in the world, equalled only by the large Chinese cities.

The property boom is largely driven by Mega-Projects -

Off-shore such as Palm Ilands and The World.

Inland such as Dubai Marina, The Burj Dubai Complex, Dubai Waterfront, Business Bay and Dubailand.

The aspirations of the ruling sheikh are reflected by the ultra-modern architecture of the city; home to iconic skyscrapers such as Emirates Towers, which are the 12th and 24th tallest buildings in the world, and the Burj al-Arab located on its very own island in the Persian Gulf and currently the tallest hotel in the world.

Emaar Properties is currently constructing what will become the world's tallest structure, the Burj Dubai. The final height of the skyscraper is a closely guarded secret - an indication of the developer's resolve to attain the title of the world's tallest building and its intention to hold on to it for as long as possible - but estimates so far point to a height upwards of 810m. Burj Dubai is expected to be completed in 2008. Burj Dubai's neighbour is another behemoth under construction: the world's largest shopping mall - the Dubai Mall.

Also under construction is what is planned to become Dubai's new Central Business District, named Business Bay. The project, when completed, will feature a phenomenal 500 skyscrapers built around an artificial extension of the existing Dubai Creek.

In February 2005, the construction of Dubai Waterfront was announced, it will be 2½ times the size of Washington D.C., roughly seven times the size of the island of Manhattan. Dubai Waterfront will be a mix of canals and islands full of hotels and residential areas that will add 800 km (500 miles) of man-made waterfront. It will also contain Al Burj, another one of the tallest buildings in the world.

Dubai has also launched Dubiotech. This is a new park to be targeted at Biotech companies working in pharma, medical fields, genetic research and even biodefense. The aim of this park is to foster the growth of this sector in Dubai and to utilize the region's talent in addressing this rapidly growing sector.

One of Dubai's recent groundbreaking plans is for a 30-story, 200 apartment skyscraper that will slowly rotate at its base, making a 360 degree revolution once a week. The world's first rotating skyscraper is to be in the center of the Dubailand complex and should be completed by 2009.

The International Media Production Zone is a project targeted at creating a hub for printers, publishers, media production companies, and related industry segments. Launched in 2003, the project is scheduled to be completed in 2006.

A new project was announced on May 1, 2006 by the authorities. It is named Bawadi and will consist of a 27 billion US-dollar investment intended to increase Dubai's number of hotel rooms by 29,000, doubling it from the current figure offers now. The largest complex will be called Asia, Asia and will be the largest hotel in the world with more than 6,500 rooms.

The first villa freehold properties that were occupied by non-UAE nationals were The Meadows, The Springs, and The Lakes (high-end neighbourhoods designed by Emaar Properties, collectively called Emirates Hills).

Expatriates of various nationalities have been pouring capital into Dubai in the past several years, greatly contributing to the city's prosperity. Iranian expatriates alone are estimated to have invested up to US$200 Billion in Dubai.

Dubai interests have also purchased large amounts of real estate in foreign countries, in particular snapping up trophy properties in global centers like New York and London. Purchases in 2005 included New York's 230 Park Avenue (formerly known as the New York Central Building or the Helmsley Building) and Essex House on Central Park South.

See the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing's list of developments in Real Estate Dubai for more information.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai