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Using the internet as a marketing tool is essential for landlords today in finding tenants for their rental properties, whether they be residential or commercial.

Most residential properties are rented by the 22 to 30 age group. These young adults grew up using the internet as a research tool, and odds are they will turn to the internet when looking for an apartment or house for rent.

There are several means of advertising on the internet some free, some quite expensive.

One critical mistake many landlords make when using the internet for advertising is leaving out pictures and floorplans, and using too much shorthand to describe their offering. The internet is a visual medium and the more words the better in most cases.

You absolutely must have a Web site. This does not have to be an expensive proposition, but if you are a landlord of any size (10 or more units) without a Web site, you will have a lower credibility factor' with your potential tenants, especially if what you are renting is an A-class property. You should also analyze the Web sites of the largest landlords in your area, and try to emulate (not copy!) those with front page search engine rankings.

If you live in a Metropolitan Statistical Area (as defined by the US Census Bureau) of 250,000 or more people, odds are that there is a Craigslist.com site dedicated to your area. Advertising on Craigslist.com is free, and you do not have to resort to clunky abbreviations in order to describe what you have for rent. Including pictures and/or floor plans are also highly recommended options.

Many cities also have smaller, regionalized message boards for finding and renting property. These are also generally free, but may take a bit of digging to locate. Locating them and getting a listing there will probably help raise your Web site's rank in the search engines, and thus the number of potential tenants.

Most newspapers have Web sites that include the listings from their classified ads on them. Depending on the paper, the cost of being listed is free, or comes at an additional cost. If the newspaper you are advertising in does not have this as an option, and you have a different option available, take it! Some newspapers offer an internet-only option at a lower cost than the print version. Test the success of going this route, you may be surprised at its effectiveness.

There are several listing services on the internet for which a landlord pays either a one-time, annual, or monthly fee for having their name and link included. If you have an advertisement in the Yellow Pages, be sure that your listing is included on their Web site. Be sure a link to your company's Web site is included.

There are several rate your landlord' sites springing up. Most are unmoderated, and most contain nothing but gripe sessions from prior tenants about what they perceived as bad landlords. Do not ignore these sites if you have a current tenant who is happy with you, direct them to one of these sites and ask them to talk up what is good about you. If you have a bad rating on one of these sites, try to have it removed, if the claims are false.

Learn more about this author, W Thomas Payne.
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