Virtually every real estate professional markets themselves online one way or another, whether it's through their own website or simply by dumping their listings on multiple MLS's and sites like Trulia and Zillow.

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The results can be mixed at best, and not everyone is able to get a decent flow of traffic their way. But there is one way to get an instant traffic boost – and that's through 'paid traffic', the most obvious form of which is traffic from Google Adwords.

Naturally paid traffic comes at a cost – but what is that cost, exactly? That's the question In Motion Real Estate Media set out to answer in a recent study, and the results definitely raise a few eyebrows.

“Cost-per-click” is the cost an advertiser will pay Google for a website visitor to click on their Ad and it can vary drastically depending on the market and keyword you are targeting. Specifically, Ads may appear in Google’s search results (search network) or within web pages (content network).

The study results show that office-related keywords are by far the most expensive asset class (in comparison to industrial, retail, and lab) and Washington DC, New York, and Dallas are the most competitive for office-related keywords with average CPCs of $29.44, $23.45, and $19.62 respectively.

"We are seeing a surge in online marketing Ad spend among commercial real estate companies and the recent study reflects the increasing competitiveness in keyword bids,” said Bob Samii, Founder of inMotion Real Estate MediaCRE.

“Companies are using Google Adwords to help generate leads and increase visibility for themselves and their property listings like never before, something that was not very common just a few years back. I expect the investment in online advertising to continue to surge in what has been a fairly traditional industry in terms of marketing."

So before you start your next online property marketing campaign, make sure you do your research.