Mary's Blog

I have recently encountered a glut of bloggers that have taken some very bad advice in the form of reciprocal linking (this one seems to be repackaged monthly as a comment scheme, blogroll or some other hair-brained idea), too many links on a homepage, more than one H1 tag on a single page, etc.  The results have been devastating: they have lost their coveted positions on the first page of Google for prime keywords and been slapped by the last PageRank update (Jan 11) with a PR 0.  So, this is my social service post to help you identify bad SEO adivice when you hear it! (if you want to learn more about about bad SEO advice- tune into my Tuesday WebEx- link is at the bottom of this post)

There are a lot of sources for SEO advice in the real estate blogosphere, however, you need look at each person doling out that advice.  In the same way you wouldn't get parenting advice from Britney Spears, you don't want SEO advice from a self proclaimed guru that can't rank for their own keywords or can't pass simple SEO analysis.  Look past the fact that a person says they are an SEO expert and look at their ability to successful put multiple websites or blogs on the first page of Google for short tail keywords in difficult markets. 

Who should you trust?

Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz

Aaron Wall of SEOBook

Stephen Spencer of Net Concepts

Matt Cutts of Google

Andy Beal

Michael Gray of GrayWolf SEO Blog

Basically, people that do SEO as a living not a hobby. 

What kind of advice is BAD advice?

Most of the bad SEO advice I have seen lately, looks like it came straight out of 1999: reciprocal linking, large linkage on homepages, increasing the number of pages through open forums, keyword spamming, etc.  What may have worked in 1999 will get you shot through the heart in 2008.  So, listen up kiddies, take notes and DOT NOT FOLLOW the following advice:

1. Change your permalink or url structures for better SEO

When you hear, "hey, this is a better way to structure your urls/permalinks" don't go changing them.  You are indexed based on your existing url structure, so if you change it- you are breaking your links in Google's index.  Irrevocably changing permalink structure on an established site from http://www.sitename/category-name/post-title to  http://www.sitename/date/post-title  will throw your site out of the search engines for a period of time until they are able to fully re-index you. Remember,  Google isn't psychic- you cannot change the urls of your posts and think Google will be able to figure out where all those posts went unless you use a self healing 301 redirect feature. 

Read also: Permalinks explained

2. Name categories anything you want

When you hear, "Don't worry about how you name your categories," ignore it.  Be specific- write them for users and search engines.  Make them keyword rich and easily identifiable ESPECIALLY if your permalink structure uses the category name in your url.

3. Posting to multiple categories causes duplicate content and you'll get banned

When you hear someone telling WordPress users that posting to multiple categories will cause duplicate content (the implication is you will be banned from Google), use some logic:  There are times when this can happen but your little blog with a handful (hundreds +) of posts isn't even a blip on the radar to Google, so if you think you will get banned for duplicating a page here or there- don't be so egotistical, they don't care.  Duplicate content filters are looking for colossal offenders like spam sites that mirror thousands of pages across domains. Or, you can solve the whole problem by not passing category or parameter info in the url... wow, there is a simple fix to the whole supposed problem, imagine that.

Read also: Duplicate content filters explained

4. Gang commenting, reciprocal linking and the like is a good way to build backlinks

When you hear someone advocating a group of bloggers to form a gang and comment on each others posts with keyword rich text or link to one another in blogrolls, STEER CLEAR OF IT.  Jay Thompson covered this one extensively.  This is best compared to Revenge of the Nerds.  A whole bunch of PageRank 0s commenting on each other's posts with each others keywords to boost relevancy is pointless.  It's not hard to imagine that Google is able to look and say look all these links coming and going from the same places - sure looks like reciprocal linking to me.  FYI: the days of commenting for backlinks are over- everyone puts no-follow tags in their comments now. The keyword usage was ridiculous as it just looked like spam to both Google and users. There is a point where the density gets so high, Google just considers your page irrelevant. 

Read also: Google slaps real estate blogs for reciprocal linking

Read also: Does Google hate your link love?

5. Large blogrolls and more than 120 links on your homepage is not bad for SEO

Telling the entire blogosphere, a large blogroll in your sidebar is fine or more than 120 links on your home page is acceptable.  Go ask some of the bloggers struck down in the blaze of glory that was Google's last two PageRank Updates.  You bloat your page past the 120 link threshold and there is a good chance you will be penalized because you look like a link farm to Google.

Read also: Google hates your blogroll

6. Use a lot of chicklets to show how popular you are and help social networking

20, 30, 40 useless chicklets and advertising in your footer is totally cool. This won't look like link farming to Google at all.  One of the key ways of gaining trust with Google is gaining inbound links not doling out your links (that probably have little value unless you are a PR5 or above) to others.  Don't waste your links.  Use them wisely and with discrimination.  You only have 120, so use them for navigation or give them to sites your visitors will find useful.  My personal opinion is many chicklets people put on their blogs are only there to stroke the bloggers ego.  Wow, I'm #1 on such and such blog directory- does the consumer you are trying to convert care about that?

7. An un-moderated forum will help you increase the number of indexed pages in Google so your site will climb the SERPs faster

You know, this strategy probably will help you get more indexed pages, help you generate more traffic and show up higher in the SERPs... for terms related to porn and prescription medication! Putting an un-moderated forum on a blog to increase the number of indexed pages is just irresponsible.  If you think you can stomach the results of this faux pas, click the link below.

Read also: Un-moderated forum makes me blush

NOT SAFE FOR WORK IMAGES INCLUDED IN THE FOLLOWING POST

How to identify an SEO impostor

If your source for SEO advice gives one pieces of advice then contradicts it a month later, your SEO might be an impostor

If they make money selling houses and not technology services, your SEO might be an impostor

If your expert's examples of SEO are only related to their website with no proven ability to replicate those results on other websites, your SEO might be an impostor

If your expert's examples of SEO are Stupid Examples and Observations,  your SEO might be an impostor

If your SEO expert tells you Google is bad and Google just doesn't understand how brilliant your website is, your SEO might be an imposter

If you follow your expert's advice and your website or blog loses PageRank or search engine positioning, your SEO might be an impostor

If you can't find your website with Google, two hands, a flashlight, a GPS and the URL, your SEO might be an impostor

If your SEO gives you advice but cannot explain (from a technical perspective) why they believe that advice will benefit you, your SEO might be an impostor

How to avoid BAD SEO ADVICE

Always ask why the person giving you advice is recommending it and before you implement it, make sure that a respected authority in the SEO word seconds it by doing a search on Google.

Week of Jan 28: Blog and SEO Webinar Training Schedule

Please come early to the WebEx's they fill up quickly and only allow 20 people in at one time. 

Monday:  2 PM EST: Blogging :: How to social network for traffic and leads

Join me for a 30 minute class on how you can use social network sites like Digg, Technorati, ActiveRain, LinkedIn, MyBlogLog, etc to build your business and blog. Bring your questions and hopefully I can answer them.

Recommended course reading: How to generate leads from a real estate blog

You have been invited to join a meeting on the Web, using WebEx MeetMeNow.

Please click the following link to join the meeting: https://mwmus.webex.com/mwmus/jm.php?PWD=socialnetworking&MK=941185740  

MEETING PASSWORD: socialnetworking

Date: January 28, 2008

Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (GMT -05:00, New York)

Teleconference: Call-in toll number (US/Canada): 1-408-792-6300

Meeting Number: 941 185 740

Tuesday: 2 PM EST: SEO :: How to save your blog from the 5 most deadly mistakes

Join me for a 30 minute webinar on how to avoid being slapped by Google in a PageRank update and steer clear of the 5 most common and most deadly mistakes made in the real estate blogosphere.  This is a hands on class, so be ready to take notes and see how I would change site elements to gain better traction on the engines.  Stick around after and I will give you specific advice to improve your site if you are making these mistakes.

Recommended reading: Real Estate blogs Get Slapped by Google

Recommended reading: Autopsy of a Reciprocal Linking Penalty

You have been invited to join a meeting on the Web, using WebEx MeetMeNow.

Please click the following link to join the meeting:

You have been invited to join a meeting on the Web, using WebEx MeetMeNow.

Please click the following link to join the meeting:

https://mwmus.webex.com/mwmus/jm.php?PWD=seotraining&MK=949654085 

MEETING PASSWORD: seotraining
Date: January 29, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (GMT -05:00, New York)
Teleconference: Call-in toll number (US/Canada): 1-408-792-6300
Meeting Number: 949 654 085

PageRank 5 Club: by invitation only

PageRank 5 Club is a select group of bloggers invited to a weekly seminar and strategy session that helps them achieve a PageRank 5 within two Google PageRank Updates.  This is where I share the secret SEO strategies I don't share on my blog.

Course work and WebEx link emailed to you on Monday January 28^th, 2008

Invited Bloggers: Laurie Mannym, Marc Blasi, Brian Wilson, Mariana Wagner, Lenore Wilkas, Brian Brady, Broker Bryant

The About Page on your blog is NOT the About Page on your website.

Make sure your About Page reads conversationally. This is a place where you can let your hair down and show a reader who you are as a real estate professional and as a person. One of the first rules of social hierarchy and likeability (yes, I am sociologist, so this is actually scientific) is that you show others how you are like them and in turn, they will like you because like-minded and interested people like each other. 

Read also: How to write like a human on your real estate blog

Determine who your readers are and how best to approach those readers

Numero uno: every real estate business is different. If you cater to new home buyers, you have need to write differently than if you cater to the luxury or foreclosure markets. So, first, consider for whom you are writing your About Page. If indeed ,you target first time home buyers, be sure to discuss how you can guide them through the process and explain that process in plain English, or if you cater to luxury home buyers, toss in a reference to your favorite golf course or yacht club, to show them… yes, I am like you and I can relate to you and your needs. 

According to ProBlogger, there are four main questions that readers want answered on your About Me page:

• who you are
• your expertise and how it addresses
• their problem or goal
• and how to contact you

A Realtors Formula for writing a killer About Page

1. Welcome readers to our blog.
2. Detail expertise by listing your education, credentials and certifications
3. Relate that you are like your readers by including some personal interests, hobbies and/or family information
4. Show strength in numbers by profiling your team
5. Illustrate who you are by providing a headshot or a picture of you with your team
6. Demonstrate that you are respected by listing awards
7. Confirm authority by including your brokerage information and personal logo
8. Provide all available contact information even if you have a dedicated contact page so readers can have all your available information on a single page that they can print out

Ann Cummings: Ann has the uncanny ability to tell you about how she won “New Hampshire State Realtor of the Year” without the slightest hint of conceit. Her bio reads easily and chronicles her family history as the child of a serviceman that had to pick up and move frequently which shows her commitment to helping families move with the greatest of ease.  Because I am familiar with Ann’s New Hampshire and Maine sales territories and am a born and breed New Englander, I can firmly say, her About Page is very well tailored to her market with just enough substance and warmth to interest readers yet concise enough to not turn off the no-nonsense northern sensibility.

Alex and Lenore Wilkas: Alex and Lenore do an amazing job at conveying who they are as not only Realtors but as people. Anyone who reads their About Page immediately understands that not only are these two professionals with a long history in the industry but they are relatable human beings with real interests. I like this About Page because it s not a one dimensional resume of accomplishments but a very relaxed biography that fits in perfectly with their Northern California farm area.

Rick and Ines Garcia: This power couple details not only their deep connection to the Miami area and experience within the real estate and accounting worlds, but also their commitment to their clients as a team that provides full service support throughout the real estate transaction. Their About Page reads powerfully and I highly recommend using it as a guide when you start yours.

The value proposition for BayWatch was simple: hot babes in skimpy bathing suits running on a beach + David Hasslehoff = men tune in every Wednesday at 8PM.  Talk about being called to action!  Now that is exactly the response you want to generate on your real estate blog.  You want all the eyeballs visiting your site to immediately be attracted by the shiny object at the top or side of each page that dumps them directly into your lead generator.

Your property search and CMA are the Pamela Anderson and David Hasslehoff of your blog

Yes, I know you probably don't have hot chicks in bathingsuits and I  sure hope you don't have David Hasslehoff, but what you likely do have is a property search and a CMA.  And believe it or not, those two things are very sexy to someone coming to your site to buy or sell property, so use them!  When I say use them, I don't mean burry them in some text link on the side, I mean, hire a graphics designer (or do it yourself if you can) and have high impact graphical buttons created for those links.

Common Mistake

One of the biggest mistakes I see real estate blogs making is placing a text link in the blog sidebar to the front page of the Realtors website.  What's wrong with this?  The reader doesn't know that that link is where they need to click to search for properties or get a home value. 

Solution

What your blog needs is a graphical button that clearly spells out the value (home search or home value) and links directly to the search page or CMA on the website. 

How to write calls to action

Calls to action should be as sexy as Pam and answer What's In It For Me (WIFM). 

Property Search Call to Action

Your property search should have a picture of a house, a search icon (like a magnifying glass) and clearly say- "Click here to: Search all Lake Park, FL Homes."  Try to avoid the term MLS since not every consumer knows what that is.

Newsletter or RSS Feed Call to Action

You can also turn your newsletter or subscription list into a call to action, just see how this foreclosure blog is doing it, www.SanDiegoForeclosureConnection.com.

CMA Call to Action

For your CMA call to action, try to avoid the term CMA, use terminology like "what's my home worth?" or "home value." 

Where to place a Call to Action

There should be multiple calls to action on your site.  You MUST have a call to action on the top of every page of your blog.  This makes your lead generator and the most useful tool for visitors easily and readily accessabel on every single page of your blog. 

Example:

You should also include lesser lead generator calls to action in the sidebar.  These should include a button for your CMA, newsletter, contact form and featured properties. 

Example:

In the footer or below the content of your blog you should also include a text based call to action that should read something like: To begin your search for the perfect home or to sell your home in the Lake Park, FL area, begin your journey by calling Mary McKnight at (239) 214-2272.

Example:

Hot Tip

When you have your graphic designer make a large, unavoidable, super sexy button for the top of your blog tat calls readers to go and search for listings, you might also want to ask him to create a set of about 5 smaller buttons for search, home value, featured listings and contact similar to those on www.longbeachrealestatehome.com.   These smaller buttons can be used in the sidebar of your blog or on posts you publish to ActiveRain, WannaNetwork, Zolve, Realtor.com, etc so you can start using those posts to directly generate leads.

Related Posts

The first rule of PageRank 5 Club is, you don't talk about PageRank 5 Club! OK, I am totally breaking this rule, but only a little!

PageRank 5 Club is group of no more 10 bloggers, RSS Pieces selects after each PageRank Update (for those of you that weren't paying attention, Google updated PageRank on January 11^th, 2008). This elite group of 6 bloggers were selected because they are either a PR4 or they have a strong PR3.  Each blog we select must also already rank on the first page of Google for a short tail keyword. The club, which meets once a week for the 5 weeks following a PageRank Update focuses heavily on high level SEO strategies that WILL ensure that these bloggers hit a PR5 within the next two PageRank updates. Each week, this club learns 5 secrets of SEO and is given homework to go out there and implement those secrets so they can achieve the unbelievable, a PR 5.

Meet PagRank 5 Club Season 1:

Ines Garcia, PR 4, www.miamism.com

Laurie Manny, PR 4, www.longbeachrealestatehome.com

Brian Brady, PR 3, www.mortgageratesreport.com

Lenore Wilkas, PR 3, www.sanmateorealestatenews.com

Marc Blasi, PR 3, www.palmbeachrealestateandloans.com

Mariana Wagner, PR 3, www.coloradospringsrealestateconnection.com

So, while I won't share all the secrets I give to the club, I will share one from each week, so you can play along too.

SEO Secret #1: the length of time your domain is registered for matters

Google and other search engines like to see domains that have been registered for extended periods of time as this shows a commitment to the domain name. It also is an indicator that this website is not a temporary spam site. Most experts agree that you should register your domain for a long time, because search engines factor domain "stability" when looking at your pages. In fact, the last Google algorithm update began taking this factor into account when weighting domain credibility.

ACTION ITEM: re-register your domain for the longest amount of time possible (i.e. 5 or 10 years)

Recommended resource: Age of a Domain Name by WebConfs

Also, if you have the time and the accumen, read the Google Patent Application, pay special attention to the sections that mention domain age and registration.

Recommended resource: SEOmoz's analysis of the Google Patent and historical data.

Pay special attention to #4: straight from Rand's keyboard:

4. What Google is Attempting to Measure

Google wants to measure or is attempting to actively measure each of the following:

1. Domain information
2. Registration date
3. Length of renewal (10 years, 5 years, 1 year, etc)
4. Addresses and Names of admin & technical contacts
5. DNS Records
6. Address of Name Servers
7. Hosting Location & Company
8. Stability of this data

Want to learn more?  Then join me on my weekly WebExs  that will teach you the secrets of climbing to the top of the search engines and how to succeed at blogging.

Free Blog Training WebEx: How to generate leads from your blog

Join me for a 30 minute class on how you can structure your blog and use it to generate high quality leads.  We’ll go over calls to action and review various lead generators such as WolfNet, 1 Park Place and HomeFinder.  Bring your questions and hopefully I can answer them.

Recommended course reading: The proof is in the pudding; Realtors generating leads from blogs- how they do it.

Please click the following link to join the meeting:

https://mwmus.webex.com/mwmus/jm.php?PWD=P2%24YNFtj%28-a-aF&MK=941756827

MEETING PASSWORD: blogtraining

Date: January 21, 2008

Time: 1:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (GMT -05:00, New York)

Teleconference: Call in phone number (US/Canada): 1-408-792-6300

Meeting Number: 941 756 827

Free SEO Training WebEx: How to SEO your blog in 5 easy steps

Join me for a 30 minute webinar to learn how you can achieve the kind of success clients like Laurie Manny, Ines Garcia, Marc Blasi and Brian Brady have by reaching page 1 of Google for short tail keywords in less than 4 months.  This is a hands on class, so be ready to take notes and see how I would change a site elements and write quality keyword rich content to gain better traction on the engines.  Stick around after and I will give you specific advice to improve your site.

Recommended reading: How to put your real estate blog on the first page of Google guaranteed

Please click the following link to join the meeting:

https://mwmus.webex.com/mwmus/jm.php?PWD=R5kw%2C5sKJ4J4%29&MK=941034487

 
MEETING PASSWORD: seotraining

Date: January 22, 2008

Time: 1:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (GMT -05:00, New York)

Teleconference: Call in phone number (US/Canada): 1-408-792-6300

Meeting Number: 941 034 487

Blogs are like the Cosa Nostra of websites.  They are connected to one another, bribe their way up the search engine results and peddle their wares to readers...  But just like the mafia, if you don't give a blog what it wants in return, you might just get wacked.  Here's the skinny.  According to Technorati (AKA the blogfather) there are 35.3 million blogs out there. The most concerning thing about all that competition is that Technorati also reports that only 55% of people who start a blog today will still be blogging 3 months from now.  Needless to say, it's a blog eat blog world out there and you need to do everything you can to keep your real estate blog out of the fertilizer business, if you know what I mean.

Read also: Do you know the 6 signs of blog death?

Why do blogs get wacked?

The number one reason most agents give up on their blog is that they aren't getting results: leads don't fall from the heavens, traffic doesn't climb and people just don't care enough to leave a comment or contact the Realtor.  So, with no results to show for all their efforts, these agents just pack up their keyboards and enter the blogosphere protection program.  But, what you have to realize, is that these bloggers probably bored their readers to death and likely earned the results they got.  So, how do you keep your blog off the hit list? Simple, you put a little ba da bing in your posts and start entertaining your readers. 

Read also: Killing me softly with your blog

5 Secrets That Will Keep Your Blog From Pushing Up Daisies

1. Make the user experience intuitive and easy to navigate.

The casino syndrome is the experience a user has when they visit a site and they simply can't find where they are going or even get back where they were.  Your blog needs to be easy to use.  It should have a search tool, an RSS subscription system, an easy to find contact button and links for your most popular and most recent posts.  You should make the blog as user friendly as possible with an easy navigation system that guides users through the site naturally.

Read also: Features of successful blogs

2. Write posts using proven blog copywriting techniques

Give readers and search engine what they want with well structured formatting, quality content and keyword rich text.  Use forward links to reference your sources and build credibility while utilizing internal links to keep readers moving through you site.  But most of all, select topics that engage readers.  Create a little controversy, tell readers how each post will make their lives better, faster, richer, easier... Basically, become a must stop online spot for your local readers.

Read also: Formula for a Successful Blog Post

3.  Avoid the most common rookie blogger mistakes

One of the biggest mistakes companies and real estate professionals alike make is looking at their blog as just another way to get the same old marketing message out in the same old corporate mumbo jumbo way. Blogging is about connecting with people by having a personal one-on-one conversation not about a sales pitch.  So, you need to give your blog the "it" factor.  That single thing that will make people want to read it.

Read also: Real estate blog rookie mistakes

4. Choose content wisely by targeting your local market

Most people focus just on local readers that are interested in looking for or selling a house now.    But that is a mistake.   You are limiting your reach by choosing only people interested in real estate.  The blogosphere is still very small on a local level, so position your blog as a local resource rather than just as a local real estate resource.  You need to attract both those readers looking for real estate services now and in the future.  That means, you don't always have to talk real estate turkey.  Write like a journalist and review a restaurant, interview a local golf pro, talk to the local historian, etc.  People love to see their name in print, so interviewing towns people is the best way for you to leverage your online presence and some off line word of mouth marketing.

Read also: Shhh... Is Your Blog Full of "It?"

5. Market your blog Soprano style

While most blogs have built in marketing services like pinging and RSS subscriptions, you still need to get the word out on the street yourself.  The two most effective ways to market your blog are to seed your posts to social networks like Real Estate Voices and Digg and comment on other industry and local blogs. 

Read also: Guerrilla Blogging Marketing Strategy

Read also: Commenting for Traffic

Read also: Using Social Bookmarks to Promote Your Blog

Google very well may be hatin’ on your real estate blog link love. If you and your Realtor friends from across the country exchange links regularly in a blogroll or a links page, you very well may get your site penalized by Big Daddy G. Just look at the curious case of John Sabia, a Fort Lauderdale real estate agent who admittedly was manipulating rankings with reciprocal linking and was struck down in a blaze of search engine glory by Google’s reciprocal linking penalty. While John has successfully completed his reformation from a gray hat SEO to a white hat SEO angel of a webmaster, according to SEOmoz expert, Rand Fishkin, he is likely to spend up to 5 months climbing out of Google’s penalty box. Ouch.

If you read me regularly, you know how I love me some SEOmoz. However, these two posts go way beyond my having a crush on Rand Fishkin (shhh, don’t tell my husband!), they are your complete guide to diagnosing, avoiding and getting out of a Google penalty. Print them out and live by them!

Read also: What it looks like to be lost in Google’s real estate reciprocal link penalty

Read also: How to handle a Google penalty and an example from the field of real estate

According to Wikipedia, a reciprocal link is a mutual link between two objects, commonly between two websites in order to ensure mutual traffic. Example: Alice and Bob have websites. If Bob's website links to Alice's website, and Alice's website links to Bob's website, the websites are reciprocally linked. 

So, if you are trading links on a links.html or a blogroll (or worse yet a global site basis) with every Realtor you meet on ActiveRain, you are engaging in reciprocal linking. 

Now, there is a big difference between a natural reciprocal link where I might write about you and later down the road you might write about me and hard core reciprocal link building. Where you have to be careful is when you start linking to every Tom, Dick and Harry that your meet on one of the real estate social networks and they link to you. Hmm. Sounds like the blogroll ain’t such a good idea if all you use it for is a social roll call. Be sure that if you do use a blogroll or a links page you link to other local blogs/website, services you really want to recommend, your mortgage broker, etc. Stay away from the ballooning blogroll full of Realtors from all over the country- that just ain’t cool. Google won’t like it and your consumer readers probably don’t care about your Realtor friends in Wisconsin if they are looking for a home in Cape Coral, FL.

Here’s what Rand says on where to limit your reciprocal linking:

“Google has no interest in ranking a site higher because they've traded links with realtors around the country anonymously and primarily for the purpose of rankings. Now, granted, there is a tough line to draw here because there may, in fact, be realtors who do have some relationships in other cities or states and genuinely want to endorse one another's services.”

 “It's not a huge deal to link to 5, 10 or maybe even 20 of your friends from the industry. But, push that to 50, 100 or more and things start looking pretty suspicious. If you're linking out to 10 dozen sites and they all link back to you and all of these outbound links appear on one page (particularly when that page is named links.html - 38,000 results or links.htm - 26,000 results), Matt's spam busters are going to get mighty suspicious.”

Tip: Link to no more than 20 friends from within the industry!

How to tell if your real estate blog has been caught in the reciprocal linking penalty crossfire

1. Do a Google search for your domain (for example rsspieces.com) and make sure you show up first. That tells you you aren’t banned
2. Do a Google search for your site name (for example rsspieces) and make sure you show up towards the top
3. Do a Google search for the exact title of your blog (for example RSS Pieces’ title is Real Estate Blogs and Real Estate Blog Training). If your search result for this query shows up below the search result for the previous query, that is a good indication you are being penalized.

Go to Google’s Webmaster Central and submit a re-inclusion request

When you do this, fall on your sword and admit to your bad behavior. Don’t plead ignorance. You’ll get a better result with owning up to your mistake and promising not to do it again than saying you don’t know what happened and you were penalized erroneously.

Free SEO Training WebEx: How to SEO your blog in 5 easy steps

Want to learn how to easily SEO your blog or website for better search placement?  Then come join me on my weekly SEO Training WebEx.  This week, I will be covering the basics of how to SEO your site.  Learn to make minor tweaks to your site yourself, set realistic goals and how to analyze results.

Please click here to join the meeting

MEETING PASSWORD: searchengine
Date: January 15, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (GMT -05:00, New York)
Teleconference: Call in phone number (US/Canada Direct) 1-408-792-6300
Meeting Number: 941 011 183

I recently read a bunch of SEO conspiracy articles floating around the real estate blogosphere about how Google is "stealing" content, traffic, listings, clicks, leads, your first born child, etc. I even read one conspiracy theorist that actually suggested you forget about Google altogether because the Top Realtors in the country can't be found on the first page therefore, neither should YOU. I suppose it never occurred to this Realtor that the Top Realtors in the country have far more robust networks and far more dollars to throw at marketing than the average Realtor and therefore may not need the boost Google would give them. (Additionally, I dispute that statement as the top Realtor in the country according to the NYC Times DOES sit at the top of the engines for the terms she wants to) Now, for those of you that have thought about drinking this crazy Cool-Aid, let's consider what Google's role is and what it does for you, your website and your business and why you need to cater to Google to benefit from its services.

1. Google is a global directory of websites, categorized by keywords to facilitate user searches on the Internet. The process is: Google sends a robot out to scour your website, the robot reports back to a datacenter all the pages it crawled on your site, the services at the datacenter organize those pages by keywords and relevancy into Google's primary and secondary indexes, so when a user performs a search the system pulls back the most relevant indexed results (your pages) for the user to peruse.

2. Without Google or other search engines, it would be near impossible to find the content you are looking for on the web unless you already knew the web address of the site you want to visit. (Think about all those great websites that don't have the dinero to spend on national television, radio or newsprint campaigns that you would miss out on if search engines did not exist.)

3. Google is now widely recognized as the world's largest search engine with 49.2% of all searches being performed on it according to Nielsen NetRatings (2006 July Ratings Data). Seems like if you ignore Google's ability to drive traffic to your site, you ignore almost 50% of all Internet search users. Doesn't seem like a wise gamble to me.

More recent data from ComScore for Setember 2007 puts Google's search engine traffic share at 57%

U.S. Core Search Engines by Search Share, September 2007

Google sites 57%

Yahoo sites 23.7

Microsoft sites 10.3

Ask Network 4.7

Time Warner Network 4.3

Notes:

Data are based on the five major search engines, including partner searches and cross-channel searches. Searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines are not included in the core search numbers. Source: comScore, 20074. It is important that you provide relevant keyword rich content on your real estate blog so your site can be indexed and categorized properly by Google so your site can appear on the first or second page of Google's results for your prime keywords. Why is it essential that you appear on page 1 or 2 of Google?

A recent study provides some interesting numbers on the subject of ranking vs. percentage of clicks for that position. This study tracked the number of times people clicked on a listing on Google for a given search query:

First Page:

1^st position: 30%

2^nd position: 15%

3^rd position: 7%

4^th position: 5%

5^th position: 4%

6^th position: 4%

7^th position: 2%

8^th position: 2%

9^th position: 3%

10^th position: 5%



Second Page:

1^st position: 6%

2^nd position: 4%

3^rd position 2%

4^th position and beyond < 1%

As you can see, if your real estate blog isn't on the first two pages of Google for your prime keywords, you may as well forget getting clicked.

5. Getting indexed by Google and placed on the first or second page in the search results through quality SEO strategies is FREE! So, instead of paying for search placement with AdWords or Overture, or placing print media ads or sending out mailers, you can actually garner new prospects through your real estate blog at no additional cost to you. Basically, placement of your real estate blog in Google is FREE advertising for your business.

So, Google is NOT the Evil Empire some would have you believe. Not to say I agree with all their practices, but I can firmly say Google is NOT stealing your content, traffic, leads, pens at the bottom of your purse, white socks from the dryer, etc. Don't you know aliens do that!

Conspiracy Theorists Beware:Go back to your X-files and come up with another hairbrained argument, but be sure to wear your tin foil hat so those pesky extra terrestrials won't read your brain waves.

Want to learn more about  blogging and SEO?  Come join me for my public weekly Webinars where I will teach you how to blog effectively, mine for leads and kill it on the search engines.  This weeks sessions will cover lead generation through blogging and basic SEO techniques.  Login, learn and get your questions answered!

Want to learn how to generate leads through blogging for your business?  Then come join me on my weekly Blog Training WebEx.  This week, I will be covering the basic steps of how to use your blog as a lead generation tool.

Please click the following link to join the meeting:
https://mwmus.webex.com/mwmus/jm.php?PWD=R5Yt%2C%29%29J4%29&MK=949697198

MEETING PASSWORD: blogging
Date: January 14, 2008
Time: 11:00 am, Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)
Teleconference: Call in phone number (US/Canada Direct) 1-408-792-6300
Meeting Number: 949 697 198

Free SEO Training WebEx: How to SEO your blog in 5 easy steps

Want to learn how to easily SEO your blog or website for better search placement?  Then come join me on my weekly SEO Training WebEx.  This week, I will be covering the basics of how to SEO your site.  Learn to make minor tweaks to your site yourself, set realistic goals and how to analyze results.

Please click the following link to join the meeting: https://mwmus.webex.com/mwmus/jm.php?PWD=R5kwKs%3Bew4%29J4w&MK=941011183

MEETING PASSWORD: searchengine
Date: January 15, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (GMT -05:00, New York)
Teleconference: Call in phone number (US/Canada Direct) 1-408-792-6300
Meeting Number: 941 011 183

While Google's algorithm is complex and has over 100 separate criteria for ranking web pages, there are really only 8 things you need to be concerned with when helping your real estate blog to show up on page 1 of Google.  So, the following is your To Do List if you want top billing on the most used search engine on earth.

1.       Use keywords in link text.  When you link to other internal pages on your site make sure you use keyword rich anchor text that describes the page to which are linking.  You also want to make sure that when other sites link to your real estate blog, they are using descriptive anchor text and not just the name or your site or "click here."

EXAMPLE:

Anchor text is the textual content in a link. The more descriptive and keyword rich the anchor text, the more relevancy and value that backlink. For example, a link that reads: real estate blogs and real estate training to RSS Pieces is actually more valuable than a link that reads RSS Pieces or Click Here. 

Read also: How to build quality backlinks to your real estate blog

2.       Use keywords in your title tag

According to a panel of SEO experts assembled by SEOmoz a keyword rich title tag is the most important factor in search ranking factors. The panel agreed that keyword use in the title tag is of exceptional importance.

What kind of things do you want your title tag to have in it and what should you avoid?

Your title tag should have your farm area(s) and a term related to real estate like "home," condo," or "real estate." You should avoid your name, your company name, some cutesy blog title and even your domain name (unless it too is keyword rich). Why? Simple, you only have so much space available and you need to load whatever space you have with those keywords... don't waste a single character on a word you don't need.

Read also: Real Estate Blog SEO Tip: Keyword Use in Title Tag

3.       Use keywords in your heading tags (H1, H2 and H3)

Heading tags are used to describe the structure on a page, simplify page navigation for readers and to ultimately do what it is supposed to do, allow search engines to crawl your site to find relevant keywords to be shown properly in search results.  Heading tags range from <H1> to <H6>, when using an <H1> tag this "simplifies the highest level of hierarchy in a post", the lower the number, the less important it is to search engines.  These tags should be used wisely and not be manipulated, they support the pages overall keyword theme.   Using keywords is in your heading tags is an important factor to SEO.  Google recognizes that text contained between heading tags represents something more important than text not contained within heading tags.  So, placing keywords between heading tags will help Google to better index your pages for your prime keywords and can significantly help boost your positions in the search results.

Read also: How to research keywords

Read also: Heading tags and search engine optimization

Note: never use more than one H1 on each page of your web page

4.       Monitor and work to increase your PageRank on both your homepage and internal pages.

PageRank is Google's way of assigning a value to your real estate blog or website based upon it's perceived authority. While Google calculates PageRank continuously based on complex algorithms, it only updates the Google PageRank toolbar (data centers) about every three to four months. By simply following the rest of the tips in this post, you should slowly increase your PageRank over time.  In general, you should see a PageRank increase at every other PageRank Update until your hit a 4 or a 5.  As a local real estate blog, you should not expect to hit anything over a 5, however if you do, consider yourself blessed.  PageRank goes from 0-10, the only known 10 being Google itself! (FYI: MSN is an 8 and Yahoo is a 9).

Read also: What is PageRank and How Often Is It Updated?

Read also:  Top 5 On-page Optimization Tips for Real Estate Blogs

5.       Be sure that each page contains more than 200 words of relevant, indexable content.

Keep your content on point.  Make sure that each post is about real estate or your community and no post is under 200 words long.  It is better to post less on topic content than to post a bunch of short random musings on every topic from your chocolate addiction to a bad hair day.

According to SEO experts over at SEOmoz, Keyword Relevance to Body Text (the topical relevance of text on the page compared to targeted keywords) is highly important to search engines. They consider that factor greatly when trying to determine how well your real estate blog will show in their indexes for common search terms included in your meta tags.

Read also: Real Estate Blog SEO Tip: Keyword Relevance to Overall Body Text

Read also: Formula for a successful blog post

6.       Update your real estate blog content at least 3-5 times per week.

Fresh content is what Google wants to see, so be sure to add new content or update old content at least 3-5 times per week.  Each time you post to your real estate blog, it should automatically ping the various social networks, blog directories, Google and other search engines, notifying them that you have fresh content on your site and they should send out the bots to index these new pages.

Read also: Road Trip: SEO tips inspired by our trip to NAR

7.       Actively seek new links to your site from other related websites but do not build backlinks too fast

Backlinks, links from other sites to your real estate blog, help to improve your credibility with search engines, online visibility, content reach and traffic. Therefore, building quality backlinks is just as important to the health and well being of your real estate blog as the content that you write. So, let's take a good hard look at not only why and how search engines value backlinks but now you go about building quality backlinks through an easy to follow link campaign.

Read also: Ultimate Guide to building backlinks

8.       Wait until your domain name ages. 

Basically, this one tip is just one you get to sit back, relax and wait for.  The older your domain, the more Google trusts your content, so like fine wine, your domain name is better with age!

At this point, you must know how important keywords are for your real estate blog.  Strategic use of relevant keywords in your title tag, post titles, domain, permalinks and content are one of the main on-page factors Google and other search engine use to index your real estate blog.  Therefore, it is important to know what keywords will be most effective in driving traffic to your site.  So, how do you determine which keywords will be most effective and searched for your particular real estate business? 

Step 1: Determine your top 3-5 keywords

Determining your prime keywords should be relatively simple.  Just think like a user- when someone is searching for your website or real estate blog what terms would they be looking for?  Let's take the case of Miamism.com, Rick and Ines Garcia generally sell "real estate" and "homes" in "Miami Shores."  They are more liely to sell a "condo" on "Miami Beach." So, logically, they should select keywords like "Miami Shores Homes," "Miami Shores Real Estate," and "Miami Beach Condos."

The rules of thumb for selecting keywords are:

1.       Think about what you sell most in each of your top farm areas, so if you sell more lots, condos, estates, townhomes etc in one particular area, focus on coupling that property type with that farm area

2.       Always use plurals where possible, so instead of "Miami Beach Condo," use "Miami Beach Condos." Google is smart enough to return the plurals when users search for the singular form, so you hit two birds with one stone by always using the plural form of a keyword

Read also: Getting the most out of your meta tags

Step 2: Research how often those keywords are searched for and what other similar searches you should target

Tool: KeywordDiscovery. This tool is terrific!  It shows you how many times your keyword is searched for on the Major search engines.  This will give you an idea of how valuable placing for those keywords can be.  It can also help you research new variations of keywords to target.  There are a couple of other online tools I recommend using, but this is my favorite in terms of ease of use and functionality.

Step 3: Find out where your real estate blog currently ranks for your top 3-5 keywords

See exactly where you rank for your targeted keywords in Google, Yahoo and MSN by using this keyword research tool from RelAdvance.  WARNING: this tool takes forever to run as it is actually searching for your placement on multiple Google data centers, however, it is worth the wait.  I also recommend performing an actual search in Google after you get your results to verify the results.

For example: Rick and Ines Garcia's prime keyword is "Miami Shores Real Estate" for which they place #5 and #6 in Google, behind only Yahoo Real Estate and Harmon Homes... not bad, huh?

Read also: Where does your site rank in the SERPs?

BLOG UNIVERSITY: free real estate blog training

RSS Pieces isn't just a company that wants to sell you a power packed real estate blog. We want to teach you how to blog successfully. So, step into our Blog University and learn the tips, tricks and formulas successful real estate bloggers use to drive traffic to and rake in leads from their real estate blogs. Best of all, our tutorials are completely free to anyone whether you have one of our real estate blogs or some other guys.