I made this comment on twitter last week before leaving town and just returned from vacation to find that it started a fascinating discussion which moved to AR thanks to Courtney Cooper. Courtney further exaggerated my hyperbole and wrote a post titled "Blogging is Dead." The comments in response to Cortney's post are fascinating and range from deeply offended to deeply thoughtful -- if you haven't already, I recommend reading them. Anyhow, I guess I now have some explaining to do and thought that a video may be the best approach to take -- enjoy:
Syndicating listings to 3rd party websites should be part of your SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. It's a simple formula; you allow your listings to be published on other websites in exchange for a link back to your site. Link building, as the SEOs call it, is by far the most effective way to get good content to show up on Google's first page and listings are a broker's best option for link building. You may have heard it said that 'content is king' of SEO but links are queen. If two sites have similar content, the one with the most links typically wins.
The twist in this tail is that sending your listings to most 3rd party real estate listings sites is not helping your site's SEO and may well be hurting it. Many listings sites employ technologies to ensure that your site is invisible to Google. There are a lot of sneaky tricks to this but to keep it simple, there's one main thing that you should be checking your links for - and that is nofollow tags.
Checking links for nofollow tags.
The oldest trick in the book is easy to spot. If a 3rd party site has added the tag "rel=nofollow" to your links then the search engines will not follow the link and will not find your site. For example, this link to my profile on Zillow is followedby google but this link is not yet they go to the same place. You can check for nofollow tags by clicking on View --> Source in your browser window to check your links. I personally prefer to use a firefox plugin that highlights nofollow links for me. You can get the plugin I'm using here - when it's installed, right-click the "q" in your firefox tool tray and select "highlight nofollow links" and it will cause nofollow links to be highlighted in red. For example, Prudential Northwest and Mike Kass (pictured left) have invested in showcase ads on Realtor.com but they receive no SEO benefit from any of the links to their websites from those listings. Mike and Prudential Northwest will get more SEO benefit from this blog post than they do from syndicating their listings to Realtor.com.
Note: when you dive into this, you are going to see a lot of red links and it's important to remember that they are not all evil! There are some good reasons for using nofollow and google has clear guidelines that explain how nofollow should be used. All you need to know is that none of the good reasons for using nofollow apply to links on syndicated listings and honestly, it's surprising that this hostile behavior is the norm in our industry. Nofollow is the most common mechanism used to ensure that listings partners don't get SEO benefit from the links on their listings but there are two other technical issues related to this problem that I'll touch on very briefly here ...
Checking links for 301 redirects.
It's quite common that websites move their pages around. When they do that, and to ensure that old links still work, the old URLs are redirected to their new location. Redirects are how you sometimes end up on a web site that's different to the link you thought that you clicked on and are quite commonly used by real estate sites to send click traffic through an intermediary server for counting purposes (Zillow does this). Redirects will only be followed by search engines if they are of a specific type; namely a 301 redirect. Redirected links come in many flavors but all you need to look for is the 301 - links to pages with other types of redirects may as well have a nofollow tag because search engines will ignore them. Checking for 301 redirects is as easy as entering the listing's link into a form and reading the results. There are numerous free redirect checkers online - I'm currently using this one.
Beware of Java Script
If the link to your listing from a 3rd party website looks something like this: "javascript:noop();" you are probably not getting any SEO benefit from it. Search engines can't read the dynamic content that javascript delivers (which is why AJAX has lost some of its lustre.) I should add that there's currently some debate about whether google is learning to read javascript but from what I've seen, it's not happening much and it should be simple for you and your listings partner to test - just check whether a unique URI to one of your your listings gets indexed by Google (i.e. search for it) after it's syndicated to a site (like Roost) that uses javascript.
Now, go and check on your listings!
Full disclosure: I work at Zillow.com. Listings posted to Zillow earn SEO benefit for your web site but don't just take my word for it, go and test the links to your listings on Zillow.com for nofollows, javascript and 301 redirects. And then go and check the links from your listings on other sites and let me know what you find - you may be surprised.
Update: ... and this is a followed link to the mortgage website findmyloanonline. If you want to know why it's here you'll have to read the comments.
If you think that Fannie and Freddieare the mortgage story of the week, I hope that you're sitting down. OK, maybe Fannie & Freddie are the big news of the week but while the long-term impact of the fed's takeover is up for debate, I have no doubt that Mortgages Unzipped, a new blog about mortgages, will assist borrowers.
As homeowners, we have got to get smarter about our mortgages. Yes, I mean you - and me - for many of us, our mortgage is the single largest line item on our monthly budget. And I, for one, have personally come to realize that I knew almost nothing about my mortgage when I bought my first home. I think that applies to most borrowers. Mortgages Unzipped is hosted by Zillow but the blog is authored by mortgage professionals - people we can learn from!
We've asked 15 mortgage pro's to write Mortgages Unzipped. It's a very smart and experienced group. And as you read the blog, you'll learn that our authors each have something unique and important to say. Andy Jolls, for example, has a lot to say about your credit score - and he does it on video. Brian Brady, Todd Carpenter, Dan Melson and Rhonda Porter are trailblazers; some of the first mortgage professionals to start blogging and using social media (you can catch Brian's mortgage rate updates on twitter, for example.) We're very fortunate to have their support.
Zillow's mortgage discussions have been on fire since the mortgage marketplace launched. If you ever need a second opinion on a mortgage quote, I recommend asking the lenders in Zillow Discussions. I've cajoled a handful of them into taking their advice to the blog. Jennifer Monastero , Rob Cochems, Andrew Adams and Martin Wareing are faces I look forward to seeing on Zillow - and who I know will thrive as writers on Mortgages Unzipped.
Mortgages have presented a new learning curve for Zillow and I would personally have been lost without the help of my mortgage mentor, Joe Dahleen. Joe can teach! While Zillow has been learning the mortgage game, mortgage brokers have been learning how to blog. I've learned so much from mortgage bloggers these past 6 months that selecting the dream team for Mortgages Unzipped was easy. I guarantee your that you will also learn something from Matthew Kelly, Justin McHood, Mike Mueller, Michael Taylor, Tom Vanderwall.
We will be highlighting great content from Mortgages Unzipped on this blog and throughout Zillow.com- but the best way to stay in the loop is to subscribe to the blog (via feed or e-mail.)
This is a mashup of video I shot with my flip camcorder at RE Bar Camp in San Francisco last week. If you get a chance to attend a Bar Camp, I highly recommend it.
[Soundtrack credit: Orphan by Laptop & Reilly via Open Source Audio]
Zillow just unleashed a heap mo bling fo yo blog. Putting the slang aside, these mortgage rate widgets could add useful information for buyers visiting your blog. Remember buyers? Anyhow, click on the drop-down list to change the mortgage chart to 15-year fixed or 5/1 ARM or click a button to view rates over 3 months instead of the default 1 month. How cool is that?"Show quote volume" illustrates how activity in Zillow Mortgage Marketplace changes as rates change.
And here's a skinny version - there are 4 mortgage rate widgets in all. This one should fit snugly in your AR blog's sidebar. Just click across to Zillow to find the code for all four mortgage widgets.
Next up, badge bling! This badge links to your profile and you'll find it in the right sidebar when you visit your profile page on Zillow. In case you didn't know, Zillow recently revamped profiles to better showcase user contributions and profiles on Zillow offer RE bloggers huge potential to improve their sites' SEO - you can add an unlimited amount of (followed) links to your site into your profile's about me section. And if you're a Zillow All-Star, you'll see the All-Star badge in your profile together with code to embed it into your blog or website.
OK, co-branding - I've left the best bling for last. When someone clicks on your profile badge, their visit to Zillow is co-branded with your profile contact details and a button back to your website on every page on Zillow.com. To show you how this works, I'm going to quote Greg Swann from his review of co-branding;
This is new software from Zillow.com. ... What’s different? Look up in the upper left hand corner.
C’est moi! A photo of Odysseus. A link to my Zillow profile. A link to my email. My phone number. And a link to our brokerage’s weblog. Even cooler is that button in the upper right hand corner:
A quick-click button to take you back to BloodhoundRealty.com. So what’s going on here? As of tonight, Zillow.com is “co-branding” with anyone who links to it. “Co-branding” is the kind of wine-and-cheese-PR-event deal big companies make with other big companies, but Zillow is extending the idea down to the lowliest of grunts-in-the-trenches."
Ignoring the "grunts" piece; Greg is right; co-branding is really big news. And good news for real estate bloggers is that you can now co-brand any link to Zillow; not just links from widgets and badges. To co-brand a link, you just need to tell us what your Zillow screen-name is by attaching it to the link. For example, to co-brand a link to Zillow with my profile, I would use "www.zillow.com?scrnnm=DavidG". As you can see, I've added "?scrnnm=DavidG" to the link to ensure that it would be co-branded. You would use your Zillow user screen-name.
So, there you have it; a whole heap mo bling fo yo blog. Enjoy!
Many thanks to the Active Rain gods for the opportunity to judge Project Blogger. Two months in and the apprentices are finding their stride. Go here to review all of the posts submitted by Project Blogger apprentices this week. For all the apprentices who were wondering how the big-Z ended up on your mybloglog widget, I confess, that was me. Thanks for your efforts this week; it's been fun getting to know you all a bit better.
Judging Criteria
Trying to keep this simple, I judged this week on a single criteria; how much return will your business enjoy from the investment you made in blogging?After almost a decade in the internet industry I've picked up a few tricks and will try to explain my rankings in the feedback to each of the apprentices (posted below).
Feedback Format
I've borrowed a format commonly used to review technology projects and so will try to give each blogger advice on what they should a) continue doing, b) stop doing and c) start doing. It's the "SWO" in a traditional "SWOT" analysis ... and I find it a useful format for reviews because it both accentuates the positive and gives constructive criticism.
The Results for Week 8
But since most of you are here to see the leader-board I won't keep you in suspense. The Top five apprentices this week, judged according to the business their blogging will generate and ranked from 1st to 5th are;
Continue ... to post great useful local content. The Los Gatos events and Historical stories (very novel idea) are both awesome themes for driving search engine traffic to your blog.
Start ... cross-linking (not cross-posting) between AR and your other blog.
Stop ... I wonder if you could drive more traffic to your blog if you blogged a bit less and invested that time in other social media activities that could create links to your blog. You should be spending as much time commenting on other (local) blogs as you do blogging.
Continue ... to post "insider news" about local developments. If you're trying to attract an audience of investors to your Miami blog, you're going about it the right way. If however it's a consumer audience you're interested in, you need to start to mix it up a bit more.
Start ... to personalize the Miami blog a bit more (show your readers who you are) - the same way you do on Active Rain.
Stop ... Don't waste your own time on generic pieces like this one ... http://activerain.com/blogsview/114935/Comfort-is-key-for. Take Ardell's lead and wait till you have a "person" who is in that position and then write the story from their perspective.
Continue ... to cultivate an active community of commenters on your blog - clearly you're applying lessons learnt at AR to Miamism. Your passion for the neighborhood comes through nicely in your posts - I want to book a vacation to Miami.
Start ... to sort your blog's comments from first to last. They're currently from last to first - very confusing.
Stop ... using your blog for industry PR - it doesn't work. If an economist predicts an upswing in the market, you should definitely report it on your blog ... but using that sound-bite to declare the "Housing slump" over may hurt your credibility with regular readers. Good advice is to neutrally report this news and then ask your readers what they think. No-one can accurately predict future of home values - even current values are a real challenge ;-)
Continue ... to let your sense of humor shine through your writing. It will quickly win you a loyal following. The extra time you put into the witty, clever pieces will pay off. Clearly your blogging effort IS bringing you business and so it was difficult not to select you into first place -- but there's room for improvement ...
Start ... linking!!! Links are the currency of the internet - to get them, you have to give them. This is very important.
Stop ... OK, I'll admit it ... I love to read your blog but the inline bold font kills me. Some of your prospective clients will be geeks like me and they won't like it either.
Continue ... to brand yourself -- I can't put my finger on what it is exactly but the Real Estate Sizzle brand is very compelling for a first-time visitor.
Start ... to focus your articles around your target audience. The RE advice you posted this week seems targeted at consumers but the local content seems to talk to investors. I recommend more local content aimed at consumers (like local events and local history - see Mary's blog).
Stop ... the animation (scrolling pictures in your blog's header). It's distracting - especially for anyone who spend a bit of time on your site. You want your readers to wallow in your blog and that's hard to do while stuff's moving around on the page.
Continue ... I really enjoy your writing and it's obvious that your readers do too. Keep the blog simple and inviting ... it's a very welcoming place for a first time visitor.
Start ... to physically reach out to other local bloggers to contribute to your group blog. I applaud your goal of a community-generated resource but to get it started initially, you need to do more than just post an invite on the blog. I also think some editorial control may be required to keep the blog useful once you do get contributors. I'd be glad to discuss this with you further.
Stop ... this is actually a "start" ... same thing I told Tisza ... start linking!!! Links are the currency of the internet - to get them, you have to give them. This is very important.
Continue ... posting stuff like "Why I'll never forget". Thanks for sharing that.
Start ... to quote other experts. There must be 1,000 experts that have posted advice for folks in a Tornado -- tell your story and then quote them. You are the real estate expert; show us more of that on your blog.
Stop ... adding any more "bling" to your blog. The layout, styling, sidebars and widgets are awesome as they are - from a design perspective, yours is my favorite blog in the project. Anything more would start to be overkill.
Continue ... covering local events -- it's a great way to get found by your neighbors.
Start ... writing more. Teasing - I read your post about writers' block - trust me, we've all been there.
Stop ... over-thinking it. Again on your post about writers' block -- don't let anyone else tell you what you should and should not write about. Just do it :-)
Continue ... to experiment with Guest Authors. Not only do they bring you free content, they also bring an audience of family and friends they will show your blog to.
Start ... to be more deliberate about communicating that your in the finance business. It's hard to tell who your target audience is.
Stop ... not posting to your blog at least once a week. Seriously. Blogging for business is all or nothing.
Zillow has released its quarterly reports on house value trends in the US in Q4 2006.
More details about the reports can be found in this blog post in which Zillow's Director of Analytics explains that "For these 2006 fourth quarter results, we’re taking a slightly different approach than in the past when we released detailed reports and analysis for five specific markets and an overall national summary. Instead, this quarter, we’re releasing all the underlying data on which we based the earlier reports and we’re providing this data for a total of 75 different metropolitan regions around the country."
I'd love to hear your opinion on the trends we measured in your neck of the woods -- below this you'll see links to the raw data (in excel) for the 75 regions we analyzed.
The big news in the aggregate data is that in Q4, we saw negative (Y-O-Y) appreciation for the first time in the US data set.
Looking at performance in the Top 25 Metro areas however drives home again the local nature of our business -- multiple regions are still measuring double-digit appreciation in Q4. This graphic isn't very clear (better version here - any tips on posting photo's?) -- but it illustrates very well the variance in appreciation in the top 25 Metro areas.
Some more interesting factoids from this data:
Five highest-appreciating metropolitan areas (year-over-year appreciation):
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL (25.88%)
Yuma, AZ (25.66%)
Myrtle Beach, SC (21.24%)
Flagstaff, AZ (19.02%)
Ocala, FL (17.56%)
Five most expensive metropolitan areas (measured by Zindex):
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA ($684,459)
Salinas, CA ($654,503)
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, CA ($627,323)
Honolulu, HI ($626,452)
Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA ($545,409)
Five least expensive metropolitan areas (measured by Zindex):
This past week we posted a mini-series of tips for new bloggers on the Zillow Blog. The series was fun to write -- we had leaders at Zillow blog about their area of internet expertise in the context of starting a business weblog. While there's a lot of advice for bloggers online, we felt there was a need to discuss blogging tips from a business perspective and I'm quite pleased that we came up with some unique and original content.
The end result was a mini-series of five articles aimed at new webloggers:
If you posted your listings on Zillow today or yesterday, THANK YOU! It's been an exciting couple of days. If you posted your Make Me Move price, fantastic!
At a lively Zillow company all-hands meeting today, our latest affectionate phrase, to "ZFresh", was coined. "To ZFresh" is to refresh your browser window on Zillow's home page while watching the listings counter increase. So, when this image popped up in my inbox with the title "Zfresh 5,000", I thought I'd come and post it here.
Now , you may work in a ZIP code with 5,000 listings -- but here at Zillow, we are absolutely thrilled with this early milestone. The real estate wiki also saw some action. People have written some interesting stuff about our latest effort -- Drew Meyers has a catalog of blog posts on his blog (day 1, day 2). Press is here.
Thanks again for kicking the tires and posting your listings (and for your feedback). There are some new blog posts and discussions about Zillow's news on ActiveRain -- mostly listed in the Zillow Discussions Group on AR (join us).
BTW - AR-team: if you read this, I wanted to mention that I think AR groups are BRILLIANT (don't get me started about reed's law.) Nice.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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Checking links for nofollow tags. 
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