online marketing: The 3 Secret Companies that Really Control Google Local [SEO TIPS] - 07/12/10 04:57 PM
I'm number #1 - well, after the first 10 results! That's a statement that plagues many agents who appear at the "top" of the search engines. That's because for so many local based searches, Google first shows the local "7-pack."

Suddenly, being "#1" organically means your site doesn't show up until half way down the page of the search results. With this in mind, I thought I would give some quick tips on how to ensure you show up at the true top of the page.
Now I'm sure most everyone knows about Google Local (or Google Places as they … (106 comments)

online marketing: Want to Reach More People? Then Start Blogging Less! - 08/06/08 05:09 PM
Unlike some bloggers I know, it takes me quite a bit of time to write a blog post. I tend to slave over my blog post with research, creation of graphics, and gathering links. I was often frustrated when I saw other bloggers be able to churn out multiple blog posts a week with little effort. But the more I thought about this, I began to wonder if it's actually a good thing. Pat Kitano then confirmed this at Inman Connect when he talked about focusing on the quality instead of the quantity of blog post.
I tend to agree. … (76 comments)

online marketing: Link Bait? What Was I Thinking! - 04/02/08 06:45 PM
A few months ago, I was working late at the office. Earlier that day, I was consulting with a client and brainstorming how to build natural links to their real estate Web site. Now I always try to practice what I preach, so I later started doing some brainstorming of my own. What could I do to create "linkbait" to my my company Web site?
Link Bait? You Evil Doer! Now, before everyone starts screaming about tricking people and "gaming the system" let’s accurately define what linkbait is. Some people think the term "Link Bait" means tricking people to click a … (58 comments)

online marketing: It’s Time to Rewrite Your Title Tags - 12/18/07 06:26 PM
The other day someone asked me. "If you could only make one edit to a website to achieve better search engine optimization, what would it be?" After clarifying that the edit had to be on the site (meaning link building wasn't an option) I responded by saying that tweaking the Title Tag would probably be the first place to start.
Since I am always on the look out for new blog topics, I thought I would pull together some information and create a post about Title Tags. I am sure the topic has been covered a million times on AR … (43 comments)

online marketing: End of Year Website Checklist - 12/17/07 02:45 PM
As the end of the year quickly approaches, it’s a great time to tidy up and tie off any loose ends. While you are busy trying to finish up your end of the year todo list. Be sure to make time to give your site an annual checkup. Here are a few tips…
Contact Information Ensure that all of your contact information is still current on your website. Don’t just check the contact us page but all the other places your contact info may appear (including your footer).
Are You Still In Compliance? Has your company changed their required disclosures or … (46 comments)

online marketing: Your Website Is Trying to Tell You How to Generate More Leads —Are You Listening? - 11/20/07 05:36 AM
When people ask about getting more traffic to their site, I usually ask, “What’s wrong with the people who are already on your site?” I say this because most of the time the answer to more leads is not more traffic —it’s better conversion.
Imagine, for a moment, a bucket with lots of holes in it. It doesn’t matter how much you pour into the bucket, it’s not going to hold water unless you patch the holes. Your website is the same as that bucket, only instead of leaking water, it is leaking cash. Without the right tools, it's hard to … (80 comments)

online marketing: Free Tools That Allow You To Spy On Your Competition - 08/31/07 04:48 AM
Before I jump into this post, let me first give you a little backstory of how this post came about…
It all started when I added a comment to a post about the amount of website traffic a site receives. The comment stream had a very good discussion on how to gage someone else’s website traffic. I threw out Alexa as one resource to compare websites. Admittedly, I have not done much reconnaissance on my competition but I have used Alexa in the past to compare sites. And while I would never trust the numbers (because even I know ways to … (103 comments)

online marketing: See Your Site Through The Eyes of Google - 08/18/07 06:48 PM
When a web visitor views your site, they are immediately greeted with graphics, text, and possibly even videos or flash. Obviously, humans can quickly scan and read these elements and then determine what is important. Search Engines however see your site in a whole different light. While search engines are getting smarter and smarter, they ultimately rely on HTML code and content to determine what you page is all about.
Flash Killed the Search Engine Star Many Real Estate agents like to use flash because it offers so much eye candy. The only problem is that while your music filled flash … (119 comments)

online marketing: Optimizing Your Active Rain blog for Visitors and Search Engines (Part 2) - 08/11/07 09:06 PM
After such a great response from my blog post about optimizing your Active Rain profile, I decided to write this follow up post about how to optimize your Active Rain Blog.
Your Blog Title It’s amazing how many people on Active Rain simply title their blog as “Bob’s Blog” or “Sue’s Blog.” The problem with this is that this is not very descriptive for Search Engines or Web Visitors. Instead, try to incorporate a keyword into your blog title. After all, this text will appear at the top of every post that you write. But don’t just take the simple way … (128 comments)

online marketing: Optimizing Your Active Rain Profile for Search Engines and Visitors - 07/27/07 05:00 PM
I recently wrote an article that referenced Active Rain. Since then, I saw quite a few people join Active Rain. With so many of my clients and peers joining, I figured I should give a quick tutorial on how to make sure your Profile is optimized for Search Engines.
But, this post isn’t just for the newbies. Even if you are a veteran to ActiveRain, you may want to use this as a quick review to make sure you have covered all your bases.
Join Active Rain If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you join Active Rain. But, don’t … (200 comments)

online marketing: FSBO or Real Estate Agent… The Conclusion - 07/10/07 02:08 PM
Note: You can read the first post by clicking here.
As many of you may know. I recently wrote a post about whether to sell my house FSBO or use an agent. I must confess, although my wife and I have tossed around the idea, we are not selling our home. More importantly, we are not going to sell it FSBO. So why did I write such a controversial post? Why did I risk getting the very people who subscribe to my blog mad at me? There are actually a few reasons…
But before I jump too far into this post, … (54 comments)

online marketing: Sell my House FSBO? Convince Me to Use a Real Estate Agent! - 07/08/07 11:40 AM
My wife and I have casually tossed around the idea of selling our home and getting something with a little more space. Every time we begin the “should we move” talk, the same question always comes up. Do we use a Realtor? I have always been one to think “I can do anything if I set my mind to it.” But does it apply in this case? We didn’t use an agent when we purchased the house - but then again our purchase wasn’t the typical real estate transaction. I actually purchased our home on the courthouse steps. It was a … (82 comments)

online marketing: How 30 Minutes Can Land You 300 Visitors in 30 days - 07/03/07 05:39 PM
There are so many great ideas on ActiveRain that it’s hard to find time to implement them all. Because of this, it’s important to always weigh the time commitment against the potential return. For me, this is one of those ideas that is a “No Brainer” on the “Should I Do It” scale. This is mostly because the total time investment is so small compared to the potential traffic boost both short term and long term.
Not Another Squidoo Post! I know people have covered Squidoo before. And I am sure your probably thinking. “No, I can’t commit to one … (95 comments)

online marketing: Here Is Your Chance to Brag! - 06/27/07 05:38 PM
I often read post on Active Rain about people achieving top ranking for Google or Yahoo. And if you think about it, it’s actually quite an accomplishment! After all, with some keyphrases, your page is competing against sometimes millions of other pages. Do you realize what this means? If you are on the first page of Google (even if you’re ranked #10) and there are one million competing pages, you then rank in the top 0.001% for that keyword! Think about that for a second – That’s a pretty elite group!
Let me give you an example I just found … (54 comments)

online marketing: Is This the Next Trend With Real Estate Photos? - 06/23/07 03:59 PM
After playing around with Microsoft’s Surface, I couldn’t get their photo viewing application out of my head. I love the fact that you can move photos around as if they were on a table top. It got me thinking if this same concept could be delivered online. So last night I started playing around with a way to do something similar online.
The Concept is Still in Diapers Before I give you the link, let me first give you a few disclaimers… The demo page is not the final result but only a proof of concept. Obviously, it’s not quite … (46 comments)

online marketing: I Don’t Read Your Blogs! - 06/18/07 03:00 PM
At least, that’s what the statistics say. Studies show that only 16% of people actually read websites and blogs word-by-word. The rest of us simply “scan” websites. With this in mind, it’s important to do anything and everything to keep your reader engaged in your blog and/or website.
You’re only Reading This Because It’s A Headline. Headlines and sub-headlines are one of the most important ways to draw the scanning reader back into your article. Yet sub-headlines are rarely seen in blogs! Think about it for a moment. When you pick up the Sunday newspaper, what is the first thing … (64 comments)

online marketing: A New Wave of Reciprocal Links that Actually Works! - 06/15/07 04:43 AM
We all know that link exchanges are a thing of the past. Google sees right though all the proverbial “back scratching” links. The fact that they were so exploited lost almost all of their value. But with today’s Real Estate Agent using many different websites in their online presence, it just may be a good time to take another look at reciprocal links. But this time, from a totally unique approach!
Disclaimer Before we jump too far into this, it’s important to understand the different types of Search Optimization techniques. Black Hat techniques try to exploit search engines and find loopholes. … (63 comments)

online marketing: The Top Secret Project! …and other information you didn’t know about Google. - 06/11/07 06:41 PM
Think about this, Google accounts for over 1/2 of all searches conducted in the United States! Because of their huge market share, even small changes to Google’s ranking systems have put multi-million dollar companies, such as BMW, in Google's Blacklist (although to be fair, BMW was not playing by the rules) and have taken other companies from digital obscurity to overnight success stories. If most of your business comes from the web, it’s imperative to keep up with the latest changes with the World's Most Famous Brand.
I have talked in the past about Google’s willingness to give webmasters far more … (68 comments)

online marketing: The Ultimate Website Checklist - 32 Things to Evaluate in Your Website - 06/06/07 04:42 PM
Every now and then, real estate agents need to take a step back and objectively look at their website. One of the biggest challenges in doing so is knowing exactly what to look for. With this in mind, I have created a checklist that breaks down important components of your website. I suggest you go though each section and write down your answers. Remember it's important to be objective! It just may reveal some interesting information. Below is an overview of the checklist. My other blog contains the full Real Estate Website Checklist that goes into more detail about each of … (33 comments)

online marketing: The Formula For a Successful Website - 05/29/07 10:17 PM
By now, you already know that SEO is not as hard as people make it out to be. You're getting alerts every time Google adds your pages to their search engine. More and more people are starting to come to your website because of your link building on Social Networks. You're watching your stats and paying attention to what's important. Everything is in place right? So why are you not getting that flood of new leads you were expecting? Because your website isn't converting those visitors into leads!
Sometimes we get so caught up in getting more traffic that we don't … (84 comments)

 
Brad Carroll, Real Estate Web Designer (Dakno Marketing)

Brad Carroll

Real Estate Web Designer

Knightdale, NC

More about me…

Dakno Marketing

Address: 1100 Navaho Drive, Suite 204, Raleigh, NC, 27609

Office: (888) 325-6610

Mobile: (919) 926-7010

Discussing the latest trends in Real Estate Web Design and Marketing


Ready to start driving more traffic to your site? Purchase the Real Estate Website Accelerator.

Use coupon code
"acceleratorAR"
and save $20!



Learn the formula for creating a successful, lead generating website. Purcahse the Real Estate Website Success Guide.

Use coupon code
"successAR"
and save $10!
Dakno Real Estate Blog

Subscribe to RSS headline updates from:
Powered by FeedBurner



Links

Archives

RSS 2.0 Feed for this blog