For years now, we've been reading and seeing how to get our Websites ranking higher on a natural search results page on Google.

Two years ago, Twitter comes along and now the spirit of true, Herd Mentality, thousands of REALTORS have moooooved on over to copying what the other REALTORS are doing -- hoping and praying the technique will generate more leads and sales commissions. 

We copy the same links; Follow Me on Twitter. And we make the mistake of putting too many Follow Me links on our home page despite the fact you've probably spent years trying to get people to COME to your website... you tell them to GO AWAY.

Weeks later, your visibility goes down and you are left wondering what the heck just happened?

Too many redirects from your home page is not only stupid, it's the fastest way to see your page one #1 Google rank drop to #2. Then, it drops to #3. And the slide just keeps on a-sliding down... down... down. 

A former SEO client of mine has a website ranking page one #1 for seven years.  Then a year ago, they added the Twitter Follow Me bug. And the Linked In Bug. And one from Christies Great Estates.

You spend thousand of dollars on a new site and SEO work. Then you spend MORE money with your offline marketing efforts telling next time home buyers to GO TO www.SantaFeProperties.com. 

Then when you get people coming to your website, your home page tells them to GO AWAY.  Find us on Twitter. Find us on LinkedIn. Find us on Facebook. 

That might sound silly, but this is exactly what your website says to visitors you've tried to come to your website for months or even years of working to improve your Google ranking. Now that they find you, you tell them to find you someplace else.

Trust me, this can be leading up to; Lead sabotage. And thousands of REALTORS and brokers are just watching their leads drop, and they think by placing the Follow Me links on their website will increases leads... it can create the opposite effect. 

People will click on things and links because you give them reason to do so. They are not immune to Herd Mentality either. 

After a few clicks, is it any surprise why your visitor is now looking at properties from Amazing Realty instead of yours?  For too many REALTOR websites, it's clear to me that too many of you are suffering from Mad Cow Disease, just like Denny Crane from Boston Legal. 

It doesn't have to be that way. You can use Twitter and other links to your advantage, but you need to use them wisely and correctly. 

There are SMARTER ways to use Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Below are Bartman's Top Ten SAFE Ways to Use Social Media effectively to keep people coming BACK to your website from other channels out there.

1.) Don't put offsite links on your home page.

If you have page one # 1 ranking on Google now, be careful how many links to offsite websites you ADD to your home page. 

2.) Rule of thumb: Place your Follow Me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn on your Contact Me pages and other pages inside. This is especially important if you are just now building links to your home page.

3.) One Way Link Bulding.

ActiveRain.com, Curbed.com and many other Real Estate blogs can be used to build one way, incoming links to your properties. Don't just link all links to your home page. This is not a smart idea. Build links to point to your properties and about the life style and communities you know about. 

4.) 1888FreePressRelease.com.  

A great place to post your FREE press releases with links pointing BACK to your website.

5.) PRWeb.com.  

The BEST place to post your Press Releases. $100 - $200 cost each, but you get to go BACK and edit the links to make them SEO friendly and point them to your website pages.

6.) Get links from Title, Mortgage companies even Landscapers and custom home builders.

They might have a crappy looking website, but ask them for a one way link from their site to yours. NEVER give a link back to them as this will give you what is called Google PR Hemorrhage. Never give reciprocal links BACK to any website until AFTER one year AFTER you've held a page one position on Google.

7.) Social Media Pay per Post, Pay per Blog.

There is one firm out there that seems to have done it right. SocialSpark.com is the one to see. You can buy ads on this system to be inserted into popular blogs out there. This is a great way to build awareness of your website for geo-centric, local searches. 

8.) StumbleUpon.com

It's a web site that says what id does and does what it says. It emails hundreds of thousands of people every week with suggested Websites they should visit. Visitors to the site indicate a few sites and topics they like. And weekly, StumbleUpon will deliver the user a cornucopia of Websites and some of them... NEED to be your real estate website. 

9.) Sell LifeStyle. Don't sell just homes.

This is the big trap of conventional thinking. But next time home buyers today can get their house with or without a REALTOR. So when they come to your website, dazzle them with Life Style. We're just now completing a website for Jane Paulus of Edina Realty now. The website is here:  www.TwinCitiesHomefinders.com  -- See the emphasis on Live -- Work  Play and the rich page content of living in Minneapolis. Google loves this stuff and so will your next time home buyers. 

10.) Get your Banner Ads on the iPhone, BlackBerry and Mobile Devices.

Just because you're page one on Google doesn't mean you can't get more leads. Google now offers a Paid Search program that allows you to snag 50,000 banners for $18 bucks or thereabouts. Create Google Visual Ads that are shown on mobile devices. It's cheap and it's effective.

Lots more good stuff to come later. I'm trying to get our company moved to Colorado Springs, but if anyone needs more help on these items above, call me or email me. 

I'm always glad to be of service.