Is it possible to reach the top 10 position on Google, Yahoo, MSN or any other search engine without using Pay Per Click or paying for search engine optimization? The answer is YES. I did it, here's how...
Before I begin my first blog here on Active Rain and for those of you who don't know me, I thought I'd explain a little about who I am and why I'm here. I'd also like to say how much I've enjoyed reading so many of the great bloggers on AR and a special thank you to Matt, Jonathan, Caleb and everyone else at AR for putting this whole site together.
My name is marti garaughty and I'm an abstract painter who fell into the world of real estate marketing almost by accident. A few years ago when realtors started using my work as closing gifts, many of my realtor clients became friends of mine and one topic that seems to come up all the time is marketing on the net.
If you think the real estate business is tough, try making it to the top of the art world. I've been fortunate in many ways since I first picked up a paint brush about 6 years ago but... just as the Elephant Man once said "I'm not an animal, I'm a human being", a large part of my success both in the art world and on the net has been my attitude that "I am a businessman, not an artist".
In the past few years, I've learned(the hard way) how to get my website listed in the top 10 position of all the major search engines and how to stay in that position. In my blog, I'll be sharing my ideas and strategies in plain simple English so you can learn from my mistakes and copy my successes. Now on to today's topic...
Click fraud seems to be a popular topic these days. In the past few weeks. I've seen/heard several articles about it. Problems with Google AdSense keep popping up in the news and recently I've received at least 10 emails/phone calls from clients of mine asking for an opinion about whether or not to invest in Pay Per Click.
Click fraud is growing and becoming a more serious problem with each passing week. Here is a link to another article about click fraud that I just read in The Washington Post...
Click Fraud... Washington Post article
The obvious question is "Why would you want to pay to be in the top search positions(as an advertiser) when you can get your website listed in the top 10 or 20 search results by niche marketing yourself?".
The truth is, its not that difficult to get into the top 10 or 20 positions of most major search engines if you concentrate on dominating niches rather than trying to compete in broad, general search categories. And most people assume that the "best" websites appear at the top of the search engines so you also benefit from the added credibility factor by working smart over time to have your site show up in the top 10 or 20 natural search results.
Unfortunately many realtors and business owners that I've met seem to think that getting into the top 10 position on Google, Yahoo, MSN or any other major search engine is like a magic trick. It isn't!
The reality is that its very possible and not really that difficult to do if you use common sense and have a bit of patience. No matter what anyone promises you, you'll never legitimately get into the top 10 position of any search engine in a few days or weeks. And for anyone who might be wondering if I know what I'm talking about...
As a practical real world example, here are just a few links showing one of my websites http://www.garaughty.com/ in the top 10 position(usually top 5) of several major search engines...
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=most+collected+abstract+painter&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&fl=0&x=wrt
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=expressionism%20paintings&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t-311&fl=0&x=wrt
http://www.ask.com/web?q=what%20is%20abstract%20realism?&qsrc=0&o=10461&l=dir
As you can see, it is possible and I can show you over 100 more examples of different categories where my website shows up in the top 10(usually the top 1, 2 or 3) position. Was this a lucky accident? Did I pay an SEO(search engine optimization) company to get me there? The answer is NO to both questions. I'm going through a super busy period right now so my time to write/blog is limited but...
In the coming weeks I'll show you some simple ideas and strategies(plain English, no Geek Speak) that you can use to boost your search engine rankings. No one can guarantee you the top 10 position but as you can see from just the few examples I've listed above, it is possible if you're willing to work at it a bit.
I'll also show you some practical examples of joint ventures that can be used by realtors to attract more visitors to your website and a few quick, simple and painless ways to create viral marketing campaigns to keep your visitors coming back to your website.
Before I get into specific techniques, I thought I'd give you something to think about, sort of like homework to prepare you for what I'll be showing you... because reading about it, without actually putting it into action won't do anything for your website. Ask yourself...
- Do you know how visitors coming to your website actually found your website?
- Did you ever ask them?
- Do you know what words or phrases they typed in a search engine before they found your website?
- Do you have a mechanism in place to capture their name and email address when they visit your website?
Think about it because this is something you absolutely need to know before you can fine tune your site to connect with your most likely prospects and to keep them coming back to your site.
I hope my blogs will be useful to all of you guys & gals here on Active Rain and don't be shy to phone or email me(see my profile for contact info) if you need help with marketing yourself or your website. I'm here to network. The real estate community has been very good to me and I'm always happy to help in whatever way I can...
marti
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