Real Estate Blog - Get High-Up In Google-- New Idea, Lengthy Post, Worth It-- Part 1 of 2

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Get High-Up In Google-- New Idea, Lengthy Post, Worth It-- Part 1 of 2

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Okay. I used to write a little bit, each week, about search engines-- how IT worked, how to do better with THE GOOGLE, how to make THE GOOGLE happy, etc. Boring yet profitable for those interested in #1.

I have received many emails and comments from ActiveRainers telling me that, after making the changes I had recommended, their site moved up nicely in the Google rankings. I helped one client move up about a hundred-and-sixty positions for Denver Real Estate and things are looking good for a page one takeover! (Yes, I give away free love, but I also get a few paying clients each month.)

If I helped you do better in The Google, and you haven't emailed me, come on already! Give a girl a break! I am extremely grateful to hear that my techniques are as effective as I claim! I am only 95% sure most of the time, so please cement that other 5% for me!

It's been quite a while since I've written a post about SEO (or "search engine optimization", for Miss Desiree...inside joke; sorry.)

So, I've got information for you my friends. It's good. But of course, before I tell you...

...let me promise, as I always do, that your Google ranking will be improved one week to ten days from today if you do this as instructed today. If you are currently on page 2 for your key phrase, you will move to page 1. You might even jump from page 4 to page 1-- I can't really say, but the Magic 8-Ball just might give you a prediction!

But please check your ranking now and then comment about how you moved upward after this tip; I would greatly appreciate it.

Here it is:

This is slightly sneaky, but those of you that read my posts regularly deserve this sneaky tip. It's not "black hat" and we aren't breaking any rules...but it's a little sneaky-deaky-- only because it's smarter than the average bear. This is going to be one of those things that you say..."Ah! Of course!"

Of course you notice that every blog post that you create allows you the opportunity to add "tags" at the bottom. 95% of us use those tags exactly as we think they should be used- which is wrong by the way. We truly want our blog to be easily navigated by our (fantasy of) thousands of loyal readers (yeah right) searching for a particular topic.

Personally, I believe my readers only read my "most recent" post and don't mess around with searching my categories. However, whether I am right or wrong, something else is reading those tags for sure: Googlebot.

Do you notice that your own tags (or article description) create a "category" on the right side of your blog? You CREATE PERMANENT WORDS AND LINKS, read by Google, with those words you enter so casually.

These are important words and phrases with regards to your mission in life! If you are a Scottsdale AZ Realtor and you are creating permanent "keyword tag" links, you could create a zillion categories about everything from "Apache Trail" to "Zebras".

And that's what most of us do, right? Heck, that's what I've been doing-- not so badly as my example-- but not that great either. Do not get overly specific when" tagging" your articles. You WILL dilute your blogs true purpose and confuse The Google.

If you are a Colorado Real Estate Agent, then you should decide on about 4 or 5 categories (or "tags"), and be sure that everything you write fits neatly into one of the five categories, period. And make sure that every single category mentions something about your job, however it may fit in. (Real estate, mortgage, staging, etc.). More about this in part 2, by the way. Stay tuned!

One very important key to Google success is helping Google to understand, clearly, what your site is about exactly. The key word or keyword here is "exactly." Don't confuse Google with article tags like "my breast cancer." I recently wrote about my own breast cancer for example, but darn it, this blog is PRIMARILY about mortgages and I only served to confuse Google with that tag.

Instead, I should create a category called "AZ Mortgage Broker Fighting BC" and put every single post I make (about my breast cancer fight) into that category. Can you see why? You narrow down the perspective of your site / blog and you also tell Google that even though there is something about "fighting BC" in there, every single category has something to do with me being an "AZ Mortgage Broker."

You want to write about ski conditions now and again? Tag it as "Colorado Real Estate, Ski Property News".

It's technically accurate and you can lump every skiing-related post into that category. You also mentioned "Colorado Real Estate" and "Property"! Great! Don't dilute the power of your blog by messing it up with a different "tag" or "category" for each week's ski report.

The more links / categories you have, the more your "theme" is diluted. If you tag your articles as such: "January skiing conditions", "February skiing conditions", "March skiing...", etc-- you are making a big mistake. Google will have no idea what your site is truly about and you will be overtaken by better organized Realtors, loan officers, stagers, whatever. You need a website with a clear scope regarding content. You can still post ski conditions-- in fact, I would highly recommend such a practice-- but do it the right way!

The bad thing about blogs is that we tend to write about whatever comes to mind, and that doesn't give our blog a clear topic for the search engines to "bite into to". However, if you really think about it, you could really loosely connect every topic that you write about into a real estate related category.

How about this: Tag every article that "doesn't quite fit" as "Misc Ramblings from a Calfornia Realtor." Get it? If you write about the Gilroy Garlic Festival for example, you can honestly tag it as a "misc ramblings from a California Realtor" and it would be information-rich and keyword stuffed. You see? Don't tag it as "Gilroy Garlic Festival" for goodness sakes! (Unless you want to attract Google-searchers looking for festival information-- rather than people looking for real estate services.)

You wouldn't be doing anything dishonest-- you would just be organizing your blog intelligently.

I'm writing a part II to this article on Thursday. Believe it or not, there's more. If you don't "get" something so far, just click on my profile and email me. I'll be happy to walk anyone through this.

But before I get this question: Yes, you can go back and fix every single one of your former posts and go with the far better five-category system that I recommend. I highly recommend you do exactly that. It just makes sense, I promise.

Posted by Michael and Karen George on 08/29/2007 12:54 AM

Comments (126)

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126 Comments on Get High-Up In Google-- New Idea, Lengthy Post, Worth It-- Part 1 of 2

AUG

2007

Karen - thanks for sharing your efforts are so appreciated

Thesa-- you could not have read it that fast! Come on! Really though, I think this is an important one and I hope you follow it. (Should I just let my loyal readers check it out and then delete the sucker?)

Anyway, I'm really sorry I've been out of touch; I hope you understand. It's not you; it's me...and, you know, cancer.

But seriously, I am doing well, just very, very tired. I haven't forgotten my friend in Oregon though.

xxooxoxo

Karen - as usual you are so CORRECT - I have been weeding my as well and now am seeing those tags show up on powerful page 1 and 2 keyword searches.

I'm just thrilled you're feeling better!!!! At least well enough to share!!! YEAH!!!

Karen,

Good to see you around the Rain. Thanks so much for sharing such great info. I continue to learn how to improve my tags to be more effective. As for the length of your post, just right as far as I'm concerned. Just don't overdue it, you need to stay strong.

We're going through chemo in my family right now, my granddaughter Katie, she's almost six and doing well. Please take care of yourself!

Karen, great advice. You are reading my mind. I was writing a post about tags but taking it from a different angle. Because people use different tags so often, it may look like keyword stuffing. When I publish my post, I will be sure to reference this post for more info. Great Job. Glad to see you back and sharing SEO again!

Karen, It is so good to see this post in a multitude of ways. I am always pleased to read your post but now perhaps more than ever. This is great info and I look forward to reading part 2. First order of business is however to reread this and digests every word. I know I am doing it all wrong but with your guidance and leadership I shall do better.

A wonderful pleasure to see you gracing our pages. Thanks again. Please know my thoughts are nearby.

Karen, So good to see you're back here. Just don't want you to over do -- you do need to get your rest to stay strong. I've read and re-read your posts on SEO and I'm slowly but surely learning how it all works. Have a lot of work left to do. Thanks for sharing...now, go to sleep!!!

Karen- Thankd for th etips, good to see you giving SEO tips! I have missed your wisdom and knowledge.

Okay Brad-- so this is sort of keyword stuffing-- but really, it's learning to write blogs in an organized way. What do you think of this post? You didn't think I was promoting the stuffing thing, did you? I am all about the white hat stuff.

Darrell-- A wonderful pleasure to see you reading my post. You are a fine gentleman and I think you know I just love you. Thank you for showing me that you care. It means a lot from "strangers"-- maybe even moreso than the people that are forced to love me!

Judi-- I am actually wired from chemo related drugs... I need to sleep, but it makes your body kind of buzz. So I am sitting here typing 50 WPM and doing it old school. I'll try to sleep in tomorrow, I promise.

Thanks for the great info, Karen. I've been using tag words as much as possible. I can find "Roswell Ga Real Estate Agent" - that's me - on page 2 when I google. The bottom of page two. My tag list is a long one. :-) From here on out, I'm going to concentrate on narrowing down my categories.

I'm going to go click on your TAGS right now!

I look forward to reading part 2 and hope that your are feeling well.

Karen: Great post and so glad to know that I can go back and change mine. I do try to use as many tags as I have used already when writing posts but have not categorized them like you suggest. I have bookmarked this and will clean mine up and keep track of where I move in page ranking. I also gave you a 5 and am looking forward to your next installment.

Hi Karen! You are amazing...how you can do that you do, fight the big "C" and have such a generous spirit is an inspiration to me!

Marvelous tip, although I am a terrible editor and weeding down to 5 categories will be very difficult. I will have to see if going forward I can limit my categories to a smaller (then smaller) list. Argh! Your suggestion makes such logical good sense, thank you!

Nancy Rivera-- don't click on my tags! I haven't fixed them yet! But read part II tomorrow and I will show you something groovy. And then, within the next few days, I will fix my own tags.

Deborah-- Its easier than you think! Make sure to read part two on Wed or Thurs and I will write 5 categories that every single Realtor or Loan Officer can use. Thank you for noticing that I am doing this while stoned on pain meds from the "big C." I would be a very functional drug addict I think.

Speaking of that, when I got chemo yesterday a nurse gave me a pen that said "Cancer Survivor-- we've done drugs that Keith Richards never even heard of."

I thought it was funny and I just figured I would share that since people may wonder why I am typing and wide awake at 11:44PM. I admit: It's the dope.

Hi Karen! Wow!! Wait...let me say that again. WOW! I need to start doing things differently and go back and read through all your blogs. :) Great post!!

Wow - I'm up for the challenge. I'll have some time this weekend to work on this. And, no you're not too long-winded. Like you said, there are many skill levels here. I appreciate the expample you gave and the reasons behind your ideas. Thank for a great post. This one got a big 5.

I am a certified Professional Search Engine Marketer... what you are saying is SO true...some people have many MANY tags and that dilutes the effectiveness of them...I have 20 and that is all.....

BTW my blog is number 7 for the keyword "Central Florida real estate" in Google out of 13 MILLION webpages on the subject........hehehehe

It WORKS!!

=-)

Thank you for the support, my friend. Notice I haven't been doing it myself-- as clearly as I should-- but it has always been in the back of my mind, so I figured this was as good a time as any to reveal a good technique!

Good idea. Thanks for the tip. I'll try it out. I'll let you know how it goes.

Great stuff and look forward to putting these tips too work!! As a newbie with AR and Blogging, I have spent alot of time learning, reading and trying to make sense of all this hoopla with Blogging and SEO!!

Thank you--for a great post! I am going to subscribe to keep up with all your tips!!

Karen, another devoted fan checking in here. Please, oh please, oh please don't delete this post. Or any of your posts!

I will take on the challenege and check back in to advise of my progress. And I'm eagerly awaiting part 2.

You are awesome.

Karen glad to see you back even for a bit as I know you really do need to rest sometime. But for now I have to share a couple of things. One I am sitting at #12 for Albuquerque Real Estate that was from who knows where as we never could find me! Two I had a listing appointment because she said "I was all over the Internet" for another search term. That day I had 12 out of the first 20 spots on Google for Four Hills Real Estate. Some days as few as 7.

On to your post. I had this thought that I needed to clean up my tags and I am now trying to focus on about 6 different ones now. Guess where I am? OH that's right #12! I was thinking today that I need to go back and clean up the old ones. This will motivate me. I want page one BAD!

Now make sure you rest and I am continuing to send you positive energy. NM isn't too far so I hope you are getting it!

Karen, I am so encouraged that you feel good enough to post. I went from page 49 on Google, to page 4 for one of my terms, the hardest one, Ann Arbor Real Estate, following your instructions.

Other terms, Ann Arbor Realtor, homes for sale in Ann Arbor it is page 1 and 2.

Yes, I need to clean my tags up and I will start to do so. I'll wait until you show us how on Wed or Thursday.

Thank you so much !

Karen: What a fabulous, well thought out post. I need to print it and study it. Some really great information here. Thank you so much for sharing. Karen Anne.

Thanks so much, Karen ! I will go into all of my blogs this morning and add or change the tags. You're brilliant ! ...and so very thoughtful to share all of this with us.

It's wonderful to see you posting....

Keeping you in my talks with the universe,

Karen, thanks for the tips -- I'd been wondering about the tags and recently have been tagging my posts more in the way that you describe.

Karen - Don't change a thing. It reads very well. I actually stumbled onto this by accident, and I can tell you that it works. You gave some interesting tips though, and I can improve upon what I've been doing. One question, do you recommend going back and "fixing" old tags to reflect the new approach, or does that anger the Google Gods? I'm looking forward to part 2.

Karen - Thank YOU! The information you provide is priceless and sooooooo appreciated. Get some rest, stay strong and remember we are all praying for you.

Hi Karen: if you go back and fix will it also shorten the list on the side of your blog showing all of your tags? Look forward to part 2, and so nice to have you back in the Rain. Post was just long enough to absorb.

Karen, I'm going to try it. See you Thursday for Part II

Mike in Tucson

Karen, the absolute best thing about this post is that you're able to write it..! I hope you're feeling much better, super soon. :) as for the content, yes you're right.. i know, i know, i thought of it in the beggining but the rankings were good enough so now i have 3 billion tags going on.. :) some day i'll clean my act up. still on pg1 in google for 'south florida appraiser' and pg1 for most "city(near me)+appraiser".. still need better for for the real estate (sales) side
thanks for sharing, and get well soon. :^)

-nick

Karen - Thanks for these tips. I am going to go back and re-tag many of my posts so that I am following your advice.

So glad to see your advice again. Everything you have ever told me works. Fixing tags right now.

Karen, you are simply awesome. Even thought RSS Pieces has been trying to explain this to me I didn't really get it until your post. Once again, I owe you big time. May I recommend that EVERYONE reading this post go to: http://www.fighting-breast-cancer.com/ and buy a bracelet or two or three? Hugs! Diane

It does make sense! Thanks for the great tips that were put in regular-people-speak! Wishing you the best! :)

Hi Karen, Just stopping by to say Hi! You've been missed.

BTW my tags are a mess.

Karen- What a great post. Thanks for sharing. I'm still trying to figure out the whole SEO thing.

on my main site I've been using technorati tags.....

the "tags" in Wordpress are actually categories so I have very few of them and have started using them for navigation on my site.

I see some very obscure tags on people's posts and wonder what they've been thinking to make THE or PANTS or CRAPOLA tags in case they were searched and were found by the search Tennessee Real Estate Crapola Pants

Thanks for the great blog Karen! And I promise to let you know how my ranking changes as I follow your advice. I am brand new to Active Rain and even newer to discovering the ins and outs of SEO. It's a dark scary world out there in CyberSpace, but I am eager to learn. Thanks for the tips! Looking forward to Part 2.

This is great, Karen, Thanks! I have nine million tags in my blog and I hate it.

As soon as I make this comment, I'm going to go back and edit my posts into the five categories! Thanks for the heads up!

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Karen,

Another rated " 5" post, thanks for all you do. I have been thinking about the category thing for quite sometime as I read a post several months back somewhere that spoke about that. Not as directly though as you have.

I think that it is a great idea to go back and edit the posts. Am I correct that the process of the edit would be to create new keywords in the body and to tag them at the bottom? Not changing the title. Is that correct?

Examle : If I wanted to talk about Strawberries.

Title could be we had fun eating strawberries.
Tag in body of post could be Portland Oregon Real estate agent eats strawberries while showing properties
Tag at bottom could be Portland oregon Realtors strawberries

Or something like that.

Then if I did a follow up post about strawberries I would repeat the tag in body and tag at bottom. But the Titles could be totally different.

Did I get it right?

Looking forward to number 2

BTW, that hair stuff is overated. : )

Karen,

I'm afraid I've been away from the Rain for some time now. However (and no surprise here)...

On this, my first day back in ages, I still managed to find myself worshipping at the altar of my "Cyber-Space Queen"! You still never cease to amaze me with your willingness to share an over-abundance of wonderfully useful information you posses ... even if it's in the wee-hours of the night while souped-up on those meds! :-)

As always, only the best wishes to you from this simple, Northern New England boy Karen. Kudos on your new (I guess - as I said, it's been way too long?) pic too! Brilliant educator and a pretty smile to boot ... you go girl!

Take Care & Keep Smilin'

Scott

Yeah, my problem is coming up with sensible tags...?

Karen...LOL on your new pen: "a nurse gave me a pen that said "Cancer Survivor-- we've done drugs that Keith Richards never even heard of." : )

You have an awesome perspective, keep on shining, and smiling, we are all thinking of you and sending back lots of positive karma!

Karen,

I have used almost every single one of the tips I have read from your posts and this is how it has worked for me:

Last week I was on the first page of google for the term Kissimmee real estate, I am now on the second page ( I have to work on my website)
I am on the first page for Kissimmee condo for sale
I am on the first page for Kissimmee Vacation Homes for sale

I will be working on my tags as soon as I can. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Karen, Thanks for sharing so generously. Man, have got some fixing to do!

Karen, I am late to the game here but it didn't take long to find you and this great big group of strangers that all have love and concern for you. We all have friends or loved-ones that have been affected by BC. Your posts here are surely informative, but it's your genuineness and eloquence that shine through. I'm going back and changing my tags. You're right, it makes perfect sense now.

Karen -

Thank you sooo much for this post - I'm going right now and fix my past posts - I'm so impressed with you. Will let you know how I make out.

Karen,
Thanks so much for the valuable information and advice. I guess I will have to go back and update all of my tags now! This is great information.

Karen, I went back and changed my tags. I'm new so there wasn't much to do. This is a very useful tidbit! I'll let you know if I get results. After editing I republished and later noticed that my blog posted late this morning had vanished from view. Is that because I edited? Did this happen to anyone else? Thanks so much.

Update...my blog magically reappeared..sorry

Thanks Karen for the great tips. I will seriously consider them. Maybe I will have to go back and make some changes.

Karen, Thank you. Every time I have followed your advice I have seen an improvement in my Google page placing. I hope you are getting enough rest.

Karen,

I have learned so much from your posts, and continue to do so. I only have 5 or 6 categories on my ouside blog but haven't worried about it too much on AR. I mostly have used lots of them here because that way the words would be found in searches. Thanks so much for your help. Keep fighting the good fight!

Karen- I'm so excited to be reading posts from you. Mostly because I'm glad your feeling up to it, and of course because I always learn so much from you. Non-believers - pay attention. Karen brought my site up from never never land to Page 1 on Google in no time at all. Karen's advice is the best advice you will get at any price.

Ok a question ( maybe I'm skipping ahead to part II) I have started to pare down my tags on my blog ( my Leavenworth Real Estate blog, not my Active Rain blog.) I have been blogging for about 2.5 years - should I be focused on the newer posts (the better ones with more content and better anchor text) or my old ones. Does Google care?

Another question- any tips on how to keep my blog, my AR blog and my website from being competition for each other for these search terms? At what point am I battling against myself for Page Rank.

Karen - It takes some time to edit all those posts tags... about 1.5 hours today but bet it was worth it.

Thanks! Jill

Karen, It is wonderful to see you posting today. Your blogs have been a gift to many of us in this community. When I first started reading, most of it was way over my head. Thanks for continuing to give even during a time of personal challenge. You are an inspiration.

Karen - You did not mention how this will help grow our site ranking. Do we need to add our URL at the bottom of each post or does Google tie each post we write to the website we linked when we created our AR profile?

Very good post, Karen! This is the first time I've read one of your posts, but I see why you have so many fans. I'm going to go back and see what else you've posted.

We appreciate it!

Karen,

Thank you SO much for the great advice. You have helped me with some great tips in the past. I really need to edit my tags on here to pare them down. I'm going to think for a day and decide which 5 or so to use and then edit them all. Your post also made me think about my outside blog which has 12 categories - I probably need to edit those down as well and make them more SEO friendly.

I would like to say that you have helped me increase my ranking for several competitive terms in Google and taught me a lot. When I launched an outside blog 3 weeks ago I used a lot of your tips and this blog on a brand new URL is already ranking well in Google. It took my main website MONTHS to rank for ANYTHING, but that was before I found AR and your blogs on SEO.

I hope you got some rest today. You know I am pulling for you and sending you well wishes.

This is amazing - thank you so much for the information - starting now, be back soon with my progress

Hi Karen. i think my comment was not clear (that's what I get for commenting in the middle of the night). I do not think you were promoting stuffing. Just the opposite. You are saying to organize tags in a logical format. And I agree. My reference to keyword stuffing is what happens when people do not properly organize their tags. for example, they tag one post as buyers, then another as home buyers, then another as buying. This makes it difficult for readers who actually use tags to find more info about a specific subject and it's bad for SEO for the reason you point out in your post. I think you are right on the money!

Karen - Thank you this is information worthy of ur attention

Go Me.... I got an inside joke... on one of the "big gals" blogs. I am flattered... Now you really want me to go back and edit all my "stuff". <sigh> There ya go another one assigning me homework.... Sarah, Sally, Adam and now You.

I have no friends on AR anymore..... I am a merely student :(

Karen, as usual you have a wealth of information. I don't have a ton of tags but they are all NAMED WRONG, they are not named for SEO! I guess I have my work cut out for me.

I'm at 14 for Spring TX Real Estate on my website, still trying to claw my way to page one.

Thanks. I tried to trim my tags.... but it is hard to let go of some.

Thanks for the great advice. I am really struggling with this whole SEO thing right now as my AR profile just disappeared from google when I used to be able to find it on page 2 along with the general AR site and Localism. I am looking forward to page 2.

Karen,

i am so glad you are back writing on AR. I read your other blog from A to Z. I just got to AR and blogging, so I better go back and re-do the tags. Unfortunately I am not even on the horizon for Google's "Princeton real estate" key words, so It's hard for me to measure improvement. My web-site has been dormant and I am looking for a new one, so I can only rely on AR blog.

I agree with you 100%. I've been using the keyword tags, however, I'm sure sure if the words that I'm using are the best, thy're probably too generic ie. woodhaven real estate, seller tips, etc., this brings up a couple of million search results. I hope you cover this in one of your future posts. Thanks.

AUG

2007

Karen,

Thank you for the wonderful post--you are so helpful! I have read some of your other ones and I am going to start from the beginning.

AUG

2007

Hi Karen - so glad to see you're feeling okay enough to write this post and the follow-up one to come.

This one sounds like something I could actually do. I have one really stupid question - how do you check what your rankings are? I hope no one jumps on me for asking that, but I have no clue on that stuff. Once I do that, then I'll implement just what you've said.

Funny thing - I've been wondering for a little while now if I shouldn't be doing something a little better with my tags, and now I read this post you've written. Thanks for this info!!!

Ann

SEP

2007

Karen, you are such a giver. You have a gift for being able to take a confusing area and organize it in such a way that it makes sense and seems doable. I didn't have a clue about tags. I always wondered what the strategy was and felt like I was playing "pin the tail on the donkey" - you know- hoping to hit the spot while blindfolded. You are amazing and I pray for your health with love to you.

Karen,

You are an awesome person and so generous in your giving to this network! Our sincere wishes go out to you in your fight. Thanks so much for this post. Must bookmark it for reading and examining closely. Great information to have and use!

Ok Karen, here I go. I'll report back when I'm done and thanks for the continued tips.

SEP

2007

Thanks again Karen for the valuable information.

Awesome advice! Thanks so much! I'll let you know how it works out for me.

Good advice. I started doing that somewhat intuitively, but I can see how I can combine some topics to make it even easier.

I have culled my tags considerably but have not been able to get them down to 5 or 6. I have about 14, which is way way way better than my original 50+ tags...lol

SEP

2007

Based on some feedback from your blog and George T. I've been working on this. It's difficult to simplify all of those tags but it certainly does help!!

I am new to this and so glad to read your post. Can't wait to read Part II. Thanks Karen. I better get busy.

Karen, thanks again for another excellent post. As a relatively new blogger the posts on AR have made a huge positive difference but, not enough to make the Top 10 list. I'll be reviewing your second post on this topic, and commence the new tagging schema for my Blog!

Best!

John

Great info, thanks so much, I will be taking your advise and looking forward to part 2.

Best wishes for quick healing and recovery, and remember the definition of an incurable disease is one which is cured from within!

SEP

2007

Hi Karen,

I'm new to Active Rain and to blogging. I stumbled across your blog and am captivated in two ways. I intend to read and try to implement all of your SEO / blogging suggestions. But much more importantly, I am blown away by your candor and your courage! You are an inspiration and a blessing to everyone who reads you. You are also a mighty talented writer in the genre of Annie Lamont. Thank you for all you have shared, professional and personal. I feel fortunate to have found you online.

SEP

2007

I love it, my comment is like a little guppy in a big ol pond. Karen thank you so much for sharing such rich information. I have been wondering what the heck those 'tags' were for.

Karen,

Thanks for this blog. I have been looking for helpful ideas to move me up in the search engines and I will try this. Thanks!

Thank you for the help with tags - which I completely don't understand. I will read your post again and the comments as well, since it seems important to getting your blogs out there.

P.S. I am newbie, can you tell?

Howdy Karen

Thank you for the very uesful info on tagging our blogs.

Have a good one

Well, I was tending to hover in the 4-5 page range, and I changed my tags. I am always on page 2, and have hit the top spot on page 2. Definately worked...

SEP

2007

Karen...got turned on to your post by Renee in Vegas. Took action on your ideas and am excited to see what happens. Thanks!

SEP

2007

Hi Karen,

I accidently stumbled on to this post and am awed by your knowledge. As a newbie, I didn't think the tags were important so I have been skipping them. Pretty dumb for a retired high school math/programming teacher, don't you think. Anyway, as someone who always appreciated the precocious student, I thank you for setting me in the right direction early on.

One question - is there a way to see if I am ranked anywhere on Google? I have Pagerank html code on my site but it is still on 0 after two years and $4800 paid so far to a SEO company.

Hope all is going well for you - you have an amazing spirit.

SEP

2007

Karen - Am so glad you're feeling well enough to be out in the rain. :-)

I've been working on my Tags but reading THIS post, I'm still not doing it right. Thanks goodness I'm just a month old here and don't have a gazillion posts to correct!

Can we delete Tags? I know I can remove them from the posts, but can they be removed from the side bar?

Thanks, Hugs and Well Wishes, Nancy

UGH - What a goober I am this morning. That post above was from me - BEFORE I actually logged into AR!

Karen-Thanks for that great explanation of how that all works. I now have A LOT of work to do but I am determined to do it. Aloha,

David Kucic RA, ABR, AHWD, e-PRO, GRI
First Sergeant, USA (Ret)
Tropic Lightning Real Estate, Oahu, Hawaii

Excellent points. Hurry up with part 2.

Craig, Part 2 was posted a while ago.

Thanks Karen Rice for letting me know about part 2. I'll check it out now.

SEP

2007

This is an excellent post and the information was just what I was looking for. I'm now off to look for part 2!

Thank you!

SEP

2007

Hi Karen,

Karen I read your blog and I checked to see where I ranked, so I could do a "before and after" scenario and testimonial on your behalf. I gave up after going back 50 pages. I cleaned up my tags as you mentioned in your blog. I narrowed down from over 50 varied tags all over the place. I then checked daily for over a week and NOTHING!! I began thinking I did this two+ hours worth of work for NOTHING!! Well I checked once again tonight AND I AM NOW LISTED ON PAGE 2, I am ranked 19 out 1,030.000 INCREDIBLE!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I am sorry for ever doubting you. You are the best!! I will never know what page after 50 my site was originally located at PAGE 2 WOW!!! in a very competitive on line market!

I cant thank you enough!!

SEP

2007

Wow - Now I have more work to do! I just read you Googlebomb posting and decided I should rework my site. I am going to stop reading you blogs for the night now, because I just keep adding to my to do list! LOL Thank You!

Pablo-- you must believe in me! I have more... I hope you subscribed!

OCT

2007

This is more than helpful!!!

Oh, I am SO guilty of having a million tags on the right side of my blog. I don't like diluted drinks, and now I know that The Google doesn't like diluted blogs! Thank you for posting this....and now I'm on to Part 2! :)

OCT

2007

you are a genius! I love that you give away your knowledge...You make me feel like I know what I'm doing!! haha...thank you!!!!

OCT

2007

I have to go change my tags asap. As always, great and useful information!

NOV

2007

Renee -

I got to your blog from Mike in Tucson. Thank you for the great information! I'm going to start cleaning up my tags immediately and will start organizing my thoughts and tags as I'm writing my blog entries. I'm off to read Part 2 now!

Karen,

Thanks so much for your great information. I really appreciate the time you take to mentor us. I learn more and more each day from great folks like you on AR.

I'm headed back to all my past blogs and tagging the randoms as "Misc Ramblings from a Virginia Mortgage Banker"!!! Thanks Karen! ;o)

DEC

2007

Karen, I found you. I wrote a blog on tags (not because I understand them, but rather because I do not understand them) But I am coming into the century of how they work and could see that I had some that were worthless and making my list too long. Lisa sent me to you. Thank you Lisa!

I am on my way to read part 2 and I truly appreciate your education on this subject. Now I am going to read more or your blogs and I pray that you are feeling better. I will send a prayer up for you and will keep you in my prayers. God is a miracle worker.

JAN

2008

Thank you! I'm going to work on this today and hereafter. I think I get it. Very cool!

JAN

2008

I have taken your advice and it worked for my blog! Thank you so much for everything!

APR

2008

Karen, just read your blog...great idea. I'm going to retage my blogs right now. Thanks!

I have already tried to condense my tags, but with your help I will be more careful in the future and plan to revise the existing ones. Thanks for the insights!

MAY

2008

Karen, thanks for all the info, I can't wait to go back and redo my tags.

I am going to believe you on this one and try to make the changes tonight. I really don't like how messy it looks on the sides anyways. I am currently on Page 4,5 & 6 for my area. I will come back and post the changes to PR (Page Ranking). (I bookmarked you!)

MAY

2008

I am looking forward to part #2. I made a copy of this so I can read it later

DAve

Karen,

Returned to the Rain not too long, after an embarassingly far too long absence. I thought I had left a comment on a post of yours already, but can't recall, so I just wanted to:

1) Extend my best wishes to you and let you know you're in my thoughts & prayers,

2) Send you this belated "thank you" for the specific welcome to those of us over here in the Northeast Kingdom, and...

3) Let you know that - w/the exception of my own beautiful bride - you still remain thw woman of my dreams! I believe I referred to you as my "Cyber-Space Queen" sometime last year, shortly after you'd kindly guided me through yet another of what, at the time, appeared to be an impossible SEO-related concept. As usual, you even managed to shed that desperately-needed light in your incredibly simplistic and straightforward manner.

Please know that you always have the undying love and admiration of this simple Mountain Man of the northeast. Undoubtedly, I will reference your posts, and continue to learn from them for years to come.

Scott

MAY

2008

That's what I'm trying to do and it works!

JAN

I was just reading this article, I have tried to fix my tags but it did not work. I went through all of my blogs and retagged. But when I check my tags, all the old useless ones are still on the list-any suggestions to delete these.

FEB

Great info, thanks for your post

APR

I so wish I could talk to this dear lady. At least I can listen.

Everything Karen wrote has been enlightening, useful, funny, or some combination of the three.

Thanks, as always, for the information.

Thank you for sharing and I wish you the best of health for you. .

APR

Karen - Wow, that makes so much sense! I can't believe that I haven't read this post before now. This is great stuff, and now I know I have been doing things all wrong. Time to go back and fix some things. Thanks so much for the info.

JUL

I am vey late in gettings = thanks to Rene Burrows. Time to go and clean up my act and hopefully I can be one of the 5% for you!

SEP

Good stuff - I recently heard this - I think now maybe it is sinking in finally ! Thanks

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