Special offer

3 EASY steps to Page One of the Search engines - Part 2!

By
Real Estate Agent with Realty World Wichita

So you have your site set up, and all the Phrases in all the right places.  Now what?  Let's link exchange

NOT - the search engines believed (once apon a time) that pages linked to your site proved validity of the content of your site.  This is very true.  (the big) HOWEVER, this got abused.  I'll link to you, if you link to me.  Very good concept, and works well, IF it is a true link.  Lots of Realtors have link pages.  Referring people to your site.  They want you to link back.  Sounds good, but not as effective as it once was.  Here's part of the problem.  IF you have a google Page Rank of 3 or 4 on your home page, and the person wanting to exchange links has a PR of 1 or on their Link page, Google will remove part of your ranking (so to speak), and add it to the page you are linking to PR.  Here comes the problem.  MOST realtors link page do not link to their own front page.  It's difficult at best to get to their link page (if you start from their home page, try it).  So the end effect is to lower your site's ranking.  I've checked my site http://www.realtyworldwichita.com/ in Google for back links, and I only have 10 pages ranked to the front page.  Using SEO chat, the Link Popularity tool shows I have 10 pages in Google, 302 in Yahoo, and 1 in MSN.  I have good ranking in Google, none in Yahoo, and good in MSN (according to Rankmon.com).  Each engine will use links their own way, but the results tell me that Links aren't real important.

EXCEPT:  Did you notice the link above to my site?  I link all my blogs, recruting sites, coporate sites, to my web site.  Good links always help.  Any site that link to hundreds (yes, even other Realtor sites) will hurt you.  I know longer exchange links randomly.  If I recieve an offer to exchange, I research their PR, and where I'm linked from on their site.  If I trust it (rarely), then I wlll exchange.  NOTE:  I have Active Rain on my home page.

Landing Pages:  Used with ethics, this is a great tool.  I have a landing page for Home Gain.  Helps me track, but more importantly, it is another entry page to my web site.  I'm not hiding who I am, what my company is or does, or why they are there: http://www.realtyworldwichita.com/buyerlink1.shtml you can see that this page is a form page, selling my community with our logo on it.  This page becomes a second "home" page of sorts, another different entry to my site.  Filling out the form takes you right to the search home page.

Next:  Blog, submit, and more.....

Mike and Dawn Lewis
The Lewis Team at Keller Williams - San Diego, CA
The Lewis Team at Keller Williams in San Diego CA

Greg,

Good post. Getting to page one is alot of work or alot of money to pay someone to do the work. I look forward to reading your future posts.

Mike Lewis

Oct 07, 2007 07:08 AM
New Jersey Real Estate James Boyer Morris, Essex & Union County NJ Realtor
RE/MAX Properties Unlimited, Real Estate - Morristown, NJ
All good advice, though I do not do business with homegain.  companies like them are the devil you feed until they have so much power that they dictate just how everything will be.  I give them no money, and I active work to out rank them for my search terms.  Consumers don't like companies like homegain ether, but in many cases they feel like they don't have a choice.
Oct 12, 2007 02:31 AM
Greg Fox
Realty World Wichita - Wichita, KS
Techy Broker in Wichita Kansas
James, don't totally discount Homegain.  I am ahead of them in the search engines, and I budget only $100 per month.  I have a landing page that tells me how many people enter there.  I can stop if I want, BUT, because I'm ahead of them, I now have 2 entries to my site on Google front page.
Oct 12, 2007 05:20 AM
Dale Campbell
Virginia Real Estate - Mechanicsville, VA
Great stuff, Greg!  Extremely valuable in the never ending quest for better rankings.
Oct 20, 2007 06:28 AM
Rey Gallegos
Supreme Lending (NMLS ID #2129) - Las Vegas, NV
FHA, VA, Home Loans Las Vegas, NV
Good Info.  I link all my post to my site but I try to vary the anchor text.
Oct 31, 2007 06:14 AM