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Stop Working on Your Website and You Could Drop like a Rock.

By
Real Estate Agent with eXp Realty WA 47927
Ade HouseSo I’ve redesigned my main website – GNAde.com - yet another time. I do this always myself because (a) I know how and (b) I enjoy doing it. Since I write it, design it, code it (strictly html and css) and optimize it all AT ONCE the site is cut from one cloth instead of being a patchwork put together by different experts with different skills.

SEO rankingsThe search engines appear to agree with me. The site has a Google page rank of five. And, my latest rankings for search terms that matter to me are 18 first positions on page one and 49 among the top five for four search engines. Not bad, but still not good enough to compete with the big boys (and girls ;-). By the big boys I mean real estate sites that offer zilch information but that have saturated the web so thoroughly they pop up everywhere.

This is one of the intrinsic problems of searching the Web: you search for anything and ebay and amazon come up - if not organically then as sponsored links. So you want to buy underwear? Result: “read all about underwear at amazon.com.” Not relevant and not what I was looking for. The same is true for real estate web searches.

The lessons I learned are these: you stop working on your website you drop off the radar screen. You add content, improve your navigation, refine the design, define your voice and you’ll see improved results. Adding a Google site map also helped.

What’s inspired me to pay again more attention to my website is ActiveRain with so many experts on all matters of interest. Meeting these experts on ActiveRain has its advantages. You see their faces, read what they say about themselves, read their blogs and their comments. They, in turn, see all that about you.

I contacted one of these experts (any guesses, here?) and found out that we had more in common than an interest in search engine optimization and the blogging sphere. I received invaluable advice for free and have contracted with that person for work. What’s important is that this all happens on the basis of mutual respect. Both parties will give free advice to each other and the relationship will be mutually beneficial.

Still, keeping up with the web tools and trends is becoming more and more difficult. What inspired me for the last round of refinements was one of the AR experts and a book I bought. The book is “designing with web standards” by Jeffrey Zeldman, (see Amazon.com)  who is also the publisher of A List Apart, my absolute favorite site on web design for more years than I can remember.

But, then again, my past is in design and branding. And, despite having neglected my branding site for years it still has a Google page rank of four. So, relevant content does matter!

 

© 2006, Gerhard N. Ade

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Seattle Area Real Estate

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Comments (10)

Anonymous
Terry
except you have a pagerank of 4, not 5.

Dec 10, 2006 09:59 AM
#1
Real Estate Flyers
Guru Real Estate Flyers - Toronto, ON
I agree, designers and most programmers do not keep in mind the ramifications of their work into the world of SEO
Dec 10, 2006 10:03 AM
Gerhard Ade
eXp Realty - Seattle, WA
What sets me apart, will set you apart.

Ade HousePardon me, Terry, I don't know where you looked but according to this http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php GNAde.com ranks a five and BrandTutorial.com ranks a four. This is not to say that things don't change on the web. They do. And that was in part the subject of my blog. :-)

 

Dec 10, 2006 10:19 AM
Lenn Harley
Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate - Leesburg, VA
Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland

I agree with every word.  I work on Homefinders.com ALL THE TIME and most of the other sites I maintain too. 

Homefinders.com has been fluctuating between 4 and 5 for about a month now after having a 5/10 rank for as long as Google has been around.  So, I moved most of the links off the page to a site map and started adding some more content.  I'm due for an update. 

But, Homefinders.com does VERY WELL in SERP.  Always has.  Because I work it, work it.

Lenn 

 

Dec 10, 2006 10:46 AM
Jon Washburn
Seattle, WA

Hi Gerhard,

I really like your new site design.  Very nice!

~jon 

Dec 10, 2006 12:23 PM
Sharon Simms
Coastal Properties Group International - Christie's International - Saint Petersburg, FL
St. Petersburg FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS
When I've looked at your photo, I've always thought the background was water. Then this weekend I thought it might be mountains. After looking at the header photos in your updated website, I'm wondering if it's both water and mountains.  Which is it, Gerhard?
Dec 10, 2006 11:04 PM
David Recker
Connect Realty - http://www.NCRealEstateWeb.com - Rocky Mount, NC
Thanks for the information.
Dec 10, 2006 11:27 PM
Mary McKnight
Sacrilicious Marketing - Orlando, FL

A List Apart is definitely one of the very best developer resources on the web.  And web standards are critical to usability and browser compatibility.  I see so many real estate sites out there with hundreds of validation errors and warnings.  Truly my pet peeve.  I love the new redesign of Gnade!  I also see a lot of site that are left to rot on the web- they don't get updated and they whither away to nothingness.  I am so glad you have not let that happen to yours.

Dec 11, 2006 01:07 AM
Jacqulyn Richey
Prominent Realty Group - Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas Real Estate
Gerhard, page rank is STILL changing. Some of my pages (as well as AR) still show the old page rank sometimes. I guess Google is still thinking about things. Freshness is still a key element of maintaining or gaining in the serps. -Charles
Dec 11, 2006 07:53 AM
Gerhard Ade
eXp Realty - Seattle, WA
What sets me apart, will set you apart.
Ade HouseSharon: that water behind me is Puget Sound and the land is part of one of the many islands. My son took this picture a year ago on a ferry crossing during Christmas vacation.
Dec 11, 2006 11:40 AM