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Real Estate Websites and SEO

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Whitecomb.com, LLC

About 2 months ago I attended one of those "How to Increase Your Website Search Ranking" seminars hoping to increase my own knowledge regarding SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques from a well-respected authority on the topic. Unfortunately, just like many of these seminars, the information was pretty much the same as I've heard for some time. With that, I did meet a real estate professional who maintained his own website and other realtor websites as well. I introduced myself, him the same, and we began talking about web development, especially Web 2.0 (blogs/podcasts). The first thing this person said to me was, "Im one of the leading edge real estate pro's utilizing SEO trends that you'll meet." Being an IT person, I was astounded that this term had made its way into the real estate sector. So I asked this person what methods he was using to generate higher page ranks for his site(s) and was then disappointed. Why? The response was, "Did you know by adding some words, known as keywords, to these things called meta tags, that you can have your site indexed higher by search engines?" This coming just after we had the seminar...I figured I'd ask this person a few "techie" questions since he said he was "leading edge". Not surprised, but the person looked like a deer in headlights. 

So, I asked this person what his URL was (they didnt know what that meant) and they gave me the website address(es). I looked up on Google and it took me about 8 pages deep in searching to find any nomenclature regarding his sites. I sent the person an email back indicating my results and got the "oh, well a month ago it was on the first page for a search".

SEO is much more than just a few keywords per se, but then again, if you know this much, its a good start. Also keep in mind that browsers are much more capable of searching for sites or content in the address bar instead of knowing what the actual URL is. Also, search engine standards are constantly changing in terms of the technologies they use to index websites. (a tad techie)

We posted a brief synopsis about SEO on our blog (a bit techie), but hopefully it helps those looking to increase page ranking on search engines and those that administer their own sites. Once again, its a brief synopsis and quick primer, but a great overview...

http://blog.whitecomb.com/2006/12/21/seo-is-more-than-meta-tags/ 

If you have a site in question in terms of page ranking, let us know, we may be able to help... 

 

Chris Griffith
Downing-Frye Realty, Bonita Springs, FL - Bonita Springs, FL
Bonita Springs Listing Specialist - Agent
I always do a search for any site that claimes they can accomplish X,Y or Z for a website.  The overwhelming majority of the time they  M.I.A. in SERP.  This must be a lucrative career and site owners must be desperate/stupid.
Jan 03, 2007 09:47 PM
D. Comber
Whitecomb.com, LLC - Chicago, IL
Whitecomb Dot Com

Yeah, I would agree, terms such as SEO and SERP have become buzzwords and used as marketing methods to attract business from those who do not understand or have experience in web development. Any company that promises someone increased traffic due to better SEO techniques is simply lying. You can tweak just about everything on your site (in terms of code) to meet every possible SEO trick in the book, but you may not be a top ranking in any search. Its good when people make sure they are at least compliant with the standards, but this is no guarantee that it will increase page ranking. Personally, I feel SEO is somewhat overrated and abused by marketing trends. 

While much has been made by search engines to get site owners compliant with search engine standards, a lot of work needs to be done in research to determine how people search and what boolean queries are used more than others and how specific users get when searching. Google has done a good job with this, but its still not perfect. 

Site owners also forget that social networks (such as active rain, myspace, etc) have a higher volume of pages/folders and thus will rank higher than smaller sites (such as my own site) as they are have a higher index ratio. This also includes large real estate brokerage firms (such as Coldwell Banker, etc.) as personal sites are part of a larger network.

SEO is just as random as outcomes on a roulette table and no one can really modify a site to get the perfect results. I dont think people are stupid, i think they just get caught up with tech buzzwords with goals that are somewhat unattainable.  It is good to keep up with search engine standards to at least try for higher rankings. 

Jan 04, 2007 03:02 PM