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How to get to Page one of Google, The Holy Grail... the dilemma...

By
Real Estate Agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties 01238708

How to get to Page one of Google: The Holy Grail of Realtors...the dilemma... Social Media Expert, SEO Experts, Internet Gurus, Successful Internet Realtors…

The list goes on and on… Everyone has a point, everyone has a theory and the message is either mixed or polar opposite from each other. So what is a Realtor to do? We all wonder on how to get the attention of Home Sellers, everyone agrees on one pointContent and more so good content in a blog post is the key.

Up to this point all the advice is the same, now this is where the directions change in the advice of all the experts.

Before I address this point let me go back in time:

Once the internet was accepted as a vehicle for communication, email eliminated or drastically reduced “snail mail” i.e.: what we used to call the Post Office and letters.( Sadly we lost an art, but that is another post)

This was followed by Texting, for convenience, not having to have to wait to get to the “internet” this clearly shortened the length of the posts.

 Twitter came on the scene almost a decade ago, eight years to be exact. The message was clear: people have short attention spans and do not want to read long emails as well as their need for quick, short answers became the norm.

Flutter has been around for a couple of years and their messages are shorter than Twitter’s this is all a continuation of shorter, faster and minimum attention span of the reader…

Email marketers have noticed that if you do not like the Subject Line or it is not compelling you will not even bother to open the email. It just simply gets deleted at best saved for a later time to read which does not happen.

So here is the Dilemma:  The Gurus state that good content is needed for Google to index you. First the message was a good post has to be 300 words, and then it increased to 600 words. Now these experts are saying you need 1000 words to make Google happy. So my question is: great you got to Page One the Holy Grail with your 1000 word posts, but no one will read it? Let me know where I am going wrong? I am Looking for advice, input and thoughts: what do you think and why?

 

If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at http://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations.

Katina Hargrove 352-551-0308
Stake Your Land Realty, Inc. - Eustis, FL
Broker/Owner, SFR®, e-PRO®, GRI, AHWD, REALTOR®

Endre and everyone, we have to make a decision, do we want to be writers or Realtors. Keep it simple, hire someone to write for you or pay to rank on the top search engines. If we have to blog in order for our business to thrive then we might want to re-examine our busines plan. Home buyers are looking for homes for sale, sellers are looking to see if their home shows up on the interenet. Endre, focus on your subject line and keep it simple, it limits your liability. Happy selling  

Aug 16, 2014 10:59 PM
Robert Bob Gilbert
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Anderson Properties - Katy, TX
Your Katy TX ( West of Houston) Real Estate Expert

Hi Endre, I was just reading barbara Jo's comment above and she makews some excellent points. I will not say too much more here we can talk sometime via cell phone. take care my friend.. 

Aug 17, 2014 04:19 AM
Yolanda Cordova-Gilbert
Richmond, TX

Endre,

Well this is really interesting, many are not Happy about the lastest purchase, I will not write 1000 words no one will read it! I try to keep mine to 100 and interesting. It is content that counts, but Laura has a good point!

Aug 17, 2014 04:57 AM
Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

Judith I am with you on this as well!

Barbara Jo it is annoying and all it will do is force me to create my own Blog site since it is becoming very adversarial relationship with the "new and improved" Active Rain....

Bob I get it will try to call you in a few days next couple will be crazy for me...Endre

Yolanda, Laura doe indeed  have a point  but I am a Don Quixote I have always fought the  corporate mentality:))) so sorry can not take the advice:)), Endre

Aug 17, 2014 11:52 AM
William Johnson
Retired - La Jolla, CA
Retired

Hi Endre, Google made it easy for those that do not want to be the 1000 word expert. buy Google ads. The answer is usually found by following the money trail.

Aug 17, 2014 03:42 PM
MichelleCherie Carr Crowe .Just Call. 408-252-8900
Get Results Team...Just Call (408) 252-8900! . DRE #00901962 . Licensed to Sell since 1985 . Altas Realty - San Jose, CA
Family Helping Families Buy & Sell Homes 40+ Years

Newspapers still have 300 words as the ideal story size.

Aug 17, 2014 04:35 PM
Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

William very astute observation, Endre

Michelle that makes it clear to me then:)), Endre

Aug 17, 2014 04:44 PM
Katina Hargrove 352-551-0308
Stake Your Land Realty, Inc. - Eustis, FL
Broker/Owner, SFR®, e-PRO®, GRI, AHWD, REALTOR®

William, you made it clear, no one read or understood what I was trying to say, lol...

Aug 17, 2014 10:11 PM
Sharon Paxson
Sharon Paxson, Realtor® EQTY Forbes Global Properties - Newport Beach, CA
Newport Beach Real Estate

HI Endre - this is a great post and the algorithms change, and then require us to know that they did, and then adapt accordingly.

Aug 18, 2014 02:10 AM
Tammie White, Broker
Franklin Homes Realty LLC - Franklin, TN
Franklin TN Homes for Sale

Endre, if you were aiming for brevity, then you didn't succeed with this post. I rank on page 1 of Google for many keyword phrases with content that is 300 words or less. I don't believe it's a requirement. That being said, I write to cover a point, not to meet a word count. If I can make my point in 200 words, great. If it takes me more, as it did you in this post, then so be it. I put out quality content. I'm not trying to reach 1,000 words. However, I wrote a post the other day that was 800 words. I tweeted the post. Guess what? It got re-tweeted by several people some of which don't even follow me. Even Twitter followers can appreciate good content when they see it.

Aug 18, 2014 02:00 PM
Tammie White, Broker
Franklin Homes Realty LLC - Franklin, TN
Franklin TN Homes for Sale

Bravo Laura Allen, Lake Tahoe - Truckee Real Estate for Sale www.TahoeLauraLuxuryHomes.com !!

Aug 18, 2014 02:07 PM
Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

William you are so astute and spot on:)), Endre

Katina,  William always does and graciously:)

Sharon, I agree we need to adopt or be left behind...

Tammy that was not my intent, I write like you for the sake how long it takes to get the point across...

You got to love Laura, I can not do that though I must fight the Windmills:)), Endre

Aug 18, 2014 04:12 PM
Jen Mahon

Endre Barath, Jr. - This is such an important question, and the fact that you're asking it puts you ahead of most real estate pros. Some basic tips I've learned to improve your search ranking and overall online presence; 

- Make sure all of your social profiles (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yelp) are complete and made public. Having your LinkedIn profile show up at the top of Google search can be as good as your website or blog posts. Everyone is familiar with LinkedIn, so they're likely to click through to learn more about you there.

- Stay active on your social profiles. Post lots of high-quality content, comment and engage with your clients and other real estate profiles. Your Twitter account is active, for example, but there aren't many real-estate related articles being posted there besides listings.

- Post quality blog articles 1-2 times a week that focus on helping clients, rather than self promotion. Those are the posts that get the most engagement. 

 

Feel free to message me with any questions!

 

-Jen @ProjectRealty

Aug 20, 2014 06:53 AM
Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

Jen Mahon  Thank you for your detailed input, greatly appreciated, will try to reach out to you in the next day or two, Endre

Aug 20, 2014 06:59 AM
Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089
Hawai'i Life Real Estate Brokers - Haiku, HI
Maui Real Estate sales and lifestyle info

Sadly, we can't all fit on page 1 of Google anyway.  Just keep doing what you're doing.  Content is king.

Aug 20, 2014 11:51 AM
Amanda Christiansen
Christiansen Group Realty (260)704-0843 - Fort Wayne, IN
Christiansen Group Realty

I have the attention span of a gnat.  Sometimes reading a 300 word post is challenging enough for me.  If I'm going to write a 1,000 word post, it's going to be written with short paragraphs and going to be instructional.  

Aug 20, 2014 09:54 PM
Katina Hargrove 352-551-0308
Stake Your Land Realty, Inc. - Eustis, FL
Broker/Owner, SFR®, e-PRO®, GRI, AHWD, REALTOR®

Google ads. Cash is King!

Aug 20, 2014 10:07 PM
Kathleen Luiten
Resort and Second-Home Specialist - Princeville, HI
Kauai Luxury Ocean Home Sales

Thanks for this post, Endre. I'll state the obvious, Google isn't changing it's ranking criteria based on anything that relates to the value or practicality of our blogs. Tammie made some good comments about staying near the top, and Jen and William are spot-on if ranking is the focus. If we write to contribute value - for other agents or the public - I think ranking shouldn't drive our decisions about word count and content. 

Aug 21, 2014 04:48 AM
Troy Erickson AZ Realtor (602) 295-6807
HomeSmart - Chandler, AZ
Your Chandler, Ahwatukee, and East Valley Realtor

I don't knwo what the answer is, but I know I am not going to start writing 1,000 word posts, because writing them alone would probably put me to sleep. I am still going to try and write posts I feel will help home buyers and sellers, and whatever happens, happens, in regards to my ranking.

It is disappointing to hear that trulia and other sites like them are taking over all of the page ranking for everything real estate related. I guess money does do all the talking. Can an individual ever really compete with that?

Aug 30, 2014 05:40 AM
Tammy Adams ~ Realtor / Podcaster
Maricopa Real Estate Co - Maricopa, AZ
A Maricopa Agent who Works, Lives & Loves Maricopa

Being one of those short attention span people, I tend to write with folks like me in mind when I can but I know I would zone off even on some of my best work. LOL

Sep 05, 2014 01:54 AM