I have the utmost respect for Lenn Harley. I am convinced that she never ever leaves her computer. The degree to which she manufacturers post on ActiveRain borders on staggering. In fact, I have dreamed that she has a little factory of umpa-lumpas typing away and making maps all day long. And it's not just the shear volume......it's the quality of the posts. When I hear the call that ActiveRain should be featuring more 'hard core' real estate content, I usually think to myself, "well get ready for a BIG dose of Lenn Harley"
Over the weekend, she dipped her toe into a little fray that I had the good fortune of missing. (I was on a golf weekend with the boys). If you missed it, you can find it here, here, and here. We always talk about these sort of things after they play out, especially when one of ours is taken to task. (you'll have to read if you want the details). We decided that when it was all said and done, there were a lot of statements that were right, many that were wrong and a few that were just personal strategy decisions that don't really have a right or wrong answer.
One thing that I wanted to touch on, because it is near and dear to my heart is a contention that Lenn made about video. Here is what Lenn wrote:
Gadgets and Video. Another detrimental trend is the continued focus on non-Google friendly gadgets and platforms. If anything is going to diminish our Google juice, it will be the introduction of Google alien gadgets including video. Video is fun. Video is cute. Video is NOT Google friendly. The more bandwidth devoted to video and other Google alien gadgets, the less Google synergy ActiveRain will enjoy. Just because we can is no reason to do things.
I want everyone to understand something.......nobody KNOWS exactly what Google is going to do. Tomorrow, Google could say, "The world is flat, and if you have anything on your website that insinuates anything other than the world is flat, we are blacklisting you." Are they going to do that? Of course not.....but they could. People's best guesses (don't get me wrong, they are certainly educated guesses) are based on what they have seen in the past. People also make guesses based on patents that google file. But Google files a lot of patents!! And sometimes, (gasp!) they don't even file a patent, because someone else already filed it years ago and they just swoop in and buy them! (there is a rumor floating around they are flush with cash.......can anyone confirm this?)
The last thing I am is an internet history buff, but I'll bet there was a time when Google didn't index those bandwidth hogging images (pictures). Somewhere along the line, some really smart guy or gal at Google said "Hey, let's figure out a way to index images"..........and it was done. Which leads me to video............
Video is fun. Video is cute. Video is NOT Google friendly........YET!! (which isn't even totally true) There is a great article on SearchEngineLand that details the Google Universal and Google Video search products. You should go read it right now. The day is quickly approaching when Google WILL index video and integrate those results in the normal Google searches your clients use to find you. They will index it thoroughly. If they don't........someone else will, and that someone else will quickly become a leader in the Internet Search field. My guess is that if those rumors of Google being flush with cash are true, there is no way on this flat earth they will let someone else beat them to the punch.
So you can either choose to ignore video and focus on text, which will certainly bring you results (as it has for SOOOOO many to date) or you can decide that you are going to figure out how to incorporate video into your marketing plan now. If you choose the latter, you'll be in a pretty sweet position when Google decides that a video is worth at least 1000 words (and it will happen).
(I couldn't resist putting this video in......in has ZERO bearing on this conversation......but it might just be the cutest thing my kid has done so far.......and I missed it because I was down in Atlanta at the RETechSouth Conference...........and yes, that's him at center court!)
Do you care what I'm doing and thinking? (I can not for the life of me imagine why) If you do, you can find me on some of these places........but remember, if you are offended by anything you see or hear, I didn't force you to follow me!!:
75 Comments on Video killed the text search star? Nope, the text search star adapted!!
APR
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Bob - That is a priceless video, my friend. Keep several copies. As for the post, I have heard the same thing about the video integration as part of the Google plan. I do find more and more video clips popping up when I run regular searches there now.
Bob, I am glad you chimed in with your words. I agree that video will be where we need to be. It is so hard to figure google out! I stopped trying and just write and my blogs are all over the place. I am just starting with video.
Your kiddo is too damn cute! That video is priceless!! Be careful you will raise a sports fanatic - I did! When he was 2 he could name all of the Chicago Cub players and their positions - he watched baseball over cartoons!
Bob - One way or another, I plan to implement video eventually. I'm not sure to what capacity, but I will. I personally think all the other gadgets tend to clog up blogs. Trying to get onto some people's blogs is extremely time consuming in regards to the time it takes to load. I have no clue on what Google thinks but I just click away...
Hi Bob...Thank goodness for video. It is wonderful that you have this one to enjoy even though you were not there in person. What a wonderful time to be raising children.
I will read here, here, and here and then may come back with my thoughts.
Oh, goodness Kelan is soooooo cute. Okay, everytime you do something on him I keep saying that....well, he is. He's cute! And he's got rhythm too!
Now, back to the video...well, not sure how the video is pannying out for search but my blog with video on my closing for relo clients is number 3 on google and that's fine with me. Just putting in Mokuleia Beach brought in my video for kite surfers on Wellcomemat. that's cool too.
Video may not be an everyday thing for me but it certainly brought personality to the closing on those clients.
Love the Video! Bob, I'm planning on a new Video once a week. Yeah, I have to use my crappy IM camera - but that's ok. I'll get better as time goes on. To me it adds to the depth of the conversation.
Bob-My thoughts on video...not everyone should be on video...some have it and other's do not BUT I believe it is the wave of the future..it does not mean you have to be the star of your video either..it can be your voice and a listing..or some inspirational words. I turn into a ham and I think I am a glamour girl because that is how I handle my nervousness on video...but if I am unaware that is when it all comes out well.
I love the video and I am so impressed how well your son did and how brave..that big grinch might scare the heck out of someone but I think it was all those hot chicks that made him so brave. You have to admit it...thank goodness for video you might have had to just hear about it rather than see it! To me...now that is priceless!
"Keep several copies"..........ahhh, the beauty of computers.......I have it on disc, hard drive, you tube.......I think we'll be able to track it down :-) Yeah, Google is already deep into the idea of indexing video. How they weigh it against non-video results will be the key. I would imagine it will still be important to have solid text descriptions in the blog posts so that Google can figure out what is there.
Sheree,
It wasn't much drama......just some really smart people voicing their concerns and giving their opinions. I am sorry I missed it too.......at least the Sonics were nice enough to put the video together for us.
Jo,
I'm pretty sure my son will be a sports fanatic. Last year, he went to a Husky football game (4 months), two mariner games (3 months). This year he has been to about 10 Sonics games and two Mariners games. He just loves people.......so getting him out where there are lots of people is a blast.
Sardi,
Yeah.......I'm not so sure on the gadgets myself. A lot of the issues I see with the widgets stem from different browsers. We hear a lot about people with IE not being able to access certain blogs with lots of widgets.
Kathleen,
You come back now :-)
Sally,
It doesn't have to be an everyday thing.......but if you committed to once a week, I bet you would get really good at making them, after a year you would have 50 of them......and from there, who knows, maybe you'd catch the bug! :-)
Fran,
He is such a HAM!!! At the last Mariners game we were at, he has about 30 people behind us paying ZERO attention to the game and all cooing over him. He spent equal time smiling and waving at all 30 of them as not to lose any one particular persons interest. It was hilarious............We have a live one on our hands, that's for sure.
Bob - thanks for chiming in. I especially appreciate your take on Google. You're right in that everyone is simply 'second guessing' what Google has done or what they're going to do. They hold their algorithms pretty close to their chest. Probably some of the best kept secrets in the world! I was concerned about the effect that certain statements may have on our membership. When someone comes along and says "The Google Juice Sky is Falling!" then everyone takes that as gospel. And the next thing you know, it's utter pandemonium, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria! Well, you get my point. Why cry "Wolf!" because of personal preference?
I hear so many contradictory messages on what google does or does not like. However I do think that video is the wave of the future and I cannot imagine that google will not come up with a way to index it as well.
By the way I am a Lenn fan. Haven't read about the brouhaha yet.
Love, love the video. He is a happy guy, you are very lucky.
I am still figuring out this blogging thing and the html thing, uploading pics and now, I feel I need to figure out the video thing. Is there enough hours in the day for all this technology? .....Don't misunderstand, Bob, I have been having a blast here at AR, I love it and am looking forward to being able to spice up spruce up my blogs! Thanks for the information.
One recommendation that I would make is that when you add video or Flash to your site that you also provide a text version of your content that can be read by search engines or by someone not able to view that type of content.
We have a video based on interviews with some of our clients. If you view our website with a text only browser the main points of the interviews have been transcribed. This allows Google and other search engines can still point to our site based on the text.
Bob, Ardell and I were just thinking about not seeing new posts from you, and here you are. Will work on video when I can, along with more writing. Your son looks great!!!!!
Ahhh... he's adorable! I still can't believe I ever gave up my courtside seats at Key :(( I'm feeling homesick now...
As to video... I just don't know. I can read anywhere, but audio typically disturbs everyone around us. I suspect many who surf for real estate related stuff are doing so on the job where they just can't do the video thing.
Bob, I agree with the video is of the future. Google will not pass on video. It is to me the next generation. AS far as your son he was perfect except for the colors, now if he was here some teal and gold as in the HORNETS, life would be perfect. Thanks for sharing.
You could even start by using the IM camera to send updates to your borrowers. That would add depth. Instead of an email, you send them a little update with you speaking to them. Once a week is a great goal, I know you will be able to do it.......and they will just get better and better.......just like anything else.
Midori,
I agree with you. Not everyone should be on video, yours truly included :-) We have yet to have something or someone outright scare the kid. He is pretty brave for sure.
Rich,
Who you gonna call? :-)
Pam,
Like I said earlier.....not so much a brouhaha as it was some really bright people voicing their opinions and concerns.
Susan,
Thanks! And I really think Lenn has Umpa-Lumpas.
Terrie,
Take your time.....you are still ahead of about 1.2 million others that aren't even blogging. :-)
Geoff,
Thank you for that comment. It is DEAD ON. You certainly need to add text around your video to give Google some idea of what your video is about until they figure out how to read the actual video itself (and they will).
Kim,
Thank you on the son comment. Ardell actually spurred me to write this. She gave a little poke on my last post :-) I have another one in store specifically for her though that I will get out soon :-)
Fran,
Seriously, that's all I need.........he'll be thinking about that sooner than I probably care to acknowledge.
Jennifer,
Give it five years and everyone will have an ear piece with bluetooth that picks up their phone, their computer, their brainwave (I may have went a bit Orwellian there). You had courtside at the Key? I am soooo jealous. We sat in them once this year (Kelan and Amanda twice) and it was pretty sweet!
Frank,
Don't even get me started..........he probably isn't going to be able to wear Green and Gold anymore as soon as the Cattle Rustlers from Oklahoma City steal our team!
Thanks for your opinion on this. After I read Lenn's post yesterday, I found myself questioning whether video was worth the time and effort. Your comment (below) makes sense and is encouraging to continue with efforts on video.
"The day is quickly approaching when Google WILL index video and integrate those results in the normal Google searches your clients use to find you. They will index it thoroughly. If they don't........someone else will, and that someone else will quickly become a leader in the Internet Search field. My guess is that if those rumors of Google being flush with cash are true, there is no way on this flat earth they will let someone else beat them to the punch."
Bob and Rich - I don't know if you saw my mega-comment on Jessica's post last night, but I agree that it is silly to panic about Google juice. Jessica gave me a hard time on Twitter, calling my comment "Lord of the Rings". Have a good one -
Great video. A child in video will always bring a smile.
It may surprise some to learn that I don't live in a cave. Am I always in front of my computer? Sure, it's my job. I speak with buyers, sellers and agents all day. In the meantime, I write for my web pages or ActiveRain. I could recite some success stories from ActiveRain participation that would knock your socks off. I know what it takes to bring Google to my web sites and blog and that's what I do. For now, it isn't video. My web pages and blog were directly responsible for more than $72,000,000 in closed sales in 2007 and that was not a very good year. Some sales I couldn't track because they came through my IDX site but the real number of blog sales is probably about $50,000,000. I've collected more than $62,000 just in new home settlements in 2008 from those little Localism new home posts. ActiveRain works for me and will continue to work for me.
Actually, I'm more concerned about the technical slow downs with ActiveRain than the strive for video. But, I have confidence that these matters will solved soon and my fingers are crossed. One thing for sure, if a page isn't live and Google crawls, that is not a good thing. Or, if a consumer comes by and the page won't load or a new member wants to post their first article - - well, we know what happens.
I'm working hard to get new members to become active. I write welcome letters to new members every day, 10 at a time because that's all I'm allowed to send. We need new blood posting, reading and contributing. They're focused on this new blog thing and they need encouragement.
I too am working on video. When I complete the practice and formatting and commit it to the Internet, I'll have a library of community videos for Google to index on their new "Google Video" location. My videos will be as ubiquitous as my map images on Google Images.
That said, for now, I want Google juice and focusing on videos or anything else that doesn't enhance our presence on Google is going to be secondary for me.
Private message for agents in Maryland and Northern Virginia: videos are wonderful and they should get busy posting them right at the top of their blog pages - and web sites. Videos are wonderful. The best videos of course are those of the agents who talk about themselves and play a lot of music on the videos.
I couldn't agree with you more on the technical slow downs Lenn. Those are a major concern for us as well. We have doubled our number of web servers and also have a large portion of our development focused on addressing performance issues.
If you are working on video...........everyone in your area is in trouble and should be preparing for an uphill battle :-)
Google will never completely replace text results with video.......but as they start to integrate video results in order to give the consumer a more rich experience, those with a lot of video content will have an advantage. You obviously know that.
I almost spit my drink on my screen............the second time I was reading Lenn's comment, I wasn't paying close enough attention the first time........$50,000,000 in sales as a result of the blog. This number is staggering to me............I need a chair to sit down for a minute (actually, I'm sitting.......and it's a good thing I am)
Great post Bob, but I'm not here to discuss this issue any deeper, I'm commenting on the video!! That was awesome! Loved it! Your boy has got some moves goin on!! :-) Save that to show his wife someday! If it's on youtube, you can probably count on it being there forever!! :-)
I have to admit, I skipped the video and then played it cause I heard mention of *your* cute kid!
I'm tending not to lean towards 'playing' the videos, however am jumping on the band wagon and using them. I don't know what google will do with it - but like SEO, I just do my thing - and know that it's at least better than me not doing anything. (I hope :)
From what I've seen...Google does index video with the right description along with it. I recently did a neighborhood video tour, if you search on that neighborhood, the YouTube video shows up as well as Wellcomemat and ActiveRain all on page 1
"or you can decide that you are going to figure out how to incorporate video into your marketing plan now."
Video is a great way to compliment your content. A blog post with quality content is great for seo and if you add a good video to the quality content it makes it that much better. Having a video in your post is not going to hurt your Google ranking if in addition to it you have quality content. In fact on many instances I have seen video's posted to AOL video and Yahoo video ranked on page 1 of Google for some pretty competitive searches. If you ask me that proves that video doesn't hurt you with Google and other search engines but instead can help.
Loved this post on the essence and importance of video. But what I really loved about it was Lenn jumping in the conversation thru comments and clarifying her position. I would have to agree with you both, video will be very important to Blogs and Google, I think in many cases other industries and individuals have grasped that, there's no doubt, look at YouTube.
But for those starting the effort and migrating bit by bit, they should start with text. I speak with many real estate agents who still cannot seem to find the time to add blogging to their schedule. I speak to them about the benefits and encourage them to join the A/R community. Many have good intentions, but it seems overwhelming to them. Reading, commenting, then writing should be first. Then they can implement video. With less than 5% of the real estate industry embracing blogging, sometimes "baby steps" are a good thing.
I am so blown away by Lenn's efforts to encourage new Rainers to blog. I try to jump on the newly joined list and comment on the new members who have started their blogs. That, admittedly, is as far as I have taken it. Kudos to Lenn for furthering the effort. I have to do more than try, it is a community and I should be giving back more. Thanks Lenn for your unintentional inspiration today.
That was some super cute video. My kids would have been screaming for cover from the hairy beast.
I think the important thing is to have some of everything. You don't want to focus all your efforts on video as some people don't have the bandwith to play those. Don't just post market reports on blogs...too boring. Mix and match is the best way.
Bob, Absolutely love that video. I think I found myself dancing with your little one. :0) I am still waiting for my Flip and when it gets here I am going crazy with videos.
Hi Bob, first let me say we need to play golf when we meet. My license plate is +GOLF+ , yes I am a fanatic.
I agree that it won't be long before Google indexes videos. I know our videos on Veoh have jumped to the top of the page when searching by address for some of our property listing blogs. Just a matter of time.
So all I have to say is hit 'em long and straight. Drive for show and putt for dough,
I am thinking that the video of your son should (and probably will) be broken out at every family function between now and college graduation! Don't forget to show it to the first girlfriend too!
As I fairly new member to AR, I am thoroughly impressed with the content and the willingness to share such with others...your post was great and even though I missed hers, I'll be sure to check it out now...
Actually Amanda, I was suggesting that everyone else add a camera. I would suggest that you stick to blogging (I must have forgot to add that part in there) ......haha :-)
Interesting discussion, and I appreciate the comments from both Lynn and Bob. I tend to judge by what I like to see and hear, but I have to remind myself that I'm the minority in the world - we have to be always on the wave of what clients want.
That's it. I've taken all the abuse I can stand for one day. First, you feature every post that was written on the topic of content but mine and then you tell me to stay away from cameras? I see how it is around here.
No need to convince me, I'm convinced. The results so far of my few video's has been more than I could have hoped for. I think the contest is going to be excellent to get folks off the fence.
When you are on one side of fence and is the process of crossing over to the next, being in the middle is the scary part. I'm glad AR is pushing videos and I do believe it is the wave of the future, so I like to get a jump start and improve as I go along .
Video is here to stay - and to get better. Once you give the public a taste of what can be, there's no turning back. Google will come to embrace it, even encourage video--my gut feeling.
I don't care about the topic at hand...that video is AMAZING!!!! GO KELAN!!! Truly Fabulous. I want the "how Kelan got that spot" story, not the google juice story :)
Amanda's dad works for the Seattle Police Department and his 'beat' is the Seattle Center. So he works all the Sonics games. He is usually sitting right behind the bench for most of the game. Quite often, he will call us up about 15 minutes before tip off and ask if we want the tickets he was just handed. Someone will have some extra tickets and ask him (or other officers) if they can get rid of them. On this particular night (when I just happened to be out of town) the seats he got were really good. About 12-14 rows up. Well once the game was started, there were two open seats on the floor, right under the hoop. So he had the usher bring Amanda and Kelan down to the floor. So now, Amanda, who could really care less, and Kelan who is 10 months old, are sitting in BETTER SEATS THEN I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. That is the end of the story..........I didn't get to sit in those seats..............haha.........wait, I guess there is the whole Squatch thing......
So at the end of the third quarter, Squatch comes running around giving everyone high fives that is seated court side as the music is playing and he stops to give Kelan a high five. Well Kelan, being the good little sports baby he is, can give high fives, so he and squatch share a couple high fives. So then Squatch reaches out his hands asking if he can hold Kelan (mind you, Squatch doesn't talk, just gestures) and Amanda thinks, "sure, he is going to let me get a picture" so she hands Kelan over and bends down to get her camera out of her purse.......at which point the big hairy Sa'squatch' takes off with the kid.
He did two circles around the playing floor before he finally came into the video there. Amanda says that for about the first half a circle around the court that Kelan had one of those 'I'm not sure if I should scream my head off or laugh my head off' looks on his face. After a few seconds he decided to go the laughing route and was actually more excited as they were running around then when they finally came into the picture.
He obviously takes after his father and once he saw all the pretty girls dancing, he had to put his 'Joe Cool' face on.........It's just really cool that the Sonics got what they did on video and put that piece together for us. So there you have it, 'how Kelan got that spot'
Bob, neat ThemThem to Lenn and especially your son. What a rock star he is! He handled it well, most little guys would have been terrified of the mascot! Where was his Active Rain shirt? LOL
Garrett does knuckles with Thrash all of the time... of course we also had Thrash at his birthday party last week... but he hasn't made it out to game ice yet... give him time.
We'll get there, but right now we aren't videoing. There is only so much time in the day to do all the techie things we need to do. But we appreciate the info and the push to go in that direction.
Bob I would have to agree with you on the indexing of videos. The day will come when this will happen. It has become too popular already. Just like blogs have become a big part of search engine results so too will video.
Bob- Video is here to stay. Google just allowed video google adwords. They would not have done that if they do not consider video as valuable and they are all about being in control of the internet and want to stay on top, so you bet they will figure out a way to index video. They are working on it right now and they have even been able to set up the spiders to read flash, which was not able to be done before. Google will give value to video. They would be stupid not to and they would only be allowing someone else to dominate that area. They are not going to let that happen!:)
It has been a long weekend for me, Bob as I had read and ruminated over Lenn's post and had my concerns with the content, not that it was wrong at all, but just that I do what is best for the AR community and myself as well on this new-found wonderland that I dearly love. I appreciate your post here and am glad that someone at AR at least chimed in on this topic. I have become the king of widgets and was a little worried that this was a bad path to take. You guys feel free to "thump" me if this is a problem for the community and the site as well. Thanks! Steve
With the widgets, one thing to consider is the performance of your specific page as the widgets load. It may not be a bad idea to look at your page from the eye of a consumer (which might mean considering different download speeds and different browsers).
If certain widgets are taking forever to load (or sometimes it is combinations of widgets that cause an issue) then you may want to prioritize which ones you are getting value from and get rid of the others.
Bob - Thank you for the insight. As someone who is kind of late to the blogging platform after having run a couple of static pages, I find myself learning all over. Living in the proverbial middle of nowhere, video has problems because of our "wonderful" internet connection. However, it is coming to a place where it will be expected, me thinks.
Speaking of the middle of nowhere: Thanks for helping me get the other small, out of the way towns in the high, wind-blown deserts of Southern Utah listed!
Hi Father Of Kelan... (I think I just nailed that nickname we've been talking about :)
Okay...This Comment is rated PG :)
First of all ... I don't give two craps or three what folks say about video. I go with my gut instinct and so far that seems to work just fine for us :)
The numbers, the charts, the opinions don't mean diddly squat in my world. In my world I'm looking for results.
I have already seen the power of video marketing. Thanks to Hubba (Jeff Turner) we were making videos before it became the thing to do. The results have been amazing.
I can't put a price on the listing appointment where all the Seller wanted to do was watch our videos.
And yes. We walked with the listing as a result of video marketing in front of a Seller.
Hmmm....I guess I could put a price on that :)
Now for the real reason I'm here...
That little Bugger of yours just keeps getting cuter and cuter and cuter.
I pray for the day when I can pinch those little cheeks of his. My God...He might actually be "too" cute :)
Thank you so much for sharing "The Active Rain Baby" with all of us :)
It's a good thing I'm not sitting on pins and needles waiting for your reply :)
P.S. Can't remember the dollar ladies name. Neither can Blog Boy. We so wanted to share that with you :) I would have sent an e but I don't get points for that :) Did I really just say any of this? :)
If all goes according to plan.......I might just be bringing that little bugger with me in Nov. to Orlando for the NAR convention........so you may just get to pinch his little cheeks in the not too distant future. We'll see......... :-)
Bob, cutest video in the world...I promise. Great way to end the post....video rocks! I enjoyed the video way more than the debate. Thanks for sharing! Your son is gorgeous! Made my day, I promise!
Opps....forgot to log in. I encountered a small bug and it wouldn't let me post or comment. I finally figured out that I needed to log out and log back in....but forgot the last part. You knew it was me anyway!
OMG he is just too cute. my kids would have screamed at a big fuzzy thing playing with him like that. I'm talking about when he was 10 too (just kidding about the 10 thing). That is adorable and he must be very content to be so happy with such a furry creature holding him. How cute!!!
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