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Take User Names seriously and leads will roll in!

My good friend and God's angel Karen George wrote the great post Title your pages for Google Success This post was written by Karen to emphasize the importance of using the proper title when writing pages for our websites. Karen was an SEO genious and to prove this Karen's husband Michael once wrote the page Idaho First Time Home Buyer for my site www.SearchIdahoHomes.com and my site shot up to the 1st page of Google within 30 days and has remained there ever since. It has been on the 1st page of Google a year and a half later when you type in "Idaho first time Home buyer". This has been a lead generating machine for me. I receive at least 2-3 leads per month from 1st time home buyers like clock work.

I once spoke with Karen months before she passed on and she gave me one tip I have never forgotten. She said to take "User Names" just as seriously because most people miss this important tip. Your user name is what you use when you signed up for Active Rain. My Active Rain user name is "BoiseIdahoRealEstate". I selected this user name at Karen's recommendation. She said whenever we sign up for any site that requires a user name we should ALWAYS USE A GOOGLE FRIENDLY USER NAME.

I have taken Karen's advice very seriously and I always use a Google friendly user name when signing up for any site. However, aside from the Google juice it will give you, I have discovered, another powerful benefit of a proper user name. For instance, my user name on www.Twitter.com is IdahoRealEstate. I have been a member of Twitter for less than a year and I have already had 3 out of state investors contact me specifically because of my user name. One investor has already purchased an investment property and when the market starts showing signs of improvement another investor plans on buying homes and investing in Idaho real estate on a monthly basis. I had yet another out of state member of Twitter contact me this a.m. She said my IdahoRealEstate title caught her attention. Her dad lives here in Idaho and wants to buy real estate. She also liked my bio and website linked to Twitter and decided to refer her dad to me!

If you look at most of the user names here on Active Rain and Twitter you will see a lot of users using their personal names or some cute name. While this is all fine I can assure you that good things will happen if you take Karen George's advice. Not only will Google pay attention to you more but you just may land a lead now and then. God bless my good friend Karen George! The heavens are rejoicing and and she is surely giving all the Angels awesome SEO lessons!

Posted By: George Tallabas - Boise Idaho Real Estate Agent- Associate Broker
with RE/MAX Advantage, Canyon Counties #1 Brokerage in sales and listings
specializing in Boise Idaho Real Estate and Southwest Idaho Real Estate.

Posted by George Tallabas - Idaho Real Estate on 03/21/2009 06:05 PM

Comments (110)

seo tips, real estate marketing, user names

Post is included in group: SEO for Realtors
Post is included in group: RE/MAX Active Rain Bloggers
Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: Blogging & SEO
Post is included in group: Almost Anything Goes

110 Comments on Take User Names seriously and leads will roll in!

MAR

Very Good George! I also teach these tips that are huge in our online leads and success. You are doing the right thing and it is working for you. THat is the key, how is it working for you! Great and I wish you more success!

Thank You George,

It sounds like great advice. I realy like blogs like yours. It helps those of us who are trying to learn all we can and keep expenses down. Thanks again!!

Katerina - Thank you my friend and I hope all is well in your world. You are awesome and I truly value you!

Judy - You are very welcome and good luck to you.

I was just thinking about Karen this morning. I booked my flight for ReBarCamp Phoenix. I wonder if Michael is going.

Chris - Thanks my friend. There is rarely a week that goes by that I don't think about our dear friend Karen. She touch so many lives and gave me more than words can every express.

Thanks so much for this tip. I am new to ar and have been a Realtor for almost 1 year. So this is so helpful to me. thanks again!!

George--I have a few Minnesota pages that continue to come up...Final walk through, Earnest Money and Minnesota Wells. I love your first time buyer page. Good information and good way to get buyer leads too! Thanks for the tips!

Kate - You are very welcome and good luck to you.

Teri - Thank you my friend and I hope your cup will overflow!

Do it all the time George. My name is Massachusetts Real Estate on most sites. On Twitter it is Massrealty.

Bill - You are the man!

Karen is smiling as we read this post. I am going to have to take a look at some of my user names. I guess my "sexy New Hampshire buyer Agent" may attract the wrong type of consumer (lol)!

George - pretty sound advice. I need to make some changes since it clearly works.

Jeff

Joan - Thanks my friend. Heaven is still partying because of the presence of our dear friend.

Jeff - Good luck my friend.

I wish I had started it this way, unfortunately I used most if not all Karen's techniques and now have good SEO for my name. Too late to change but when I did my blogs I now use the term to optimize for.

I'm not willing to change it and lose all I the position I have...oh well.

George - got a smile just thinking about what a blessing Karen George was to so many of us. She truly left more than footprints in the digital world - there are many on our hearts as well.

Glad you're having well deserved success!!

I book marked the link to the page. Thanks for the tips and information. Every little bit helps.

That is excellent advice George. I think agents should really think twice about their log in names & email address. They really can make the difference!

George - since getting my outside blog, I did follow that rule. I'm glad I selected the correct user name here at AR. I missed out on getting the same at Twitter, but I haven't been a streaming twitter user yet. I think google has found me and my gainesvillehomes name. I will have to keep this in mind for the titles of my posts being specific to make google happy.

Hi George,

Excellent advice. No matter how much we learn we always need to go back to the basics to be successful!

I agree, my name is Jorge Muralles Newport RI Real Estate.

Guess where I work and live.

Jorge

I usually do for most things, but for AR I didn't...I wonder if they'd let me change it? I bet they'll get lots of requests now.

This is a very good tip - it's nice to hear that it's backed up by actual lead generation, and not just a suggestion. Thnks!

Only problem is that you cant go back and change it if you wanted to. You cant here.

Interesting post George. I had never given much thought to user names.

George,This is wonderful advice and I wish I had known it YEARS ago...I will remember it going forward, there are always more sites to sign onto. Thank you!

Great advice, George. Now how to change my user names.

Missy - No worry my friend

Cyndee - Karen has left a footprint in my heart!

Russel - Good luck!

Christine - Keep at it

Tracy - Thanks and I hope all is well

Jorge - Beunas suerte!

Cindy - I contact the AR Gods after Karen's advice and they made the change for me

Shane - The squeaky wheel gets greased!

Christianne - No you know! LOL!

Carole - You are very welcome my friend

Judy - Good luck to you

I have been a member of Twitter for less than a year and I have already had 3 out of state investors contact me specifically because of my user name.

Hi George,

That's amazing! Thanks for the advice.

Bruce - You are very welcome and good luck

George - I remember reading that post Karen had written. I too think of her so often and found myself going thru some of her old blog posts just last week. I sure do miss her.

Kathy

George - it's SO nice to see you back in the Rain! And thank you for sharing, and reminding us that some times the most simple concepts will elude us. We all miss Karen - but I'm sure God is holding her near and has plenty for her to tend to. She was an angel on earth, so I'm sure she has taken her 'promotion' well.

God bless you , my friend.

As another female mortgage broker, I remember Karen well because I was in awe of her. Her posts were always featured and I ate them up...I literally knew nothing about SEO. When Brian Brady once congratulated me on my "long tail" success I was completely mystified! Karen was a genuis!

Karen had some fabulous posts, and her legend will probably live on for a long time to come here on ActiveRain.

Kathy - I miss Karen with my whole heart and soul!

Carol - Thank you my friend and God bless you and yours

Janet - Thank you so much. Karen George will live in my heart and soul the rest of my life

George: Great advice.... I have used my Slogan name and maybe I should have used something different... Hmmm... Is change possible and if so.. How would it affect me ?

Such on the mark advice George, if we can only find names not taken already.

Roland - Should leave well alone with AR since you have been a member a long time. Just keep it in mind with other sites you join like Twitter, etc.

Gary - Good luck my friend. It's good for you to stop by

George, great points! Everything has to match... usernames, picture titles, meta tags, keywords, and the content~

Great advice! Definitely didn't consider that at all.

Brian - Thanks dude

Don - Get after it and have a great weekend

George - Thanks, another good lesson from Karen. Thank you for sharing it.

Virginia - You are very welcome my friend

George- thanks for sharing your knowledge... I'm going to have to take a look at a few of my usernames...

JB - You are welcome and take good care

MAR

Great ideas George. I will keep in mind. Thanks

Lee - You are welcome

Thank you for the tip. I wish I had known this when I signed up several places. My question is will it do me more harm to change now?

Thanks George! I am working on so many of your tips already - this year is going great and I'm not even done. You are so helpful - thanks for giving back :)

Hi George - That was exactly my thinking when I chose LVRealEstate for Twitter. Don't have a closing from it yet, but I think a lot more people have found me than would have if I'd used JohnNovak.

George - GREAT advice. Thanks for sharing!

Ok now you have just created more work for me. Its Sunday morning and I have to get ready for church. Then I have to come home and evaluate this.

Thank you George...I am sure we will find Karen's listings under Heavenly Acres and Angel Pass...great thoughts !

I prefer to actually be the the *key words* that people search for -when my own name is what people are googling and trying to contact. I guess when you work in a much smaller market that is more easily obtainable and beneficial. Regardless, I like it that way.

George, Thanks for the tips. We'll need to take a closer look at this!

Great tips. Wish I knew it before. I will make the correction from here on out though. Thanks for the post. It sounds like Karen left some good memories!

Christina - On sites like Twitter it would make sense. If you have been on Active Rain for a long time probably not a good idea.

Dawn - You are welcome my friend

John - Thanks bud

Betty - Don't mention it and take care

Laura - Be blessed

Sally & David - Amen

Jessica - Karen's advice is GOLD! and I am living proof of it!

Yvette & Dennis - Good luck

Craig - Karen left us so much that words cannot express

George, First, thanks for the call Friday. I was in Atlanta attending REtech South, so I missed your call :( We'll catch up this week!

I keep hearing differing opinions on Twitter names, etc. Looks like you have the right answer so I'm off to change mine. Better late than never!

Elizabeth - Thank you my friend. I have some incredible news to share with my good friends that will change your life for the better. I waited for 5 months for this program to be available to me and the time has come. I am truly excited beyond words. Give me a call when you can and I will share.

George, I will never forget when Karen not just taught me how important is was to have Lake Norman Real Estate in my AR name, but she set it up for me despite being so sick. I was pretty new at the time and I was blown away with her kindness and generosity. Good point about usernames in general! I hope you are doing well.

Diane - Thank you my friend. All is well in my world and I hope all is well with you.

What great advice. I'm using the wrong user names!

Irene - Don't beat yourself up. Many members have made that mistake. Have a great day!

MAR

George, Thanks for the tip, can we change our user-name?

Contact customer support on whichever site you are talking about. If you are referring to Active Rain this is my advice: If you have been with Active Rain some time and have built up a lot of points I would not recommend it. If you are relatively new to Active Rain then I recommend changing your user name immediately.

How would your user name be google friendly on Active Rain if it doesn't show up on any sub domain addresses? Where is google reading it? Someone teach me please:-)

Brad - Any user name and any title of any blog gets the attention of Google. It is simply part of their algorithm. Good luck to you.

George, thank you for the tips, they are great. I am sorry for the lost of your friend. I did not know her, I have been on AR for just a few months. She sounded like a wonderful person. It is always hard to lose a friend, but you are keeping her memory a live by posting what she has taught you. Again, thank you.

George .. thank you as always for your incredible information. I also love you keep Karen so alive!

George Tallabas hits another one out of the park!

George, thanks for great advice! I've updated my Twitter profile to VancouverHome.

George: I wish I knew this when I first signed up for AR. Where were you then with all this valuable information? I will keep this in mind for all future user names. Thank you, George.

John - Thank you very much and take good care

Pippa - How very sweet. God bless you

Nick - Thanks dude!

Michelle - Thank you so much my friend. I will always be here for you

Kulli - You are welcome and I good luck to you

MAR

Great tip. I am in the process of trying to get better placement. I have made it to page two on goggle for Dahlonega Real Estate. Maybe this will help me get to page one. I seem to be stuck on page 5 of Yahoo. I hope this will help me move up past all the sites that are not local in front of me.

Great tip. Can user names be changed? I don't think mine's has to, but just wondering.....

Alan - Good luck dude

William - If you are referring to Active Rain here is my advice. If you have a lot of points built up and been here awhile I would not suggest changing because the search engines have already indexed you in. If you are fairly new then go for it! Simply contact the Active Rain gods and they will do it for you.

Hey ActiveRain, can you provide us with an amendment to old user names? Thanks, George!

George...congrats on your successes and thank you for taking the time to share this valuable information with the rest of us. You have my wheels spinning now. :)

ACH, now that I changed my username at Twitter, my links all need to be fixed. My Twirl won't work. GRRRR. Great idea however, thanks George!

Stephen - Have a good one

Kristi - Calm down and have a glass of wine! LOL!

Kathy - I wish you would have had this informatoin before!

Very good advice!

How come I only learn about this stuff after I have everything all set up?

I learn the neatest stuff on ActiveRain. Thanks for this, I am gonna make some changes right now

understanding google is so new to me I can't get enough good info. Thanks!

Good tip George! I'll make sure to do that from now on!

George - What a great tip ! I think there is some improvement now that we can make as most of our names are "thesomersteam" which probably is not too Google friendly. Something to think about. Thanks !!

Kathy - Thanks

Gene - Sorry!

Brien - Good luck

Trevor - You are welcome

Michael - Go get em

Christopher & Stephanie - Hope it all works well

Hmmm - I hope mine is working, because it's out there all over the internet.

Georgina - Go rope it in! LOL!

I have been thinking a lot about Karen, both because of her talents she shared here and because of the personal issues I am going through now. I used Karen's advise for the user name on AR, but somehow didn't carry it over to Twitter or other places. Thanks for update on how important these names are.

Faina - Thank you and please keep Michael in your prayers. I received an email from him today and things are a realy tough.

Hi George, Thanks for the insightful article. I have wondered about google friendly user names...

MAR

Marian - You are welcome. Have a great evening.

Thanks for this great advice George. Can I change my user name on all of my sites, without incident?

Kelsey - If you have been on Acrtive Rain for some time and have a lot of points built up I would not recommend it. If you are new to AR go for it and just email support. On sites like Twitter, etc. there is no problem doing it. Hope this helps.

MAR

Very insightful, George. That's why my ActiveRain user name is JacksonHoleCommercial - and it works!

Tim - Congrats and thanks for stopping by.

MAR

I always try to use Google friendly user names too, those small details can make a huge difference!

Patricia - Good for you my friend. I hope all is well for you.

MAR

Thank god I read this before I created my twitter account.

Mike - Good luck to you

MAR

It's such a challenge to find good domain names that are still available, but I'm trying to come up with some. Thanks for the inspiration

Vickie - You are very welcome and good luck to you.

APR

A very interesting post George. I agree with vickie. It is really difficult to find great domain names. I'll take a look at your website.

George - I have always been promoting my name on everything I do. I guess I need to re-think some things. Good advice.

MAY

George, Thank you for this tip! OMG! I never thought of this. I just checked Login name availability on Gmail, and am amazed that almost every version I could think of using Real Estate, York County, PA, Realtor, etc., IS AVAILABLE!!! No one else is on to this! WOW! I know I'm not the only AR reader here in York County, but no one else is doing this, at least w/email. I'm going to open a new email address, and change my user name on any accounts I can, and then use the new user name on any new accounts I open anytime in the future. Thank you for passing this on to us. I lost my dear mom in March and am just now going thru all the emails I didn't read for a while. So sorry for your loss of your dear friend, too. She sounds awesome. Maybe she's up there teaching mom more about what I do for a living, since she was so sick since right after I got licensed.

JUN

Great advice. Thanks for the helpful info!

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