Real estate SEO is not the primary type of SEO work that I do. In fact, when it comes to internet marketing for Realtors, I've done it mostly for friends and I've done it mostly by writing articles on ActiveRain.
This is a little ironic, because the people I do SEO for most of the time are attorneys. And, believe it or not, attorneys do not like for me to use their name. They put nothing in writing; and they hate giving testimonials. How will they sue me next year if they write something good about me?
So I grow my SEO business with word-of-mouth among attorneys, primarily. My own website is only 1/5 finished.
But about two months ago, Terri Poehler, a Realtor in Coral Springs, asked me to help her.
At first, I didn't want to. Really, I just didn't want to take on the project. Her site was in shambles.
But then I found out that Terri and I both attended the same university. And that we had a bunch of other things in common. Kindred spirits, so to speak.
First, somebody who calls themselves the SEO Diva (beware of Pied Pipers), told Terri to buy the domain name http://terripoehlercoralspringsrealestate.com
Honest to God! That was the domain name.
I told Terri she would have to get a new domain name and I would not bend on the issue. She did it without any hesitation. (Thank you Lord, for clients who take my advice without objection.)
I found her an old domain name that had expired: http://coralspringsblog.com.
How great is that? She could run into somebody in the mall and tell them her website and they'll remember. Not so sure about that first one.
I used the phrase "coral springs real estate agent" and "coral springs realtor" as benchmarks.
Because, after all, that's what Terri is. She was number 81 (page 8) for "coral springs real estate agent" and page 10 for "coral springs realtor"
The previous SEO person she spoke to was pulling an old "SEO" trick on Terri. By having her register that incredibly awful and long domain name, she would most definitely come up number one if you searched for Terri Poehler (if you knew how to spell it). But that domain is junk and if you have a six-word domain, it's probably junk too.
Terri is Now on Page One of Google for Coral Springs Real Estate Agent!
A more popular phrase is "real estate agent in coral springs" and she's on page one for that too.
She's the first result on page one with a photo. You can see her pretty picture on page one of Google, and if I was looking for a Realtor in Coral Springs, my eye would go right to that result.
How did I do it?
Just go back and read my posts. Or subscribe and keep reading. Everything I do is out in the open. If you want to get your hands dirty with your real estate SEO efforts, follow me and I promise won't lead you into the sea.
I will write more about Terri in the upcoming weeks. I'll tell you, my fellow ActiveRainers, each step that I took to get Terri to land on page one.
Step 1: Get a better domain name and redirect every single post from the old domain to the new domain.
If you ever decide to get a better domain name, you can redirect every post from your old site, to your new site, do a "change of address" in Google analytics and you won't lose any juice.
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