Archive for January, 2010

For those of you that are not aware, Google has launched Google’s Social Search and it is changing the face of SEOs and SERPs. The way this works is Google takes the friends that you have on and and uses that to personalize your search so that you can find the sites that are more relevant to what you are looking for. Also, Google will pull from your GMail account if you have one. Ultimately, you could end up with search results of many of your friends.

Now, with that being said, it will also have implications on your individual sites as well. Having a site that is integrated with Twitter and has just became seriously important in the scheme of SEO and SERPs. Below is a video that will be able to explain it a little more.

So, what does this mean for the average Joe or Jane Blogger. Simple. It is important that you work at networking Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, and Gmail more diligently. Driving consumers and readers to your site that will leave comments will also help you in gaining steam in the scheme of SEOs. The bottom line is that most of us use the internet to conduct business and the more visitors that we can drive to our sites, the better chance that we have in order to convert those readers to potential clients. Ultimately, it would do you well to have as many connections established as possible via various social networking sites and tools.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

The Ever Changing Face of SEO is a post from: Positive Real Estate Professionals

From Deep Linking to Do Follow v. No Follow links in your comment section, the use of links is an important aspect of SEO. WordPress makes it easy to add links to your business partners, resource sites, or any other website that your site’s visitors might find of interest. In this tutorial you will learn how to add links to your sidebar’s blogroll. The image at the bottom of this tutorial is ‘clickable’ (and will open a larger version in a new window).

To begin with you MUST be logged into your Dashboard. Once logged on this is the path: Dashboard>Links>Edit or Add New (depending on which you are doing).

I am going to approach this tutorial as if you are adding new links. Editing links works the same way you just have to select ‘Edit’ under your list of links that you wish to edit.

1. After clicking on Add New a screen will open that looks like the screen in the image at the bottom of this post. This is where you add links.
2. The first field on this screen is the Name field. This is where you enter the name of the website you are linking to; this does not have to be the site’s actual name but the best name that you and your site visitors will recognize and remember. NOTE: This is not where the URL goes.
3. The second field on this screen is the Web Address. This is where you enter the actual URL of the website you are linking to.
4. The third field on this screen is the Description. This is a completely optional field. Anything you enter here will appear when someone hovers over the site’s name on your website.
5. The fourth field on this screen is the Categories. This is where you organize your links. Many people choose to place all of their links in the Blogroll category. If you want to organize your links in a more specific manner this is where you can add the various categories you want to use. NOTE: You can put a link in multiple categories if you want.
6. Though this isn’t the last field on this page, the fifth field Target is the last field that most people utilize. In my opinion the Link Relationship and Advanced fields don’t add to your links. The target field allows you to determine how your link will open. I always recommend that you check the top option _blank as this option has your links, when clicked on, open in a new window rather than in the same window (_none).  The advantage to a link opening in a new window is that your site’s visitor who clicks on a link is NOT taken away from your site.
7. The final step is clicking the Add Link button to place and activate the link on your website.

Add A Link To Your WordPress Website is a post from: Test Account

©2010 Test Account. All Rights Reserved.

Linking is an important SEO tool for any website. If you do a Google search for ‘linking’ and you will find numerous blog posts on the subject. This is such an important topic that you can find numerous posts written by the admins right here on Positive Real Estate Professionals:

My Site Is Wonderful, Link To Me – Marketing Your Business Online

Engaging Your Site’s Visitors

Using Comments to Build Links and Drive Traffic – Part 1

Using Comments to Build Links and Drive Traffic – Part 2

Relevant Links and What They Mean To You

Link Farming is just another form of Spam.

Today I want to look at Deep Links. What is a deep link? According to Wikipedia: Deep linking, on the World Wide Web, is making a hyperlink that points to a specific page or image on another website, instead of that website’s main or home page. While the links in your blogroll are great, they by definition are not deep links. Do you see the links to the articles immediately preceding this paragraph? They are examples of deep linking because they go to a particular location (the individual blog posts) and not the overall blog URL.

Deep linking is not confined to linking to blog posts alone, though this is one of the most common practices. A deep link can also link to a non-main page, a bio page, a form, or any other informational page. You can easily create these deep links either externally or internally. An external link connects to a webpage on another website. An internal link is one that links to information on the website where the post is actually written; i.e. linking to a previous relevant post or another minor page on the same website.

Deep linking, like using keywords, should be done in moderation. Deep linking is an effective, and the easiest, of  link building tools. Though deep linking is a good tool to use, it should not become a substitute for reciprocal and one-way linking with other websites.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

Deep Linking is a post from: Positive Real Estate Professionals

Recently I wrote a post that gave readers the tools necessary to show up on the Google map when someone does a search; Get Your Business On The Map – Marketing Your Business Online. Prior to that I wrote a post that instructed readers on how to have their business listed for FREE in the online version of the yellow pages; Get Your Business In The Book – Marketing Your Business Online. Both of these posts were part of my Marketing Your Business Online series that was purposely designed to help people improve their internet presence and reach more potential clients and referral sources. With this post I want to build on the information in those two posts with regard to Being Found On PREP and the internet overall.

In addition to the Call To Action that you put at the end of every blog post you write, one of the easiest ways to give yourself and your business the boost it may need is through an effective signature. Here are two signatures that are placed at the end of every blog post these ladies write. Notice that they are stylistically very different from one another but both contain a personal message, contact info, and a means for readers to connect with them on other websites and through social media. In addition to using their signatures on each blog post, they can be used in newsletters and at the end of emails. Be sure to optimize any images you use in your signature with a good image title and description to help the search engines index it; read this post, Say It With Pictures – Photoblogs, to learn how to accomplish this. If you use traditional print marketing, then your signature can also be used there; just remember that if your use images in print marketing you will also need to give the full URLs to websites and contact info (username/userid) for the various social media.

Below is the first example of making good use of a signature:

***  Subscribe to my NEW blog: LAKE ARROWHEAD  ~ Above it All ***

For all your Lake Arrowhead Real Estate needs, call “Kat” @ 909-273-4542

• Search my website, LAKEARROWHEADKAT for Active Listings
• RE/MAX Lakeside in Blue Jay
• Subscribe to Kat’s Blog on Short Sales & More
• First Time Home Buyer Credit

Let me HELP you avoid foreclosure!

Below is the second example of making good use of a signature:

Warmest Regards,
Janie Burnette, Realtor®
Forsyth Realtor
404.626.6540 Cell
JanieB@kw.com www.JanieBSells.com
@janieBurnette - Twitter
www.Facebook.com/janie.burnette
Keller Williams Community Partners
540 Lake Center Pkwy, Ste 201
Cumming, GA  30040

Call me 404.626.6540

In addition to consumers having multiple avenues to connect with these ladies, these signatures also provide a link to their other websites. As we learned in the post Relevant Links and What They Mean To You links are good. They boost the authority of your site, your Page Rank (PR), and your overall SEO. Like your use of keywords, you don’t want to overdo or stuff your signature with too many links; Google, Indexing, SEO, and Love…Lotta Luv. You can consistently use your most important links in your signature while varying less important links from post to post. Your signature definitely has the potential to help you generate more business.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

Your Signature’s Potential is a post from: Positive Real Estate Professionals

While a thorough report with detailed info or the best written property description can go a long way towards giving the reader a sense of what you are describing, an image can definitely drive it home. If you are a Realtor®, home stager, interior designer, home inspector, home appraiser, or any of the numerous professions that use photos in their job you should be able to easily understand the impact photos can have. I always encourage people to use images (please make sure you either own the photos or have obtained the necessary permission to use them) in their posts.

Because of the impact that photos can have on an individual post and an entire blog, I wanted to talk about photoblogging. Photoblogging is aready quite popular. From humorous sites like LOL Cats to the serious sites like National Geographic these photoblogs play an integral part in the overall impact the sites have; in the case of LOL Cats, the photoblog is the site.

In addition to using photos or having a photoblog on your main website to help enhance its look and message, a photoblog can definitely help to enhance your SEO. Photos are searchable and indexable by the search engine spiders. There are numerous ways to help the search engines read and index your images. Remember a search engine spider cannot discern the content of a photo. The spiders use the information you provide for the purpose of indexing. Click the image to the right for a visual explanation and to see a larger version of the image. The most widely used photo descriptions come from the image title. The title, whether it is ‘1234 Main Street – Front View’ or ‘JP8546,’ is what is used to index your photo. If you want your photo to be accurately indexed be sure you name it something that is descriptive of the image. Additionally if you want it to return in say a Google Images search also use a description that is likely searched by web surfers. Another option is to use the caption feature to both title and provide an accurate description of your image. A caption shows up immediately under the image in your post. Because some people don’t like how captions appear, many people use the standard title option and the description field to give a brief description of the image. Be aware that anything you place in the description field is visible to your site’s visitors when they hover over the image. Also do not be under the mistaken impression that this is an opportunity to ‘keyword stuff’ your photos. Putting a bunch of keywords in the description field looks bad to visitors who hover over your image. This practice is also considered a ‘black hat’ tactic that will be uncovered by the search engines’ algorithms and may result in a harsh penalty by them. Click the following link for more information:

Google, Indexing, SEO, and Love…Lotta Luv

Search engines love photos. Web surfers love photos. Whether you decide to set up a completely separate photoblog to highlight your ‘before and after photos,’ your listings, your local area, etc. or you simply use images in your posts, take the opportunity to maximize the SEO benefit of your pictures.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

Say It With Pictures – Photoblogs is a post from: Positive Real Estate Professionals

Two weeks ago I was speaking with Your East Cobb REALTOR® who not only happens to be a member of Positive Real Estate Professionals but someone I regard as a friend. We were talking about how her blogging style and choice of topics has evolved since she first began blogging last April. I bring up Jodi Smith because her efforts are a perfect example of how blogging can help you to achieve concrete results in terms of business growth. Below are some of the common questions (and my responses) when people ask ‘What will a blog do for my business?’

What Is Blogging?

This is fairly straightforward. Blogging is writing; more specifically, blogging is writing posts/articles online. There is often a common confusion of terms that I would like to clear up. A blog is a collection of posts/articles. When you are blogging you are actually writing an individual post/article. So you don’t actually write a blog, you write a post/article on a blog. A good analogy is that a blog is similar to a magazine/newspaper and the posts/articles on a blog are similar to the articles in a magazine/newspaper. Hopefully this will clear up some of the term confusion.

Why Is A Blog Important?

There is an often used and written about phrase ‘Content Is King.’ I too have written several articles on this very topic and would encourage you to read Content is King for more information on this topic. The main reason that a blog is important for any website is that it is an easy way to add new content. New content to index is what the search engine spiders are looking for. New content and frequent indexing is a contributing factor to a site’s rank, Page Rank (PR) for Google. Rank is one of several key factors in how high a site returns in search engine results. Semi-regular posting to your site’s blog gives you the new content you need to help your site return higher in search engine results. The higher your site’s placement in search engine results, the more visible your site is, and the more likely it will be visited by potential clients.

What Role Do My Content Topics Play?

Your topics are important because they fill out the content vacuums that static webpages inevitably leave. A static webpage is basically an informative page that doesn’t change or changes infrequently. This is fine as long as the accuracy and relevance of the information on that page doesn’t change frequently either. A blog can definitely be a great way to give a deeper insight into various topics that your site’s visitors are looking for. Say for example you are a REALTOR® who deals with a lot of relocation clients, your potential clients will probably looking for all types of information on the area they are relocating to. To get a real feel for the area many people write posts that highlight historic buildings and/or places, local parks and other outdoor venues, restaurants, nightclubs, and shopping. Other people take a broader approach and write less about specific offerings and write instead about local youth and/or adult sports, the various houses of worship, or the availability of public transit. This is a way to make your website a destination for relevant information for your potential client base. This is also a continuing resource for past clients and an easy place for those past clients to refer potential new clients. It is important to also show your knowledge of your industry by writing things like market reports  and legislation that may impact your clients. A good rule of thumb is to put yourself in your clients, or potential clients’ shoes when you are considering a topic for an article and ask yourself honestly if this would be something of interest.

Not The Journals Of Yesterday

I feel that it is important to draw the distinction between the journaling that blogging used to represent and blogging for business. There is absolutely nothing wrong with maintaining a journaling blog or a poetry blog but these should not be confused with a business blog. In many cases people hear the term blog and think of these personal types of blogs. It is true that in the early days of blogging these types of blogs were very popular, and they do remain popular today. I enjoy many personal blogs but blogging for business is far different from personal blogging. If you are blogging to attract clients to your real estate business then the funny thing your cat did, or photos of you modeling that robe you got for the holidays are not relevant nor appropriate at all. These types of articles will probably have the opposite effect of what you intended. Keep your posts on a business blog relevant and you will produce the concrete results in terms of business growth that you are looking for and have heard so much about.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

Blogging Can Produce Concrete Results In Terms Of Business Growth is a post from: Positive Real Estate Professionals

Blogging is NOT the future of real estate; it is the NOW. Before someone thinks that I mean that blogging is the only thing that you should focus on, that is far from the truth. With that said, if you are not blogging, then you are missing out on the success that millions are enjoying. Is it hard work? Well, yes. Anything that brings proven results requires us to work at it. If it did not require work, we could charge $150 a month for our online real estate network as opposed to the $150 a year and people would still flock to us.

Since I started blogging in 2007, I noticed that I was able to reach more potential consumers than I could through normal means. Print adds were not working, not to mention how expensive they were. Leads just seemed to never pan out when we bought them. However, all that seemed to change when I started growing as a blogger. The reason was not that I became a great blogger; rather I was able to put my message in front of a larger audience at one time.

Blogging can change the way that you communicate with your potential consumers. Having the ability to reach more than 350,000,000 people with the click of one button has to be appealing to even the skeptic. There is no print add out there that could deliver a tenth of that number that I am aware of. Think of it this way. Major companies are setting up social media departments just for this very purpose. If it works for them, then it can work for you.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

Blogging is NOT the Future of Real Estate is a post from: Positive Real Estate Professionals