SEO for your website

SEO For REALTORS® (Because its different)

Everyone knows how to market your website, just ask them! Everyone knows the secrets to top search engine listings. All they want is $29.95 or $29.95 a month. Everyone lies! Well, not everyone, but anyone who says that they can put your website at the top of the search engine for $29.95 a month.

Common techniques that you should watch for:

Put you at the top of the search engine in 3 months: That is very nice, but I want my website at the top of the search engine, not something else that points to my website. I want my website to work.

For X amount of dollars, we will put your site at the top of the search engine: Ok, what is the search term? How can you sell that? Isn't the other guy paying someone to do the same for them? Can everyone be at the top?

We can setup your pay-per-click Google ads for X amount of dollars: Ok, anyone can set up Google ads, it doesn't take much knowledge, sure it is helpful to have an expert help you, but it shouldn't take more than an hour of their time to set it up and three more hours over a month to explain it to you.

Marketing your website takes TIME. With out aggressive marketing and money, it will take 3 to 6 months to begin to get orders. It will take 8 months or a year to find out if you are going to survive. There is no magic bullet, other than cash to get your marketing started. The web is a slow moving beast, but it does gain momentum and once you get going the results can be amazing.

What Does Not Work or is a Waste of Time

1. Submission Services. Most search engines do not accept automated submissions, so these services don't work. Many promise to submit your site to over 800 search engines. Honestly, you are only interested in Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL. They have 80% of the market share, why bother with the rest? Would you advertise in a paper that was only read by 1 out of 5 people who read the a morning paper? The only time this is useful is when the submissions are done manually when your website is brand new.

2. Frequent submissions. This is not something that you need to do. Google, Yahoo and MSN will visit your site often to check it out with their bots. They don't want you resubmitting. Just look at your statistic pages and you can see just how often they visit.

3. Coding tricks to increase your rank in the listings. The so called "secrets" used by people who tell you there is one are either commonplace tactics (which everybody uses so it gives you no advantage), or they are things that will get your listing kicked out because the spider detects them as dishonest or unethical. Invisible text, text off the page and text that does not relate to the site can HURT your success in rankings or at worst, get you banned from the search engines! Major companies have had this done to them in the past year. (2006)

4. Listing with search engines and nothing else. Search engines are only part of what needs to be done to get your site noticed. You need to find every way possible to get your site visited.

5. Free Classified sites. All they want to do is harvest your email so they can send you SPAM.

6. Search Engine Optimization. As a small startup business, you can possible compete with the big guys on the block, unless you have unlimited funds, then call us... QUICKLY! Sun Tzu said, "Do not fight a battle unless you can win." This is a battle that you can't win, yet. You need more rice and lots of it. For now focus you energies else where. I have to beat this into the heads of my clients, who think that SEO is EVERYTHING... SEO is important and expensive, sell some stuff first! I'm glad to sell you all the SEO you'll ever want. Me and everyone else out there LOVES to sell SEO, but wait until you need it and can afford it.

7. Submitting every page of your site to the search engines. This technique is an old method of getting your site noticed. Now we use Google and Yahoo site maps.

8. Google AdWords are not cost effective for small startups unless you have a high average per customer margin. Startups with lower margins can't afford to spend $10.00 to get one sale with a profit of $3.00. If your profit is $5000.00, then Ads Words will work well.

9. Traffic Exchange programs that rely on earning clicks from other people by visiting the sites of other members of the exchange program. You don't want traffic at your site, you want buyers. Many people look at the hit count of their server and are very happy to get it 50% or 100% higher, but if that doesn't bring more sales, then it is useless. REALTORs are often fooled by low hit numbers. If an eCommerce site had 400 visitors a month, they would go broke. A REALTOR with only 200 unique visitors per month will be able to retire early! REALTORs don't want hits, they want intersted customers going to their site to look at homes or find a REALTOR. Lets face it, a REALTOR wouldn't be able to call back 400 people a month!

Things that Work - When done Right.

1. There is no magic bullet. Marketing is a slow building of interested customers. The best website marketing is a combination of traditional and contemporary marketing tactics than when combined form a sensible stragegy. There are no tricks, just a continuing effort combined with creativity. The best marketing consists seeking out every potential customer and ethically meeting their needs. Honesty will bring word-of-mouth customers to your website and to your door.

There is no magic solution. Website marketing is a combination of traditional and contemporary marketing tactics that combine into an overall sensible strategy. No tricks, just persistence and creativity. The best promotion consists of seeking out every potential source to ethically let people know what you have that can meet their needs.

2. I said that auto submission services generally do not work, but I do recommend SelfPromotion.com, because his forms are customized to each search engine or directory, and he gives you instructions for submission for those that require manual submission. He also lists many other sources to submit to. It is a paid service, though you can use it free, you only pay what you think it is worth. Otherwise, there are no shortcuts to simply taking the time to submit your site to each search engine or directory that you want it to go to. You do not need to use a service, every search engine has submission pages that you can find and submit your site (some can be very hard to find!). This is a necessary step, but only the most basic step. Self Promotion is worth using because he gives you the links to all those pages and instructions on how to make it work best.

A search engine is like a telephone directory for the web. It lists addresses and a description for each website that it knows is there. The difference is, if you want to be listed in a telephone directory, you do nothing... you only do something if you DON'T want to be listed. It is the reverse with websites. The search engines and directories only know you are there if you tell them. Each one has away to do that, and a page, somewhere, that lets you submit a site. Usually you submit, they list, automatically. Some review it first and decide where to put you. Some review your site and deny it a listing... but not many. The submission page can be hard to find, which is one reason I recommend SelfPromotion above. He gives you a pretty comprehensive listing of places to submit to, and gives you the URL for the page that you have to go to in order to submit it (for sites that do not accept auto submissions). You don't have to go looking. You want to submit at least to Yahoo, MSN, and Google.

3. Use link exchanges. This is time consuming, but does give you traffic if you are thoughtful about it. And links are becoming more important in search engine listings, because Google and some others now count how many sites have links back to your site to determine how good your site really is. Go to sites that might have viewers who are interested in what you sell. In other words, a site reporting on pets may be interested in listing your site for pet supplies. Large and successful sites will not exchange links. They will expect you to pay for advertising. Smaller sites though consider a link exchange a reasonable trade. Be sure you do list their site where it will benefit them. You can also try a link exchange service. There are several free ones. Be sure you choose one though that only exchanges appropriate links! And put information prominently on your site to invite others to exchange links with you (screen them if you are concerned with suitability).

I'd steer clear of traffic exchange programs that rely on pop-up or pop-under windows to display the links also. Because they will slow down YOUR site, and make your site an annoyance to your visitors.

4. Paid Ads. Paid ads can work well for a website, if they are placed in the correct places. Specitity magizines and newspapers are a great place to start. Remember, your site may be available on the web world wide, but you can start your marketing locally to build income, then expand marketing to areas outside of your local area. Start with inexpensive ads and work your way up to more expensive ads as you make more money.

5. E-Zines. An email newsletter can be effective. Publish news related to your product or service that people want. Set up an "optin" newsletter, which you have a way of letting people subscribe to. This can all be done through your hosting. Opt in and Opt out functions of the mailing list software will be very helpful.

6. PayPal Shops and other specialty listings for services you use. If you use a service that offers a free shop listing, use it. Some are more effective than others. With PayPal Shops, you get visitors who are looking to buy. That means your visitors come looking to make a purchase. PayPal shops also reports your weekly traffic. Many services online offer a free listing in their directory along with the service.

7. eBay. If ebay can sell your products then eBay is a great way to sell things. Some products will sell well on eBay, some will not.

8. Cross links. If you have more than one site, then you can cross advertise within your own sites. If people trust you for one thing, they are likely to trust you for other things. Get every site that is a vendor or business partner to help you out by putting your link on their site.

9. Press releases. You can submit a press release announcing a new site, a change, or an event. Keep in mind that if there isn't anything interesting or newsworthy in your press release, it will go with the other 300 they got that day into the trash. Try to reach the report personally with your press release. Put something in it that would be of interest to them.

10. Publish in other people's blogs. This is a helpful way to expand your visitor base. Keep in mind that if you just can't just do a drive by. You need to have a presence in the blog BEFORE you start advertising or it will do no good what-so-ever.

11. Use a signature block. Set up your email software to use a signature. It should be short - usually just your website URL and a one line description to interest people in clicking on the URL.

12. Put your URL on all your business literature - letterhead, envelopes, brochures, and business cards should all have your URL displayed. Some business is generated from customers you have never met, but a lot can come from people who will order from a website on their own time but would not get around to ordering from you personally.

13. Give something away. You must make sure that your give away is either small enough that it does 't cost you too much or is large enough that you can have a national ad campaign.

14. Put meta tags and Alt tags into your web page. Alt tags won't make a lot of difference unless your title page is all graphics. Same with meta tags to a certain extent. They are also helpful for those who can't see or read the screen.

15. Forget Search Engine Optimization, and Focus on Content. You can have the top listed site in Google, but if there isn't anything there for people to see, they will just move to number two on the list. Good content will ultimately help you more than any other strategy in ranking with any search engine, because the major search engines DO look for metatags, but most will not count keywords in the metatags unless there is content to support their presence in the tag anyway. And if you leave out the meta tags, the search engine indexes the site based on the text in your site. So put in good content, backed up with good descriptive text. That is something anyone can do with a little thought, even on extremely tight resources!

16. Make sure your site is easy to navigate, and welcoming to your audience. Make it personable and if you are the focus of the website, make sure you have your picture on the site so people feel that they know you. It is important to build trust with your customers and give them a friendly web experience if you want the to hang around.

17. Webrings. We rings work best for site that deal in specific subjects and will bring a small amount of traffic to your site. They do not work for eCommerce sites as no one wants to ring with you!

18. Specialized Directories and listings. There are a ton of specialty listings online. Do a search on keywords for your site and you will likely find some directories to submit your site to. Make sure they are not just trying to get your email address to SPAM you... They should exist as a resource for people with similar interests, not as a means of preying on you.

19. Start an Affiliate Program. Affiliate programs allow others to profit from your sales. This is a great way to build clients, but remember, the Affiliate is getting the business and they represent you. This can be a problem in some cases.

20. Keep advertising to your existing customers. Keep them informed about what you are doing, but don't over email them. They don't want your SPAM! Try adding a flyer or marketing letter to packages you ship showing specials or other important information. MagicAngel.net has a newsletter it send to our customers to inform them of things that are going on with the technical side of things and also to keep them informed about new products.

21. Use BusinessCards to inform your customers about who you are and how to contact you. They are cheap, use them!

22. Put a downloadable brochure PDF on your website if you have a product catalog or if you market something that people like to think over. That lets people print out the brochure and mull it over offline. It is a courtesy to your customers and a selling tool that costs you almost nothing.

23. Join Trade Associations and networking groups. Word of mouth is a powerful too. CNI Networking

24. Use local events. Set up a display and give something away. Even if it is just a business card or brochure. Make sure you have a good visual representation of what you do and how you can help people. If you can provide samples, this is very effective. If you have items to sell, bring some. But even if you market services or information, local events can provide a way to develop local name recognition.

25. Partner with someone who already does advertising! If a client or business partner is already advertising, ask for a part of their ad. It will cost a lot less and may be worth it to you.

Marketing is something you have to do all of the time, it isn't just for breakfast any more!

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