Search Engine Facts & Myths
- MYTH: In order to rank high on the search engines, you need to pay a company to 'submit' your site to thousands of search engines.
FACT: Almost all searches come from Google, MSN and Yahoo. If you rank in those three search engines, that's all you need. Be wary of companies who will charge to 'submit' you to thousands of search engines.
1) Your site will be indexed anyway, without being 'submitted'. Submitting it may get the search bot to your site a bit faster, but you will be included in the search index whether you formally submit or not. If you want, do it yourself. It's free and takes all of 30 seconds.
Add to Google | Add to MSN | Add to Yahoo
2) Paying someone to 'submit' to the other supposed 10,000 search engines will get you only one thing. Lots of spam. Save your money. Keep your sanity.
- MYTH: A company guaranteed me that for a fee they could get me to #1 on the search engines.
Great. I have some swamp land in Florida to sell......
FACT: Nobody... NOBODY can guarantee search engine placement of any kind. Simple advice: Run for the hills. You can have your ad placed on page one of some search engines with Pay Per Click advertising, using Google AdWords or Overture. This can work well for some industries, and can be very expensive for others. Essentially however, you are renting your business. It's temporary as long as you're willing to pay for it. Then your traffic is gone.
It is impossible for any search engine optimization firm to guarantee the results of it's search ranking services. The success of various search engine optimization techniques depends on a myriad of underlying factors including:
- Your competitions' search engine optimization strategies
- Your willingness to make investments that are sure to increase your website's exposure
- The search engine algorithms that vary every day on every search engine
- The level of communication you give me regarding your market, your competitors and your products or services
- The amount of follow-up and maintenance you choose after your site is up and beginning to rank
- Your risk tolerance level and subsequent faith in the internet as a marketing tool.
The conclusion? No matter who you hire to optimize your site for search engines, the ultimate contributor to the search engine optimization of your web site is you.
Ranking high for your keywords is a combination
of skill in understanding the search engine algorithms
and skill in properly designing a website
that is 'search engine friendly".
There's no trickery involved.
There is a reason that everyone wants to rank high on the search engines results. The traffic that is generated is tremendous. Considering most buyers will call the first REALTOR® they come in contact with, doesn't it make sense that ranking high on the search engine results would bring in regular, consistent leads?
- Approximately 85% - 90% of Web traffic comes from search engines.
- Search is the second most popular online activity (next to e-mail).
- Search delivers relevant information just when the searcher needs it.
A web site designed to be a lead generating tool via search engine optimization is entirely different structurally from the average web site created by the typical artistic graphic design/ web design expert. Since search engines read pages in particular ways, it becomes necessary to sacrifice some design elements in favor of having a site that people can find because it's structure is search engine friendly. You will note that the top ranked web sites are not always the most beautiful, but often are most packed with valuable information. My job is to create a web site that is effective and search engine friendly at the same time.
To those not familiar with search engine optimization, the entire concept can seem like nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Many REALTORS® feel as if they have to take a leap of faith and hope that the services pan out. After all, most people assume that just by placing a website in orbit on the internet that they will receive unlimited traffic and sales.
I know what keywords and phrases will drive targeted leads to your site in your target market. The results? Top search engine rankings that drive targeted traffic to your web site!
Do you already have a real estate web site. Other than personal visits, a few friends, your family - how many people visit your web site? How many potential customers visit your web site? Obviously, a few people will find your web address on a business card, print ad or mailer - but they probably already are aware of your business! Better yet, how many potential home buyers are you missing every month?
Enter your town or city name and the word "real estate" (without the quotes) and hit ENTER. This will show you how many people searched for real estate in your town or city on a given day:
These results represent only one out of potentially dozens of keywords that will bring future home buyers and sellers to your website. Think about how many additional sales would you have if you converted only a half of a percent of these visitors to actual sales?
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