Real Estate Web Masters Blog

The first question every real estate professional asks is how to get ranked #1 in search engine for their keywords. Well there is no magic solution here. In fact, there are 8,000,000,000 pages that all want the number one spot, but there can only be one #1 for each search. This means that in order for your to be #1, you have to beat out 7,999,999,999 other pages.



Realistically, you go to your developer and say "just make me #1". Well, your competitor went to his web developer and told him the same thing. So if there were some magic formula and your were pushed to number one, what would happen when your competitor applies the same magic? Now think about even a town of 50,000 people - This town may have as many as 500-700 agents that all want to be #1.


The point is, there is no magic. The only way you can be number one is to work HARDER, and have more PATIENCE then your competitors. This is the same for anything you want to be the best at.



Achieving number one for "Escanaba Real Estate"


There are lots of steps here to getting #1, but first off is choosing your keyword. When choosing your keyword, you do not need to immediately think of the larges town around, and stick that with the keyword "real estate". This will probably not work. One fact of search engines is that 85% of people click on the first 3 results. This means if you are even number 4, your will not get much traffic. In your area, every agent in town want to be #1 for the biggest towns name combined with real estate. So your competition is tough and your odds of success are small. Choosing a smaller surrounding town may have far less competition.



If you are ranked on page 2 for a term that gets search 5,000 times a month, or ranked #1 for a term that is search 800 times a month, what will get more results? Well we know from the 85% rule that only 1,500 people will go pass #3 let alone to the second page. So pick fights you can win.


Once you have your word, you are ready to begin. I am going to use "Escanaba Real Estate".


There are two major parts to getting your web site ranked #1... On page and off page factors.


Off page factors involve links pointing to your web site. In terms of search engines, links are like votes. So these links are not really for people to follow, but for search engines to count as votes for your site.


When looking at the link Escanaba Real Estate, a search engine will look at the actual work that is clickable. In this case, the site would get a vote for "escanaba real estate". If the clickable link says "my web site", you get a vote for "my web site". That does not mean that this link is bad. It still is a vote and makes your page more important, but the first link is better.


So where do you get links? Well first as around your area. Links from pages about Escanaba or Real Estate would help. You could try your REALTOR association, your chamber of commerce, local banks, title companies, builders, etc. Look at people you work with. Also look at groups... do you do events or chartiy stuff in your community. These are all people that may want to link to you.


Next is directory submission. There are hundreds of free directories on the internet. You can submit your site to all of these. Many times, real estate professional do not feel they have the time to do this so they contact with someone to do it for them. For example, CoreLevel will submit to about 400 directories for $700.


There are also industry specific directories. These are a little better then the free directories, but they are not free. Sometimes these directories can cost up to $100 per year.


ON Page factors... On page factors play a very important part of where you rank. If you have a template site, you may not be able to do all of these things that it will require to rank well. If you have lots of pictures and flash, you may not rank well. Search engine can only read words.


First up is the title. The title appears in the blue bar at the top of your browser. This should be something with your keywords near the from of the title. A good title might be "Escanaba Real Estate :: CoreLevel.com" - I put my keyword first and my company second.


Next up is meta tags... Now the thing about meta tags is there are were very important in 1996. No days, they are almost completely ignored. There are a lot of companies that will take your money and tell you to make a list of keywords so they can put in meta tags. THIS IS A WASTE OF MONEY. These people do not know anything about really getting ranked in a search engine. If you doubt me on this, do a search in google for meta tags and start reading.


Now we are getting down to the page content. You need to have text on your page. I usually aim for a minimum of 3 paragraphs, but more is better. When writing your text, you want to keep your focus on your keywords. Do not make it sound unnatural like using your keyword to start every sentence. If you take this page, I have already managed to work in the words "escanaba" and "real estate" many time. It should also be noted that you do not need to always say "escanaba real estate" you can break them up and use "escanaba" and "real estate" seperately and they will still help you.



Special text... It is important to use your keywords in special text.

Bold - Escanaba Real Estate

Italic - Escanaba Real Estate

Link - Escanaba Real Estate

Lists -

• Escanaba Real Estate
• Escanaba Real Estate Agents

Headings -

Escanaba Real Estate

Search engines will reware your site for all of these, but you want to be careful not to sound unnatural or spammy or you will risk being banned.



Alt Tags... Alt tags are like labels for images. If you are using internet explorer, put your mouse over the logo on the right. If you are in Mozilla, it is hidden unless the image fails to load. These labels are meant to tell search engines what the picture is about.



There is a lot more to learn about Search Engine Optimization, but for most towns and most real estate professionals, if you follow these simple rules, and continually work on adding new links, you will rise to the top.


In my next post I will be writing about number, and how to measure your keywords, your competition and your progress.