When Google talks about SEO, you need to sit up and listen to what they’re saying.  Why?  Well, because they make the rules.

So when Matt Cutt’s took the time to review a Realtor’s website, and point out tips to make the site better, and perform better on Google I started to listen.

Most of what he states in the video is good advice for any site, and particularly good for real estate agents.

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Google provides all sorts of tools to help you discover more about the habits of your possible customers.

Here’s a really good example, it’s called the Google Wonder Wheel, and it’s magic when it comes to finding long tail search terms for your local market. So come on everyone, let’s ride the wheel!

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This is Part 2 in a series of videos covering all aspect of building a strong Realtor Web Presence. If you want to see the rest of this series, make sure you subscribe to the site on the left hand side.

In this video we continue to discuss how to use search engines to drive traffic, what it takes to rank well and how to use PPC advertising effectively.

I hope you enjoy it, and please leave your comments and questions.

Don’t forget to join me on Facebook at: http://www.youhavetom.com

or on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/tlyons

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This is Part 1 in a series of videos covering all aspect of building a strong Realtor Web Presence. If you want to see the rest of this series, make sure you subscribe to the site on the left hand side.

In this video we discuss how to use search engines to drive traffic, what it takes to rank well and how to use PPC advertising effectively.

I hope you enjoy it, and please leave your comments and questions.

Don’t forget to join me on Facebook at: http://www.youhavetom.com

or on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/tlyons

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1.  Change your Title Tags.

Not sure what a title tag is?  You’re not the only one.  Title tags is a small HTML Tag and it looks like this.  <title>This is my title tag</title>.  It is perhaps the most imprtant part of your site when it comes to telling Google what you want to rank for.

If yor Title Tag says <title>Tom Lyons Realtor</title> what do you think Google will think my site is about?  Yep, that’s right, Tom Lyons Realtor.

So if I want to rank “Belleville Homes for Sale” what do you think my title tag should be?  Right again, <title>Belleville Homes for Sale</title>.  See how easy this is!

So how do you change your title tag?  Well that really depends on what you have for a website.  But I would talk to your web person and have them change it to what you really want it to say.

2.  Create Squidoo Page

Squidoo.com is the brainchild of marketer/writer/blogger/bald guy Seth Godin.  Anyway the point of Squidoo is to allow people to build niche specfic expert pages.   The upside is Squidoo holds petty good authority with the Search Engines and can often get a good placement for the keywords you target, plus create traffic and visitors to your site.

The key is to write a really good squidoo page and then link it to your site with a strong call to action.

3. Submit your site to directories.

Dmoz.org and Yahoo.com or two of the biggest directories out there and worth doing a submission to but there are also 1000′s of smaller lesser known directories that you can submit to.  Having your site added to those directories will create targeted inbound links.  Although most of these links only provide a small amount of link juice to your site they can add up.  In many real estate markets these action alone can be enough to push your site to first page rankings and they will always give you a base line amount of links to your site.

Jump in and do the above items.  You’ll be on your way to higher rankings and more traffic.  By all means this is not a complete guide, but everyone needs to start somewhere.  The important thing is to start.

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Are you using the right terms to describe your listings?

Everyday I get questions about how to get more search traffic. Some about main keywords such as “Las Vegas real estate” or “Belleville homes for sale”, but main keywords are just the start.

Did you know that Roost.com, which is a home search engine, recently posted the top ten terms home buyers use when searching for a property. More importantly they posted the add-on terms people use to refine the search.

So everyone knows that when creating a new listing title you should be using keywords related to the home. Such as the address, or type of home right?

But understanding the terms searchers actually use to refine the homes they want to see is priceless. Here’s an example:

Ok title: 85 Progress Ave, Belleville, Condo

That title will allow searche engines to index the address and that it’s a condo in Belleville

Better Title: 85 Progress Ave, Spacious Belleville Condo with Pool

The difference is slight, but by adding pool and spacious we grab a couple extra keywords to help the home show up when someone is looking for a home with pools or a roomy condo.

Here’s the list of Keywords from Roost.com, ask yourself if you use these words in your titles and descriptions. Both on the web and in other forms of advertising.

1. Pool

2. Garage

3. Hardwood

4. Waterfront

5. View

6. Basement

7. Tile

8. Deck

9. Condo

10. Shop

Happy Posting!

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Looking for strategy this year to make 2009 your best year yet.

Well for your website it’s starts with a game plan and we thought you could use this little diagram to get you started.

Is there something we missed? Add your comment below we loved to hear from you! Click the thumbnail for the full size image.

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Techcrunch posted an article today (you can see it here) talking about the new changes to the Google Adwords quality score.

In the past, your postion using Google Adwords was based on the price you paid and how many people clicked on your ad.

Over time the score started to include the context of the title to the page it linked to, context of the words within the ad itself, etc.

The latest change includes how the clickthrough rate affect the position of the ad.  The issue was based on the fact that a higher placed ad naturally gets a higher clickthrough rates, giving it a higher quality score.  A self feeding cycle, higher clickthrough, higher ranking, higher clickthrough.

Google is going to take the higher clickthrough from position out of the equation, I’m sure with some very techinical and complicated math the Google PhD’s can come up with.

Gogole will also be putting more ads at the top of each page, this really is nothing new, we’ve seen this increase over the years anyway.  However, the blend of natural to paid searches in the average consumers eye will be less distinct with the ads at the top.  Possibly making adwords a better option for adversting than it was before.

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This is a question that recently came up with one of our members.

The questions is: If I purchase a hyphenated domain name, will I get better search rankings for the keywords in the domain?

The Below video will answer the question?

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I doubt it, but they do have some issues they need to work out.

This video is for Realtors who work in countries other than the US, have a website, but are having trouble ranking well in Google for the country they work in.

In short it’s about Geo Targetting and why it’s a make or break issue for many people struggling to get good rankings.

This is a MUST WATCH video!

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