Why I Don't Do SEO on Advanced Access Websites

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

About once a month, I get a request for real estate SEO services from a real estate agent who owns an Advanced Access website. My response is always the same: "Sorry, I can't help you."

Why, you ask? Because if you've read any of my SEO training guides or articles, you'll know that I like to practice straightforward, no-B.S. search engine optimization based on quality content and proper networking and publishing techniques. Why do I practice this type of SEO? Because in six years of promoting websites and driving them up the search engine ranks, I have never incurred a single penalty / demotion from Google for over-aggressive tactics.

I have long suspected Advanced Access of using techniques that limit SEO success (such as the excessive use of frames), as well as certain over-aggressive SEO techniques (such as the ridiculous level of reciprocal linking on agent websites). Up until now, I have kept my personal opinions to myself. While I avoid such tactics, I don't usually make it a point to call out those who do.

But as you can see by this search query, there's a lot of buzz right now about the SEO techniques employed by Advanced Access. So I might as well step up and tell my readers how to avoid such penalties:

1. Serve Readers Not Search Engines
Don't ever do anything just for the search engines. If you take part in a reciprocal linking scheme with agents all over the country, you are doing it for the search engines, not for your web visitors. Why would a home buyer in Austin, Texas want links to agent websites in 49 other states across the country? This is a massive reciprocal linking scheme intended to artificially inflate a website's link popularity and search engine ranking. Google has been able to spot this kind of thing for about three years now.

2. Don't Become Search Engine Dependent
Don't rely too heavily on search engine optimization. Many agents seem to have forgotten that there are other forms of marketing than just SEO. Many agents get what I like to call SEO tunnel vision by focusing on their rankings to the point of obsessiveness. If you rely too heavily on SEO, you will be tempted to take shortcuts by using black hat SEO techniques, which often leads to websites being penalized / demoted or even banned entirely from Google. So instead of checking your search engine rankings twice a day, try broadening your marketing mix with other forms of online and offline marketing.

This has been a public service announcement from a guy who does real estate SEO the right way. If you're interested in such services, please let me know.

More information on avoiding Google penalties.

Have a great weekend.

~Brandon

Winning the Real Estate Blog War

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

The Back Story
Real estate blogs have exploded in popularity and usage over the last couple of years. Three years ago, only a small percentage of real estate agents were using blogs as part of their marketing / communication mix. But since then, the number of real estate bloggers has increased tenfold or more.

The Challenge
The early adopters of real estate blogs found them to be a useful tool for online communication. But they also found blogs to be a godsend in the ongoing quest for search engine ranking / visibility. But as more and more agents join the world of real estate blogs, it becomes increasingly difficult to blog your way up the search engine ranks.

After all, there are only ten spots on the first page of search engine results for any given phrase. So if 200 agents are blogging in your town, you only have a 1-in-20 chance of putting your blog on the first page of search engine results ... and a 1-in-10 chance of landing within the first two pages of search results. (Most people do not look beyond the second page of results when using search engines.)

The Solution
If you have a real estate blog, and you are looking for a way to increase your search engine rankings (and by extension your traffic levels and readership), you'll be happy to know that I've laid it all out for you in step-by-step fashion.

My e-book -- "The Triangle System: Blogging Your Way Up the Search Engines" -- will show you how to increase your blog's search engine ranking and traffic levels...

• Without spending hours a day on the task
• Without sacrificing the quality of your blog content
• And without paying an SEO firm thousands of dollars

You can apply this system to your own blog, because I've described it for you in step-by-step fashion. You'll learn how to set up a blogging schedule, how to choose your topics, how to re-purpose content for other publishing purposes, how to use blog directories to boost your rankings ... and a wealth of additional tips for real estate blog success.

If you have a real estate blog:
If you're already blogging, you can use this guide to take your blog to the next level. Why blog to an audience of one when you grow your audience to dozens, hundreds or more?

If you don't have a blog:
If you don't have a real estate blog but would like to get started, this guide provides an excellent introduction. It will put you on the fast-track to success and help you avoid common blogging mistakes.

Learn more about real estate blog success.

Good luck and good marketing.

~Brandon

Address Popular Topics - Internet Marketing Tip #62 of 100

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Real Estate Internet Marketing - 100 Tips in 100 Days

Tip 62 of 100 - Address Popular Topics

Generating traffic to your website is one of the first steps to success with real estate Internet marketing. The more traffic you have, the more leads you can generate. And the more leads you can generate, the more clients and business you can acquire.

Internet Marketing 101, right?

But where do you get website traffic? Well, if you've been following this series on Internet marketing, you've gained plenty of traffic-generation tips. And here's another one for you ... tap into known search patterns by offering information on popular topics.

Foreclosures, mortgage refinancing, types of mortgage loans, flipping houses ... these are all popular topics right now, topics that you hear on the news all the time. And nothing drives Internet search patterns like news coverage.

Case in point, the number of Internet searches for "home foreclosure" types of phrases has risen dramatically over the last couple of months. This is largely due to all the news coverage of the current spike in foreclosures. (Yes, I keep track of such things. And that's why I have a mortgage refinancing website within my network!)

So I ask you, why not capitalize on this to get another slice of the Web traffic pie? If people in your area are looking for local information related to home foreclosures, mortgage refinancing, mortgage applications, home sales statistics, or information about that new highway going in ... why not give it to them?

Sure, you might not be a foreclosure or refinancing expert. But you don't have to be. You're a real estate expert, and these are topics within the real estate umbrella that you could certainly cover on your website. It's just one more way for people to find you online. And these days, as competitive as the real estate industry has become, you need to give people as many ways to find you as possible.

In fact, that's the basic premise of my guide to the Real Estate Web Presence.

Have a good weekend.

~Brandon

Direct Mail Services - A Buyer's Guide

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Anyone considering direct mail as an add-on to their real estate marketing program should seriously consider using a direct mail service to handle the logistics. If you're currently using real estate direct mail but you handle the logistics yourself, you should consider a direct mail service for the convenience alone!

A Direct Mail Service Can Do All That?
Back when I worked for a direct mail marketing company, I once attended the big NAR conference in Orlando -- 2004 I think it was. I remember all of the real estate folks coming up to the booth and asking what kind of services we provided, what the cost was, etc.

I would explain to them that the company I worked for did everything for them -- design, messaging, printing, mailing, etc. And nine times out of ten they would say something like, "You do all of that? And for that cost? Jeez, I've been killing myself trying to do it alone all this time!"

Direct mail is not for everyone. It takes a serious commitment and a willingness to learn. But for those who do it well, the results are well worth the effort. The key is to minimize the effort and maximize the reward. To maximize the reward, you can improve your direct mail program (perhaps by reading my postcard book). To minimize the effort, you can use a direct mail service to handle the logistics for you.

I just finished creating a guide to direct mail services -- what they do, how to shop for one, etc. It's over on PostcardSmart.com. If you find the article helpful, be sure to check out the related articles mentioned at the end.

Go there now: Direct Mail Services - What Do They Do?

~Brandon

Real Estate SEO - By the Numbers

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm hard at work on a new training guide. This one will be focused on real estate search engine optimization (SEO). It will be a step-by-step guide to increasing your real estate website's ranking in search engines like Google.

And here's the best part ... this real estate SEO guide will come with a money-back guarantee. In other words, if you follow the steps outlined in the guide but do NOT see an improvement in your search engine rankings, I will refund your purchase with no questions asked.

I have another search engine guide that's ideal for real estate SEO beginners. The new guide will target the "intermediate" level webmasters out there -- those of you who have a basic understanding of how search engine optimization works and are ready to get started.

I hope to finish it within the next month. As always, you'll hear about it first through this blog!

Until then,

~Brandon

Morden Marketing Tips for Real Estate Agents

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

New Article Announcement:

The real estate profession has become incredibly competitive in recent years. I don't say that to disturb you, but only so you'll know the truth. The number of real estate agents in the United States is mind-boggling ... and well into the millions. On top of that, we are seeing an explosion in the number and size of real estate "self help" sites such as Zillow and HouseValues.

As a result of all this, real estate marketing has become more challenging as well. You have to work smarter and "out-think" the competition in order to succeed. To help you do just that, I've compiled some real estate marketing tips. I hope these tips make your marketing a little less intimidating and a lot more effective.

Read the article here:
Marketing Tips for Real Estate Agents

Real Estate Blogs - How to Generate Traffic

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Blogs, blogs and more blogs. These days, it seems every real estate agent in the country wants to launch a real estate blog. This is both good and bad.

• It's good because blogs can be a useful tool for real estate agents, helping them to connect with their online audience through an easy-to-use interface.
• It's bad because the majority of real estate blogs that come online in the next few years will be poorly executed, thus increasing the "clutter" effect of the Web.

I don't make the second point to be mean, but only practical. It's a fact of "Web Marketing 101" that most websites or blogs in a given industry are poorly designed and executed. That's just the world we live in.

I partly blame the Internet marketing folks out there who say that every agent must start a blog, because they are a magical tool for online success.

In fact, whenever I'm asked if real estate agents should blog, I never say yes or no. I say an agent should start a real estate blog if he or she is serious about it, and plans to turn that blog into something useful and interesting. Otherwise, don't bother.

Still reading this post? If so, it's probably a sign that you're serious about real estate blogging. So thanks for sticking around, because I'm going to share some helpful tips on generating traffic to your real estate blog.

After all, a real estate blog without traffic is like a single grain of sand on a beach. Sure it's there ... but does it really matter?

So let's make sure your blog is more than a grain of sand. Let's talk about the traffic side of real estate blogs. You have your blog online, you've been publishing quality content, and now you want to increase the level of traffic to your blog.

Here's how to go about it:
Real Estate Blogs - How to Generate Traffic

Good luck with your real estate blogging ventures!

~Brandon