Commentary by Coracle Inc.
RISMEDIA, August 24, 2006—It can be exhilarating and frustrating when you are in the business of putting Realtors on the first page of the major web engines. It’s tremendously exciting to get that call when your subscriber sells that first property that comes to them from the Internet, but it can be reciprocally frustrating when some subscribers take longer than the norm to achieve their place on the first pages of major search engines.
In general practice, we put our subscribers on at least one major search engine first page within 90 days of production, and on two first pages (or more) within 120 days. As the first 90 days of subscription with us are not counted against a one year subscription, delay is frustrating, but no one is unfairly penalized for the delay that occasionally occurs in production. We will routinely extend a customer’s subscription to adjust for such delays when they occur, and do so
for no charge.
There are those people who we just can’t get there in that time; those take a little longer. There are also many who go to page one in a month; or even in a few days; it just is not completely predictable. What’s amazing too is that while most folks understand that this is part science, part art, others cannot understand why they should wait one more day for the system to synchronize. It’s a lot like your buyer who looks at 20 homes, never gets back to you after
touring each of them, and then is upset when she calls back too late on a listing you just sold: there are some people you just can’t satisfy.
Many factors can affect anyone’s page ranking and visibility to the search engines. Broken links, changing search link depths promulgated by the engines, DNS resolution problems, geographic location, preponderance of pay-per-click, hosting server problems – there are a great many things that can affect placement negatively. That’s not even including the changes in formula
(algorithms) applied the search engines regularly to keep their sites secure and/or impenetrable to anyone seeking to spam or fool them.
The search engines want to prevent anyone but them from making sites perform on their engines, so they make it very difficult for that to occur. It takes expertise, brains, equipment and vigilance to put customers in good first pages search placement; it is no job for amateurs.
In recent weeks, we have hammered away at two thoughts: Every real estate professional need a dedicated personal Web site (in addition to participating in the corporate site) and every serious Realtor should have a First Page Search Placement facility.
With 77% of all real estate transactions involving the Internet these days (according to the National Association of Realtors®), it shouldn’t be hard to understand why you need a website. If you want to participate in the bounty of the Internet, however, you can’t if you aren’t able to be found when people go looking—not for you, but for what you sell.
That’s why it is so hard to put people on the first pages, and that’s why it is so valuable: being there can make you fabulously successful or just a little bit more successful than you are now, but it will make you more successful. That’s what the big hullabaloo about First Page Search Placement is really all about.
Everyone wants to be on the first page of the organic search placement results because that’s where people looking for homes in your neighborhood land when they go searching for a home to buy. Why not be there to greet them?
RISMEDIA, August 24, 2006—It can be exhilarating and frustrating when you are in the business of putting Realtors on the first page of the major web engines. It’s tremendously exciting to get that call when your subscriber sells that first property that comes to them from the Internet, but it can be reciprocally frustrating when some subscribers take longer than the norm to achieve their place on the first pages of major search engines.
In general practice, we put our subscribers on at least one major search engine first page within 90 days of production, and on two first pages (or more) within 120 days. As the first 90 days of subscription with us are not counted against a one year subscription, delay is frustrating, but no one is unfairly penalized for the delay that occasionally occurs in production. We will routinely extend a customer’s subscription to adjust for such delays when they occur, and do so
for no charge.
There are those people who we just can’t get there in that time; those take a little longer. There are also many who go to page one in a month; or even in a few days; it just is not completely predictable. What’s amazing too is that while most folks understand that this is part science, part art, others cannot understand why they should wait one more day for the system to synchronize. It’s a lot like your buyer who looks at 20 homes, never gets back to you after
touring each of them, and then is upset when she calls back too late on a listing you just sold: there are some people you just can’t satisfy.
Many factors can affect anyone’s page ranking and visibility to the search engines. Broken links, changing search link depths promulgated by the engines, DNS resolution problems, geographic location, preponderance of pay-per-click, hosting server problems – there are a great many things that can affect placement negatively. That’s not even including the changes in formula
(algorithms) applied the search engines regularly to keep their sites secure and/or impenetrable to anyone seeking to spam or fool them.
The search engines want to prevent anyone but them from making sites perform on their engines, so they make it very difficult for that to occur. It takes expertise, brains, equipment and vigilance to put customers in good first pages search placement; it is no job for amateurs.
In recent weeks, we have hammered away at two thoughts: Every real estate professional need a dedicated personal Web site (in addition to participating in the corporate site) and every serious Realtor should have a First Page Search Placement facility.
With 77% of all real estate transactions involving the Internet these days (according to the National Association of Realtors®), it shouldn’t be hard to understand why you need a website. If you want to participate in the bounty of the Internet, however, you can’t if you aren’t able to be found when people go looking—not for you, but for what you sell.
That’s why it is so hard to put people on the first pages, and that’s why it is so valuable: being there can make you fabulously successful or just a little bit more successful than you are now, but it will make you more successful. That’s what the big hullabaloo about First Page Search Placement is really all about.
Everyone wants to be on the first page of the organic search placement results because that’s where people looking for homes in your neighborhood land when they go searching for a home to buy. Why not be there to greet them?
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