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So, you’ve
created a Website to highlight your realty services and listings. Now
all you have to do is wait for the customers to roll in – right?
Wrong. Putting up a Website is only the first step. Now you have to
fine tune your site’s descriptors to boost its search engine ranking
when prospective clients explore the Internet hunting for a REALTOR®.
It does you little good to have a Website if prospects cannot find your
Website. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps you can take that
increase your odds of being noticed when buyers or sellers turn to the
Web to find a real estate agent.
Ideally, it pays
to have a meaningful Website address (also known as a Universal Resource
Locator, or "URL"). Instead of your own or a realty name, your Website
address should reflect the geographic area(s) where your services are
targeted or any specialties on which you focus. For instance, if you
farm housing tracts in North Austin, then good choices for a URL might
be www.northaustinhomes.com, www.homes-northaustin.com, or
www.real-estate-north-austin.com. With URL's like these, search engines
are more likely to give you a higher placement when someone searches for
"homes (or real estate) in North Austin" than a competitive realty which
services the same area but does not include the term "north austin" in
their Website address. The key to achieving a higher ranking among
search-engine returns is to be as specific as possible when casting your
Internet "fishing net. "
There is more
you can do to enhance your search engine ranking. While the following
discussion may sound technical, only new terminology is involved. The
actual steps themselves are easy to implement.
"Tags" are
descriptors in the underlying HyperText Markup Language (HTML) code
which format Webpages. They contain important information that Internet
search engines use to index your Website. This data is then compared to
search information entered by engine users. Your Web authoring tool may
allow you to enter Meta Tag information without having to bother with
HTML code. If not, don’t panic! You don’t have to become a Website
programmer to manually insert critical data into your HTML code. Adding
or modifying Tag information is surprisingly easy.
Whether or not
your Web authoring tool allows you to enter Tag information, simply
follow the advice given below to enhance your Website’s visibility to
search engines. If necessary, download a shareware HTML editor and use
it to open your main Webpage, choosing the function that makes the HTML
code appear. Selida and EditPlus are two good HTML editors which are
offered free for thirty days.
On your PC or
Web hosting site, open your main Webpage (usually "index.htm" or "index.html").
Maneuver to the Meta Tag entry functions within your authoring software
or else bring up your Webpage within an editor so that the HTML code is
visible.
To achieve
higher search engine placing, it is important to have meaningful page
Titles, especially for your main (i.e., home) page. The "Title" Tag for
each Webpage is embedded in the HTML code. Look near the top of the
page to find a line that reads <TITLE>xxxxx</TITLE>, when "xxxxx" is the
current name assigned to your Webpage. In some cases, you may not even
have a Title. If so, enter it directly into the HTML code immediately
below the Tag "<HEAD>", using the above format.
Make the Webpage
Title something meaningful, using words that a person searching for
homes in North Austin, for example, would likely type in the Google or
Yahoo search engine (e.g., "North Austin Homes").
Following the
Title Tag, you should see a Meta Tag: <META NAME="Author" CONTENT="xxxxxxxx">,
where the data between the quotation marks is your name (or the name of
the company that prepared your Website). It is a good idea to have this
data consist of your name and the name of your realty. For example:
<META NAME="Author" CONTENT="Jane Doe – Quality Realty">. That way, if
someone is searching for you or your realty on the Web, there is a
better chance they will find your Website.
Now, carefully
choose the Keywords that describe your Website offerings. These should
also be words or phrases that a potential buyer or seller would use in
conducting an Internet search. Again, the more specific you can be the
better. In our example, you would might include "north austin homes" as
one keyword phrase. Perhaps "real estate agents in north austin" would
be another good choice. Don’t worry about being case sensitive. Ask
your family, friends and fellow REALTORS for ideas. You can even see
what Keywords high-ranking competitors are using by going to their
Website and selecting View/Source on your browser.
Enter your new
keywords and phrases using your Web authoring tool or an HTML editor.
When using the latter, look near the top of the page and you will find
another Meta Tag that reads <META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="xxxx,yyyy,zzz">.
The words in-between the quotation marks following CONTENT are your
Keywords. Erase the old ones if you wish and enter your new words or
phrases, separating each by a comma. It is best to keep the number of
entries under a dozen, and be sure to place the most important ones
first.
Looking at the
HTML code, you should see <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="xxxxx">
directly below the Keywords Meta Tag. This is where you enter the text
that a person using a search engine will see, so make it descriptive and
enticing. In our example, perhaps you would enter "Find your dream home
by working with the number one realty in North Austin. Special programs
for first-time buyers." Keep it concise but make it a marketing
message. After all, your objective is to get a prospective client to
visit your Website.
A final piece of
advice – try to use your Keywords in the text on your main Webpage, as
this reinforces your focus to Internet search engines. When finished
making revisions, remember to save your changes and upload modified
Webpages to your hosting vendor. Then be sure to re-submit changed
Webpages to the major search engines – Google, Yahoo, and MSN for sure -
and directories (e.g., Google, Yahoo and the Open Directory). Following
submission, it can take awhile - weeks or months - for a search engine
to categorize your changes. Be patient. Periodic checks using your
important Keywords in each search engine will alert you to when the
changes begin to take effect.
About
the Author
Al Kernek is a real estate broker and author of "Creating
E-Mail Newsletters – A Practical Guide for the Real Estate Community"
and "Put Your Business Online." To learn more about increasing real
estate sales using low-cost Internet marketing techniques, visit
http://www.renewsletter.com
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