Pinterest can be hugely beneficial for real estate agents

What follows is a quick ‘how-to guide’ on using Pinterest for search engine optimization purposes:

Step 1: Carefully use keywords in your Pinterest profile and Pin Boards. Google and other major search engines are starting to index Pinterest profiles, so making sure all your real estate-related keywords are scattered throughout your description and each specific Pin Board will obviously increase the chances your account will show up during a search.

Step 2: Always link your pins back to your real estate website. Of course not everything you pin has to come from your website, but make sure the majority of your pins offer such links. The best way to do this is by constantly pinning local real estate listings. If you happen to see a fabulous new home listing in your area, with really stunning interior and exterior photos, always be sure to pin these images from the listing pages from YOUR websites.

Step 3: Link your Pinterest account to Facebook. There’s no denying that Facebook is currently the most used social network. One of the benefits of frequently using Pinterest is that it allows every user to link their activity to a Facebook account. What does this mean? Simply put, all of your pins and repins will then appear on your Facebook wall, as well as the Facebook ticker, allowing all of your Facebook friends and followers to check out all the great images you’re posting on Pinterest. Of course this really only benefits you if you have a strong Facebook following. Which by now, you should.

Step 4: Like other social networks, Pinterest provides real estate agents the opportunity to build safe links back to their real estate website. Pinterest’s domain authority has already reached a very high-level, so the more links you build through your account, the stronger your search results will be. In other words, use Pinterest as frequently as other, more mainstream social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Step 5: Add Pin It buttons to your real estate website and blog. Social sharing is now considered to be one of the easiest ways to drive traffic to your site, so give readers every possible opportunity to share the content and images they see. Installing Pin It buttons couldn’t be easier and Pinterest even offers a video tutorial here.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working as a Market Research Associate and writing published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence in Chicago, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and is a managing partner at Real Estate Web Creation, LLC.

Image courtesy optimizare-seo via flickr.com

So with little or no web presence, the chances of you succeeding in the real estate industry long-term will eventually become smaller and smaller as each year passes and technology becomes even more accessible, mobile, and mainstream—if that’s even possible.

Let’s face it, simply having a real estate website or blog isn’t even enough anymore. To really make an impact and generate your own quality leads on a regular basis, real estate agents must now learn the ins and outs of building a website that ranks well among all the major search engines and produces a high PageRank for the specific keywords relating to your business. And if you’ve spent any time researching or investigating search engine optimization techniques, you likely already know that reaching and sustaining that high Google rank is an on-going process that requires constant content building, blogging, social media marketing, and various other web marketing efforts.

Unfortunately, many real estate agents out there are way too busy scheduling showings, meeting with clients, and actually selling homes; so the extra time it takes to keep up with the evolving world of search engine optimization can often be hard to come across. Lucky for all you agents however, plenty of helpful SEO blogs are available to give you all the latest developments and information you’ll need to keep you well informed and 100% up-to-date when it comes to how to evolve your lead-generating real estate website.

So if you’re looking for a good read or have some extra time in between showings, check out some of these best SEO blogs:

1)      GeekEstate: Origianlly founded by Zillow.com, GeekEstate.com offers not only informative and current SEO tidbits, but also acts as a terrific resource for real estate agents wanting to keep up with all forms of technology in the industry. This one is definitely a must-read for all agents choosing to use the WordPress platform for their primary real estate website.

2)      SEOmoz: As perhaps the most common provider of SEO software and tools, the folks at SEOmoz certainly have extensive knowledge of how search engines operate. Through helpful webinars and the SEOmoz Daily Blog, real estate website owners are able to get endless instruction and guidance on the best strategies for optimizing websites and achieve a higher ranking among the major search engines like Bing, Google, and Yahoo!.

3)      Search Engine Land: Posting several blogs a day, Search Engine Land is the perfect blog site for quick reads and the latest updates in search engine optimization. What makes Search Engine Land so unique, however, is that many of the posts are contributed by outside professionals working in the industry with widespread knowledge of SEO and how it works.

4)      Data-Based Ads, Inc: As CEO and the lead blogger at Data-Based Ads, Inc, Mike Scotty provides followers with insightful SEO and web marketing tips that range from how flickr and social media can boost real estate SEO to providing some useful ideas for your own real estate blog. Although posts aren’t as frequent on the Data-Based Ads blog, it’s definitely worth the time to check out when something new is published.

5)      HubSpot: The HubSpot blog is a comprehensive resource for not just search engine optimization but internet marketing as a whole. Whether you want to learn how to use social media sites such as Pinterest or Facebook to drive business or read about tips for optimizing your landing pages for long-term lead generation, HubSpot has you covered. This blog really covers everything when it comes to various web marketing techniques and tactics, so definitely use the categories when navigating the website to determine which posts may satisfy your interests.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working as a Market Research Associate and writing published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence in Chicago, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and is a managing partner at Real Estate Web Creation, LLC.

Link juice is essential for ranking real estate sites on Google. Image by Mark Kens via flickr.com

Link building, however, is one of those search engine optimization practices that many real estate agents fail to understand and misuse entirely. If your real estate website has been live for an extended period of time or you’ve explored search engine optimization services with third-party companies, there’s a good possibility you’ve seen numerous advertisements and spam e-mails for effective, low-cost link building.

Of course I certainly understand that everyone has a budget when it comes to web marketing and everyone loves a great deal. But before you risk all the hard work you’ve already put into your real estate website and the ranking your site has already achieved, you need to be absolutely certain the link-building strategies you implement are legitimate and follow white-hat search engine optimization practices. So what exactly does that mean? Here’s a comprehensive explanation of everything you need to know about real estate link-building:

Link-Building Basics

Real estate link building is the process of obtaining relevant, high-quality, inbound web-links to your real estate site, which ultimately help your website achieve a higher ranking among major search engines. In this simplistic definition, take note of the words “relevant” and “high-quality.” This doesn’t mean writing poor quality articles with links to your site and submitting each to an article directory. In addition, this also doesn’t mean constantly spamming blog comment sections with opinions, suggestions, and links back to your site. Instead, real estate link-building starts with writing quality content for both your real estate site and outside websites and building relationships within the internet community!

Proper Link-Building Practice

When I explain to real estate agents that writing quality content and superior blog posts will eventually translate to relevant link-building, it isn’t long before a confused look of disbelief is starring me right back in the face. The logic behind writing engaging, noteworthy content and blog posts is that other professionals, website owners, and media personnel might eventually take notice. How does that help?

For starters, if you write an interesting piece about the unique history of a listing or special features of a home for sale in your local market, there’s always the possibility someone else may find that topic interesting as well and write a follow-up piece on your original article, including a link within the context of their work back to your site. Don’t believe me? Believe it. This actually happens more than you think; but in order for someone to be motivated enough to share your post or link back to your original content, it of course has to be worth sharing—i.e. interesting, engaging, unique, funny, or significant.

Image by HubSpot via flickr.com

Is it a definite possibility you’ll have success with outside parties sharing or linking your content? Simply put: no. But that’s where building relationships comes into play. Obviously, the likelihood of someone sharing or linking back to your real estate website is much greater if you know or have established a rapport with that individual. Quality link-building doesn’t just happen overnight and it rarely occurs randomly. So think of link-building as virtual networking. Start including relevant links in the content you write and the blogs you post, and you never know who might contact you or return the favor.

Guest Blogging & Link Building

Waiting for someone to mention your website or article isn’t enough when it comes to real estate link-building. If you’re serious about generating quality backlinks to your real estate website, be proactive. Find high-traffic real estate blogs and news websites and request to be a guest blogger. Guest blogging not only helps advertise your services as a real estate agent while providing backlinks to your website, but in doing so, you’re also supplying content for the blog or news site itself, which will benefit that site as well.

But before you jump at the opportunity of becoming a guest blogger, be absolutely certain you’re capable of providing engaging, well-written articles that people will want to read. Website owners don’t want to post low-quality articles, and even more importantly for you personally, it’s your name attached to the article, so make sure it’s something you can be proud of and will want to share with the rest of the internet world.

Create Your Own Links

A common misconception regarding the link-building practice of creating your own links is to buy a domain name, throw together another quick real estate website and link it back to your primary real estate website. Unfortunately, the process of creating your own backlinks is much more involved and quite a bit more time consuming. Instead of simply throwing together a handful of cheap, low-quality real estate websites and inner-linking each one, pick out your top 3-5 market specializations and build a substantial web presence for each.

Whether it’s several high-end condo buildings or a group of highly-desirable subdivisions in your community, make the determination that you specifically want to rank for these market segments. Next, buy a relatable domain name and create a high-quality, comprehensive website and include every piece of information about that community from the history and original builder(s) all the way down to home features and pricing. Make sure these websites are the go-to sites for any buyer considering a home or condo within that community. Regularly blog about events, units for sale, and community happenings and dedicate just as much time to these sites as you do with your primary, lead-generating website. Over time, all of these sites will gain authority and you’ll have a useful group of websites that will not only help generate more business, but can also be used to inner-link and help significantly boost your core search ranking.

Real estate link building is perhaps the most involved and complex search engine optimization technique around. It requires a lot of effort, focus, and even a little bit of luck. But doing it the right way will ensure an increase in traffic and an improvement in how your real estate website is found on the web via search engines. So stop relentlessly commenting on blog posts and start your journey towards high-quality link building today!

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working as a Market Research Associate and writing published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence in Chicago, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and is a managing partner at Real Estate Web Creation, LLC.

© Minerva Studio – Fotolia.com

I know what you’re thinking. Writing content is time consuming and may not give you the results you’re looking for immediately in terms of traffic and incoming leads. This may be true, but retooling your content now will only set you up for long-term, sustainable success with your real estate website. The idea behind Penguin is to reduce spam and reward web sites that do all the right things and writing quality content with relevant keywords is arguably the most important aspect to a great website.

However, before you start cranking out fresh content, understand that quality content doesn’t mean spinning old content in a new way. What I’m talking about is totally new, re-written copy that is interesting, creative, and properly uses the keywords you’re using to hopefully get a good ranking among various search engines.

If you have a blog or a ton of web pages with already existing content, slightly changing up the words or the feel of the article isn’t going to accomplish much in terms of search engine optimization. Instead, I challenge you to get involved with each article and produce something that you can be proud of and share with all your friends, clients, and colleges. Because once you’ve published your new and improved content, sharing it via Facebook, Twitter, Digg, and Linkedin is the very next step.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working in the market research sector and authoring published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and co-owns Real Estate Web Creation with his partner, Ted Guarnero, a 25+ year real estate veteran.

© N-Media-Images – Fotolia.com

Most at least know that SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and that it has something to do with getting a higher ranking on Google, Yahoo, Bing, and various other obscure search engines.However, beyond that is where things tend to get a little hazy for a lot of real estate professionals who have yet to embrace today’s tech-driven world.

So for those out there needing a crash course on the very basics of search engine optimization, I’ve compiled a list of the 8 most common SEO terms that every Realtor® with a website should know:

SEO/SEM: Of course by now, you already know that SEO stands for search engine optimization, but its process involves working to naturally get a website or web page to rank higher among search engines. Similarly, SEM stands for “search engine marketing,” which is simply the name for applying these types of web strategies and services.

Search Algorithm: A step-by-step method for search engine’s to locate the most relevant websites and pages. Major search engine algorithms use hundreds of factors such as website content, title tags, Meta tags, and how long the domain has been active to determine what web pages will rank during a simple search.

Title Tag: Arguably one of the more important aspects of SEO, a title tag is the actual title of a web page. When determining what to use for your title tags, always use the keywords for what that particular pages happens to be about. In most web browsers, the title tag will appear in each tab you have open.

SERP: SERP stands for “search engine results page” and is pretty self explanatory. If you Google anything, the results that appear with relevant and suggested pages is the SERP.

Keyword Density/Keyword Stuffing: Keyword Density is found by dividing the number of times a keyword is used by the total number of words on that page. While the answer can vary on what an acceptable keyword density is, generally your keyword density should be around 5 percent. Using a high number of keywords and significantly boosting your keyword density is referred to as keyword stuffing, and can actually penalize you in terms of SEO-so don’t so it.

Duplicate Content: Any content that is used on multiple websites or web pages is known as duplicate content. If you own multiple domain names and are using each site for a similar purpose, don’t get lazy and re-post your content. Having duplicate content will most definitely get you penalized among major search engines, so be careful as to what you post on your site.

Backlinks: Backlinks are basically just hyperlinks directing visitors back to your site. And despite what you may have heard, having quality backlinks over the quantity of backlinks is the name of the game. Make sure backlinks pointing to your site are on high-ranking websites with similar subject matter. Poor backlinks will penalize your site tremendously.

Blog: Most of you likely know what a blog is on a website. But with the rise of social media and sharing, blogging on a regular basis and updating your site with fresh new content is absolutely critical in achieving a high traffic volume and keeping your site relevant with major search engines.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working in the market research sector and authoring published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and co-owns Real Estate Web Creation with his partner, Ted Guarnero, a 25+ year real estate veteran.

Black hat or white hat? © maigi - Fotolia.com

As a side-note, my advice to any and all agents who post similar demands is to not even bother with mentioning such a request. Believe it or not, every Realtor with a business website has that same goal, so it goes without saying that your intent is to rank higher than your competition.

But to get back on topic, if you’re not familiar with Elance, or any of these other virtual freelance websites, along with posting a job description, you can also list the budget you have set for each specific job, giving applicants a better idea of what you’re looking to spend and how to come up with the best proposal possible that fits your needs.

More often than not, job postings will have a much lower budget than what the actual job should require. And to be honest, I completely understand why this may be the case. Many individuals or businesses strictly use Elance as an additional income source and although a job may require more time, attention and money than what contractors bid, it’s simply part of the equation when doing freelance work.

However, the problem with real estate agents looking to cut search engine optimization corners with a budget of under $500, for example, is that the results you’ll likely get from a contractor agreeing to this sort of arrangement won’t work. In fact, the long-term effects will likely hurt your website ranking much more than help its overall position.

A recent article from webmonkey.com outlines Google’s latest attempt to cap “black-hat web spam” and techniques such as over-stuffing of keywords and suspicious link patterns will eventually have a negative impact on where your site will appear during a web search. As I constantly stress to Real Estate Web Creation clients, search engine optimization is a process that takes TIME, PATIENCE, and A LOT OF HARD WORK.

This idea that a contractor from Elance can get your site ranking #1 overnight, for very little money, is utterly absurd. If anyone promises you such results, the best thing you can do is RUN, because the black-hat techniques he’ll likely use to get your site a quick boost in rankings will inevitably be the beginning of the end to your real estate website. If you truly want to S.E.O. your real estate website, I urge you to use the proper optimization techniques, have patience, and be in it for the long haul. The extra money you’ll spend doing it the right way WILL pay off eventually and your site won’t be penalized in the process, ultimately saving you money down the road.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and possesses a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working in the market research sector and authoring published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and co-owns Real Estate Web Creation with his partner, Ted Guarnero, a 25+ year real estate veteran.

© HaywireMedia - Fotolia.com

To bulk up the site for users, you may even add lots of images, tidbits about the neighborhood or community, and some background information about your real estate business. But to your surprise, what makes a great site for consumers and what makes a great site in terms of page ranking on the major search engines are two completely different things.

Sure, having a simple, user-friendly property search, some basic content relating to the real estate industry and a few professional-looking photographs is a nice touch for page viewers in the market for a new home, but if these very same homebuyers are unable to find your site during a simple Google search, what purpose does it really have besides acting as a glorified business card?

In order for your real estate website to start attracting a high-volume of traffic and producing quality leads that eventually generate more home sales, strategically combining the features that cater to both the home buyers and the major search engines should be your main objective when trying to reach the ultimate goal of boosting your overall revenue. In fact, some of the same optimization strategies that will improve your search engine ranking will actually coincide nicely with the usability your site has towards not only attracting potential clients, but keeping these clients on the site once they’ve found it.

For example, to understand what a website is selling or reporting, viewers need to be able to read the text and content that is provided on each page. Well, in order for a search engine to return your website in a basic search result, the search engine must be able to read the site’s text in the same way we do. So what’s one of the best ways to get your site noticed by these search engines? It’s simple–add more pages and add more content. The more index-able pages your site has available, the more text Google has to search and understand the relevance of your site in relation to what’s being searched. Similarly, the more pages and information your site has, the more likely viewers will stay on your page or contact you directly; rather than continuing to look for the information they are seeking and stumble upon a competitor’s site.

However, before you run off and start writing content until your eyes blur, understand that content is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to search engine optimization. Making sure the content you write has applicable context will clearly work to your advantage, but to adequately optimize your size, it’s going to take time, patience, and complete dedication on your part. Writing page content is a perfect start towards getting your site to rank, but if you’re serious about using your site as a true lead generator, you better be in it for the long haul and avoid cutting the many corners some web “experts” may suggest.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and possesses a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working in the market research sector and authoring published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and co-owns Real Estate Web Creation with his partner, Ted Guarnero-a 25+ year real estate veteran.