“Over 85% of all web sites are initially found via search engines - companies who use search engine optimization are attracting more potential customers to their websites”
- Forrester Research Institute.

What is search engine optimization?

Search engine optimization(SEO) is defined as initiatives that affect a site's natural or organic search engine ranking results (not pay sponsored results). This includes analyzing and making many adjustments to items such as title, meta data, sitemaps, verification codes, robot commands, textual content, uniqueness of content, quality of content, textual links, alt tags for images, site submission, outbound linking, inbound linking, reciprocal linking and page refreshing, participation in real estate related networks.

Search engine marketing(SEM) is building and managing pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. This can be seen in the sponsored search results section on the page displaying the search engine results (e.g. Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.), and on their content partners (e.g. AOL, Ask.com, etc.) and content network (e.g. sites that display ads by Google, or ads by Yahoo, etc.)

Pay featured ads refers to a charge to feature a site on another website that will not only act as an inbound link for SEO purposes, but helps drive traffic to the client site. This includes membership and inbound links from high quality real estate and agent related networks that charge a fee for membership.

from Active Rain

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process whereby web pages are “optimized” so that search engines can find them and index them in their search results.

How Search Engine Optimization improves the success of your website.

Search Engine Optimisation will pay dividends - sometimes in as little as one month but more often 3-6 months. A well optimised website will appear well in the search results for it’s given search phrases. This will bring more vistors to your site and eventually lead to more sales. Search engines are vital to bringing in a steady flow of visitors/clients to your site. Recent surveys have shown that over 80% of Internet users find web sites through search engines. Getting a high ranking in a popular search engine such as Google.com can literally double your traffic overnight. Independent studies also show that search engines are the top source of consumers seeking information about products and services. This results in a targeted group of consumers with a higher conversion rate than that generated by other online marketing methods.

Search engine optimization for your users - not for the search engines.

Search engine optimisation should be ethical and made for your users - ie not for the search engines. What do we mean by this? Write your pages for your users. If your site is about selling computers then make your content about selling computers. Use key phrases sensibly, add relevant page titles, headings and have your key phrases in your links and text. Do not howevere use any black hat techniques such as cloaking, hidden text such as white text on white backgrounds or load pages with irrelevant or too many key words and phrases. This is the type of search engine optimization that can get your site banned.

Ethical search engine optimization - the best way forward?

Ethical search engine optimisation involves following the guidelines set by the major search engines like Google. Basically, ethical SEO involves creating a proper hierarchy with text links, a sitemap for your users (and the search engines), correct use of header tags such as H1, h2 etc., and plenty of good content in your pages relating to your subject. Ethical search engine optimzation always pays long term benefits. Unethical optimization practices may get you listedshort term but long term can get you banned.

On page and off page search engine optimization - what’s the difference?

Onpage search engine optimisation is basically all the items in your page that include your key phrases. For example if your site is about stamp collecting then your pages should contain words and phrases such as “Stamp collecting”. These should be in your page title, headings and paragraphs. Off page optimization leans more towards link building - ie when another website links to your website it is loosely known as “off page”.

Search Engines: Overview

What are search engines?
Over the years, any site that allows users to enter a search phrase and returns a list of results from its database of web pages and documents has come to be known as a 'search engine'. These sites can be broken down into two basic types - true search engines that use an automated robot to crawl and map out the Internet, and directories that are organized by human editors. Seen from the user's point of view the difference between the two is rather insignificant. However, from an online marketing standpoint, it is important to understand that there is a difference between the two.

True search engines use a robot, to visit sites on the Internet, 24 hours a day. These robots, also called spiders or crawlers, are constantly visiting and mapping all the websites on the Internet. The robots analyze each site's content and submit them to the search engine's database for indexing. When users perform a search, the search engine compares the user's search phrase with the indexed results of the crawlers' findings.

Directories such as Yahoo.com on the other hand, are not automated but maintained by people. When you submit your site to a directory, an editor will review your submission and determine whether to include your site.

Why are search engines important?

What are the most important search engines?

When it comes to search engines, it is important to think quality, not quantity. A handful of search engines comprise the vast majority of the traffic online. Services claiming to submit your site to hundreds or thousands of search engines are a waste of time and money. You should focus only on the major search engines and possibly a few specialty search engines related to your services or geographic area.

Google.com has by and large become the heavyweight of search engines and should be the top priority in your search engine optimization efforts. It accounts for 72% of all search engine traffic due to its speed and quality of results. In addition to it's own highly used site, Google.com provides the search results for AOL, Netscape, Yahoo, and Hotbot.

AllTheWeb.com and Inktomi come in at second and third behind Google.com. AllTheWeb.com also provides search results for Lycos.com and Hotbot.com. Inktomi does not have it's own website but it's search engine is used by MSN, Overture, About.com, and Looksmart.

These three search engines account for nearly all searches online.

Search engine submission tips?

It is often a good idea to submit your homepage to the major web directories such as Yahoo and Dmoz.org before submitting to the search engines. Being in these two major web directories immediately improves your site's link popularity. After submitting your site to search engines, it can take weeks or even months for your site to be crawled and indexed.

Most search engines will automatically re-crawl your site on a regular basis once you've been indexed with them. We recommend that you only resubmit your site after a significant change has been made to the web page, or if it's been dropped from the search engine's index. While different search engines react differently you can generally resubmit your site once a month without risk of the search engines regarding it as "spamming".

Things to avoid when submitting your site to a search engine:

* Do not submit your site multiple times in hopes of getting it indexed sooner
* Do not resubmit your site more than once a month after it's been indexed
* Do not try to fool search engines by submitting variations of a URL to the same site
* Do not submit more than 10 pages per day for search engines that require you to submit each page individually

How do I achieve a higher ranking in search engines?

It involves various methods of coding the html of a web page into a structure that a search engine can read easily. These are optimisation methods such as correct page titles, text links, alt tags in images, semantically correct markup as in h1, h2 tags and above all relevant content.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Google Definition

SEO is an acronym for "search engine optimization" or "search engine optimizer." Deciding to hire an SEO is a big decision that can potentially improve your site and save time, but you can also risk damage to your site and reputation. Make sure to research the potential advantages as well as the damage that an irresponsible SEO can do to your site. Many SEOs and other agencies and consultants provide useful services for website owners, including:

• Review of your site content or structure
• Technical advice on website development: for example, hosting, redirects, error pages, use of JavaScript
• Content development
• Managment online business development campaigns
• Keyword research
• SEO training
• Expertise in specific markets and geographies.

Keep in mind that the Google search results page often includes paid advertising and free organic search results. Keep in mind that the Google search results page includes organic search results and often paid advertisement (denoted by the heading "Sponsored Links") as well. Advertising with Google won't have any effect on your site's presence in our search results. Google never accepts money to include or rank sites in our search results, and it costs nothing to appear in our organic search results. Free resources such as Webmaster Tools, the official Webmaster Central blog, and our discussion group can provide you with a great deal of information about how to optimize your site for organic search. Many of these free sources, as well as information on paid search, can be found on Google Webmaster Central.

Most search engines use a combination of keyword analysis and link popularity to rank indexed web sites for each search phrase. In the following three articles, we will be covering these topics in detail. You'll learn how to:

- Choose effective keywords
- Utilize these keywords in your website meta-tags and content
- Increase your web site's link popularity

Each day, millions of Internet users are searching information for various purposes.And with each search, search engines generate tons and tons of information indexing them on its result pages. These result pages are called Search Engine Results Page - SERP. In today's competitive internet world, ranking on these SERP play a dominant role in the way business is done. Research has confirmed that 70-80% of prospective web customers use search engines to find relevant content and search engine marketing is the most widely used method of attracting visitors to a website. As a result, competition is fierce at the top of the search engines.

Why you need Organic Search Engine Optimization?
91% of U.S. users use search on a regular basis and the numbers are consistently high in countries around the world as well.

80% of the clicks on Google are on the organic search listings
Services
To stay atop on these search engine rankings, it takes a dedicated professional team to manage Search Engine Optimization – SEO.  Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via natural search results. This in turn means ranking high on search engines for terms related to your business.

Search Engine Optimization is a cyclic process, which can be illustrated by the following figure:

Our comprehensive Search Engine Optimization approach has been designed for successful results:

• Initial Consultation: To help understand your needs
• Website Analysis/Competitive Analysis
• Keywords Research and Selection
• On-Page optimization (content + code optimization)
• Link Popularity
• Web Analytics / ROI
• Reporting and Tracking

Easy Steps to Improve Website Traffic

Let's look at some of the means available for increasing traffic on your website. First of all, the most practical and most effective means is probably the least exciting- you need to promote your website URL in everything you do. Your business card must show your personal web address, and it's a great idea to have your email hosted in the same domain as well. (e.g. jim@jimsmith.com) Every listing flyer, every advertisement, every postcard, should all encourage readers to visit your website. You want everyone you come in contact with to remember your domain as their resource for real estate.

Second, you need to make sure your website has interesting content. This means not only content related to real estate, but also information on the areas you serve. Some agents add a local events calendar, some provide a list of all the public services companies with phone numbers and links, and some (such as Real Pro Gold agents) have a built-in agent blog on their website that has fresh content almost every day. The more valuable and the more interesting, the more traffic you will see.

Third, establish links with local associates. Maybe you work with certain title company staff, loan officers or insurance agents. What other business people have websites, who might include your site as a featured link? The more incoming links you have, the more opportunity for someone to visit your site having been referred by another site.

Search Engine Optimization

Many agents are aware that search engine placement can increase traffic to their sites. The process of making it onto the first page of search engine results is a long-term proposition, and is beyond the skills and available time for most real estate professionals. There are firms that specialize in search engine placement services alone.

The first step is to choose a website that conforms to modern Web 2.0 standards. Search engines literally “give up” trying to read websites built to older standards, and that includes many commercially available real estate websites. Modern sites with a CSS layer and hand-coded HTML (rather than auto-generated by a programming tool) make it easy for a search engine to probe the breadth and depth of the site.

The next is to focus on content. Search engines are programmed to look for content that is relevant to specific search terms, and also related to the page title, meta tags, and other arcane details of web pages. Years ago it was pretty easy to fool the search engines, but not anymore. The best policy today is to give search engines what they are looking for; relevant content that is as original as possible, and properly formatted.

You will need to build out your site with pages of original content that relates closely to the work you do. This could include pages of content about your area, specific neighborhoods you specialize in, your team members, as well as the services you offer. When you choose a website vendor, make sure they provide an easy way for a non-technical person to add pages of content. Whether a site is template-based or not is less important than having the ability to add a significant number of pages of content, and whether the site is structured so that a search engine can easily “crawl” the site.

Knowledgeable web programmers will set “metatags” on each page to highlight the terms that they want a search engine to index and point to that page's content. As a real estate agent or lender, you probably don't want to have to get into HTML programming in order to have a successful website. To that end, Real Pro Systems' websites provide an easy mechanism for you to set metatags without having to be a programmer. This will facilitate the content of your web pages being properly indexed by the search engines.

The points in this section only scratch the surface of all that is involved in search engine optimization (SEO). You will need to decide how much effort or money to invest in SEO to meet your needs. At some point, you would probably rather hire a service to do this work for you so you can spend more time selling houses!

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