Sometimes called inbound links, backlinks are the lifeblood of Search Engine Optimization or SEO. In order for a website to be on the top of search engines like Google without the webmaster having to pay big money for advertising, the website has to have a large number of backlinks. Backlinks are links on one website that lead back to another website. The more established, high quality, and high Page Rank the website that contains the link has, the more power it has to help the linked website with its search engine position. If the website that is getting backlinks gets many High Quality and High Page Rank backlinks, the better the chance it has of being in a high position on the Search Engines.

How does a webmaster go about getting high quality backlinks to his or her website? There are many ways this can be done. Some people advocate writing and submitting articles, posting on forums, making comments on blogs. Others talk about submitting their website to various Internet directories. One directory that has an excellent reputation is called DMOZ, or the Open Directory. This directory is probably the most respected directory online today. The websites it contains have all been placed there by human editors; there is no automation to this directory. The only drawback that's been discussed about this directory is that it takes so long to have a website included.

Another way that many people build backlinks for their website is to use Social Bookmarking websites. A "Social Bookmark" is a website that usually has a very popular 'community' aspect to it. Users sign up and create profiles on the sites that contain photos and information about themselves. They then can save “bookmarks” of favorite websites which can be itemized by 'tags', which are one or two word descriptions of what the sites contain, and these bookmarks can be saved to a list that's private or can be listed publicly, so that everybody can see it.

With the advent of what is known as Web 2.0, gaining backlinks is easier now than in any time in the history of the internet. Most sites now have an interactive quality to them nowadays. Readers can often sign in and create profiles. They then are often allowed to post comments on the stories or articles on the website or blog. In many cases, the website or blog owner responds to these comments; thus making this section of the website or blog a conversation.

Backlinking strategies can be easy and fun and the website owner who is working on getting more backlinks for his website can learn new things, meet new people, and have a tremendous amount of fun doing something that was once a chore: building backlinks for SEO.

Labels: seo, websites

We have been working with a lot of Real Estate agents lately, and have been researching a ton of websites and Internet marketing ideas. Here is a list of the top 5 things every Real Estate agent should know about Internet marketing:

1. Go Long. You need to prepare yourself for a sustained campaign. Internet marketing and lead generation require a steady effort over time. It's not a one-shot deal. Think of a marathon instead of a sprint. The upside of this is that you can afford to stumble a bit in the early days, because there's plenty of time for trial and error.
2. Offer Value. When it comes to Internet marketing and lead generation, value is the key to success. The more value a home buyer perceives in a certain action, the more likely they are to take that action. If the action you desire is to have people contact you, you'll need to explain the value and benefits of that action. This value might come in many forms -- instant answers to their home-buying questions, an easier home search, etc. More value equals more buyers leads.
3. Write Plenty. When writing content for your website or blog, you should cast your net far and wide. You would be surprised by the wide variety of search phrases that home buyers use when researching real estate online. So by creating more content, you'll gain more website traffic. Write about current events in your city, real estate trends, mortgage topics, home staging, new neighborhoods and subdivisions, home builders who operate in the area ... you get the idea.
4. Experiment Constantly. Other agents might tell you what has worked for them in the past, and you can certainly learn from this. But you shouldn't feel that you need to duplicate their techniques to the letter. Likewise, just because a certain technique failed for somebody else doesn't mean it won't work for you. You need to learn for yourself what works best on your website. Build your lead-generation program around your own trial and error -- not what you hear from others.
5. Remove Distractions. I've seen agent websites with a tremendous amount of clutter on them. In fact, it seems to be a trend in the real estate industry (more so than any other industry I've worked with over the years). Some agents love to scatter buttons, logos, graphics, "widgets" and other virtual knick-knacks all over their websites. This creates distraction and dilutes whatever lead-generation techniques you may have in place. Trust me on this one -- you'll produce more home buyer leads with a clean, uncluttered website.

If you need help with your Internet marketing plan, call us today for a free 1-hour marketing consultation. We will take a look at your website, it's code, content, and call-to-action and give you some solid reccomendation to improve your results.

Call 816-228-1123 and ask for Michael,
our Internet Marketing Director!

Labels: seo, websites

By Michael Montague
Web & Graphic Designer

1. Understand Your Site’s Visitors
2. Research Your Competition
3. Pick The Best-Performing Keywords
4. Optimize Your Web Site For Those Keywords
5. Make Sure Your Web Site Is Error Free
6. Submit Your Web Site To Search Engines & Directories
7. Fine-Tune Your Pages To Your Keywords
8. Start A Link Building Campaign
9. Check Your Rankings & Links In The Major Search Engines
10. Review Your Progress & Repeat Every 4-6 Weeks

Again, the best way to grow your online presence is to create attractive content that people want to see, read, link to, and tell their friends about. Make sure as you build these pages of content, they are each optimized for a specific, targeted set of keywords to maximize your results. Only after you have a great looking site, with awesome content, and optimized, error-free pages should you think about advertising, promoting, or submitting them to the search engines.

Don't forget if you need help with any stage of your website design or internet marketing, you can call us for help...

Labels: seo, websites

Search Engine Optimization has taken an interesting turn. As Google, MSN, and Yahoo continue to improve their search listings, web designers are finding it harder to get their websites as a top listing in these search engines. Google is leading the charge to focus their search results to exactly what the consumer is trying to find, and they are getting really good. The more they study, develop and spend on optimization, the harder it gets to improve your search engine ranking. The rankings are no longer based on your website’s behavior, but on the behavior of your consumers. The future of SEO is turning towards the direction of Consumer Driven Optimization.

In the early days of search engines, they took your word for it. They looked at your meta-tags, titles, and content, and then used them to decide what your page focus was. Now, search engines largely ignore items that can be controlled by the website developer, because of the artificial inflation of the results. Search engines have become smarter at providing the consumer what they want to find. They use top secret and complicated formulas to create rankings. These formulas consider websites popularity, referrals, credibility, content, and most importantly, whether or not they satisfy the consumer’s needs.

If a person searching for electronics types in "electronics", overstock.com comes up first along with amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and walmart.com. The consumer is faced with a choice of which website to visit. If more people choose bestbuy.com than overstock.com, bestbuy.com will begin moving up the list. If the same person does not like what they find at bestbuy.com and goes back to look at overstock.com, amazon.com, and walmart.com, then the consumer was not ultimately satisfied with their search until they get to the last result. If the consumer stops searching after they visit a page, then we can assume they found what they were looking for and the last place searched will move up the list. The actual formulas used by Google, MSN, and Yahoo are far more complex than this, but, as you can see, search engine technology no longer relies on the information in your page.

The focus is Consumer Driven Optimization, and it is really exciting as a consumer. Google is trying to read your mind. They are spending millions of dollars in research to provide you with the exact website for which you are searching. Google can keep track of everything you have ever searched for, which sites you like best, and make inferences to which other similar sites you will like in the future. Big brother? Maybe, but this brother wants to help you save time, money, and trouble. So far Google has lead the charge for privacy, and has kept all of its results and search equations very top secret.

So how do web designers improve results if they can’t just stuff keywords all over the page anymore? Well, even more interesting than Google reading your mind, they are also forcing web designers to make better web pages. Instead of trying to cheat the system and inflate a bad website's search ranking, the designer must now create a higher quality website which will attract consumers, give them the information they are looking for, and get them to come back.

Referrals are very important to these new search rankings. Every website that links to your page is considered as a positive referral for your site. The more people that visit you, link to you, return often, and refer your information, the higher your search results will be.

That’s it! There is no secret formula for success on the web anymore, except the one that has been around longer than the Internet. You have to offer consumers something they want. You have to aggressively market yourself to new consumers. You have to research your consumer’s behavior, and modify your technique. You have to do the hard work of growing a business and reputation consumers and search engines will trust. Sorry to disappoint. The good news is that you can quit wasting money on search engine submission and SEO techniques that no longer work. The bad news is that you have work to do, and it is not easy.

Labels: seo