SEO Notes and Links

I am periodically asked about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the effort to improve a website's position on certain keyword search results. There is no shortage of smoke and mirrors in the SEO game, largely because search engine methods are private and subject to change at any time. It is difficult to prove success or failure of an initiative. If your results degrade, a consultant might argue that it would have been worse without them. If they improve, the consultant can of course, take full credit.

The pursuit of SEO is, in my view, a red herring. Brokers and agents should always seek to maximize the authority and traffic to your website, regardless of search placement. The 2008 WAV Group report on broker website effectiveness stated:

Very few new customers come from the Internet. New customer come from all of the places they traditionally have come from your brand referrals, yard signs, business cards, and advertising. Fifteen years ago the telephone was the primary source of contact between a consumer and a broker. Today, the Internet is replacing the telephone as the first point of contact. Web traffic on broker sites confirms this: 69% of visitors to broker websites type the website address into the browser. More astoundingly, if visitors do not remember your website address they are likely to go to a search engine and type in key words that include you or one of your agent's names. Although technically this would be included in search engine traffic, because they are looking for your company, you should be mindful that they are also visiting your site as a result of your brand. Of the 20% of your website traffic that comes from Search Engines, 78% of them are searching for you. Hence you can add an additional 16% to the number of visitors who type in the URL of your website to conclude that 85% of all traffic to your website already know you.

The combined efforts of website marketing, which include Search Engine Optimization, Pay‐Per‐Click, Online Advertising and Listing Syndication are all focused on 15% of your online exposure.

I've posted a one page pdf file here. that provides a starting point on growing traffic to your website.

Finally, a few links on the transitional nature of social network sites:

• MySpace cuts 30% of their staff.
• The Facebook Saturday Night Massacre.
• Matt Cutts (Google) on PageRank "sculpting".
• Twitter jumps the shark via their "Suggested User List" (SUL) (more)

Your best bet: stay focused on your site and grow it, like a garden! If you do a good job on the website, content, blogs and enewsletters, SEO will take care of itself.