Archive for SEO
SEO: Outbound Links - Do They Help or Hurt?
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The question of outbound links on real estate websites comes up from time to time. So, what’s the verdict. . . do they help or hurt? There are a few issues to be considered. As usual with SEO, there’s never a simple answer.
Will Outbound Links Drain Authority?
It is true that if you display live links to other websites, you will be passing along a bit of your website’s authority to each of the sites you link to. And, I think it’s important to be aware of that fact.
Linking to other authority sites isn’t always bad for SEO, though. The search engines do like it when they see relevant outbound links to authority websites. How much that practice contributes to getting ranked - I’m not sure. But, it isn’t a bad practice in and of itself.
My advice is always to look at your own situation. If you are just adding some information-rich community pages to your website, now isn’t the time to pepper that page with lots of links - even if they are to relevant authority websites like the city site, the chamber site, etc.
Your first goal should be to get your new page noticed by the search engines. A outbound link or two won’t hurt, but don’t go overboard.
Will People Ever Return to My Site?
If you are providing good information, outbound links shouldn’t take people off your site never to return. But, I think it’s something to consider. For one thing, you’d want to open links to other websites in a new window to make it easy for your visitors to return to your website.
And, I would often prefer to see a page called “Local Resources”, or something similar, that contains links to attractions, schools, cities, chambers, etc. I think your main pages should be focused on moving the visitor toward a desired outcome. For example, providing information, then adding a call to action for a special offer relating to that information. On those types of pages, I don’t think outbound links are useful.
Those main pages should be landing pages that have a specific purpose. You don’t want to interrupt someone in the middle of starting to decide that they should contact you for more information, and shoot them over to another website.
So, my bottom line is this: outbound links do help put your site in context in the search engines, and used wisely, they help both your site and your visitors.
When we work with clients to customize their websites, we write “original content” pages that are optimized for specific keyword phrases. And, the topics range widely. The most unusual page we have written was for an agent who sells in an upscale neighborhood where all the homes have septic tanks and well water. We wrote a page describing how easy it is to manage septic tanks and well water. That was really original content!
However, there seems to be a fair amount of confusion about original content.
Why You Need Original Content
There are really two reasons. One has to do with your site visitors. Your visitors have all seen the standard buyer/seller information pages. It’s so overdone, most visitors don’t even land on those pages. Your visitors want to see something different. They want some insight about the communities and neighborhoods in your geographic area. They want information about the market, property taxes, things to do in the area, and a variety of other types of information depending on your market and your niche.
The second reason you need original content is for the search engines. They won’t be impressed if the pages on your site can be found in 12 other places on the Internet.
So, What Is Original Content?
You might think that the answer to that question is pretty simple. But, I find that people interpret “original” in all kinds of ways. The following explanations do not define original content:
- None of my competitors have this type of information on their websites
- Everyone asks me about this topic
- I found all this information myself
- I used several resources to get this information
Just because you copied information from several resources doesn’t mean you’ve got original content on your site.
Original Content - The Real Definition
Original content is text on a page that a search engine (or a person for that matter) can’t find anywhere else on the Internet.
Think back to your school days. When you were assigned a topic for a paper, you had to do research. You’d read as much information on the topic as you could - or as much as you had time to find. Then, you’d write a paper using what you learned from your research. But, the actual content of the paper would be written in your own words.
THAT’s the type of original content you need on your website.
How to Use Blog Categories for SEO
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How did you plan the categories or tags you’d use on your blog? You DID make a plan, right?
Based on looking at a lot of real estate blogs, I can tell that if you didn’t make a plan, you’re not alone!
By the way, for the purpose of this post, I’m going to call the descriptors you use to identify your posts “categories”. Some blogging platforms have just categories, some have just tags, and some (like this blog) have both. But, I’m going to get very fatigued typing both terms throughout this post. So, keep in mind that I’ll use the term “categories” as a catchall phrase.
If you cruise around the Internet a bit, you’ll find all kinds of things going on with categories.
1. Some Blogs Have No Categories - This is a bad idea, for a few reasons. First, categories help your readers find related information. If someone wants to see what you’ve written on a specific topic, categories get them there quickly.
On this blog, for example, the key categories are shown as menu items under the header image. Take a look. If you click on any of those menu buttons, you’ll be taken to a list of all the posts that were categorized under that topic.
The second reason you need to use categories is for the search engines. Look at the bottom of this post. You’ll see two links that are actually category links: Real Estate Marketing Tips and SEO. So, every post on this blog links back to a lot of other posts on the same topic. That internal linking is a good thing for the search engines.
The third reason is valid depending on your blogging platform. For this blog, for instance, the categories are automatically turned into keywords in the meta tags. Now, whether you think keywords are important or not, the fact remains that unless you know how your tags are being generated, you won’t know what you’re missing if you fail to use them.
2. Some Blogs Have Too Many Categories - If you don’t plan which categories you’ll use, it’s almost a certainty that you will end up with too many categories. Lots of categories makes it difficult for your visitors to get an idea of what topics you address on your blog. Besides that, you will find that you’ll repeat yourself. You’ll end up with one category for New Homes, and another for New Construction, for example. No one will know where to find anything - including you!
3. Some Blogs Don’t Have One Keyword Phrase in the Categories. If you’re going to use categories to organize your posts, you might as well use keyword phrases to your advantage.
- Avoid categories like: Neighborhood News, Technology Notes, New Construction, New Homes, etc.
- Find categories like: Atlanta Real Estate News, Real Estate Technology Tools, Atlanta New Homes
Are you seeing a trend? Let’s say the keyword phrases you’re targeting relate to the Atlanta market (not a good target, but easy for illustration purposes). You should have a category for each important keyword phrase you want to target, and you’d want to use the words Atlanta, real estate, homes, etc. wherever they make sense.
A Final Note: There’s another advantage to planning blog categories in advance. You’ll find that staying on message is easier if you know you have to fit each post into a specific category.
Sure, I’ve got a category for “everything else”, but I only use it on special occasions like holiday greeting posts for example.
You’ll find that staying on message, and using your target keyword phrases in your categories, posts, and links back to your main website, will make a difference in your SEO!
From the Web: When Google’s Done You Wrong
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I don’t usually get into the nitty-gritty of battling the search engines on this blog, but I came across an outstanding article that is, for the most part, written in English.
The post was written by Tom C over at SEOMozBlog.
A very interesting part of Tom’s post is that it includes a flowchart showing what you should do if your rankings on Google have dropped.
The author reasonably admits that he is extrapolating from his own experience. As has been said on this blog before, SEO is just as much an art as it is a science.
Also, keep in mind that when Tom talks about paid links, he’s not referring to links that you acquire from places like RealEstateABC or other real estate directories. The paid links he’s referring to are from sites that may not even be related to real estate, but where the site owner sells space on their website or blog.
Here’s an interesting article by Mike Parker from Compass Internet Systems. It’s basically a case study of one of his client’s success using the Internet as a lead-generation resource.
There are a number of interesting points to be found in the article. You’ll see the one I find most revealing when you visit the website owned by the REALTORS® in the article.
You’ll see a Point2 Agent website. Yes! Another of those darn template sites that is ranking extremely well in search engine results. You’ll also notice that the website is not the most glamourous around. The owners of the site are combining good search engine ranking with a clear target market and outstanding information directed at that market.
And, they’re doing exceptionally well in this down market.
So, the conclusion of the story is that looks really DON’T make all the difference.
