I’ve had an influx of emails from other local Realtors® lately asking why I use one service or another. First of all, I’m a very frugal person. Stay tuned for Monday’s post for more on that topic. I search high and low for the best resources to use on my site that will provide you, the visitor, with information that will aid you in your quest for understanding our market and finding not only the perfect property, but also the perfect deal.

I find that many real estate agents spend more time worrying about their PageRank and keywords than they do about aiding buyers and sellers in real estate transactions. No matter what business you’re in, don’t let Google take over. After all, the Google code of conduct is simply “Don’t be Evil.” Google may not be evil. After all, the corporate mission statement is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” But not everyone plays by the rules, and certainly not everyone conducts business in an ethical way. And Google knows this, which is why the complex algorithms that Google employs are constantly updated and tweeked. The best site is not always the site with the best financial backing or the one that hired a firm for their Google placement.  In fact, most firms that claim to be able to improve your PageRank can’t and really have no intention of doing so.  Even those who are valid companies can only improve your rankings if you have a legitimate site, right?  It’s supposed to all be about content and often it is.  Corporations are learning how to trick Google in order to be placed higher in search results while Google in turn works to improve algorithms to compete these tricks.  It’s a constant battle, and the deeper into bed a company gets with Google, the less (I would guess) that Google would care even though that is a tad evil.  But they are, indeed, first and foremost, a mass-advertising company.  Spend a ton of money with Google and viola, better results for less work (albeit more money).  The image credit for the photo in this paragraph goes to Future Now.

So how does this relate to the emails I receive from other agents and the third-party services on my website?  Real estate is a maliciously competitive industry, especially in these times when agents need to actually work their asses off to make a buck.  Many agents spend countless hours optimizing their sites for Google and many spend thousands of dollars on services promising to do this for them.  The key to high placement in Google appears to be a great combination of keyword-dense articles and links pointing to the site, but Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, cannot be learned in one day and techniques are dynamically changing constantly.

Although this site officially launched as LiveAustinRealEstate.com early this past May, it is already climbing in popularity and Google, as well as my competition, as taken notice.  I have a large amount of agent traffic coming from various agent resource sites that I am active with.  Everyone likes to see what is on other agents’ websites to get ideas for how to improve on their own (naturally).

Here’s where Trulia comes in.  I use Trulia for both the resources on their website as well as for features on my own website.  First of all, Trulia provides me with listing RSS feeds which even our own national, state, and local board of Realtors® won’t do.  I’d love to feature listings from austinhomesearch.com or realtor.com, but the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is stingy and won’t provide me with this tool.  Using Trulia’s RSS feed sends them traffic and creates links to their site from mine, thus boosting their apparent usefulness and popularity with Google and ranking them higher among your search results.  In addition to Trulia’s RSS feeds, I also use a free widget that displays a graph of home sales.  Although their statistics aren’t as accurate as those from NAR, the Austin Board of Realtors® (ABOR), or Texas A&M, these organizations do not provide me with a quick and easy way to get you, the consumer, the information.  I have a new system in the works, but have been unable to complete the project because my first priority in my business is my clients.  I have some incredible (but challenging) listings right now that need all the exposure that I can get them and I have buyers with some challenging goals and needs.

In addition to the services on my site, Trulia’s strategic methods to place high in a Google search make me want to promote my listings with them.  In fact, all of my listings are featured with Trulia among many other services.  They do a great job of helping me insure that my listings are found by buyers searching in Google and other search engines.

Like Trulia, RealBird has tools that help me run my business effectively and efficiently.  It saves me time by again, providing me with an RSS feed of my listings as well as great listing websites that I can create quickly and efficiently.  These tools allow me to spend my time with more activities, such as promoting my listings and their websites through various other services, my own website, and through my network.  To see what these site look like, visit my 2012 Cueva de Oro, Austin, Tx  78746 listing site.  Their templates are far superior to other sites and aside from that, they don’t charge me an arm and a leg for this service.  I receive so many solicitations for the “best” service out there for Realtors® you wouldn’t believe it.  They all just want a piece of my pocket, and like I said earlier, I’m frugal and spend each penny carefully.  I want the best return for my dollar because it’s the best return for my clients as well.

In addition to the RSS feeds and listing websites, RealBird offers several widgets and services.  One that I use is their map view of my listings.  I find this extremely useful for my website because it provides a quick overview of what I have to offer the consumer and they can quickly link to more information about these properties via my listing websites.

And there are others, like the Altos Research graph at the top of the sidebar, but Trulia and RealBird are the ones I am most frequently asked about.

Agents ask me why I link back to these services without using a “nofollow” tag.  I feel it is ethical to link back to a website providing me and my consumers with a service.  Sure, it may give them a higher Google ranking, but I feel they’ve earned it.  I’ve been working on some widgets myself, and you’d better believe that they will link back to my site for the work I put into coding them!  So many people feel that they should have something for nothing; a mentality that I believe is encouraged by the vast amount of free information to be gained on the internet.  I may be stubborn, but I’m sticking to my principles on this one.  If a site deserves it, I believe that it will have a consistent ranking earned through organic means.  Some site may be at the top now, but they won’t necessarily sustain that placement.  You have to earn your placement as well as the right to stay there.

And if I ever use anything of value from you or your website, you will get proper credit!

In my business I put my clients and prospective clients first.  That means marketing properties and delivering pertinent and useful information first.  I firmly believe that this mentality is what has me climbing the Google ladder and that it will keep me there as long as I work as hard as I do to keep my priorities in aliment with my future success.

My business is still referral-based and I plan on keeping it that way. When my business becomes Google-based, I’m letting Google run my business.  Google doesn’t know Austin Real Estate, just where to find information about it.  They don’t do the real work in my business I do.  It’s still about the services I provide, which includes but is not limited to optimizing listings for search engine placement.

Further Reading
Google, stop lying to us

Now have a great weekend!