The behavior of users as they fly around the internet with the use search engines is an interesting topic that reveals the importance of SEO and ranking for top positions.  It is fairly intuitive that ranking number 1 or 2 for a highly searched term is good, but the question is how good? 

 

Here are some numbers that shed light on the real benefits of rank position by taking a look at the number of clicks (aka visits to a website) determined by where those sites show up in the search results.  Notice search results 1-3 account for over 62% of the visits for any search term, and being on the second page eliminates a website from nearly 90% of the search traffic.

 

The Importance of Top Rankings

 

Search Results (Top 10) % of Clicks 1 42.1 2 11.9 3 8.5 4 6.1 5 4.9 6 4.1 7 3.4 8 3.0 9 2.8 10 3.0 11 - 1000 11.3 Search Results by Page % of Clicks Page 1 88.40 Page 2 6.43 Page 3 2.21 Page 4 .92 Page 5 .58 Search Market Share Google 60.2% Yahoo 22.5% MSN 11.8% Other 5.5%   Data sourced from Enquisite Search Analytics - http://www.enquisite.com/

Labels: Google, SEO Strategies, Working The Magic

I'm a big believer of "raising the free line".  This is the idea of creating as much value loaded information as possible and then just giving it away for free.  Why?  The Internet has dramatically changed consumers expectation of a valuable product and we're ahead of the game; and maybe a little bit crazy. 

All cards on the table, my goal is to create enough trust to build strong working relationships with visitors who will ultimately see the value of the services we offer, or at least have a glowing recommendation to pass along to their professional friends about all the great information I'm just giving away.

With these thoughts in mind I am eager to give the first look at some of the free market reports we have started compiling for very specific online real estate markets.  Some of our competitors are charging $100-200 and more for the same information.  It's my goal to provide the most comprehensive and detailed competitive marketing report available to real estate professionals, period.

Take a look at the Chicago Illinois market report.

Labels: Business Development, SEO Strategies, SEO Tools, Working The Magic

Starting today we're offering one FREE month - no strings attached - of our Silver Level SEO Coaching ($500 value) to any real estate professional who completes our SEO Questionnaire. If you are interested in finding out what it takes to effectively compete online in your market and begin implementing our proven strategies then this is an offer you can't pass up. Limited spots available so sign up now.


About The Coaching Program

• 1-on-1 Consultations
• Competitive Analysis
• Keyword Research and Recommendations
• Site Audit & Analysis
• Ranking Report for Relevant Keywords
• SEO Strategies Updates
• Design and Content Recommendations
• Take the Questionnaire

Labels: SEO Strategies, SEO Tools, Working The Magic

In my other life I am a real estate agent running a six city real estate company generating virtually 100% of our business from the web. This year in 2008 our goal is to close $100 million in residential sales up from about $70 million in 2007 and $60 million in 2006. These are individual clients purchasing typically one property per individual client in the $300,000 - $600,000 price range. As a result of managing a number of real estate websites I receive emails on an almost daily basis and phone calls probably once every week or two about a company wanting to provide SEO services for our company. If I'm not in the middle of something I'll often take the call and listen to the pitch and I've even had a couple of companies make proposals. What I am continually amazed at is how little most of these companies know about SEO even though they are wanting to charge significant sums of money for the SEO Services that they provide. What they don't know is that as a former dot bomber and web developer when I got into real estate I used my skills to position a number of real estate websites for my own interests to the top of the Search Engines for the term "City Name" followed by "Real Estate" which is in 95% of real estate searches the top search term for a given community generating significant search traffic month after month.

What I've noticed however is that most of the SEO companies when asked to provide a proposal offer to optimize on some term that isn't searched very often. In Bellingham where I am based, the suggestion has been to position us for terms like, "Bellingham REALTOR", "Bellingham Real Estate Agent", "Bellingham Washington Lakefront Homes" and the like... Looking at Wordtracker and looking at how people search in our community if I was relying on those terms to drive my traffic it would be like starving of thirst in the middle of the desert with a mirage in the distant which ultimately never materializes into water.

I remember one SEO guy who was sending out emails who talked about his SEO abilities and to prove it he had optimized a site for "deep water dock st lucia fl" or some crazy term like that. It reminds me of the days of Google Whacking.

Bottom line is the search term you want to optimize around is quite simply, "Your City or Community" followed by the term "Real Estate". This one term will generate you the most consistent lead flow which will convert into actual business. Any other term which you optimize around will generate significantly less traffic and significantly less leads and ultimately significantly less business. So when you talk to an SEO company be sure that they will optimize on the most search phrase and for that matter back it up with a guarantee. If they won't then they really don't know what they are doing.

BTW: We actually thought about outsourcing our SEO to an external company for a while but even after interviewing these other SEO companies that we ultimately determined that we had better strategies and ultimately would get much better results from our internal staff. As we have grown we have found that the SEO community at large still doesn't have a good handle on rapidly moving clients up the search engines especially in the highly competitive real estate space. As a result obviously we started WTM (Working The Magic), because isn't that what you want, someone to work the magic for your site?

Labels: SEO Companies, SEO Strategies, Working The Magic

Well this is my first post to our new blog, however I want to say to everyone who stops by Welcome. We are excited at the launch of our new company. We have been busy working behind the scenes putting together the corporate infrastructure necessary to deliver on the promise of solid search engine rankings for our clients.

Definitely take a look around. If you have questions about our services please don't hesitate to ask. Obviously we aren't going to give away all the secrets about what has made our client websites so successful in our public forums however we will be sharing valuable tips and insights on a regular basis via our blog and marketing materials.

Again welcome and we look forward to interacting with each and everyone of you and together seeing each other "at the top" of the search engines.

Labels: SEO Strategies, Working The Magic

Working The Magic, LLC, launched today, provides proven SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Services for Real Estate Professionals. Search Engine Positioning is considered by most an art and not a science. Working The Magic has an exclusive proprietary system which will give most anyone in the real estate profession top rankings in the organic search listings within 3 - 6 months of implementation.

Bellingham, WA (PRWEB) May 27, 2008 -- Glenn Sanford, CEO is pleased to announce the launching of Working The Magic, LLC as a solid SEO (Search Engine Optimization) choice for real estate professionals looking to significantly improve their organic web placement.

With over 84% of consumers searching for real estate using the web as their primary vehicle for research, real estate professionals are continually scrambling to gain online market share. The challenge is that real estate professionals typically do not have the skill set to effectively compete online. As a result traditional real estate professionals have seen a decline in their overall business.

Glenn Sanford, CEO for Working The Magic LLC states, "We are excited to share our proven model for Search Engine Optimization with real estate professionals. Unfortunately to date many if not most of the SEO companies in the marketplace have provided limited success for their real estate based clients. We believe that by providing our proven model and collaborating with our clients that we will provide significant growth and increased short and long term profitability for our client partners."

Mr. Sanford further states, "The system we are sharing with our clients is the same system which has given our sister company, BuyerTours Realty LLC, a significant number of top search engine positions for the communities that it competes in and which has fueled continued growth even during the current housing recession. We know that by providing this solution to our clients that they will have the tools to compete effectively online while significantly growing their businesses."

Working The Magic, LLC provides proprietary and customized SEO solutions for the rapid increase in search visibility for real estate companies and professionals. In addition the company provides ongoing consulting to clients on their web strategies through one-on-one communication with our SEO Specialists and participation in ongoing webinars.

About Glenn Sanford:

Since early 2002 Glenn Sanford has been actively involved in the online real estate space. In early 2007 Mr. Sanford launched BuyerTours Realty LLC as an online real estate company. This year, 2008, BuyerTours Realty will be responsible for the sale of approximately 100 million dollars in residential real estate sales with over 90% of those sales coming from clients developed online and those clients almost exclusively sourced from organic search engine traffic. From 2005 - 2007 Glenn Sanford consulted to Keller Williams International in the areas of online client acquisition, client conversion, and technology as well as being a significant contributor to Keller Williams Internet Masterminds. Mr. Sanford has also been a featured panelist and presenter at Keller Williams International Events in both Austin Texas and Las Vegas Nevada. Prior to real estate, Mr. Sanford was actively involved with a number of technology related companies. In 1998 Mr. Sanford founded eShippers.com, an online e-commerce and logistics company which was subsequently sold to a public company where Mr. Sanford continued to work as President through September 2001.

For more information about Working The Magic LLC call 888-442-5115.

Labels: Press Release, Working The Magic