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Smoke and Mirrors: Getting On The First Page Of Google
By Duncan Wierman (c) 2009 

Where do you want to be? On the first page of Google
results of course; it's where everyone with a website wants
to be, especially if their website is part of their
business. There are a lot of search engine optimization
firms out there, with new ones popping up out of the
woodwork daily in order to meet the growing demand for SEO
services.

Naturally, real estate investment is like every other
economic sector in that investors and brokers are taking to
the web in the attempt to increase their visibility and to
gain a larger share of the market. If you're in the real
estate business yourself, you almost certainly have a
website by now - and you probably receive a lot of come-ons
by SEO companies who are trying to convince you that
they'll be able to get your website into the coveted top
spot in Google's search results.

Before you pull out your wallet in response to their
pitches, think for a minute. There are so many of these
firms out there and a lot of them make these kinds of
promises. Obviously, they can't all be right and the vast
majority of them can't deliver any kind of results, let
alone what they claim.

Before we go any further, I'd like to offer this little
nugget of advice: don't do business with anyone who
promises you a spot on the first page of Google's search
results, especially if they tell you that they can get your
website into the #1 spot.

Why? Because no one can guarantee this with 100% certainty;
search engine optimization is not an exact science, since
the algorithms used by Google and other search engines are
closely guarded trade secrets and are constantly evolving.
What this means is that what worked to improve a website's
page ranking six months ago won't necessarily work today.
This is why no reputable SEO firm will make these kinds of
promises; but of course, there are a lot of SEO firms and
consultants out there who are anything but reputable
businesses.

But what about the proof these SEO "experts" offer you to
demonstrate that they can really get your site into the top
spot on Google? Let's look at the kind of keywords they
tell you can get you onto the first page of Google results.

The search terms which these SEO consultants and companies
tell you they can get you top rankings for tend to be what
are known as long tail keywords; these are essentially what
they sound like. For example, something like "stop
foreclosure fort myers" - and yes, there is a real estate
broker whose website ranks #1 for this keyword.

You might also see companies or consultants making promises
about Google rankings for phrases like:  "Chicago discount
home" or "Sell my house in Dallas". Number one rankings for
keywords like these can be valuable, though more often than
not the SEO firms who promise you top rankings for a
certain phrase can do so for a very simple reason: there is
no competition for these phrases.

Isn't it a good thing to have little to no competition? You
might well ask this; on the web, it isn't always good to
have no competition, since no competition for a keyword
means that no one is searching for this phrase. It doesn't
matter if you're #1 for a given search term if no one is
ever going to use this keyword in a Google search, since no
one is going to find you. It's always a good idea to do
some research on any search term that a SEO company or
consultant tells you is going to secure you the top ranking
- you can use free tools (Google has one in fact) to find
out if anyone is actually looking for this phrase on the
web. In any case, you should avoid SEO firms who make
promises like this.

People don't all search for the same thing using the same
keywords; everyone brings their own approach to Google or
any search engine. There are trends in online behavior that
you can count on to some degree, but again, there are no
guarantees when it comes to search engine optimization, at
least if you're being honest about how the web works.

So what really will work to give your real estate
investment business a higher profile online? You should pay
attention to SEO, absolutely; but you should work with SEO
consultants who have a good reputation and an established
track record of getting results for their clients. What you
should hear from these companies is that they can help your
page ranking improve over time, not that they can instantly
get you on to the first page of results; it just doesn't
work that way in real life.

Search engine optimization is a process, not a product - it
takes time for a website to work its way up the ranks and
you will have to be patient, at least if you want real,
lasting results.  Beware of anyone who tries to tell you
otherwise: and there are a lot of people who will do
exactly that these days. There are multi-level marketing
schemes (or scams, as I would term them) which are
predicated on selling people a pre-made SEO business;
generally the people who have fallen for this are the ones
trying to sell you on a package of SEO services which they
promise will allow your business to instantly dominate
your market. Don't believe them - it's just not as simple
as all that.
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Duncan Wierman is an Ex Software company CEO turned Real
Estate Investor and Marketer. Discover how to outsmart your
competitor, ethically dominate the search engines, and
legally siphon off tons of cash in hand buyers from your
website! Get a customized FREE report on what is wrong with
your website!
http://internetmarketingconsultinggroup.com/outsourcing/
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