All Forum Posts by: Brandon L.

Well, as long as you are SEO'ing properly and provide a lot of good quality content you can still rank in Google. With the recent changes in the algorithm they dropped sites that are "over optimized". From what I have read, it means sites that have a lot of backlinks with the same anchor text/keywords used over and over. For example, if you are trying to rank for the keyword/phrase: real estate investing you should be mixing up your backlinks with anchor text/keywords like professional real estate investing, investing in real estate, real estate investing for beginners, etc.

It appears they also gave larger sites more credit in the rankings. All this is my theory from what I have read and seen.

I had a large site related to the tile and installation industry and it was do very well. But, since the SEO company had "over optimized" and used high PR blog networks for backlinks. I took a hit in rankings and it will probably take a lot of work to get it back to where it was.

Although I believe that SEO is still a great way to get leads (if SEO is done properly), Social Media is a great method. I have seen good success with video as well. The best method I found is getting them ranked in the search engines. Its easier and faster than ranking websites. Another method I just learned about (last night from another member on BP) was usign QR codes to play YouTube videos on mobile phones. You can place the QR codes on for sale signs, ads and flyers.

Once you have a following on facebook, twitter, and other sites and provide them with good quality updates, links and information it tends to get shared pretty quickly. But, it is like Joshua said, it should be actual followers, not just anyone.

Joshua -Can I get the recommendations too? I've been trying to do most of the SEO work myself but there is so much to do everyday that it is impossible to do it all.

I feel for you Monica. I had someone working on one of my sites and was getting ranked in the top 3 for some competitive keywords. With the recent Google algorithm updates my site disappeared. So not only was it a waste of money but then my site disappeared out of the search engines results. SEO is always changing and it seems impossible to stay up with the trends of SEO and run a business.

I have heard that a big trend in SEO is turning social and the more popular/shared/liked you are on social sites the better you can rank. Especially with Google+ since that is Google's social network. With all these social networks popping up it takes a lot of time to stay on top of it all.

Thanks for the info. I will have to look into because that is a really good idea. I thought QR codes were mainly used to share contact information. The idea of using it to show a video is pretty unique and seems like it is really effective.

I agree, fiverr.com can be a great resource but you need to be very careful with the people you use. A lot of backlinking campaigns on fiverr.com can actually hurt your SEO efforts.

A lot of them will send out 100's or sometimes 1000's of spammy backlinks pointing to your site. Especially with Google's new algorithm updates this can really damage your rankings in several ways.

1) When you are getting backlinks you want them to be site related to your website. For example, if you have a real estate blog site you should have links pointing to your site from pages or sites related to real estate. A lot of fiverr gigs will have random articles, Chinese or foreign sites, and weak directory links that lack any page content. Google has really been cracking down on spammy backlinks and has been penalizating sites for this.

2) Receiving 100's of back links at one time is very unnatural in Google's eyes and you can get "sandboxed" for this. If you can find a fiverr gig that will spread out the links over a month or two it would be better.

3) A lot of the gigs will only offer you 1-3 keywords in the backlinking campaign. With Google's most recent update you will have to use a wide variety of anchor text/keywords. If you are buying several gigs it could work if you spread out your keywords.

I don't mean to talk badly about using fiverr because you are right, Andre, fiverr is a good resource. But, just be really careful with who you are using and make sure they provide good quality links. I actually use fiverr but I went through some pretty crappy gigs before I found some legit, good quality gigs.

haha I guess I became a hot topic on this thread. I will have to be a little more careful how I begin posts from now on.

I do agree the long term relationship with the client is the key to success. Along with offering a good quality product or service. The word of mouth and recommendations are the best advertising you can get.

That's a pretty interesting concept with the QR codes. I haven't had much experience with QR codes, but it is a good idea since YouTube videos play on most phones. It kind of eliminates the problem of having a video for computers and one for mobile. Do you use a certain company for the QR codes or is that something you can do on your own?

Thanks for the post Joshua. My purpose was not to get people to ask people about my company or website nor was I was not trying to directly advertise my company. I genuinely want to know if people are using video, and if so what successful marketing techniques are being used.

Yes, my company offers real estate videos but we do not offer any marketing services for those videos. We offer free information on what works and different techniques they can use, but we do not charge for this. That was the purpose of trying to open up a discussion on the marketing of the video. I am interested in if people are using real estate videos, how they are using video in their real estate campaigns, how they are marketing. I wanted to open up a discussion on video marketing, not production of real estate videos.

I apologize for any confusion, but my goal is to contribute to the forum not blatantly advertise my site. I want my contributions to the form and your site to help people with social media and marketing. I feel that by sharing my knowledge and learning from others will help me expand the information I share with my clients. The goal is to share knowledge and learn, not to sneak in advertising about my company. I really believe in rule #6 from that article you posted, Give information away for free.

Yes, on the second post I did post a link to my blog post but I did that because I honestly think they can benefit from the information in the blog post. Instead of writing a 2000 word forum post I thought it would be easier to send over the link.

Thanks for keeping my post open.

Eeks! Thanks for catching that typo I don't know how that one got past me.

I am curious if anyone is using, has used, or is thinking about using real estate videos. If you are using real estate videos are you seeing success and what marketing strategies are you using?

I currently use video marketing (and offer it to clients) and see good results with it. One of the best methods is getting the videos ranked in Google and YouTube for certain keywords and terms. [REMOVED] I am interested in what methods work for everyone else.

With video being a newer marketing technique, is the interest even out there for real estate agents or is everyone content with the standard virtual tour? What is everyone else doing to market their video?

Great article. #3, 6 and 7 really hits home with me. I think the days of selling is over and by educating people you gain their trust. Which is why 6 (give information away for free) is really important. Besides free information being more likely to get shared, it gains your audience trust and increases your authority on the subject. And of course #7 (multimedia) is a huge aspect of my business, that is all we do. We use video to market real estate listings and it is a lot easier and more effective than most people think. Good read.

I am coming in a little late to this conversation but there are ways to get on the first page of Google besides getting your website ranked. One method that I have found to be very easy and very overlooked is video marketing. By having a video produced about yourself or a real estate listing and getting it ranked on Google is 100 time easier than getting your website ranked.

The trick is uploading it on YouTube (since YouTube is such a powerful site), and using certain strategies to get it ranked. I've had videos get on the first page of Google within a week sometimes.

I still believe producing good content like Jamie mentioned is highly important to getting your website ranked, but video is very easy and overlooked by most real estate agents, investors, and business owners.