It seems as though all new Clients for the UltimateIDX™ all want to know short cuts for ranking well in the three major search engines. The simple truth is there are no short cuts. It takes many months of hard work and dedication to rank well in Google, Yahoo and MSN.
With Search Engine Optimization practices over the past decade I have seen many fads come and go however the only real constant has been good and fresh content. Without fresh content readership inevitably drops and so do rankings in the SERPs.
Over the years I have watched how many website owners will go through a lot of work and effort to manipulate the Search Engines when it would have taken less effort to keep their content current. For this there really is no excuse. Even if a website owner can not write or does not have the time to write there are many copyrighters available that do an excellent job for a reasonable price. There are also a lot of copywriters that will even maintain your blogs and keep them current.
Inbound Links
Inbound links are also very important when it comes to Search Engine Rankings. But all IBLs are not created equally. Incoming links from .edu and .gov sites are cherished but rare. It is much easier to get links from sites that are considered authoritative or “Trusted”. How can you get these links you ask? Maintain good fresh content on your website. If others consider your content to be authoritative, relative, informative or though provoking they will link to your website. This is also known as “Link Baiting”.
Link Baiting
Link Baiting is exactly what it implies. You write though provocative or controversial articles (Blog posts) that will cause other Bloggers or website owners to link to you. An extreme example would be: “Blue Widgets” vs. “Blue Widgets May Cause Cancer”. Of course the latter of the articles is much more likely to be quoted with a backlink. However, be sure to keep your articles or Blog posts accurate and well documented if you want to remain credible in the Blogosphere.
Smaller Search Engines
If you continue to generate good content the first rewards for your efforts will come from listings on smaller Search Engines like PeekYou and if you are lucky enough your site may appear in EDU Search Engines Like Bates.
Again it all depends on the quality of your content.
Summary
While there are many aspects involved in your Search Engine rankings, they all revolve around Content. Content is and will remain “King” and the key to your rankings in the SERPS.
ShareMAY
2009
About the Author:
K.M “Mack” McMillan comes from a family of REALTORS® and was a Broker himself for 14+ years. Mack built one of the 1st real estate websites in 1994 which helped his family run Agency become the most successful Brokerage in south central Missouri. As the original founder of the UltimateIDX in 2000, Mack continues to serve the real estate community and maintains an advisory role in UltimateIDX.