This last year has provided me quite an education as I went from one chosen profession, to trying to learn the intricacies of another by launching a successful website business. Even the term SEO was a foreign one when I got started. I, like a lot of people, thought that money would be better spent paying a professional SEO company to optimize my website than trying to do it myself.
The perception of promised results over time is a powerful one so I went ahead knowing full well that the results would not occur overnight. Sure, it was costing money, but I assumed it was just the cost of doing business. All the successful sites were paying for it, right? I could not have been more wrong.
Not only don’t all companies pay for SEO services, I learned that the main job of an SEO company is to generate income for their success, not yours. More importantly though, no SEO company cares about your website as much as you do.
Those are some pretty harsh comments above. I need to say that in spite of my experiences, I know there are a multitude of excellent SEO providers out there. You do get what you pay for, just not always, as my experriences will attest. I also want to say up front that I am not an SEO expert, or even close. I just know a little about SEO now and certainly more than I did when I started.
I do have to admit that most of the blame is my own. As a complete webmaster newbie, I made a lot of assumptions back then, and only found out later how wrong they we’re. But, it was the lack of timely or correct information to me, from any of these SEO professionals along the way, that really surprised me.
One of the first, and biggest mistakes I had made when I started out, was to select keywords that were really popular. I would have no chance of ever being found with them. No matter. I went ahead anyway. A lot of people make this mistake when they start out. No only was it a complete waste of my time and money, the SEO company, that I had hired in Boston, didn’t bother passing on that little detail, as they gladly collected the $500 monthly service fee while my organic traffic activity remained dead.
Later, when I realized the mistake on my own, I selected a different SEO company. This company said that they could optimize five non-premium keyword phrases for $350 per month so long as each term did not exceed 300,000 monthly searches on Google. So, as I spoke with the SEO representative, I chose the five phrases. For months, I believed that the big number on the top right of Googles’ search results page was the monthly search volume. Wrong again! Not only had I never heard of Googles keyword tool back then, if I had, I would have discovered that all but two of my keyword phrases had monthly search volumes so low they didn’t even register a number! And, those that did, were too low to bother with.
While I wondered why my long-tail phrases were not generating organic traffic either, the SEO company continued to collect their monthly fee too. None of the SEO professionals had bothered to check my keyword phrase volumes correctly or tell me just how worthless they really were. The SEO pro who had helped me select my keywords on the phone, was just as clueless as I was.
Due to my exasperation over time, I began discovering free tools for website optimization myself like Googles keyword tool, alalytics and Hubspots’ website grader. I also found a minutiae of free SEO related information online, on blogs, and on forums.
Website grader happens to be a very cool and free SEO tool that uses over 50 different variables to measure the marketing effectiveness of a website. It’s just a tool though, nothing more.
As time passed on, I was coming to the realization that if my website was going to succeed, without breaking my bank account, I was going to have to do it on my own.
It was time to cut the cord.
I became alittle more familiar with the meaning of on-page and off page optimization, metadata, html, javascript and php. I also began to discover many flaws with my own websites on-page optimization, even though I had been paying for SEO for some time by now with two different providers.
1- Half my title tag included my website name instead of my chosen keywords. Your website name will usually appear at the top of the search list anyway when people type it in. The exception being a more competitive expression in which case it’s probably a good idea to have it there.
2-Having more than 10 keywords dilutes the effectiveness of those words. I had over 20.
3-Your H1 and H2 header tags need to include your keywords, if you want heared tags. You don’t have to though. I did, and only one of my 6 header tags had any of my keywords.
4-All your keywords should be included in your websites content description. Most of mine were not.
5-If you do want header tags on your homepage, make sure only one is H1, with your most important keyword or keyword phrase inside it. I had four H1 tags before. Let the rest be H2 or H3 depending on their importance to you.
6-Have your keywords placed in the alternate text for your images, if you have or even want them. I had two images on my homepage with no keywords for either of them.
7-Have your main keyword located on the top left, inside your only H1 tag.
8-Consider having your main keyword also located and just typed, uncapitalized, on the bottom right of your homepage, maybe to the right of your copyright information, because this is the last thing Googles’ crawler will read.
Regarding off-page optimization, I learned the following:
1-I learned how on-page optimization (website specific improvements, keywords, etc) are not weighed nearly as heavily by the search engines as off-page optimization (article writing, blogging, commenting, and link building.
2-I learned how exchanging links with sites that rank higher than yours & are complimentary to your users can be more helpful to you than just exchanging links with every site that asks you.
3-I learned how, every day, websites are being banned by Google because these sites are linked to a bad neighbor. These webmasters have changed nothing about their own websites yet they have no clue as to why they are no longer indexed by Google at all.
4-I learned how one-way links carry a-lot more weight with Google than link exchanges and how they are obtained over time through the submission of good quality articles.
5-I learned about the importance of creating quality content for your website.
6-I learned just how advantageous it can be for a new webmaster to use keywords that only show up on a competitors sub-pages for page one on Google, i.e, not their homepage, when starting out.
7-Finally, I learned just how crucial an analysis of your competitors page rank really is before any keywords are even selected
For me, the value in using an SEO company initially, was the peace of mind that I felt the moment I got started with one. They are, after all, the experts, right?
I’d like to conclude by saying that there are several individuals at the second company I had hired, who have continued to help me. I am indebted to them as I continue this journey of self discovery on my own.
If you haven’t noticed, people like free stuff, alot. The larger hotel chains, like Marriott and Hilton, amoung others, understand this. They provide “points” for free stays through their agreements with the credit card companies, the airlines, and other hotel chains. It’s pretty hard to justify paying for a vacation rental in Hawaii, when you can stay nearby for nothing, even if you have to forgo the vaulted ceilings.
Business alliances are a powerful tool. The market capitalization and market share of these chains have grown considerably as a result. Since the benefits are obvious, then why haven’t these alliances been fostered amongst the larger realty chains and Lenders?
From a collaboration standpoint, and even with social networking, they’re still stuck back in the 1970s’ offering the same things now as they did back then. That needs to change.
“But,” some might argue, The business models of these companies are just too different.” Maybe, but with them relying primarily on credit; it’s worth looking into.
People get excited when they hear the word “free.” I know I do. Whether it’s buying gas, shopping for groceries, buying an airline ticket, or traveling out of town; the points earned bring me and millions of people like me back for more of the same again and again.
Almost everyone has a credit card of some sort. Should that be the angle? A part of it needs to be. The expenses that go into buying just one piece of real estate would take months or even years to match by shopping and filling up a car. Why can’t someone earn free stays somewhere with their lender or card company, if they just spent $17,000 on closing costs alone? I don’t need to tell you where people tend to go with “free” as an incentive.
The realty companies and lenders need to explore what incentives like these could mean to their bottom line. Instead of competing amoungst themselves, they need to find that niche that brings their businesses to the next level too.
Real Estate Blogs Directory
- Directory of real estate blogs and blogs of industries affiliated with and
serving the real estate industry.
We’ve all heard the expression, “You get what you pay for.” Does that mean what it used to? Well, yes and no. The implied understanding being that “free”equates to poorer quality. Same for their results. If you look hard enough though, that’s not always the case anymore.
Some of the best information out there is free now. From search engine news, to travel sites and yeah, even some rental property listing sites, if you can find them. “Free” has turned out to be quite a powerful marketing weapon. If you don’t believe me, just look at Craigslist, YouTube, Facebook & Twitter.
I had read a blog post recently that really caught my eye. A property owner had complained about the dangers of listing a rental property with one of those free advertising sites. The title of their post was the eye catcher. “Free rental ads. More harm than good?” A title like that could give someone the mistaken impression that any of these websites are just not worth the risk. It worked! I even believed it myself, for a moment.
What was interesting though, was that none of the harm had been caused by the website itself, but by the information that they had submitted to it! Go figure.
Renters want properties. Property owners want results. Will you get the same results listing your property with a free site as with a paid site. Probably not, unless you’ve done your homework.
Many of these free sites are not that old, so they have a ways to go in capturing more market share. And, probably the biggest obstacle they have to overcome, if they want to succeed, is building consumer trust.
What builds trust? For a rental listing site, there are several key ingredients: The total number of rental property listings, the number of new listings they are getting , word of mouth and, most importantly, results.
By the way, website quality doesn’t play as big a role as you might think. Craigslist has over 13 million views per month.
Rental property sites that charge are out there too providing good services and billing accordingly. For many, the peace of mind that these sites, and all traditional sites provide, in addition to their proven results, are well worth the extra cost.
Consumers have to weigh all these factors. The long bridge of differences though, between these sites, has gotten alot smaller. And, ominously, fundamental changes will have to be implemented in the future, if the traditional sites are to survive.
I had some nice comments the other day from some new users in San Francisco and Miami. Something about our website being a higher-end version of a certain “—–’list” site. Thanks for the compliments!
So, what does it take for the little guy to compete against the established competition? Sure, it takes money, but what else really? Word of mouth helps, but we all know how far that goes. Social networking is the key. Blogging, tweeting and commenting on other blogs again and again.
For me, competing in the real estate rental ad market has sort of been like entering the Wild West. There are a lot of cowpokes out there who are pushing their wares. Getting heard of or even found among all the banter has not been easy. Offering a service that sets us apart from the competition has been the key. And, I can tell you what else has helped me along the way. Really believing in your product or service and ultimately, believing in yourself. At the end of the day, that’s what you’ll need to rely on when the challenges and self-doubt come knocking at your door. Hopefully, your product or service already sets you apart.
Speaking of being set apart from the competition: The founder of a certain computer company that began in a garage many years ago was once quoted as saying, ” A company, that bases it’s success on price alone, cannot succeed.
When I began TreeHouseForRent.Com in 2008, I struggled with the following dilemma. How would I charge for our service? Would I charge monthly, quarterly, yearly or via access? If I charged less than the competition, sure I’d get some users but at what cost? That certain “—–’list” site gets over 12 million visitors per month! I could not simply discount the power of offering something for nothing. But, in addition, I could not ignore the fact that charging anything at all would come at a cost; the loss of potential market share.
Our rental listings now stretch from Hawaii, across the USA to San Juan PC! While the work has not been easy, it has certainly been rewarding. And, the work is only just beginning. Stay tuned.
Is it possible for a new business with a strange name to launch during this economy and have any expectation for success? Can a non-techie with a passion for anonymity and privacy find a love for all things Facebook and Twitter? Anything is possible…TREEHOUSEFORRENT.COM was born of total frustration and a need for apartment and house rental information that did not require me to submit personal information or pay a substantial sum of money for something we non-techies used to find for free in the classifieds. Paying $39.95 for access to the telephone number of a property manager whom on most occasions informed me that the unit had been rented, but then happily offered to add me to their SPAM list for future rental opportunities left me shaking my head.
After becoming a property owner, and looking for websites to advertise my own property for rent, I ran into the flip side of the renter’s dilemma. To my surprise, there is also a landlord’s dilemma. Not only are potential renters being charged for access to contact landlords, but landlords and property managers are being charged, sometimes excessively, to list their properties or place rental ads to reach potential renters. The few free options out there are often unorganized, only offer limited options to add features like photos , and many take too much time to access basic information.
TREEHOUSEFORRENT.COM has a simple goal in mind. To provide for free, the kind of quick customized rental search and ad options that other sites are charging for. Utilizing the latest technologies in Google mapping and search capabilities, renters can enjoy easy access to organized rental information and landlords can realize substantial savings in marketing costs.
Is there room for TREEHOUSEFORRENT.COM to offer something a little different to the current market without reinventing the wheel? Can it grow and thrive during my crash course in internet marketing? One year ago, I would not have guessed that this simple idea for a small business would become a full blown educational experience expanding my vocabulary to include terms like social media, inbound marketing, tweeting and blogosphere. I now turn it over to cyberspace with the hope that it can provide a service to other frustrated renters and landlords and that for the sake of this venture my learning curve is quicker than that of a tree (no pun intended).
Talk to us. Are you a frustrated renter or landlord who could benefit from the use of our site. Tell us about your frustrations, or better yet, load your free rental ad on http://www.treehouseforrent.com/ and tell us about your experience.
