Recently some of the world’s top Search Engine Optimization (SEO) professionals were asked to rank different factors that help send a website to the top of the search results. Their answers will likely surprise you!  One factor notably missing from the Top 5 was the use of keyword rich content.

How My Website Landed on the First Page of Google Without the “Right” Content

One of the biggest misconceptions about SEO is keywords in your content. Most people think the key to SEO success is to stuff your copy with keywords, thus making you magically rise to the top of Google. Let me give you a great example of how this isn’t the case.

Searching for the key phrase real estate web design yields close to 60 million results. Out of this tremendously large group, my company’s site ranks between position 3-13 (as of this writing: #3 in MSN, #9 in Yahoo and #9 in Google). Here is where it gets interesting — nowhere on our site do we even mention the phrase real estate web design! Truth be told, we’ve been so busy working on our clients’ sites, we haven’t had time to tweak our own. So how did we do it?

It’s Just A Popularity Contest

Remember, Google is in the information business. Their goal is to return the most relevant and the most popular search results to their users. In order to do this, they rely heavily on other sites to help determine what is deemed popular and important. This is where backlinks (i.e. other sites linking back to yours) come in. And no, I’m not suggesting you join link farms or trade links with other real estate agents. I’m talking instead about creating valuable resources on your site that make people want to naturally link to you.

Think Content, not Keyword

Let me be clear, I am not saying that content is not important. Just the opposite! Good content is vital to get the site visitor to engage in your site. However, don’t let a SEO company ruin your copy by stuffing it so full of keywords and phrases that your site becomes a choppy and confusing cluster of words that is distracting to the site visitor. (Remember, the back button is always looming.)

You do, however, want lots of valuable, specific copy on your site so that both search engines and site visitors have engaging content to evaluate when they arrive. If your content isn’t as "sexy" as you'd like, spice up your text and add new, relevant pages. This has the additional benefit of showing the search engines that you are actively working on improving your site which is much better than allowing your site to sit stagnant and go stale. And don’t worry; articles don’t have to be long to be effective. In fact, when writing for the web, short and to the point is not only OK, it’s the smart approach.

133 Billion Reasons Why You Can’t Outsmart Google

At this point you may be thinking, “Perfect, I’ll just buy a few text links or trade links with a few friends, and I’ll be number one in no time!” Not so fast! Remember, you’re talking about trying to outsmart a company worth $133 Billion. (Yes, with a “B”.) Their resources to catch these “tricks” far outweigh your efforts! Whatever you do, don’t get mixed up in shady link schemes, link farms, or link exchanges. It’s best to just play by the rules and put your energy into motivating people to naturally link to your site.

Is Your Site Link-Worthy?

One thing to ask yourself is, “What resources does my site offer that would make someone want to link to me?” Do you offer helpful tips not readily found elsewhere; do you have unique calculators; do you blog about controversial topics; are you going to be featured on national television? All these are great examples of how to build natural backlinks.

One of the main reasons for my SEO success is the fact that so many people link to my site’s resources. Resources such as a Keyword Analyzer, a Link Popularity Tool, a PageRank Calculator (currently ranked #12), and many articles about web design all provide great “link bait” for other sites looking for these resources.

Jump Start Your Links

Fortunately, you don’t have to wait around for others to start linking to your site. You can, and should, proactively start building backlinks yourself. There are a number of resources that can help jump start a linking strategy. Just keep in mind that you should view this as a long term, ongoing effort and not a quick fix.

• Participate in Social Communities - Join Social Communities such as ActiveRain, LinkedIn, MySpace and Squidoo. Create profile pages and link them back to your site. For even more optimization, make your username the keyword you are optimizing for such as Raleigh Real Estate.

• Answer Questions Online - Spend time answering questions on popular Q&A sites such as Yahoo Answers and Zillow Real Estate Guide. Be sure to include a link back to your site in your Signature.

• Syndicate Your Listings - Submit your Property Listings to sites such as Google Base, Live Deal, Oodle, Trulia, etc...

• Send Out Press Releases - Write and distribute press releases to news sites and local media outlets. Even if you are not picked up for a story, they serve as additional links back to your site.

How Do You Look In the Eyes of Google?

In the end, Google and other search engines are just trying to do everything they can to determine your site’s credibility. And while linking plays a large factor, it’s not the only factor. If you’re looking for the “magic bullet” of SEO, I hate to disappoint you – there isn’t one. 

Below are a couple of additional factors of SEO to keep in mind:

• Unique, Keyword-Rich Title Tags - Editing your Title Tags is probably the single most important thing you can do on your site to effect both Search Engine Ranking and Click-Throughs. This is because your Title Tags not only give search engines a snapshot of the content, search engines also display the title tag in their search results. But be careful, repeating keywords too often or duplicating title tags can cause more harm than good.

• The Older the Better! - The logic is simple. If you have a brand-new domain and brand-new links, then Google has no way of knowing if the site is reliable and can stand the test of time. Search engines trust older domains and long term links because there is an established history. And search engines are relying on this more and more because it simply cannot be faked. But don’t let this stop you from creating a new site. There are ways to pass your “history credit” from your old site to your new one.

Keep Your Reference

Search Engine Optimization is not an instant fix. It takes time and a strategic approach. After all, being on the first page out of 60 million results requires your site to be in the top 0.00001%. But following these tips should put you well on your way! And remember, you don’t have to do this yourself. Your Marketing Partner, Webmaster and Virtual Assistant should each be able to help you to utilize these techniques and accomplish your goals.

Have a Question? Want to discuss this more? Discuss this topic in my blog.

As owner of Dakno Marketing, a real estate web design and marketing firm, Brad Carroll is a noted “young entrepreneur” who partners with many of the most successful Realtors in the US and Canada. Dakno also serves as the Webmaster for RUSSER Communications and numerous other businesses and organizations. As a high honors graduate from Barton College, Brad now coaches other entrepreneurs across a broad spectrum of business sectors. An avid reader and blogger, Brad offers his tips to real estate technology and marketing via his website at www.dakno.com.