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I’m going to count backward from 3 and when I get to 1 I want you to wake up. Here we got 3. . . . 2. . . . 1. . . . WAKE UP!
There is a growing cult in the Real Estate blogging community. It is the Cult of SEO. More and More RE bloggers are being recruited to this cult almost every day. The seduction begins with “Look into my eyes, I can get you search results quickly. I can get you rankings and PR almost without effort. Follow me, it is easy, it is quick, it is painless.”
They are being sucked in and brainwashed to believe that if they just focus on SEO they will rank high and blessings will flow from their contact form.
Headline: SEO is the Fast Buck approach to RE Blogging
How many times does it have to be said,
- “Write for the Readers not for the bots”
- “Content is King”
- “Find your voice, not your marketing strategy”
- “Personal is Professional”
Poor SEO advise can hurt your site, but not as much as good content can help it.
Post Tags: brainwashed , Real-Estate-Bloggers , seo cult , SEO Deprogramming
Stumble it!
28 responses so far ↓
1 Scoot (18 comments.) // Oct 6, 2007 at 10:02 am
I don’t know a lot about this seo stuff, but what I hear you saying is, build your own cult and they will come. And I have noticed that when I write about stuff that people are looking for in a RE site, I get people that subscribe and come back and visit, not just hit the back button because, “that wasn’t what I was looking for”. Maybe those who make my site a regular thing, will come buy something one day.
2 Scoot (18 comments.) // Oct 6, 2007 at 10:04 am
BTW I see you got a pic in this one.
3 Dave Smith (459 comments.) // Oct 6, 2007 at 10:13 am
I couldn’t resist the pic.
RE Blogging is a paradox and the sooner RE Blogger realize this the better they will be as bloggers.
It isn’t only about content, it is about content they want to see. Readers don’t want ads, they want information.
And you can kill the acceptance of that information through self promotion.
How to kill a moment.
“Your hair looks nice today of course mine always looks better”
“Here is some information you can use when searching for a new home. I’ll be glad to work with you for all your real estate needs.”
Call to action yes, self-promotion no.
4 Scoot (18 comments.) // Oct 6, 2007 at 10:32 am
I happen to think your right about this. Self promotion seems to come across as egotistical and high pressure salesmanship. People are much smarter these days and if we act like their not, we lose. The internet is everywhere, and I think it can be excellent for helping people understand that you’re the one to trust, (or not).
5 Dave Smith (459 comments.) // Oct 6, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Absolutely, right on point.
6 Kathy Neilsen (6 comments.) // Oct 7, 2007 at 7:20 am
I have a link to my website but I mostly write about things that interest me and hopefully others. I just did a little piece about a haunted house I listed and sold. I put in a small funny real estate definition. I never write about my listings or open houses just fun or informative stuff. I hope they will come.
Kathy
7 Dave Smith (459 comments.) // Oct 7, 2007 at 8:29 am
I do much the same writing about the community. I have found I get tremendous traffic from writing about community events coming up the following weekend.
I also include search pages to the local MLS on the blog for those that also want to look for a house.
I even have written posts on “Where is the local post office” and posts on “All the organic and natural food stores in town”
These bring a lot of consistent traffic. The secret involved: I should do a post on this.
“Think about the things a person getting ready to move to your town would want to know and write about these things”
They are getting ready to move, might want to buy a house. Hum. Can you see where this line of “What to write about” could lead.
8 Maureen Francis (23 comments.) // Oct 8, 2007 at 9:06 am
I agree. Content is king.
But a little bit of SEO stuff helps too. My blogger blog got very little traffic in 18 months. My similar wp blog does pretty well for me and draws lots more consumer traffic and inquiries due to better seo.
9 Kristal Kraft (1 comments.) // Oct 8, 2007 at 9:32 am
There certainly is some benefit to using seo as a basis for constructing a blog or website. Good seo is really just common sense, not over doing anything.
I do have to agree with you the new Cult attraction is just one more way Realtors are being sold down the river because they either 1) don’t understand the concept 2) refuse to try to understand the concept.
Once again there really isn’t a “EASY” button or magic pill. Just good old fashioned sweaty work is what makes success.
Ho hum, back to the drawing board.
10 Richard (1 comments.) // Oct 9, 2007 at 11:32 am
How true it is. I spent thousands using different SEO Companies that never accomplished anything, besides take my money.
11 Eric Blackwell (42 comments.) // Oct 9, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Spot on David!
Any true SEO person worth their salt will tell you that there is NO substitute for the authenticity that you call your “voice”.
Even as someone who focuses on testing the techniques that enhance search engine position, every REALTOR needs to realize that Google and the other search engines are in the RELEVANCE business. And the more relevant your writing is, and the more real it is to the reader (when constructed properly), the better it will rank.
We need to separate the true art of SEO from the shortcut “magic potion” that most REALTORS may be led to believe that it is.
I found this blog in the search engines. I read it the first time because I had met you via REW. I continue to read it because you are authentic and your writing has your true voice.
SEO can help generate traffic. It CANNOT convert traffic into clients.
12 Dave Smith (459 comments.) // Oct 9, 2007 at 7:26 pm
That really sums it up nicely.
AMEN!!
13 Paul Escobedo (28 comments.) // Oct 12, 2007 at 1:25 pm
When I first started my website we had to hire a SEO firm to get great key terms. Have since fired that firm. I started researching SEO and found that a lot of the stuff I was paying him for I could do myself. I did my own do diligence now. I still employ a SEO guy how ever his role is limited to what I can’t do.
14 Eric Blackwell (42 comments.) // Oct 13, 2007 at 9:24 am
Paul;
Good point.
As importantly, one of his roles should be the “lighthouse” role..shedding light on what’s around right now and keeping you current on the latest trends and how to avoid the pitfalls.
The point here is that the real estate bloggers of today are getting so myopic with SEO-itis that they are forgetting that the point of this is NOT to gain rank it is to generate clients for life.
You simply cannot (long term) do that if you are not authentic IMO.
15 John Lockwood (10 comments.) // Oct 24, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Hey, I realized I missed an opportunity here to say that I want to apply for the job of cult leader.
I’ve always wanted to be a cult leader.
16 Dave Smith (459 comments.) // Oct 24, 2007 at 5:39 pm
It is never too late to be a cult leader. lol
I’m sure the job is still open.
17 JBoyer Convent Station Guy (4 comments.) // Oct 27, 2007 at 8:11 am
Very Very right. Write for the consumer and the business will come knocking on your door, or ringing your phone, or in your e-mail box anyway. But don’t write 4 page posts that intimidate the reader like one arrogant blogger in my area who will not take any advice to the contrary of what he is doing.
18 C Richey // Dec 13, 2007 at 2:33 pm
The key has and always will be originality. That will bring more visitors and help you more with the Big Brother G than anything else. imo
19 Bob Wilson (4 comments.) // Dec 15, 2007 at 8:28 pm
I’ll be the devil’s advocate here, in lieu of cult leader.
“They are being sucked in and brainwashed to believe that if they just focus on SEO they will rank high and blessings will flow from their contact form.”
I always focus on SEO. I took a site from nowhere to #1 in 3 months. We have traffic, several people a day are filling out my contact forms, and we wrote another contract today from doing just this.
I can blog all I want, but like the tree that falls in the woods, if no one knows, it doesn’t matter.
I do not understand the anti SEO attitude of real estate bloggers.
20 Dave Smith (459 comments.) // Dec 15, 2007 at 10:40 pm
But there is a rising group of RE bloggers that hyperventilate over SEO and They Never Blog.
If you read this blog, and for that matter this post you will see that it is not anti SEO it is anti SEO only and then never writing. Some bloggers spend so much time on SEO on the site no time on content then wonder why those two post on their blog aren’t bringing in the traffic.
It should be Good SEO Great Content. So there is in need for a devils Advocate. That is what this post is all about.
Now we just need to have bloggers that are willing to actually read posts before they comment on them. Any devil’s advoates out there for just commenting after almost scanning a post?
21 Bob Wilson (4 comments.) // Dec 16, 2007 at 8:26 am
I did read the entire post, and every subsequent comment. I also referred to a specific quote, with which I disagreed.
You can write all you want, but that doesn’t mean anyone will read it if they can’t find it.
At the heart of the issue is how you make money. Consumers want your ‘great content” far less than they want access to inventory.
Blog without IDX and you’ll get few buyers. Rank with an IDX search that makes sense for both buyer and agent and you’ll make money.
22 Dave Smith (459 comments.) // Dec 16, 2007 at 8:42 am
You never mentioned an IDX search in your first comment. I don’t have an IDX search on any of our blogs, unless you consider a direct link to the MLS public search. But it isn’t easy to navigate.
However, we find in our business that it isn’t the search that brings them to us. They can get that anywhere. There are literally hundreds of sites they can search on. But it is someone that knows the market and how to negotiate they need.
However this post is about those that have very little or no valuable content and spend all their time going after rankings.
IDX and searches are another topic. In our market we don’t have a good IDX search available and the one we do have is on almost every site. And they have a 24 hour delay.
Any one that signs up for a “Home Search” will get a notification of a home meeting their search as soon as it is entered. That’s much easier than searching through pages and pages of home.
But again, this is a digression from the topic.
And I didn’t mean to imply you hadn’t read it. The quote you say you disagreed with seem contradictory to your comment. If there is no SEO and the content isn’t indexed then no one can find it. But to have SEO and not content leaves one in almost the same place. They have to work together. This is the point of the post.
Bob, You have a good site, clean and easy to navigate, easy on the eyes, and well organized. I wish more RE sites looked like yours.
23 Bob Wilson (4 comments.) // Dec 16, 2007 at 9:51 am
“If there is no SEO and the content isn’t indexed then no one can find it. But to have SEO and not content leaves one in almost the same place. They have to work together.”
I agree. My apologies for missing the point.
I still believe though that many don’t understand it is two sides of the same coin.
24 Dave Smith (459 comments.) // Dec 16, 2007 at 10:03 am
That’s as good a summary to the point of this post as can be written. “It is two sides of the same coin”.
Have a great weekend. : )
25 Ki (11 comments.) // Jan 11, 2008 at 1:32 am
I am not anti-seo. I do feel that sometimes realtor magazines spend so much time talking about web rank they forget about the other aspects of realtor marketing. The web is great but its not the only thing out there. It just seems that some markets are getting oversaturated because realtors are constantly told they need to do seo. I think we are researching a point where the returns are going to start diminishing.
26 Milan Cole (3 comments.) // Feb 24, 2008 at 9:16 pm
LOL… Thanks for the great reminder that we don’t need to try so hard to SEO, and to just write for the reader.
27 Dave Smith (459 comments.) // Feb 24, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Thanks, it is nice to know someone got the meaning of the post. Some thought from the post I was anti-seo, that couldn’t be further from the truth, but I think sometimes instead of spending all our time studying recipes we need to actually cook.
Now I feel vindicated (well almost) : )
28 Scott Kuhn (1 comments.) // Apr 4, 2008 at 8:47 am
You are correct Content is King. You write for the readers and the people will find you. If people don’t like what they are reading or seeing it doesn’t matter how well your SEO is people will be on your site for 1 second. All three: Good Content, Good Design and Good SEO makes you king.
=)
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