Provided By KW
Showing posts with label keller williams realty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label keller williams realty. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Being Patient with SEO Pays Off
Provided By KW Blog
Unlike pay-per-click (PPC) advertising that may literally drive traffic to your site overnight, search engine optimization (SEO) strategies take time to pay off. That’s important to understand so you don’t become frustrated or discouraged and abandon your SEO efforts while you are on the brink of success.
In the last article in my SEO series, we’ll explore four important time-related SEO factors: the age of your domain, the age of your site, the age of your content the age of inbound links. Understanding these issues will help you stay patient while you wait for the reward.
How Old is Your Domain Name?
Domain registration age is important to your SEO efforts. That’s because spammers tend to have new websites with new domain names. When an ISP shuts one site down, they just launch another. Google can’t tell the difference between your brand new website and a spammer’s brand new website, so search engines proceed with caution with new domain names.
Search engines are looking for stability and credibility. As your domain name ages, it gains credibility online. Likewise, the longer you’ve reserved your domain name, the more trust you build with search engines. Spammers aren’t likely to pay for a domain name 10 years out. Just like in the real world, age associates with authority. A 35 year old has more authority than a 10 year old.
How Long Has Your Site Been Live?
Domain registration age and how long your site has been live are two altogether different animals. You may have purchased your domain name a year ago, but your website may be brand new. Google typically doesn’t give you a page rank—a value or importance assigned to your web page—for up to four months after your site launches. This is known as the “sandbox effect” and it’s one way of proving to Google that you aren’t a spam site.
How Long Has Your Content Been Posted?
Every page on the web has a date of inception. The search engines calculate the age of your page and factor that into your ranking. Google gives more weight to pages that have been posted to your site for months or years than it does pages that are brand new. That’s not to say that new content isn’t valuable. It may even be more relevant or timely. You need a blend of both if you want to keep the search engine spiders crawling your more frequently.
The point is this: When you change or add new keywords to your content—or you add new pages to your site—the results of your SEO copy may not take effect overnight, especially if you are using highly competitive keywords. That shouldn’t stop you from adding new content or continually optimizing your existing content. Just realize it takes time for the search engines to move you up in the rankings based on those changes.
How Long Have You Had Inbound Links?
When it comes to inbound links, it’s all about relevance and reputation points. Reputation points are given based on the popularity, quality and relevance of the sites linking to you. Sites with long-standing domain names have a better reputation than sites with new domain names, for example, and links that have been pointing to your site for long periods of time gain more reputation points than newer links.
Liken your SEO efforts to launching an exercise program. You won’t see results the first day. In fact, you may not see results the first week or even the first month. But it’s just a matter of time before you see the inches that were lining your waist begin to appear as muscles on your arms and legs. The same is true of SEO. It takes time, but if you use the proven strategies it works.
Unlike pay-per-click (PPC) advertising that may literally drive traffic to your site overnight, search engine optimization (SEO) strategies take time to pay off. That’s important to understand so you don’t become frustrated or discouraged and abandon your SEO efforts while you are on the brink of success.
In the last article in my SEO series, we’ll explore four important time-related SEO factors: the age of your domain, the age of your site, the age of your content the age of inbound links. Understanding these issues will help you stay patient while you wait for the reward.
How Old is Your Domain Name?
Domain registration age is important to your SEO efforts. That’s because spammers tend to have new websites with new domain names. When an ISP shuts one site down, they just launch another. Google can’t tell the difference between your brand new website and a spammer’s brand new website, so search engines proceed with caution with new domain names.
Search engines are looking for stability and credibility. As your domain name ages, it gains credibility online. Likewise, the longer you’ve reserved your domain name, the more trust you build with search engines. Spammers aren’t likely to pay for a domain name 10 years out. Just like in the real world, age associates with authority. A 35 year old has more authority than a 10 year old.
How Long Has Your Site Been Live?
Domain registration age and how long your site has been live are two altogether different animals. You may have purchased your domain name a year ago, but your website may be brand new. Google typically doesn’t give you a page rank—a value or importance assigned to your web page—for up to four months after your site launches. This is known as the “sandbox effect” and it’s one way of proving to Google that you aren’t a spam site.
How Long Has Your Content Been Posted?
Every page on the web has a date of inception. The search engines calculate the age of your page and factor that into your ranking. Google gives more weight to pages that have been posted to your site for months or years than it does pages that are brand new. That’s not to say that new content isn’t valuable. It may even be more relevant or timely. You need a blend of both if you want to keep the search engine spiders crawling your more frequently.
The point is this: When you change or add new keywords to your content—or you add new pages to your site—the results of your SEO copy may not take effect overnight, especially if you are using highly competitive keywords. That shouldn’t stop you from adding new content or continually optimizing your existing content. Just realize it takes time for the search engines to move you up in the rankings based on those changes.
How Long Have You Had Inbound Links?
When it comes to inbound links, it’s all about relevance and reputation points. Reputation points are given based on the popularity, quality and relevance of the sites linking to you. Sites with long-standing domain names have a better reputation than sites with new domain names, for example, and links that have been pointing to your site for long periods of time gain more reputation points than newer links.
Liken your SEO efforts to launching an exercise program. You won’t see results the first day. In fact, you may not see results the first week or even the first month. But it’s just a matter of time before you see the inches that were lining your waist begin to appear as muscles on your arms and legs. The same is true of SEO. It takes time, but if you use the proven strategies it works.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
SEO-Making the Most of Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
Published By KW Blog
Written By by Cary Sylvester, Executive Director of Technology
Now that you understand how to pick keywords that will help your target audience find your Website (from my earlier post), it’s time to move on to the next phase of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts: creating page titles and meta descriptions.
Peppering keywords in your content is important, but it’s not good enough to get the attention of search engines that drive targeted traffic to your site. Once you understand the importance of page titles and meta descriptions—and once you learn to use them strategically—you’ll be well on your way to increasing your prospects.
What Is a Page Title?
A page title appears in the browser at the top of each web page. It’s important to choose your page title wisely because Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines put an emphasis on the keywords in your page titles when they crawl your site. Your page title will also appear as the link for that page in search engine results. That makes page titles a critical aspect of your SEO efforts.
Page Title Dos and Don’ts
Do use natural language in your page titles.
Do make your page titles interesting and engaging.
Do include a strategic keyword in your page titles.
Do use your keyword as the first word of your page title, if possible.
Do make your page titles different for every page.
Do include your brand name at the end of the page title.
Do not underestimate the importance of page titles.
Do not stuff your page title with keywords.
Do not write page titles longer than 67 characters.
Good, Bad and Ugly Page Titles
Need some examples of page titles? Keep the dos and don’ts above in mind as you review the page title suggestions below. You can adapt these for your own market.
(Good) South Beach Real Estate
(Bad) Your Best Realtor
(Good) Condos for Sale in South Beach, Miami Beach, Fischer Island
(Bad) John Doe (Don’t use your name unless everybody knows you.)
(Good) Real Estate/ Foreclosures/ Fort Lauderdale
(Bad) Experienced Real Estate Agent
What is a Meta Description?
Also vital to your SEO efforts, the meta description puts the power in your hands to tell Google how you want them to describe your web page. In other words, it’s the description search engines pick up and run under the page title in the search results. Not all search engines use the meta description, but Google does.
Meta Description Dos and Don’ts
Do include your keywords in your meta description.
Do write a compelling description that entices visitors to click.
Do maintain credibility and honest.
Do place your most important keywords near the beginning of the description.
Don’t use the same meta description on more than one page.
Don’t use more than 160 characters.
Don’t replicate copy from your page title or your Google Adwords ads.
Don’t use your keywords excessively.
Good, Bad and Ugly Meta Descriptions
Still not sure how to translate all these dos and don’ts to your meta tag descriptions? Here are some models you can adapt based on your market—and some you should never use.
(Good) “Looking for condos for sale in South Beach? Professional real estate agent Max Jones specializes in high rise and luxury condo sales in Fischer Island, Star Island and Miami Beach.”
(Bad) Call Max Jones of Keller Williams Realty. Max Jones is a real estate agent licensed in Florida and Georgia. He has been in the industry for five years.
The key difference between the good and the bad (we’ll skip the ugly) is that the good offers locally relevant information and descriptive keywords like condos, high-rise and luxury. It still mentions the words “real estate agent” and offers the agent’s name, but the focus is on what’s most important: location, location, location.
Written By by Cary Sylvester, Executive Director of Technology
Now that you understand how to pick keywords that will help your target audience find your Website (from my earlier post), it’s time to move on to the next phase of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts: creating page titles and meta descriptions.
Peppering keywords in your content is important, but it’s not good enough to get the attention of search engines that drive targeted traffic to your site. Once you understand the importance of page titles and meta descriptions—and once you learn to use them strategically—you’ll be well on your way to increasing your prospects.
What Is a Page Title?
A page title appears in the browser at the top of each web page. It’s important to choose your page title wisely because Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines put an emphasis on the keywords in your page titles when they crawl your site. Your page title will also appear as the link for that page in search engine results. That makes page titles a critical aspect of your SEO efforts.
Page Title Dos and Don’ts
Do use natural language in your page titles.
Do make your page titles interesting and engaging.
Do include a strategic keyword in your page titles.
Do use your keyword as the first word of your page title, if possible.
Do make your page titles different for every page.
Do include your brand name at the end of the page title.
Do not underestimate the importance of page titles.
Do not stuff your page title with keywords.
Do not write page titles longer than 67 characters.
Good, Bad and Ugly Page Titles
Need some examples of page titles? Keep the dos and don’ts above in mind as you review the page title suggestions below. You can adapt these for your own market.
(Good) South Beach Real Estate
(Bad) Your Best Realtor
(Good) Condos for Sale in South Beach, Miami Beach, Fischer Island
(Bad) John Doe (Don’t use your name unless everybody knows you.)
(Good) Real Estate/ Foreclosures/ Fort Lauderdale
(Bad) Experienced Real Estate Agent
What is a Meta Description?
Also vital to your SEO efforts, the meta description puts the power in your hands to tell Google how you want them to describe your web page. In other words, it’s the description search engines pick up and run under the page title in the search results. Not all search engines use the meta description, but Google does.
Meta Description Dos and Don’ts
Do include your keywords in your meta description.
Do write a compelling description that entices visitors to click.
Do maintain credibility and honest.
Do place your most important keywords near the beginning of the description.
Don’t use the same meta description on more than one page.
Don’t use more than 160 characters.
Don’t replicate copy from your page title or your Google Adwords ads.
Don’t use your keywords excessively.
Good, Bad and Ugly Meta Descriptions
Still not sure how to translate all these dos and don’ts to your meta tag descriptions? Here are some models you can adapt based on your market—and some you should never use.
(Good) “Looking for condos for sale in South Beach? Professional real estate agent Max Jones specializes in high rise and luxury condo sales in Fischer Island, Star Island and Miami Beach.”
(Bad) Call Max Jones of Keller Williams Realty. Max Jones is a real estate agent licensed in Florida and Georgia. He has been in the industry for five years.
The key difference between the good and the bad (we’ll skip the ugly) is that the good offers locally relevant information and descriptive keywords like condos, high-rise and luxury. It still mentions the words “real estate agent” and offers the agent’s name, but the focus is on what’s most important: location, location, location.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Don’t talk about it. BE about it.
Published By Keller Williams Realty
Source KW Blog
“Never underestimate the transformative power of a ball,” Kevin Carroll asserted during this morning’s keynote address.
The founder of Kevin Carroll Katalyst LLC, and a renowned author, speaker and agent for social change, Carroll captivated attendees with his compelling life story that began with a “dysfunctional, nomadic childhood” and abandonment by two drug-abusing parents. Salvation bounced into Carroll’s life at the age of 6, when he found a red rubber ball in an abandoned lot. After playing alone for a few hours, he heard “the words that changed my life: ‘You want to play with us?’”
Carroll says he’s been chasing his “Red Rubber Ball” ever since and encouraged attendees to do the same. Carroll challenged attendees, “What’s your red rubber ball? What gets you so excited every day that you can’t wait to start chasing it?”
Source KW Blog
“Never underestimate the transformative power of a ball,” Kevin Carroll asserted during this morning’s keynote address.
The founder of Kevin Carroll Katalyst LLC, and a renowned author, speaker and agent for social change, Carroll captivated attendees with his compelling life story that began with a “dysfunctional, nomadic childhood” and abandonment by two drug-abusing parents. Salvation bounced into Carroll’s life at the age of 6, when he found a red rubber ball in an abandoned lot. After playing alone for a few hours, he heard “the words that changed my life: ‘You want to play with us?’”
Carroll says he’s been chasing his “Red Rubber Ball” ever since and encouraged attendees to do the same. Carroll challenged attendees, “What’s your red rubber ball? What gets you so excited every day that you can’t wait to start chasing it?”
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Announcing the President of KW Worldwide
Dear Associates —
As you heard at Family Reunion, we are thrilled that 2010 is the year that Keller Williams Realty will lay the groundwork for expansion beyond North America.
We are pleased to announce that Chris Heller will spearhead that effort for us as the president of the Keller Williams Realty International Division, KW Worldwide.
Chris is truly a leader within our company and our industry. At the helm of The Heller Real Estate Group, Chris has sold more than 2,300 homes in his career, averaging 130+ home sales in each of the past fifteen years with sales totaling more than $450 million. Since joining Keller Williams Realty in 2004, Chris has been recognized every year as one of our top 10 producers. Beyond his impressive real estate sales career, he has also become a top leader within our system, as the operating principal of the Carmel/Del Mar, Calif. market center.
Chris possesses a passion and vision for our worldwide expansion and we are confident that he can build the team to drive the KW models and systems across the oceans!
In 2010, Chris, along with his team of researchers and experts, will determine exactly where and when we will begin our worldwide expansion. At Family Reunion 2011, we plan to announce our first destination!
Please join us in our congratulations for Chris and in the tremendous excitement for what’s to come for Keller Williams Realty across the globe.
Yours in worldwide expansion,
Mark Willis Mary Tennant
CEO President and COO
As you heard at Family Reunion, we are thrilled that 2010 is the year that Keller Williams Realty will lay the groundwork for expansion beyond North America.
We are pleased to announce that Chris Heller will spearhead that effort for us as the president of the Keller Williams Realty International Division, KW Worldwide.
Chris is truly a leader within our company and our industry. At the helm of The Heller Real Estate Group, Chris has sold more than 2,300 homes in his career, averaging 130+ home sales in each of the past fifteen years with sales totaling more than $450 million. Since joining Keller Williams Realty in 2004, Chris has been recognized every year as one of our top 10 producers. Beyond his impressive real estate sales career, he has also become a top leader within our system, as the operating principal of the Carmel/Del Mar, Calif. market center.
Chris possesses a passion and vision for our worldwide expansion and we are confident that he can build the team to drive the KW models and systems across the oceans!
In 2010, Chris, along with his team of researchers and experts, will determine exactly where and when we will begin our worldwide expansion. At Family Reunion 2011, we plan to announce our first destination!
Please join us in our congratulations for Chris and in the tremendous excitement for what’s to come for Keller Williams Realty across the globe.
Yours in worldwide expansion,
Mark Willis Mary Tennant
CEO President and COO
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Seeing is Believing
Provided By My KW
The Keller Williams culture is oftentimes the reason someone joins Keller Williams Realty. The culture is powerful – it can inspire personal and professional growth. It can even lead to careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living. But just how do you encapsulate our powerful culture in only so many words? You don’t! The key is to get your potential recruit to experience it – to see it with their own eyes.
Invite them to a Keller Williams signature educational event, such as Masterminds, Mega Camp or Family Reunion. Chuck Fast, regional operating principal at Michigan-Northern Ohio, brought 32 people to a signature event and 27 of them made the decision to affiliate with Keller Williams Realty over the course of that same year.
The Dallas Preston Road market center brought 42 people to a signature event, and over the next two years, saw 36 join Keller Williams Realty.
If you’re in the beginning phases of growing your profit share tree, a big event may be hard to fund. Instead, invite them to regional or local training. Begin by sharing SHIFT. Then say something similar to, “Keller Williams Realty is dedicated to growing the careers of all its associates. It would be an honor if you would join me for this powerful educational event we call Mega Camp. You’ll love it, it will increase your business, and you’ll get to see for yourself what I’m talking about!”
For more methods on maintaining meaningful relationships, check out the Grow your Profit Share Tree course, here.
The Keller Williams culture is oftentimes the reason someone joins Keller Williams Realty. The culture is powerful – it can inspire personal and professional growth. It can even lead to careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living. But just how do you encapsulate our powerful culture in only so many words? You don’t! The key is to get your potential recruit to experience it – to see it with their own eyes.
Invite them to a Keller Williams signature educational event, such as Masterminds, Mega Camp or Family Reunion. Chuck Fast, regional operating principal at Michigan-Northern Ohio, brought 32 people to a signature event and 27 of them made the decision to affiliate with Keller Williams Realty over the course of that same year.
The Dallas Preston Road market center brought 42 people to a signature event, and over the next two years, saw 36 join Keller Williams Realty.
If you’re in the beginning phases of growing your profit share tree, a big event may be hard to fund. Instead, invite them to regional or local training. Begin by sharing SHIFT. Then say something similar to, “Keller Williams Realty is dedicated to growing the careers of all its associates. It would be an honor if you would join me for this powerful educational event we call Mega Camp. You’ll love it, it will increase your business, and you’ll get to see for yourself what I’m talking about!”
For more methods on maintaining meaningful relationships, check out the Grow your Profit Share Tree course, here.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Inside Secrets to Selling Your Home
Source ABC News
By Bianna Golodryga, Charles Herman, and Suzan Clarke
"Good Morning America" spoke with some of the country's top real estate brokers, including Gary Keller, the author of the best-selling "Shift: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times." Keller explained how people can sell in a buyer's market.
'Good Buy' Market"If a seller wants to sell their home and say goodbye to it, the buyer is going to have to perceive it as a good buy," he said.
Keller is the chairman of Keller Williams Realty Inc., one of the largest real estate franchises in North America. He shared some tips for sellers:
1. Don't try to make money. It's counterintuitive for most people, but sellers will do better if they don't ask for too much money. Listing a home at just below what a similar home in the area sold for will increase the odds of closing the deal, he said.
2. Don't be lazy. Even though buyers may be looking for bargains, your home shouldn't look like a warehouse sale. Because presentation matters, sellers should get rid of any accumulated clutter. Take the magnets off the refrigerator, take down photos, open windows and take trinkets off bookshelves, Keller said.
While basic is better, Keller pointed out that some photos may help show a home at its best. For example, Dennis and Josephine Hahn's real estate agent put together a photo album of the couple's New Jersey home during various times of the year. The album showed the home when the flowers were in bloom and when the swimming pool was sparkling.
Don't Neglect Repairs
3. Don't be cheap. Sellers should perform simple renovations and repairs -- from fixing leaky faucets to replacing appliances -- before placing their homes on the market.
4. Be available. Real estate agents across the country tell sellers they need to be available for showings and willing to negotiate prices. Sellers should be able to answer prospective buyers' questions about schools and the neighborhood -- and even the neighbors themselves.
By Bianna Golodryga, Charles Herman, and Suzan Clarke
"Good Morning America" spoke with some of the country's top real estate brokers, including Gary Keller, the author of the best-selling "Shift: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times." Keller explained how people can sell in a buyer's market.
'Good Buy' Market"If a seller wants to sell their home and say goodbye to it, the buyer is going to have to perceive it as a good buy," he said.
Keller is the chairman of Keller Williams Realty Inc., one of the largest real estate franchises in North America. He shared some tips for sellers:
1. Don't try to make money. It's counterintuitive for most people, but sellers will do better if they don't ask for too much money. Listing a home at just below what a similar home in the area sold for will increase the odds of closing the deal, he said.
2. Don't be lazy. Even though buyers may be looking for bargains, your home shouldn't look like a warehouse sale. Because presentation matters, sellers should get rid of any accumulated clutter. Take the magnets off the refrigerator, take down photos, open windows and take trinkets off bookshelves, Keller said.
While basic is better, Keller pointed out that some photos may help show a home at its best. For example, Dennis and Josephine Hahn's real estate agent put together a photo album of the couple's New Jersey home during various times of the year. The album showed the home when the flowers were in bloom and when the swimming pool was sparkling.
Don't Neglect Repairs
3. Don't be cheap. Sellers should perform simple renovations and repairs -- from fixing leaky faucets to replacing appliances -- before placing their homes on the market.
4. Be available. Real estate agents across the country tell sellers they need to be available for showings and willing to negotiate prices. Sellers should be able to answer prospective buyers' questions about schools and the neighborhood -- and even the neighbors themselves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)