Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

Hi Jason,  Still not sure about some of the " fluff " here but your review and explanation is outstanding !  Thanks again.

Be right Back....

hi- you sure know your stuff...I have seen my blogs on google and I just started....it is great...thanks

Jason~ Thank you for clearing up some of the "how" Active Rain is good for SEO, because it does make a difference in how we choose and write what we write about. If this site were All about real estate there are those that would bore me to tears and I never would have learned a darn thing. Because of the incredible dynamics in all facets of AR, it really makes it one amazing tool, and networking system. Another good side to this conversation!

I was surprised the other day when a post I wrote the day before was on the first page in a google search, I too write about more than real estate. I try to write things to help out the area that I service.

Jason - Bravo!!  It's about 'damn' time someone said it like that! Thank you! I know I couldn't have explained it that way Einstein! You sound cool & smart too, maybe Shannon will let you borrow her tagline.

" Overall, my opinion on this subject is: Write whatever and whenever you want to, just make sure you are writing something!  If you are not taking advantage of this FREE opportunity to market yourself, you are missing the boat."

I loved it! Never too long winded for me. Greetings from Arizona

Jason I think you did a very good job of explaining this.  Personally, I think nobody wants to just see business business business with no personality on our blogs.  I think its good to let your personality shine through.  If church, recipes, driving around town, and random blogs about birds and sunshine are who you are then I think you should let people know and see that in your writting.  It doesnt matter if you blog is about real estate or not... if the consumer doesn't like who you are then they wont do business with you.  If they never see any personality, then how can they know and trust you with their business or referal??

Jason - it was long, but worth reading. I definitely agree with you.

Excellent explanation.  I think I have a good grasp on all this, but I could never put it into words.  I do like to feed the spiders and keep them happy!  Never thought of Google as a mistress, but will do moving forward.  Woman - so finicky! 

Amen Jason!

Crouch - Perhaps one of the best posts you've written (in my opinion) and my vote for the best post on this subject matter.  Now, perhaps I'm biased to an extent....since your opinion on this is shared by yours truly as well.  This debate and banter has been going on for so long now and will probably never end, which is healthy to an extent.  I'm huge for the writings of the Person behind the Professional....especially for the Real Estate Profession.  While I won't go into why I feel that is so important because the Good Lord knows I don't want Jessica Horton calling my comment 'Lord of the Rings:-)'  ... I do think that while the Real Estate got us here, the people tend to keep us coming back. 

Every Real Estate Professional here on Active Rain and throughout the land for that matter, holds a unique opportunity.  We live in trying times and are all afforded the opportunity to help, to educate, to give the individuals reading a glimpse behind the scenes of our profession and our person, to make them comfortable in reaching out to us for their questions and needs.  This isn't about 'taking our forum back' ... this is about taking our Industry back.  That starts one Professional, one Person....at a time.

Hi Jason,

Great post.  I had not had the time to really figure out why it worked so well, so now I know.

Between your fabulous post and Jason Sardi's comment ......The Defense should now rest ! Well said to the both of you ! By the way...i don't think your post was long, I thought it was informative ! Great job ! I love your fluf, my fluf and even 's Stewart's fluf ! Amazing at how no-one will step up to the plate about "fluf" when Bob writes about his precious little guy that I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT ! Gooooooooooooo fluf !!!!!

Well, in my opinion...balance to ME means writing about this, that and the other...members only, localism, real estate, hawaii, surfing, and whatever comes to mind. Who's to say what isn't related? Betty Jo's recipe for Fried Chicken or BBQ ribs (I saw that on the travel channel) is a good attention getter for the heart is through the stomach person :)

Balance does not mean all real estate or localism. It is about family, people, places and things.

If anyone types in Hawaii Superstitions....I'm there. In this context.... I am happy with what I'm doing and have variety (balance) I wouldn't worry too much about what everyone is saying.....

It's always been up to the writer what they want to write about. It's all about US ...and I ditto lil bro's comment :)

Jason,

I write about real estate and I write about "fluff."  I think whatever you can do to make the public realize that you are just like them, doing a job, enjoying family and friends and trying to make it a better world!  Thanks for your good post!

LOL at Candace - but I don't think "Smart Girl" fits you as well as it does Shannon.  I write whatever -- you know it's the whenever that's got me thrown. 

You did a great job in articulating your thoughts here.  Nicely Done, Crouch :)

Jason, you know I'm on your side! I became passionate about this very subject after reading the post by Lenn Harley, the same one Bob Stewart rebutted!

I think if we were to take a pole, not unlike Maureen's that also stirred me up, we would find that overall it's all about the PEOPLE    and not just the words.

I read Lenn Harley now even though my main focus is not on Hard Core Real Estate. Why? Because after reading one of her lighter posts she revealed bits and pieces of her personal life. Being a single mother and raising kids and yada yada ya.

Wow, I learned I liked  the person I was reading.

If I like them then I can respect them.

If I respect them I will listen to them.

If I listen to them "THEY" have done their jobs well. And, we might change the world.

Jason, I listen to you.

Later in the rain~Deb

 

 

I feel a recipe coming on:

2 tablespoons of Real Estate

1 tablespoon of family

1 heaping teaspoon of Steve Buscemi

Bake for 30 minutes at 420 degrees.

Remove from oven, lightly dust with "Shut the F Up about the content on my blog" topping.

Serve.

Jason this was worth reading!  I agree with you, google loves active rain and I don't think a few blogs that are not real estate related will change that with all of the new content posted here by the minute!  This is a network and you are right about allowing others get to know you.  Obviously it works because you wrote a post about church and received a referral!  Great post!

Hi Jason,  the content debate gets annoying...which obviously you feel the same.  Don't know what else to say about that.  :)

Jason, very informative post that puts a lot of issues to rest - thanks for doing the research to be able to answer these issues. Steve

Jason: This is a great post.  I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.  Personally, I also like reading personal nuggets from my fellow Realtors.  I get a peek into their personalities, so that if I ever do have someone to refer to another agent, I would know how to find the right personality match.  Go to AR! 

Jason, I loved your post, please keep up the good work so that others like me can learn more about seo

Very interesting and I learned about how all this works, thanks for the explanation, gosh there is so much to know and learn.

This was an awesome post. Fresh content is where its at. I am not an SEO expert either but I do know that once I started adding fresh content to my web presence via blogging I did see a huge pick up in business directly from people whom I initially came into contact with on the web. AR is an awesome network and Travis and I from Lake City Mortgage in Plattsburgh, NY (12901) are trying to spread the word locally! I think everyone should do the same... This is an awesome way for us all to come together to socialize, spring ideas off of each other, and attract a whole lot of google juice in the process!

I write blogs about someone peeing on himself and get comments all day - I write about taxes and nothing.  They say they don't want the fluff, but they want it. 

Thanks for explaining it all. 

darn...so precise and concrete. thanks for posting this. 

Darn Jason........this was a very good post. Way over my head...but good. I have always been 100% behind folks writing about whatever they want. Heck...I dress in drag and do stupid videos so I'm certainly open to just about anything. BUT....I also believe that all of us also have to do our best to make AR as a whole the best that it can be. I don't have the answer of how to achieve that but I think we can all agree with that being a goal. Can't we?

So what we need to figure out is what needs to be done to achieve that.

I did a couple of tests yesterday. First I logged out and looked at ActiveRain. The first thing I noticed was that 9 of the 10 features were about blogging. There was nothing there for the consumer. Now I completely agree that by far most consumers find us through a Google searching and are not just clicking on to ActiveRain. BUT....does it have to be that way? Is that an area that can be improved upon? As a comparison I heard that homegain.com gets about 75% of their traffic from direct hits. 

The 2nd test I did was to Google "real estate news". Inman came in 2nd. ActiveRain was no where to be found. I got tired of looking after the first 10 pages. How much more traffic would AR get if it ranked on the first page for this search? I venture to say a whole bunch. As an experiment, what if all of us used the phrase "real estate news" as the first part of our blog articles for a few months. I bet we could dominate Google for this search.

Now the only reason I mentioned these 2 things is to try and get folks to think about what could be if we put our collective minds together. It's not about what we should or should not write about...it's about what we can do to make this place even better than it is now.

The debate about what's appropriate content has been going on almost since day one. It's a debate that will never be won by either side. So my suggestion is we take that energy and put it into thinking of what we can do to make this already awesome place better. 

Well done Jason.

I feel a little bit more enlightened with each new branch of this conversation / issue. You make some great points to consider - I had my mind made up yesterday, and your post gives a different perspective on the other side of that argument. Thanks for the intelligent and thought-provoking post.

Jason - Once again thanks to Bob & company at active|rain they built it right the first time.

All one has to do is check the google ranking for your profile and blog.

As my webguy/hubby puts it, I should be extremely pleased and I am.

PS Just for kicks I checked Your rank is 3 and 3

Excellent post Jason.   YOur opinion is important to me.  Thanks for sharing all the technical stuff, I didn't know.  Have a great week.  :)

Jasonizer, Man I thought this post would never end. There is one thing I wish AR members did not do and that is post dirty jokes on this forum. If they do they need to make them Members Only.

Great post, Jason and thanks for taking time out yesterday to help me understand SEO and Google juice a little better.  As you know, I was a little freaked out about the juice not flowing someday and I don't even use it.

Word!

 

=]

Jason, once again, a very good post. I read the whole thing and all the comments, by the way, so much for being long. I really enjoy a lot of posts not related to real estate and I thank you for pointing out that it does not hurt SEO in the least. (I do not think the complainers know SEO anyway)

If I do not like recipes, I do not read it all, if I do like something that hits me, like Brad Andersohn's sons post on a guitar great and his video, which I watched all of because I love good guitar, then I eat it up and I thank him for the post. Why some people keep writing on this subject of what post is right or wrong in AR is beyond me, but, like I said, I will not read all of that post either. They bore me!!

I thank you for sharing your wonderful knowledge on this subject. Very illuminating. Thank you.

Jason - your perspective is always honest and purely stated! Well done my friend!  :-)  

Love the new pic!!

What are you guys talking about here? You don't expect me to read all this do you? Can someone fill me in?

hahaha!! 

Jason.....lots of interesting information.  I will be spending some time this evening checking out my source code.  I recently learned about this for my website.  Thanks for sharing.

Jason,

I don't know Google, I don't know SEO, I don't know how Google Juice works...I know human nature, I practically always blog to the consumer (everyone)...I know title insurance...and I know enough that when I'm getting good results, I must be doing something right!!! JMHO, Thanks,   Fran

Bryant has a good point that has already been made on other posts.  Google & People want Real Estate...at least when they Google us and end up here.  I think we give them that, overall.   They also appreciate the personality, I've seen that too.  The power of this forum...it is definitely worthwhile thinking about and implementing any idea that makes us better and puts the consumer (the one we work with and for) in better shape.  We are here for them, as much as for us.  I guess we should be  'Picking our Spots' so to speak.

Crouch - On a sidenote, I take back the Johnny Cash reference and now think that you may be going for the 'Tom Cruise thing from Risky Business.'  Either way, excellent post man. 

Jason - leaving the google side to the experts, I enjoy learning about real estate here, and technology, and marketing, and at the same time some of the posts that have touched me the most have revealed the writer's soul though not at all about real estate.

Ooohhh, now I get it?  Not really, well sort of, maybe someday?  You are the best at exlaining this in English to the folks like me!  Thanks.  I think what BB said is interesting, to write "Real Estate News" in our posts and see what happens?

BILL - You are certainly entitled to your opinion about the fluff.  Thanks for reading and thanks for your compliment!

MICHAEL - Thanks for stopping by - glad to be of help.  Keep up the good work!

LAURA - I debated over whether to write my own post, but I was gently pushed to do so this afternoon.  I am happy to hear that you found it helpful!

BART - Well done!  I used to attempt to tie everything to real estate, but I wanted to enjoy this experience, so I use my blog pretty much like an online journal.

 

Jason, great post.  Whack!  That was the sound of the metaphorical nail being hit on the head.  Great read and worth every minute of my time.  You just earned yourself a new subscriber here.  I look forward to future bloggings!

 

Josh

CANDI - Thanks for being such a supportive friend.  It sounds like this post really resounded with you, and that makes me happy.  Have a terrific night!

KIMBERLY - Thanks for your terrific comments.  I could not agree more.

PETER - Thanks for the encouragement.

Jason,  Makes sense to me.  Well, written post.  Thank you for your indept thoughts.

NAT - I think that is probably true of many people.  It's not as easy to articulate as I had thought.  Thanks for your comments, my friend!

MEL - And amen again.

SARDI - I think that might be the most relevant and thoughtful comment that I have ever seen from you on one of my posts.  Thanks for taking the time to compose this.  I agree wholeheartedly.

BILL - Well, now you know (at least the surface stuff)! 

MELISSA - Thanks for saying that.  I agree that Sardi's comment was very appropriate as well.  Go fluff indeed!

SALLY - That is a terrific point.  Balance really means writing about a variety of topics.  I also try to include a mix of different topics, and it works well for me overall.  Thanks for stopping by with your input!

MARY - As the founder of Family Ties and co-founder of Inspired by Song! and Jacked!, I clearly write about whatever I want to most weeks.  Sometimes, I have weeks that are 80% real estate.  Other weeks, it is 20-30%.  Thanks for your great comments.

ELAINE - I really need a nickname for you other than "E".  Aha!  How about E Street?  That is incredibly appropriate, right?  Let me know if you approve.  With regard to your comments, I agree that "Smart Girl" might require me to switch my profile pic yet again.  Thanks for your support, my friend.

DEB - Thanks so much for your perspective.  Good stuff!  And, thanks for listening.

PAUL - That sounds like a tasty dish indeed.

PATRICIA - Thanks!  I am happy to see that you enjoyed this post.

STEPHANIE - Yep.  Plain and simple.  Just yep. 

STEVE - You are welcome!  I enjoy this stuff, even though it is a little geeky, I suppose.

 

I agree with you and will write whatever I feel like writing.  As you say, all RE all the time gets a little BORING.  And I like that recipe of Paul Slaybaugh's... can you make mine a double?

Jason, Great explanation!  I agree with what you said!  I think having balance is a good in anything we do!

CHRIS ANN - I work the same way when it comes to referrals.  I use AR exclusively now, but only if I can find a person that I like from their posts.

JEAN - Will do.  Here is another post I wrote recently about SEO that you might like:

How to generate and track backlinks for your Active Rain profile - A few basic SEO tips

MIRIAM - I am glad you found this one helpful.  There is a lot to learn, and I certainly don't have the market cornered on this information.

CHRISTOPHER - Keep up the good work!  ActiveRain really is an awesome network!

SHANNON - Thanks for your funny comments!  Much appreciated.

ALAN - Thanks for your compliments!

Jason - As always, you have a great way of clarifying an issue and stating your thoughts in a way that makes so much sense.  You delivered an excellent point and obviously have a lot of agreement from others in the Rain.  I've enjoyed so many different aspects of A/R - learning new technology, marketing ideas, enhanced creativity, and best of all, about the real estate professionals who make up this network.  They're bright, caring, successful, ready to share, funny, supportive and above all, human with all the vulnerability that comes with it.

Awesome post Jason!  As a SEO dummy, it really helped me.  I've ignored the debate for the most part, because I'm gonna blog what I feel like blogging.  :) 

 

Lovin Paul's recipe!

Everything you state is 100% correct.  As long as there is a healthy portion of real estate content, everything will be A-OK with the Google Gods.

Active Rain is the first social networking site for real estate.  I remember reading that when Active Rain was first launched.  Social Networking defines itself.  It would not be a social networking site by definition if we were not socializing.  We cannot socialize by using only real estate speak.  Active Rain is also a form of escapism for all of us who have one thing in common: real estate.  With our career and passion all being the same, we are naturally going to want to socialize.

I would spend nowhere near as much time on Active Rain, nor would I bother contributing as much if there were not a healthy mix.

This is not MySpace where we are all typing H1, mY n4|\/|3 is _|3553!  We should only worry if it ever becomes that!  

 

BRYANT - First, thank you for the compliment.  Means a lot coming from you, sincerely.  I do agree that is a noble goal you mentioned (to make the network the best we can). 

With regard to HomeGain, I have a couple of thoughts, and these are not meant to detract from your point at all.

My wife (my own LW, as it were) has a phrase that she has used for years, "How to Lie Using Statistics".  I know you understand this phrase without me having to explain it.  HomeGain probably does get 75% of their traffic from direct hits, because they don't have any web presence at all, so they are dependent on spending lots of money to market to the consumer.  Also, HomeGain has a different goal in mind, as a lead generation company trying to capture consumers before they get to us, then sell us the right to work with them. 

If ActiveRain wanted to market more to consumers directly, I'm sure it would work well.  As you mentioned, if we all had a goal in mind with regard to specific terms, we could probably make that happen.  I would even be happy to serve on a roundtable to try to set some goals in this regard.  In order to get the SEO working properly, the AR guys would need to tweak a few things in order to target the term "real estate news".  It seems like Localism is the most likely place to see this succeed over time.  I don't know what the timeframe is for Localism to be removed from beta.  Do you?

I completely agree with you that AR would get a bunch more direct traffic if it ranked well for general real estate terms on a national level (e.g. real estate news, real estate, realtors, etc.).  Those are some tough terms to try to capture, but this would be the platform to make a run at it.

I truly appreciate your thoughful remarks on this topic.  You are a gentleman and a scholar.  Have a great night!

Your post about thisgot my gears grinding and I have an idea for those people who do want to encourage more "focused" bloggging.

They could start a Group called something like "Disciplined Blog Writers" (Oh- that made me think of some other REALLY funny, perhaps inappropriate, names.) They could have rules about how often to blog, or you get booted. They could have instructional emails about how to write for longtail SEO, phrasing for google juice, etc. They could even have monthly Themes- October you would write about local elections, January you write about tour guide stuff. Whatever.

Maybe it already exists.
Maybe I should start it. But that would be too focused for me, and I don't know enough. But I might join! LOL

There have been so many posts on this lately but yours states in no uncertain terms what I wanted to hear so I am in 100% agreement with you. I don't know a lot about SEO and backlinks and so forth but I know what I like and that is to get to know people here as the mulit-dimensional creatures we are - not just a real estate robot. Your point about conversing with clients while we drive around is a great point. If we just spew RE data all day, they'd run screaming for the hills. AR reflects who we are as members - some good, some ehhhh. But individuals all the same. Thanks.

Jason- Nicely put! I think you summed up the whole black magic mumbo jumbo of Google very well. If people want stats they will find them here. If they want joke they will find them here. It allows all of us the opportunity to stretch and grow as writers and agents.

Best,

Scott 

CANDIS - I appreciate that very much.  The way you put it is correct - "perspective".  No one has all of the knowledge on this topic.

KATHY - That pretty much sums it up.  I periodically check the PR myself.  It used to be a 2 for both.

RICKI - You are more than welcome.  Glad to be of help anytime.  I hope you're having a great week!

MANA LISA - You should have read the disclaimer.  As for the dirty jokes, I agree.  I haven't seen any of those around.  You must hang with a rough crowd.  :-)

AMANDA - I am happy to help anytime.  Thanks for your continued support!  It was good talking to you earlier.

JESSICA - To your mother.  ;-)

DAVID - It sounds like you have a healthy outlook on things around here.  Try to maintain that.  Thanks for commenting!

BRAD - That is one of the best compliments I have had in awhile, especially from a master blogger like you!  Thanks, man - you made me smile!

BOB - I bet Brad can explain it to you.  Glad you like the new picture!

PAM - Sounds like a fun evening.  I am kidding, of course, but the source code is important, along with backlinks, on-page elements, and on and on.  Thanks for stopping by to comment!

FRAN - Your blog is a good example of how to mix it up and keep things interesting.  Have a great night, buddy!

SARDI - Take a minute and read my response to Bryant above.  I agree as well.  As for Tom Cruise in Risky Business, now THAT is a compliment!  I am liking these comments more and more.

SHARON - I feel the same way about heartfelt posts.  I don't know if you read my blog very often, but I bet you would like it.  Just a hunch.  Thanks for stopping by to comment - have a great week!

AUDREY - I am glad that it was understandable ("in plain English", as you said).  As for Bryant's comments, please take a minute to read my response above.  He is a thoughtful man, and he had some great points to make.

JOSH - Thanks for subscribing!  Also, thanks for the "nail on the head" reference.  Makes me feel like the time I spent was well worth it.

JIMMY - Good to hear!  Thanks for reading, buddy!

GEORGINA - Paul has a patent on that recipe.  I will check with him.  Seriously, thanks for your nice comments!

ROBERTA - That sounds like a post in and of itself.  Thanks for your comments, my friend.

LYNN - Thanks!  I appreciate your eloquent comments.  Good stuff -

SHEREE - I also liked Paul's recipe.  You would probably like his blog as well if you liked that.  Keep up the good work!

JESSE - I also don't want AR to devolve into MySpace, but I do really enjoy the fun and interaction with my friends here.  Have a good one -

*Applause*  Kudos on a well written post.  You broke it down into simple, easy to understand terms.  I'm one of those that thinks we need to add 'fluff' - recipes, personal stories, etc.  People need to see us as human and relationships are not built on 100% business talk. 

Jason great post.  I've seen some agents delete AR posts thinking that posting here is somehow hurting there rankings.  I don't see how posting on a real estate related site can hurt ones real estate web site.  I do think it is wise to always work on your own content, but there are many different reasons to spend time on the rain.

Jason,

Awesome post.  Consumers chose real estate professionals largely based on the "know, like, and trust factor".  When we speak with our real estate buyers, sellers and transferees and ask whey they have chosen a particular real estate agent, it is because they have found something in the agent's profile they can relate to coupled with their credentials.

So hate to break it, but while the designations, expertise and experience are have to haves.  The person behind the credentials has to shine through too.  How else could it be with their being 1 mil. plus REALTORS?  Something has to speak to the people.  What better way to give a mouthpiece than a blog.  Even if it is about monkeys or chocolate pies....You never know what someone is going to connect with.  No one should ever underestimate the power of personal connection in the business world. 

Yep,

I got some idea of that on Jesse's blog. Read with interest the SEO part, it is not my territory and it is informative and interesting.

And I will check StatCounter.

Thanks

I guess I'll have to writ e bunch of posts tagged "real estate news" so that BB can find us on Google... 

But seriously, I think that the overall power of the A/R platform is pretty good, but I'm also not going after top shelf keywords.  I think there is room for a lot of play in with the lot of work... let's not make Lane a dull boy. 

Hi Jason, It was long but very good.  I didn't realize that you were doing your own SEO also.  I haven't been doing mine quite as long as you but have been for the last 7 years or so.  I find it hard to keep up with everything but I do know that content is KING and they like new content often.  I'm sure that's why blogs are doing so good in the search enginges.

Jason- You are totally right on about this! I get tired of hearing how we are diluted the content. Google is not stupid. The google spiders have their own set of intelligence:) and it is not low on the IQ scale. 

I, as you know, am a huge proponent of writing with transparency. I can not even count how many people have chosen us to be their agent because of personal posts I write!

Write and let live! Google is not going to slap us for writing with transparency. They will slap for spammy posts, and for non members coming in and spamming AR. That is what happened to Squidoo and we came out of that as well too!

You truly deserved this star. I was writing a long comment on Lenn's post about this and decided I better just write my own post about this subject!  

Recently, Todd Carpenter wrote a post over at The Real Estate Tomato that argued essentially that we should use our personalities when we blog, and not focus too too much on always making the content real estate related.  I agree and think that if I'm bored with what I'm writing, then the reader will be bored reading it.  Finally, we can all choose to skip over posts that don't resonate with us, no harm no foul.

Brian Brady and Lenn Harley.

There. I wanted to see them respond to you...maybe typing their names out will give them the 'google alert' to bring them to the party.

I've been regularly looking at mybloglog stats. You'd be amazed what kind of searches end up on my blog and how many folks click through to the listings I help Realtors post or to my website. Or maybe you wouldn't be amazed.

At any rate...I want folks to subscribe to my blog because they want too. I get bored with all real estate all the time. A spoonfull of sugar and all that.

I do think that they need to make localism about 100x more powerful than it currently is. I've written some great localism stuff and just get ignored...it's discouraging. But AR is a social network. That's part of the charm.

Alright, listen.  Yea, so I might not get no respect... but hey, you're all right. All right.  Anybody gives you any crap for socializing in the rain... tell 'em Danger said to scroll on.

I agree :))

I especially like the recipes - LOL!

Great perspective Jason, especially that it is important to write about something to get your name out there.

For example...the person who googles "Hemet weepy sap" is going to see me at the top of the list. And God knows I want that business!

Jason: Amen.. preach it brother! I love AR just the way it is! I have been able to inside the people who blog by the way they blog. It helps me to know them better and to find the people I would want to refer business to. AR GODS dont change a thing!

ps... I love the pic with the shades.... very GQ

Susan

SARAH - Sounds like a good plan.  Start the group yourself!  You can do it!

GENE - Thanks for your forceful agreement with me on these points.  Much appreciated!

SCOTT - I was trying to clear up as much as I good in one post.  I guess it resonated pretty well with folks here.  Thanks for your comments!

TINA - Thanks for the applause!  I am with you on this topic - we need fluff in order to be human.

CAROLYN - I have also seen that happen here, which always makes me sad, not only because I see some posts go away that I liked, but because they disappear for the wrong reasons.

REBECCA - I love the points you made here.  People will choose to work with the person they like the best, plain and simple.  If I can get people to like me before they even call or email me, how great is that?  By the way, you are in the Family Ties recap today.

JON - I learned about StatCounter many moons ago, and I would highly recommend it.

LANE - Nicely stated.  I am also not really going after "top shelf" keywords here - longtail stuff is so easy to capture.  Thanks for stopping by!

MARCHEL - Thanks for your kind comments.  I bought my domain in January 1998, so I guess it's been about 10 years since I began to care about search engine placement.  As you mentioned, content is king. 

KATERINA - I knew that you would agree with me on this post.  I have seen enough of your thoughts over the past few months to know where you stand.  Thanks for your support, my friend!

GRETCHEN - I haven't ever visited that site, but I will check it out.  Sounds like some very wise advice!

JOEY - Interesting technique, my friend.  Now I can make this post Members Only and the Google alert won't find it.  But seriously, I doubt that I would be surprised by the keyword thing, based on some of the funny searches I have seen.  I agree with you that Localism has huge potential, so I hope they can make it the powerhouse that it could be.  By the way, you are also #1 on Google now for "Hemet weepy beauty" and "Hemet weepy beast", both of which are sure to bring you some sweet business!

JESSE - You really need to come out of your shell.  Don't be afraid to express yourself - this is a safe place.

JENNIFER - I think I need to start a recipe group now.  Maybe Inspired by Recipes, or a Family Ties cookbook?

WAYNE - Thanks!  I think it is important to use the tools at our disposal.

SUSAN - Thanks for your exuberant support, as always, my friend.  I agree - wouldn't change a thing, personally.  Thanks for the compliment about the new picture.  I have an honest question because I got a funny email earlier tonight from a friend that I haven't seen for awhile.  Does it look like I have a mustache in that picture?  If so, I need to reconsider. 

That's funny...I haven't been called Hemet Weepy Beast for at least a week.

HEMET WEEPY BEAST - Can I just call you Joey sometimes?

I know, I know.  I would be a wallflower, but I mean, do you have any idea how big a wall I would need?  Nah, it's much more fun to be Danger's alter ego.

Btw, I would leave a serious comment, but it's been a day and you already know I totally agree with you. 

Crap... gotta go... Danger is in the liquor cabinet. 

DANGER... GET OUT OF THERE

JESSE - I know you agree already, so that's cool.  With regard to Dangerfield, it's funny that you wrote the "Can't we all just get along?" post (as a side note, Slaybaugh wrote one in December with the same title that was also featured and caused all kinds of consternation), because it reminds me of a comedian who talked about the Rodney King incident, and how people who didn't even have a vested interest in the verdict looting, and saying, "What they did to Rodney Dangerfield was wrong, man."

Very intelligent, and COOL explanation!

HOPE - Well, thank you!  I certainly appreciate that.  Glad you enjoyed it.  I think you may have also subscribed to my blog, since the number increased.  Thanks for that, too!

Jason, you made an excellent point (actually many of them) about being "all real estate" can be boring to the public.

I have a friend who is a securities broker.  Talking about stocks and bonds, IRAs and annuities, is ALL he talks about, all day long.  If you bring up baseball or football or the weather, he'll find some way to turn the subject to his career.  And it bores the living daylights out of everyone who talks with him!

ERIC - That is a real-life example that we can all learn from.  Thanks for bringing that tidbit for all of us!

Thanks for the good explanation. What you say makes a lot of sense.

BOB & CAROLIN - You are welcome!  I am happy that you found it helpful and informative.  Have a great week!

Jason,

I'm going to disagree with you on a few minor points which strengthens Lenn's position. Remember, Lenn is a a practitioner who has: 

(a)- closed over $100MM in real estate transactions, from her web presence, over the past two years (comment on Bob's post) 

(b)- Started her carefully crafted internet marketing plan in 1994 

I, like you, don't claim to be a SEO expert but here's my take:

Also, every single post is titled with "REAL ESTATE BLOG", followed by the author-assigned part of the title.  Clearly, this is adequate to make Google understand that the hundreds of thousands of pages generated here are real-estate related, even if the body of the post itself is about the weather, or a chocolate pie, or an unfunny joke.

I'll stipulate that Google loves new content but moreover loves new relevant content.  The Title "Real Estate Blog" in the search engines isn't good enough (as most of us found out last night when Google sweeped and reassigned Page Rank).  Google has gone on to crawling the text to look for relevant word (I didn't say keyword) density.  If that density approaches but doesn't exceed certain percentage guidelines, you have a winner.

Google does look at Active Rain public posts, as part of a big page or network.  Showing a rising percentage of irrelevant content will potentially weaken the relevant word density  

It would simply be really hard to ever have much effect on how Google views this site, as it is already well-established as a real estate authority site.  Yes, that is just my opinion, but it is not an uninformed one.

I'm going to have to disagree and ask you to Google the phrase "real estate blog" .  Nothing from Active Rain shows up on the first 20 pages of that search (I stopped there).  The tags mustn't be working.  I tried "real estate site" and stopped at page ten; no Active Rain. "active real estate site" snared first position as did "active realestate blog".  "active real estate"  #3.  No page one for "real estate information" nor "real estate advice" nor "real estate professionals" nor "real estate news" nor "real estate bloggers".  #6 for "real estate blogging professionals"

Austin..I think we have a problem.  Ya see where I'm headed with this?

On a separate note, I use StatCounter to track my AR blog visits (which are just over 100,000 now), and I see where the consumers enter my blog initially.  Currently, they are coming directly from Google and Yahoo.

Jason, you've been here since August, 2007.  I started a weblog at the same time. I had over 120,000 hits in two months.  Fully 40% of those hits came from search engines.

Ya see where I'm headed with this? 

With that in mind, why not have something interesting for them to look at while they are on your blog?  You got them that far - is it time to show them more market data, or do you think they might enjoy a funny story?

I think the real estate shoppers interest is in listings.  Zillow's #1 position in "real estate site' comes from the aggregation of listings.  Listings draw in consumers.

I'm going to err on Lenn's side.  Why?  She has a proven track record, Jason.  She knows how to make consumers visit her websites.   

 

 

Jason, thanks for this. It is so confusing, google is confusing and I guess that is how it is suppose to be. I try to be balanced. When I first started AR I did post on blogging, haven't in ages, but I did one last night, after reading all the posts from Lenn, Jessica, Brian, and Bob, I put it in savings. I'll probably post later. I would like to see AR come up in real estate news but am torn because I want to be true to myself. Yes, I get business from it. 

I have learned so much here because of all the helpful posts on technology and I would hate it if this place became just a place to put market reports and real estate. I would be bored to tears and if a consumer is searching for real estate information we will come up in our localism posts.  

Jason,

A few points i would like to bring up if I may.

My only issue is not about what-you write or what you want to read but if someone posts a joke or a recipe or anything for that matter then how would the person who is posting the jokes prove it's really their material? It's easier to make up your own post about a similar subject and morph it very close to but not exactly like the original author but does that mean if I steal a joke from George Carlin and post it here just to post a funny joke...don't I need his permission to post it? And how can you know it was his joke or anyone else's.

It seems people think they can post someone else's material and get away with it maybe because it doesn't apply. Thats all I'm saying. I don't read jokes but sometimes read recipes. I think I actually posted one of my own recipes for the holidays but it was mine. If I steal a recipe from Bobby Flay or Rachael Ray...I'm sure if their attorney saw it they would be sending me a cease order. I agree that a member post doesn't get indexed in google...how can it...the public can only see it if someone else copies it to the public forum. I'm pretty sure it doesn't do anything for your ranking in google when you post a members only post. I do know from speaking to few SEO experts that if you post a local post about....let's say your community...it's not great to get so many comments and it drags you down in the google rankings from what I hear.

Jason:  Thanks for the info on Google.  I agree that it is confusing to us who have not been doing SEO for a long time.

Jason, your post and all the comments are very good and interesting. Surely, I still have a lot to learn and I know I'm in good hands with you, Bryant, Lenn, Katerina and all others. I'm very new to this and try to mix up my posts with listings, personal, and real estate.

Wow, great conversation going on here.  I agree with bits of all of it.  In short, ActiveRain is both work and social for me.  My own blog is where my focus is on rankings but here on ARI post real estate localism most of the time and then a few unrelated.  But, while I don't write as much about "fluff" I love reading them and find AR to be a great source of friendships and entertainment and would truly miss that if the focus became totally about real estate.  Our relationships are what keep AR so strong and I wouldn't discount that when considering content!

defintiely agree Jason. Mnay of my posts have reached page one of googel from here..acitve rain is doing a great job of helping us find rankings

I am definitely not the one to say if Google will like us any more or any less due to some goofing around, but I personally enjoy not always having to read serious content on AR.

 

Is part of this being a debate personal?  I know I got a comment on my recent post with a poll (about what should be outlawed on AR)  about  people posting about their families.  That was not a choice on my poll.  It had never crossed my mind as an area that people were worrying about what others were posting on their own  AR blog.  I recognized the person who left the comment as someone who had left a very nasty comment on my blog previously that made me go look at who was in their market that they would be slamming, (he did not slam this person by name but the comment was about people blogging for points) but when I went to look at the state where he is located I could see who he might be referring to.

I even missed the commenter' reference to family in his comment on the poll until the blog was swarmed with people who were picking sides.. "I agree with"  and someone ; - )  repeated the word "family"  or maybe said something about their kids.

I posted the poll with choices like jokes, recipes, video's that are NOT on the topic of real estate, animated Gifs on the poll.  People posting about their families never crossed my mind but I put in a choice of "competitors in my market." IMHO when you see a comment  such as "jokes should not be allowed on ActiveRain" or references to people posting something "just for points" you can go to the market of the person commenting and figure out who "the burr under their saddle" is.

I think there are some red herrings in some posts in this great debate.  Dire warnings re: Copyright and Google Juice ...  and that anyone is endorsing plagairism. 

Day 5 of no Internet at home...  Sorry I'm a little late chiming in here, but it's not for lack of interest or lack of opinion on this topic.

Everything you say is "right on" - I usually find that critics of ""content" are often relatively new to ActiveRain who have not experienced its magic first hand.  It never ceases to amaze me what posts rise to the top on google, which generate the most comments, and which ones motivate consumers to call - such as the one you mentioned that was about your church.

To the "content" critics, I say JUST MOVE ON.  You don't like it, don't read. don't comment, don't participate.  It's that simple.  You won't miss ActiveRain and vice-versa.

Jason:

Thanks for taking my comment in humor (as it was given).  And for figuring out my little tweet.  I was wondering if you would even see it. 

Just remember...

Chuck Norris can get a feature on AR without even posting. And... 

Chuck Norris doesn't have a smite button...he has a roundhouse button.

Oh yeah...Chuck Norris has blogged to infinity in points on Active Rain...twice.

Chuck Norris rocks!!!

Way to go Jason~As usual..I am in complete agreement with your opinions here.

BRIAN - You are certainly entitled to your opinion on this matter.  Lenn has a wonderful and proven track record - no one is stating anything differently.  I applaud her successes!  She is a sharp lady, and I think we would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would impugn her credentials. 

Thanks for your research on various keywords.  I did see that ActiveRain is #1 for "real estate social network", and #1 for "real estate community", and #2 for "real estate network", and #2 AND #3 for "real estate networking".  It would seem as though the AR founders or SEO guys have some different keywords in mind.  Perhaps they have a bunch of backlinks with these terms - I really don't know.  I do know that if they are #1 or 2 or 3 for these terms, they clearly must have put some thought and effort into garnering these particular positions.  Perhaps it would be wise to make sure those in charge of SEO at ActiveRain know which terms you find more desirable. 

With the keywords in mind, it would seem as though this is not a debate between those who want "all real estate, all the time" vs. those who want freedom to post whatever they want on their blogs.  Instead, I don't think that AR has even attempted to go after the types of terms that you indicated.  Perhaps this is related to what I mentioned to Bryant above (i.e. they are not marketing directly to consumers with ActiveRain - instead WE are the audience).  I believe that Localism is meant to become this platform whenever the re-design occurs.  I think we can all agree that Localism should have a more than adequate volume of content when they are ready to launch it "non beta".  I have no idea when that will occur. 

Currently, I see that Localism.com is #2 on Google for "local real estate info", and #3 for "local real estate".  The AR Texas profile page is #4 for "texas real estate agents" (same with the variation "tx").  In fact, this was how the New York Times found me when they called for my opinion on some environmental issues in Austin (unfortunately, I wasn't included in the final article, but that is a separate issue I suppose).  This particular keyword seems to have pretty consistent placement for AR in other states (e.g. #3 for "california real estate agents", #4 for "ny real estate agents").  I would love to see Localism become the phenomenal platform that it has the potential to become.

I agree with you that listings draw customers, which is why I have always made the IDX home search the easiest thing to find on my company's website.  However, no one with half a brain is going to launch a real estate website without having listings for consumers to look at.  In other words, EVERYONE offers this - why not make an attempt to distinguish yourself in some way? 

With regard to the hits you quoted for your outside blog, was that unique visits or hits?  My website www.austintexashomes.com has generated 262,619 hits since April 1st, but the unique visitors number is much lower.  Just curious about the semantics.  I am not sure if statcounter.com is even powerful enough to track hits separate from visits for my AR blog.

For me, the bottom line was stated nicely by Bryant - no one will ever "win" this debate.  Heck - I don't even enjoy arguing.  I think you will always have people on each side.  Some people will worry that the content is diluted, and they may choose to go elsewhere.  Others would bolt in a heartbeat if the criteria for "what to write" was made more stringent.  I think it is obvious where you and I both stand on this, and it is doubtful that we are going to change each other's minds.  However, I do appreciate you bringing your perspective and sharing it here.

I hope you have a terrific and productive week! 

Jason,

Amen, brother!

We don't need others to police our content. Simply don't read it and move on, if you're seeking "hardcore" real estate blogs...they're available. I've posted many of these, and I've also enjoyed "off-topic" blog posts.

My attitude is to educate others, learn from others, be entertained, entertain others, have fun and take advantage of what appears to be awesome opportunity for FREE ONLINE MARKETING!

Just lighten up and enjoy this thing! 

 

MISSY - I couldn't have said it better myself.  I think the key phrase in your comment was "I do get business from it".  If that is the case, why change anything?  As for the post(s) about blogging, bring it out of savings!  You are clearly a consummate professional.  Honestly, none of us really knows all of the ins and outs of Google.  I do agree completely with you - if it becomes nothing but real estate, I don't think I would be around very much.

NEAL - With regard to posting jokes or recipes without proper credit given to the original source, I agree with you that this is probably not wise.  I haven't ever posted a recipe at all, and the times that I have used others' humor, I mention the source, but I don't write "joke" posts per se.  On the point about the comments bringing you down, I don't see how that would/could apply, but maybe I'm wrong.  Perhaps all of the extra text that is indexed along with the post would lower the keyword density enough to harm the post?

LINDA - You are welcome.  I am happy to help.

PETRA - I think you are on the right path.  Keep up the good work!

DIANE - Thanks for your frank comments.  I agree with you - I would miss the friendships if it suddenly shifted dramatically around here.  I appreciate your input.

ANNE and EDDIE - That's great to hear!  Keep up the good work and you will continue to see good results, I'm sure.

EMILY - Fair enough - thanks for your comments!

MAUREEN - I wanted to go back and read through the comments on your post before responding here.  I left a more forceful comment there than was necessary, but I guess I feel passionately about this topic. 

I didn't even think about the person you are talking about when I wrote this post, but I see what you were talking about after looking at the comments again.  I know that "family" was not part of your poll options in the first place.  I voted for "paid blog content" merely because it strikes me as disingenuous to hold up someone else's writing as your own.  With that in mind, I could not agree more - advocating plagiarism is a scary thought. 

I will unequivocably state that if someone doesn't want to read or hear family stories, they will likely not enjoy my blog very much, because my family is an integral part of my life and they are often on my mind when I sit down to write. 

Thanks for your comments!

Jason, great informative post. I agree with you, it shows the "Real Person" side of the Active Rain Member when they write outside the Real Estate box once in awhile.

Hey,

 

How much google jucie do you get on a post that has 105 comments?:)

MARGARET - Your comments were terrific.  I love the last two lines of your remarks.  Great stuff!

JESSICA - I enjoyed the brevity of your first comment.  Chuck Norris writes posts with his mind.  Chuck Norris has someone whose job it is to push the Roundhouse button for him.  Chuck Norris has obtained ActiveRain, which will be known as ActiveChuck from now on.

SARDI - Chuck Norris knows.

DOUG - Thanks!  I appreciate your supportive comments.

KIRK - You have summed up my experience here as well.  Thanks for your pertinent remarks.

DUANE - I find myself outside of that box pretty often, but it works for me.  Thanks for your compliment - glad you enjoyed the post!

CHRISTOPHER - More than normal, in my opinion, because is more text being spidered and more opportunities to be found during a Google search.

Thanks for your research on various keywords.  I did see that ActiveRain is #1 for "real estate social network", and #1 for "real estate community", and #2 for "real estate network", and #2 AND #3 for "real estate networking". 

Touche, Sir. 

It would seem as though the AR founders or SEO guys have some different keywords in mind.  Perhaps they have a bunch of backlinks with these terms - I really don't know.  I do know that if they are #1 or 2 or 3 for these terms, they clearly must have put some thought and effort into garnering these particular positions. 

I think I know why. 

Perhaps it would be wise to make sure those in charge of SEO at ActiveRain know which terms you find more desirable

Done and done. 

Instead, I don't think that AR has even attempted to go after the types of terms that you indicated.  Perhaps this is related to what I mentioned to Bryant above (i.e. they are not marketing directly to consumers with ActiveRain - instead WE are the audience)

Agreed.  I think that is the REAL problem Lenn and I had.  The USP in 2006 (and early 2007) was that we would get CONSUMER exposure.  You're probably hearing us try to address this issue.

For me, the bottom line was stated nicely by Bryant - no one will ever "win" this debate.  Heck - I don't even enjoy arguing.  I think you will always have people on each side.  Some people will worry that the content is diluted, and they may choose to go elsewhere.

Bryant, as usual, is correct in his assessment.  Again, the "old-timers" have gone elsewhere out of this very frustration- the broken quid pro quo.  Jason, in early 2007 there were only 4-5 thousand of us, heck, there were  only 100 of us on the network at any given time...and our keyword search terms were skyrocketing to the top of Google Search.  Today, that just ain't the case.  As you say, networks evolve.  I've seen MySpace work for business and then become ineffective- perhaps Active Rain is suffering the MySpace life cycle curve.

Unfortunately, I think you're more correct than not correct; Active Rain has lost its SEO efficacy and is merely a social networking site.  That fits more into their revenue model than anything else.

Good points- I'm a dinosaur, now. 

 

BRIAN - I can certainly understand your frustration based on this.  Thanks for coming back to weigh in again.  I appreciate it. 

I use Statcounter as well, and my traffic - and my business -  comes from my WP blog, which just changed to a PR5. Goggle sends FAR more traffic to my blog and to my web site than it does to my AR blog posts. When I began noticing that last summer, I decided to put my emphasis on my WP blog, with less on AR. I only occasionally post on AR now, and then usually just Localism (listings). 

When I write a new post on my WP blog, I get a Google Alert within an hour or two. When I post something new to Localism, I never get a Google Alert for it. I remember reading on another's post that they had the same experience.

When I started blogging on AR in 2006, AR did a good job of getting me from page 10 to page 2 and sometimes page 1. Now my blog and web site are on page 1 and my AR stuff is back on page 3. So I agree with Brian in that AR just doesn't seem as effective as it once was.

I get more jokes and cartoons than I need already.  But AR blogs should allow extended posts on subjects outside of the very specific real estate criteria, if they are informative, entertaining or creators of business. So weather, vacations, websites and local sunsets should all be OK.

ELAINE - I actually post here and on my outside blog with the exact same content.  Sometimes one of them makes it, sometimes the other.  A couple of times, I have seen the same post get indexed twice on the first page of Yahoo, once for Localism, and once for AR. 

It's funny that you mentioned the Google alerts, because every single public post I write now on AR shows up on my Google Alert.  You really don't have to choose between AR and the outside blog.  There is a misconception that this is "duplicate content", but that is an entirely different concept, like having three domains with identical content across all three.  That will get you banned.  Having a post in two places is the same as being syndicated.  Just something to consider -

JERRY - I write a lot of stuff about my family, but I have never posted a joke or cartoon here.  Thanks for your input.

Hi Jason:  Thanks so much for going into such detail, but still keeping what you had to say rather simplified... instead of getting all technical.  Very worthwhile stuff... and as far as content is concerned... I totally agree with you.  About a 50/50 mix of real-estate related stuff and personal or non-real estate stuff seems to be a good mix for me.  Other may vary, but as long as it works for them, who cares what the mix is ?  Take care...

Hmm...I am surprised that Jason has not yet commented on the debate I mentioned on my blog...Especially since all this debate talk in this title post & stuff my Melissa sparked me to write it

JASON - I guess not being on AR as much has caused me to miss a lot of the debating, although I've seen some of it.  I've always enjoyed writing the non-real estate related posts, but I've had less time to spend on AR, so I have chosen to do a lot of real estate posts when I am here.  I like a balance, but I admit that I haven't been balanced lately.  The posts that are appealing to consumers seem to have started generating more contacts than my non-real estate posts.  However, I know that you and others have had a lot of success with referrals by writing about your life, and ultimately, that is what most of us are here for.  I'm very happy with the Google juice that I've gotten, and hopefully it will continue going forward, regardless of what I write.

Thanks for sharing your "opinion".  It was very encouraging to me.  I, too, think the public might want to know about our personal, everyday lives.  Thanks for posting!

I didn't realize there was a big debate going on. I do however like a little variety. It's good to have something different to read.

Jason, I guess I got in at the tail end of your conversation.  I had been following several discussions including Lenn's. I think you are right on when you said "If you are not taking advantage of this FREE opportunity to market yourself, you are missing the boat."  Nothing is permenant. Take advanatage of the opportunity.  AJ

Hi Jason, I think most consumers and realtors enjoy reading about other topics in addition to real estate.   Variety is the spice of life.

Jason my friend, I guess I've been under a bridge!  Fist I heard of this was this AM on Melissa Grants post, which I flagged as a goo post since it reflects my point of view also :), and was well written, here is what I commented there with;

Melissa, I flagged your post, here is what I said to AR,

 "All I can say is, "Amen Melissa".  Stop all this crazy she did, he did, she said, he said, and go to work.  Either selling real estate, blogging, spending time with your family or whatever floats your boat.  Liz Carter"

I wrote a post on my groups (Texas Real Estate group) mascot a longhorn cow named Tex getting married, yes I did.  I did it for fun (don't tell Miss Molly Blogger or Mr. Tex Ran, since they think they're real:).  I did it for fun, the comments are a hoot, if you can't laugh at this, you have NO sense of humor, which is a sad thing!  it has also been a big stress reliever.  And I don't really care if anyone thinks this should or should not be on AR.  DON'T READ IT if you think it's silly and has no place here, so read a serious blog about SEO, or whatever floats your boat.

I've been selling Real Estate for 33 years, and most of those years I was so busy I did not have time for anything but work.  Now I have more free time, and have loved finding AR as a place to help others be a better Realtor, tell my stories, learn from others, help my SEO, post my listings, etc.  I'm coaching several agents, for free on AR, while I pay $20,000 a year for my Real Estate coaching because I want to help, and it makes me feel good.  So if I want to have fun with a blog about two cows getting married, that's my business and whoever else wants to share in the fun.  Mr. Tex Rain and Miss Molly Blogger are getting married on June 1st for anyone that would like to come to the wedding by the way.

 Life is short and very sweet, so lighten up, and laugh more, you'll live longer!  Liz

Surely this did not start over my wedding of Tex Rain & Molly Blogger LOL?  Liz

PS, I'm on page 1 of Goggle on most searches, so something is working + I'm having fun, and love to write, although I have not leaned the art of brevity :).  If I want a ton of buyers & sellers I'll get back on the phones and get them...I know that works.  Good old fashioned hard work, don't set around waiting for someone to call you, call them.  L

All I can say is that in my 43 years on this earth I have found time and time again that EVERYTHING seems to work better with balance and in moderation.  That's what I love best about AR... it's balanced, it's diverse and it doesn't take itself so seriously that it doesn't have a place on it for two good looking cows who are so clearly in love to hold a wedding so they don't have to live in sin!

Thanks for sharing your insight Jason!  As always, it's greatly appreciated.

Jason, I think AR would loose some its appeal and members if everything was real estate 24/7/365.  Talking real estate is fun but not all the time.

Brian Bartley

Well said!!  Everyone needs the option to post whatever they want and read whatever they want, with decency in mind... I enjoy all types of posts, those about your family .. the shortsale guys,  the jokes that blrguy posts, the daily uplifting stuff of Danny Thorntons and Sally from Hawaii..and the adventures of Ms Jessica,.  I would hate to see this site become RE only.  How dull that could be?  Keep up the good stuff all ya'll bloggers.  Smiling here in Austin,

Hey Jason,

Thanks for explaining this in a manner that even I, and admittedly techo-idiot can understand.  We just took our first listing from an Active Rain consumer.  The blog that grabbed his attention was about Short Sales.  But I agree with you about mixing in some personality once in a while.  I think as a society we've become to antiseptic and people want to see the human side of someone before they do business with them.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks Jason for the valuable content.  I have a question...How could AR possibly police the fluff, you refer to, that could change the way google values AR? or can it even be policed?

June - As I mentioned in the post, I don't think it needs to be policed in the first place, and it would be a Herculean task to do so.  Good question, but I don't really have the answer on that one, nor do I think it is necessary.

Jason somehow I had missed this excellent post way back when it was written. Great job explaining how AR is viewed by the search engines.

Bill - Coming from you, that means a lot.  I am glad you liked it.  I did my best to explain this in a way that wasn't overly "techy".  Actually, I am not overly techy, either.  At any rate, thanks for your supportive comments.

My gosh, thank you for an excellent post. I know I am not an expert, but I continually show up on page one of both Yahoo and Google. (Yahoo loves me for some reason, you know why?) This explains why I can do it with minimal training. I operate in the parameters of your explanation. Thank you as I will continue to do so.....

I have no problem with AR content.  Actually I think there is less fluff than I continue to expect to see.  The Groups make the difference i think - I subscribe just to the groups that have the info I am interested in, and so I don't see the fluff and don't need to sort through it.

Thanks for taking the time to read my exhaustive treatise on this topic!

Hi Jason,

Thanks for taking the time to write a summary in a way that I can understand!  This is very helpful.

Jason,

WOW!  Great post!  (like it would be anything but a great one)...  ;-)

Thank you for the link.  I must have missed this one while I was lurking in the shadows...trying to figure out what the heck to write about. 

You are an inspiration.  Thanks for sharing your stories. 

Ann Hayden in lovely Wildwood, Missouri

Jason: As always very impressive post.  I am fairly new at A/R but I do enjoy reading most of the posts about Real Estate, Life, Family, etc., this is what is important to me and I firmly believe that customers want to know their realtor.  You would know more about SEO that I would in a life time, but I do enjoy all your posts.  Keep blogging away.

I have the problem of having really content rich posts relative to the market and the posts that get a lot of comments and are not exactly real estate related.  This was a very enjoyable post to read.

I gotta ask is this post in the last ActiveRain newsletter?

Maureen - No.  I referred Ann Hayden to this post because she mentioned hearing people talk about what should or should not appear on our AR blogs, and that she was told to "stick to business".

JAson,

Thanks again for the post!  And the link.

Ann

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