People search more specifically these days... and most Realtors aren't prepared

The phrase ‘The Long Tail’ was made popular by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 Wired Magazine article to describe certain business and economic models. Later Anderson, the editor of wired, authored a best selling book on the subject.

Not to say that one should disregard the ’short tail’, but from an economic standpoint it may be cost- prohibitive. The importance of the ‘Long Tail’ theory as it relates to a regionally- based Real Estate business is demonstrated by a Realtor that has achieved search engine visibility and/ or discover- ability for the maximum no. of variations on a highly targeted [or more ambiguous/ short tail] search.

Long tail key phrases are those topics & keywords affiliated with one’s primary targeted search terms & phrases (i.e. Malibu Home) also considered ’short tail’ terms & phrases. It suggests that, while a prepared Realtor may generate less individual discovery for those variations of a highly targeted search phrase (i.e. Malibu home near Pacific Ocean with views) than for their primary short tail target (i.e. Santa Barbara Home), that the collective impact from buyer discovery for those variations can be much greater. Let’s face it, the battle to rank for ‘Aspen Home’ is expensive and it’s fought for by thousands; whereas, ‘Vail CO home walking distance with view’ is likely far less competitive and/or costly to compete for. The fact is, people are searching differently these days. They search more words OR much more specifically… but most Realtors aren’t necesarily targeting them. Blogging consistently on one’s marketplace, by the way, is an incredibly cost- effective means for maximizing visibility OR for achieving ‘Long Tail Search Engine indexing.’

Enough rhetoric, let’s look at the genuine article. A deeper look into a Resort [area] Real Estate client demonstrates a commitment to blog [and to be indexed] on virtually everything going on in a marketplace. In this example, we’ll examine one month’s worth of client data [rounded/6 search engines tracked] to demonstrate the kind of Home Buyer & Seller ‘Long Tail’ search discovery they have generated… and how:

I. Short Tail Discovery: 19% [190/1,015 = The town looked at including the words Property, Real Estate, Home or Homes 190 Total]
II. Long Tail Discovery: 81% [825/1,015 = …]
 * Specific Communities: 10 different/ 130 Total Searcher Discoveries
 * Condominium/ Time Share Complexes: 10 different/ 299 Total
 * Developments: 7 different/ 89 Total
 * Clubs: 3 different/ 101 Total
 * Restaurants/ Local Business: 3 different/ 27 Total
 * Listings or specific Street names: 5/ 32
 * Developers: 1/ 56
 * Random/ Miscellaneous: 91

Again, this only represents search discovery and does not inlude repeat visitors, subscribers or folks who come to the site directly; however, the firm makes a commitment to blog [and to be indexed] on virtually everything going on in their marketplace AND, in our view, they demonstrate how blogging is not only a successful ‘Long Tail’ execution strategy, but cost- effective versus the war waged by thousands for the most obvious organic search results OR ‘Short Tail’. Beyond cost, Blogging requires a small commitment of time and we’d argue the firm is benefiting from a much, much more qualified buyer search discovery than those solely focused on the most highly sought after [i.e. Vail Real Estate] key phrases.

Folks, you can achieve the ‘Long Tail’: we recommend consistent, on- topic blogging!

While content and leading edge blogging technology should be priorities no. 1 & 2, good link structure is very advantageous to competitive search result placement. The Search Engines certainly use links to evaluate your web presence and your content, but there’s a lot to know on the subject. For more, read on:

It's of great importance that Realtors blog regularly because Search Engines stand between most Realtors and their new business

With 80- 90% of all home buyers & sellers searching long before they contact a Realtor, today’s’ reality is Search Engines stand between most Realtors and their new business.

Understanding this, we’d argue that it’s of great importance to blog regularly and to get indexed regionally in as many ways as possible. Generating indexing for the state of Real Estate sales, for new listings, subdivisions, developments, communities, school systems, new restaurants and timely coverage of ‘whatever is new  in the area’ is the idea; however, if you’re like most of us, it’s not always easy to come up withe next post.

Here are some ideas for keeping a Real Estate Blogs’ content current:

1. Using RSS Reader, subscribe to all the sources of Real Estate & local community information you can. You know of good sources, but as a means for new ideas and with a little research you can easily identify more. You may think, “what Realtor has the time to look at them all of the time?” The great news is you don’t have too and that an RSS Reader makes it simple. By setting up a free Google Reader [Bloglines, Newsgator, MyMSN or MyYahoo] account you can generate a flow of ideas from your sources and the information will accumulate in one orderly spot for when you’re prepared to blog ;-) 

2. Use persistent search OR Alerts. Google Alerts, for instance, allows for the persistent search on any specific community or Real Estate subject. Just set up relevant keyword & key phrase queries [IE: Peoria IL AND property OR homes OR real estate, etc., etc.] to gather any coverage on the subjects of you’re choosing. The information will accumulate in one orderly spot for when you’re prepared to blog ;-) 

3. Use the Real Estate information you’re regularly sharing with people in your Blog. You’re answering questions by email & phone everyday and you share valuable local expertise, facts & information. Blogging those same information bites should be a priority. If so and rather than with one person, you’re potentially opening your service up to hundreds of home buyers & sellers who are searching for those same answers
 
4. Interview some local business people. Why not ask other locals about their businesses and their opinions on local issues & events? It makes for great Real Estate- centric content and you’re expanding your resource for great ideas in a painless way. What’s more, promote them and reciprocation is likely

5. Look for supplemental Blog Writing Services: If you’re just too busy, look for a local person who can write, a virtual assistant or maybe even a Real Estate team member. At Real Estate Blogsites, we offer experienced supplemental blog writing services so that, in one way or another, you’re always fighting the competitive race for search engine visibility & discover-ability

Search Engines identify, consume and index content differently

The simple answer is, every Search Engine has a different algorithm for ranking content. It’s only likely they also differ in their methods for identifying & consuming content.

Yahoo, Google, MSN and the other engines compete for search traffic and it’s unlikely they approach the science in a similar fashion, so their technology will react differently to content based upon their differing proprietary algorithm signals. Google is known to examine content based upon over 200 factors, which could include the amount of content on a page, age of the site, keyword density, how many links are coming into a page, quality of links coming to a page, overall link structure, a site’s general new content activity, ability to present consistent themes and many many more. 

In fact, it has been our general experience here that clients are indexed by Google much quicker and with greater long tail recognition for keywords and key phrases than with other engines. In all, it’s highly unlikely that any one website or blogsite will rank the same on all the search engines all the time.