Greatest Real Estate Agent In The World Contest - A competition for Real Estate SEO supremacy

OK, I am in...this sounds like fun... (in a masochistic sort of way!!). My goal is to learn from this and try out new stuff. Very cool idea, Bramlett! Kudos!

Very cool idea and a generous prize to get everyone moving! So I am in!

ok, I have not quite figured this one out yet. Not sure I can even devote the time to it but I will look at it further, but let me get this strait, it has to be done on a domain that does not have links to it or from it to the other competitors. I guess this means my main site would not work for a competition such as this.

Morgan can you please explain the "twist" a little better. Like James I am a little confused by what you are explaining.

Hey, I thought I was already the greatest Real Estate agent in the world! http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/thread13943.html Game on!

Ok, which one of you bought it??? GREATESTREALESTATEAGENTINTHE WORLD.COM is already taken.

Sorry for so many comments but where are we posting our entries? and are we bound by google ethics or free to do whatever we wish to obtain the desired results?

A few points: 1. Did you take a snapshot of the current results? I see USNews and an agent ranking 1 and 2 for the phrase currently. You may want to exclude current results from winning the contest, just in case those top results can't be shifted. I would hope that's not the case, but ya never know...if an agent that already ranks for the term wants to enter, they have to create a new page different from the page that already ranks. 2. The no commenting/linking within 3 clicks rule might be a little stiff...I understand why you put it in place, but it could inadvertently disqualify someone if they're not careful, or preclude them from linking or even just commenting on an entry they want to point out. You may want to ease it to no direct reciprocal linking...no linking A to B if B already links to A. Give it some thought. 3. Do you want people to provide at least one link out to another entry they found helpful? 4. You may want to compile entries somehow...perhaps everyone needs to email you their official entry and you can provide a running list of entries (nofollowed?). Unless, of course, you want this to be a self-discovery exercise... That's all I can think of right now...let the games begin!

Can you clarify this "so you cannot comment on, or link to any site that is traceable back to your own site or entry within 3 clicks"? I want to make sure I am completely clear for this.

I'm in...

The 3 clicks thing was confusing so I posted an update with example in red to help others understand it. Let me know if you have questions.

Mike good point "You may want to exclude current results from winning the contest" as I show joelane.com/real-estate-service.php as #2 in the results currently and that would be a huge head start.

In terms of being bound by Google ethics, I don't quite know what that means, so it's hard to answer - but my recommendation would be to not do anything you feel might endanger your site or others linking to you - this is for fun, not to find out how far we can push before Google pushes back. Obviously there is no clearly posted specifics about Google guidelines, only their vague rules, but I do suggest following them

Those that are ranking prior to the contest exist their incidentally, and should not actually have a distinct advantage - anyone with similar authority to them who optimized a page could easily usurp them with just a few on page changes. By the end of the contest, those results should look markedly different, I can pretty much guarantee it.

BTW, is there a date one must announce their entry by?

Well, I can't say I understand the rules, but I'm coming to play anyway. I saw Eric's blog post a long time before getting to this one and may already have messed up.

I'm late to the discussion here! Thanks for the props, Morgan, and thanks for making this happen! I'm sure everyone's going to bring their A game - I know I am!!!

Hey guys - Tony @ wannanetwork just threw this in....check it out: http://www.wannanetwork.com/world-contest/greatest-real-estate-agent-in-the-world.php

@Cal...you are fine! @Bramlett--yeah I saw Tony's post earlier today. Cool! Looks like a LOT of people are getting in on this. Should be fun...and should be a great education in how online authority is truly built!

This one should be fun and Joe you are already on page 2 for a post...and yes Morgan and Eric's are already knocking everyone else down...

A date to announce your entry by? You don't need to announce it - On may first we will just take a screen of the Google SERPS and someone will step up with proof of control of course, that the #1 site is controlled by them. Btw - in case anyone was wondering, I cannot win (Don't want to) - it would be far less fun that way - I might do one as a demo just to help teach people interested in learning, but I really can't compete either way as I am way to busy to try to fight it out with you folks right now (Have to come with the new post February SEO campaigns for REW) Anyways everyone, have a great time, I look forward to seeing this thing play out

Morgan- Check out the SERPs this morning. Any worries about displacing the current entries are ummm...history (grin). Thanks again for the promotional assistance from REW for Bramlett's idea. Very cool. Much learning will take place here - and that's the idea!

Anyone can post an article on a high ranking site and come up #1. Let's see you guys start a brand new site with a brand new URL and take it to the top!

At this point... the announcements for this contest are ranking the highest... lol

Morgan, I think there is a good chance that no one will out rank this page since you received a few decent deep links to it because of people talking about it around the RE blogosphere. What happens if you win???? LOL

Prize update: I have actually decided to up the prize to "lifetime" REW platform and IDX hosting (combined $840 USD per year) for the winner.

Cafe Monkey, the phrase does NOT have quotes. Justin, I am not competing, and my blog http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/blogs/morgan-carey/ cannot win, if I end up number one with this or any other post, it will go to the next person on the list

Randy, Just go to google and type " greatest real estate agent in the world " there you will see everyone who has entered.

so where do we go for the learning part?

Just an FYI and I'd like other's opinions. I have submitted two different blog links about the contest on Propeller.com - one of mine on AR & Eric Blackwell's blog entry post. I reviewed my last two comments and they were from members than "sunk" my post because they're saying that submitting these multiple posts on the same subject is spamming. I double checked to make sure no one else submitted the same links that I did, but there definitely were new additions (pointing to different urls) regarding the contest with the title, the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World. I guess we need to be careful with these bookmarking sites. We don't want to be accused of spamming these sites.

You have to reverse engineer what they did. I don't think anyone is going to give away a step by step how to rank #1 at least until the contest is over and probably not even then

We certainly are Josh, but I wanted to keep things fun and fair - this contest (As I see it) isn't really for professional SEO's, hopefully if we are worth our salt, we have already proven ourselves - It is more about the agents who don't have professional SEO's or an online budget - they need all the help they can get, and a contest that allows them to learn and network could be just the thing. Also for those who "have" learned more than a little about properly optimizing their real estate site, it gives them an opportunity to test their metal as it were.

Mike, I'm posting pretty regularly to my REW blog what things I'm doing...Not everything and not all at once, but, I see it as a learning opportunity for me and everyone involved. I just don't have "Team Ryan" like Eric Blackwell seems to have compiled "Team Eric" , but that in itself is an SEO lesson...

If you have not been cached yet unfortunately you do not matter yet, I'm still way back on page 18 for the term and I started with a brand new site. My personal goal is to be somewhere on the first three pages when the contest ends. I don't stand a chance at #1 against a team or even someone who really knows what they are doing, but then again If I came up with an even cooler song than SEO nick and put it on myspace who knows what could happen.

This is a great idea, and I think many will have a lot of fun with it. Best of luck to all of you. Why not link this post with the REWards feature at the bottom??

Is there a repository of contest entries?

Mike, Googleing for " greatest real estate agent in the world " is great for everyone that is already cached... how about the contest entrants that haven't been crawled and indexed yet? If someone is starting a new domain, they may not show up for a week or more into the competition.

I am fairly new to the real estate profession and very new to SEO, but I have learned a lot over the past few months from some of the best right here. Time to test the theory. One question though: Are we going to have a list of competing sites/pages?

How about we add a component for the most homes sold as a result of this contest?!?

Portland, you have several listed in that blogroll who are not actually competing - they are just comenting on the contest - if you only want to link to contestants, you should remove anyone not actually competing - that would mean removing anyone who does not satisfy the "Writeup stating what they have learned with a dofollow link to who they learned it from" rule. At a glance I know Ardell, Greg Boser, and Tony Sena should be removed - as should anyone else not fairly participating in the actual contest.

We could certainly get the word out about any auction - if there aren't any sore losers!

Morgan says: "this SEO contest is open to anyone and everyone who would like to participate (But really it's mostly for Realtors and their webmasters)" My question: Isn't REW my webmaster?

Understood. I was just curious if I could employ REW to help me out here...because, as it stands, I'm way behind in the polls

Myrtle Beach will give it a shot at greatest real estate agent in the world contest. Let's go Jan!

Portland, They will loose freshness as new items are posted and yours moves back a few pages.  That is what happened to your first one I'm sure.  It will happen with wordpress or REW and others too.

I think we need a more specific time of day for the end date. Also (correct me if I am wrong) since different data centers will mark who is #1, we need to know who (assuming it will be Morgan), will be taking the snapshot picture as proof! Thoughts...

Ditto to Keith's comment, except scrap the Eric links rather than try to find all the contestants.  If Eric wins it will hurt him if you don't as some will claim unfair, as many like to do when they don't win It's not worth the controversy.  Scrap the Eric links...better sooner than later.

P.S.  You just lost credibility with me due to the moderated comment feature.  Not a biggee.  Just pointing that out for other contestants.  Moderated blog comments is a no, no in RE blogging.  Strong spam filters are much better than moderating comments.  The general public rarely reads comment moderated blogs.  

Ardell, If you have an REW Blog account comments are automatically posted with no moderation. Comments are only moderated for "non" members - this measure is in place for many reasons - (We believe in accountability of a commenter) - if you are a real person and are going to post something of value, your comment will be accepted - It is the same with our forums as well, you must provide your real first name and last name (only viewable by admin) if you would like to join our community and verify your email address. Your statement - "moderated comments is a no no" and "The general public rarely reads comment moderated blogs" care to back that up?  Last year REW Blogs received over 1,000,000 unique views (And that was with under 1000 members at the time) - The "general public" does not have a clue what moderated vs non moderated comments are - The general public read (And continue to read) blogs that are high quality and relevant to their interests - your very authoritative statement regarding comment moderation is laughable at best. And credibility with you? I have only ever read your one post http://www.raincityguide.com/2008/02/12/greatest-real-estate-agent-in-the-world in which you choose to focus on a negative to get your blog attention, and the comments you have made here (Also negative) - no offence, but earning your respect is very low on my priority list - so my feelings aren't that hurt Incidentally, http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ - comment policy, "Also, I pre-moderate first-time commenters. Please review my comment policy before leaving a comment." Food for thought - I don't think Matt has any problems getting the general public to read his blog either.  

Really funny that this just came up.  My other favorite RE blog just posted this: http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/?p=2645

@Ardell; I have a different take on this than you do... here's a post I wrote in October on the subject: http://www.ericonsearch.com/online-communities-with-strict-laws-enough-police/ I hope you don't LOSE respect for me over that... And in all fairness, saying that you've lost respect for Morgan after you've taken the negative route the whole time with him and his GENEROUS offer to sponsor a prize for the contest... mean..I don't NEED a real estate website, but there was a reason that I offered to pay for the hosting out of my own pocket if it didn't pay for itsself--because it would. Simple as that. In my mind that is a ZERO RISK bet. You know it's funny...everyone bitches about the prize that's offered and yet no one steps up to offer their own...Ardell is there something that you wanna throw in...if you do, then I will think something up as well...C'mon (grin) i dare ya! (hehe)...at least, when asked for something Morgan threw in and said yes..I respect that...ooppss..there's that word again! Being a MODERATOR here at REW, I can tell you that having good rules makes for good online communities IMO, whether the format is a blog, a forum, or any other form of an interactive site...My opinion is that this ADDS to the reader's experience and does not detract from it. As for the links...JEEZ...feel free to do whatever you want...it seems that people are spending too much energy WORRYING about taking down other folks' links rather than building their own authority. SERIOUSLY. That's the best advice I can offer you. Think about how much time you spent posting about Bramlett's and my single solitary link and compare that with how many other links you could have created in that much time. I would ask you to keep Bramlett's link up since it was his idea....he EARNED that one. As for mine...I want Team Eric to win with no asterisks...I (for one) am no Barry Bonds...grin Best to all Eric Blackwell  

I guess that's why I look like a man For agents, anonymous non-member commenters are our bread and butter.  So my advice stands.  And rarely will they come back if they don't see their comment posted.  

Morgan, I just read the rest of your comment.  Oh well.  I'm talking to real estate agents and since I am a real estate agent who gets most of their business from blogging, I'd say it's of value.  I was trying to be helpful to agents. As to my "negative" posts, just being honest from RE Agent perspective.  That it conflicts with your view is of no nevermind as you are not an agent.  I would think that someone who sells advices to agents would be listening, not making it into a spitting match.

I am not making this into a spitting match - your ingnorance astounds me! YOU came to MY blog in MY community and criticized ME. You weren't speaking to "agents" that is a bold faced lie that is contradicted earlier in this thread. You were speaking to ME - you said I lost credibility by moderating MY comments. What the hell does me not being an agent have to do with my ability to use logic, or reason - does not being an "agent" somehow disqualify me from having the experience to speak intellegently about blogging? You say "I would think that someone who sells advices to agents would be listening, not making it into a spitting match."   I am sorry, I missed the memo that stated no matter what Ardell say's I better listen, what kind of egomaniac are you? You show no respect when posting on someone else's blog (But you will notice your comments are still being published) - and you think you can walk into someone else's house and tell them to start moving the furniture around because YOU aren't close enough to the TV. What it comes down to is this Ardell - earn my respect or say something that is intellegent and I will listen - but don't presume to come to my blog and expect that I should agree with everything you come here and claim as fact (With no supporting or emperical evidence) - You want to be an authority? Earn it!  

I think that depends on the way you think. If you win the lottery and you have to pay taxes on it, you're STILL getting free money. It's a prize any way you look at it. That's semi-off topic, though.  Just felt the need to  reply

Just to be clear... Does the search term have quotes? Every time you mention it above, you describe it as "Greatest Real Estate Agent In the World" as opposed to Greatest Real Estate Agent In the World. I'm still confused about your three-way-link description as well. Are you saying we can't link from REW to our own pages?

Last I heard, it isn't supposed to be in quotes.

@Cafe Monkey- My understanding was the contest search is   greatest real estate agent in the world . No quotes.    

I wish every one would have had to start this contest with a new domain.

@Brian-  Me too... mine was less than 1 year old when the competition began.. just had my blog birthday while trying to do this...It is not easy, but can be done IMO...No doubt it would have changed the landscape a bit...  

@Brian - That would have been great. The blog I'm using (well, I'm using a myspace profile as well) I've had for quite a while..and I never did anything with it. Maybe we could have another one in a few months or something that requires a new domain all together.

Good idea, everyone would start out on the same footing and it would eliminate those that have a a gazillion watt transmitter from using it to compete in the contest.

One of Morgan's comments way above stated that it shouldn't matter if some sites were already ranking for the term.  But we're seeing sites that have such high authority that make one blog post on the subject and the buzz from those posts catapulted them to the top where they seem to remain. I think it would have really been a more fair contest if all entrants had to start from scratch.  But then, life ain't fair and I guess trying to win against authority sites with newer sites is an even greater challenge.

There are still plenty of ways to compete...you can use a blogging platform with built in juice (like REW) or you could contact someone with a juiced site, and ask if you can enter using their site.  I guarantee you that no one would have a problem loaning you space on their blog/site. Just get creative!

Good point... there should be an official one somewhere... but in the meantime, I started an unofficial blogroll on my site ( http://greatestrealestateagentintheworld.wordpress.com/ ) with links to all the contestants I've found so far... if your entry isn't already listed, then you can just post a comment on my site to get added.

Since I can't hire REW, maybe I can use REW (the website) to help me... since my first contest entry has disappeared from Google, I've decided to try again via my blog on rew: http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/blogs/portlandrealestate/4458/show/

Ok, since I couldn't join Eric Blackwell's team, but I still think that the team concept is a winner (bravo Eric), so I've decided to try to create a new team of the Top 100 greatest real estate agents in the world, with a dedicated website, and I've tried to make it very easy to join the team, even if you already have a personal entry. So here's my entry: http://greatestrealestateagentintheworld.wordpress.com/

I haven't seen an official one anywhere, but I've started posting everyone I've found to the blogroll on my site listed above.

Morgan, thanks for clarifying... I have divided the blogroll into commentaries and contestants categories, please let me know if there are any other links that are miscategorized. Also, unrelated, I noticed that there appears to be a bug in the display below each comment that say "posted X seconds ago." The counter is constantly showing seconds, and then it resets after each minute is up, until it the comment gets over 1 hour old.

As Spoken Gently asked, can you clarify if we could auction the item on eBay and then donate the proceeds to charity? Since I am pursuing a goal of team building, then it seems only appropriate that we do something like that.

Hehe, anyone employing REW to win would certainly win... but then there would be no contest.

Keith - Good points. Morgan - You know in the interest of contest fairness, I think this page should give a dofollow link out to every contestant instead of just the two Erics... but then that's just me...

@Brian; Or you can join Team Eric (grin)! Actually, Bramlett's idea of "rent" a contest blog is a pretty interesting one...nice thinking Bramlett. (grin)      

Man...not even renting.  Just borrowing.  I'll go ahead and throw it out there....anyone who wants to guest post a GREAITW entry on ericbramlett.com is MORE than welcome to.

I may take you up on that offer. I haven't really been on the ball these days.

@Bramlett-grin- Yeah..I was talking about borrowing--poor choice of words! Mine is kind of pre-occupied right now...or I'd offer... Take him up on it Nick! It would be cool to have you hanging with us...   Eric

Get with it Nick, you are the one I expected to dominate this thing!

There's a difference in the way I'm competeting and the way the others are competeting. It's probably got something to do with me NOT dominating.. I'm not using REW for any part of the contest. Not linking or using my blog at all. I'm going solo on this one - So, there's a factor. Not to mention I have just been lazy all this week. Being part of an SEO team at work and then going home at night will do that to ya Once I get some weekend time, I'll do my other photoshoot idea...

Oh, and plus. The competition is an extremely talented lot.

We know where the talent lies!  Go look in the mirror.

Who is winning so far?

Thats great you updated the prize.  I was reading around and a gall from rain city was complaining that you were giving a free site.

I will just leave this one note, although I am not competing for the prize, no prize is every truley free and without strings...ie, If I win the lottery, I have to pay taxes on that money...If I won a car on the price is right, I have to pay taxes, title, insurance, destination charges, etc.  I think the prize is great and if the winner does not want to continue with the product/service after the first year, they can choose to cancel....nuff said

Sorry nick, I actually read something on her blog...and had that in my mind when I came back over here...so it probably doen't make sense unless you read her comments about the prize on her site...sorry...I should have probably referenced it

Let's get it on.

Nice competition how long is it going on for? I think I might have missed the bus.

Hey Kevin, The contest ends on May 1st. You could still enter if you wanted to, but the competition, at this point, is pretty stiff. I say, give it a shot anyway! Who knows.. you may be able to pull it off! Good luck!

I think I will wait this one out. Im reading some other blogs and it sounds like there is some serious competition out there. I don't have time like that right now. I will be around adding my 2cents though. thanks

I think so - I'm seeing this post as number 2 at the moment

Yes - midnight tonight CST.  We'll be checking multiple DC's using this tool http://www.seocritique.com/datacentertool/ if anyone else wants to check, as well! I'm not super concerned about multiple DC results right now - they're all 100% consistent at this moment.

Wow coming down to the wire huh. I will be checking later this afternoon. Congrats to the winner...thats impressive.

Since I have a head start on you guys, perhaps we should go for "Worlds Greatest and Nicest Realtor" instead!

Did you guys notice that this blog entry, and both of Eric's blog entries are already indexed and ranking in Google for the phrase? Pretty quick!

Regarding the "Writeup stating what they have learned with a dofollow link to who they learned it from" part, I imagine this can be done anytime before the May 1st deadline? Also, on an unrelated point, can the prize (if won) be donated to someone or auctioned off with the proceeds going to a charity?

Actually, I wouldn't auction the prize on eBay, the auction would be in the REW forum (in the unlikely event I would win!).

Alright...it's past midnight CST, I've checked all the DC's, and it looks like Team Eric is the winner! http://www.ericbramlett.com/blog/the-winner-of-the-greatest-real-estate-agent-in-the-world-contest-is/

It's tonight at midnight, right?

Congratulations!!!

Hey Cool, I get to be the 100th comment Any news on how the auction is going to work? Btw congrats to team Eric, I know you guys worked very hard, and everyone who participated in the true spirit of the contest has won by being able to learn from the likes of your team. Cudo's

Thanks Morgan and to everyone in the contest. It appears we did it! I actually fell asleep before the end of the contest! (2am here in Indiana). I will get back to you on how we'd like to do it. BTW- Thanks for the generous prize. There is a reason the front page of EriconSearch says what it does about you guys. You do good work. Special thanks to all of the folks at Team Eric, I will be thanking them personally, but they are not only good at what they do, they are good people. Thanks guys and gal for a great time. Maybe we will not be hitting "reply all" as much in my email, (grin) but then again, we should be you guys are fun to hang out with!

I just did a reply all to thank all of Team Eric for the friendship and knowledge.  We were all winners regardless of the outcome of the contest results.

Woo hoo!  We had a great team and it was lots of fun.  Now I don't have anything to be guilty of anymore (I was getting too busy to keep up on a daily basis).   Now when is that trip to Costa Rica going to be so I can clear my calendar? 

Boris says he's sad to lose his crown.. but if anyone deserves it, it's Team Eric! Congratulations!

Oh, yeah. Eric, Boris will be contributing something small to the prize as well. It should be ready in about a week.

lol Josh, Now that is funny there

I'm up for a from scratch contest now. One that could be useful in real estate / business after the contest ends.

Brian- I am as well, but bro...I need a little rest! I think that would be fun...maybe this fall? (grin)

A Big Congratulations To Team Eric!... I am not sure how you are going to split that great winning prize on a team full of agents. Me thinks the fairest way would be to give it to someone not specifically on your team, but a fan like your good buddy on the Oregon Coast.

Hey Dennis, you'll have a chance to bid on it.  Proceeds go to the Eco Preservation Society which our team decided to sponsor the contest for.  More info will be coming.

Wow, that is a great idea and very generous.

Congrats Eric!!

@Jim and Dennis- thanks a ton guys...I will be announcing the Greatest Real Estate Website Raffle shortly!

Way to go Team Eric!  Kudos for a job well done. And, kudos to all the other folks who also competed in the spirit of what this competiton was supposed to be all about- a learning experience. I can't wait to see who you decide will get the benefit of Morgan's generous prize and to hear all about the different things you guys and gals learned by participating in the contest.