I have a site I recently changed from template to Custom http://www.ColumbusHouseHunter.com . I also have another template site http://www.RealEstateEasyAs123.com . The RealEstateEasyAs123 site is #1 on Yahoo in our area for the major search terms. The ColumbusHouseHunter site ranks from #1 to #4 on MSN - depending on what you search. They are both around #950 on Google. It confuses me how they could be that high in the other search engines and that low in Google. I have added a lot of links from good pr sites on indexed pages lately and hope that this turns this around. Do any of you gurus have any other suggestions as to why this would be so?? I do my best not to link to any bad neighborhoods. I am a Realtor and not a webmaster so any help would be very much appreciated. Wayne

Wayne;

IMHO--it is NORMAL for Google to be a little behind the other search engines in giving you the ranking you feel you deserve. Part of this is because the algorithms of the various search engines are different...

There are several threads on this forum with folks asking the same thing in the recent history. A few months later, they come back and say "Wow, it worked". SEO doesn't happen overnight or on a dime.
It does, however work.

There is SIGNIFICANT competition for real estate terms

Here are some INITIAL things I would ask to get a preliminary idea of where you are at:

Since G! seems to value links along with content:

How long have you been adding links to your site? My opinion is that Google uses the AGE and QUALITY of the links as MUCH or more than the quantity.
This is important, especially if you've been in the practice of adding tons of lower quality links.

What percentage of the links are reciprocal? IMHO a high percentage of reciprocal links is far less desireable than a limited quantity of inbound links from authority sites. Higher percentages of recips can sometimes mean that they get devalued (or are worth less than other IBLs).

Do the links come from a variety of sources with a variety of anchor texts?

In the "past life" of your domains, were you linked into bad neighborhoods?

With the answers from that you can at least get a strategy going forward...but remember--even then it takes time.

Hope these ideas help...

Best;

Eric

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Eric Blackwell
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Eric,
To answer your questions. I have never linked into bad neighborhoods that I know of. We have always linked to real estate related sites. Most of my links are reciprocal but I do have quite a few from directories that are one way. I let the linking thing slide for a while and only in the last couple of months I have picked the linking back up to where it was a year ago. I am sure that hurt me and my one suspicion on why I ranked so low in Google is that if you looked at a trend - my link count dropped tremendously from Sept of 05 to Sept of 06. Since then I have picked the count back up to where it was a year ago and am adding links daily. As far as a variety of sources - the links do come from a lot of different areas but are mostly other Realtors. Do I need to do more linking from other related businesses like say Mortgage companies (I have heard suggestions that some mortgage companies fit in the bad neighborhood category) and this is one reason I have not gone after those. I could concentrate on that for a while if it would help. Again, thanks for your input. Wayne

Hey Wayne.

How old are your websites? That makes a big difference as far as Google is concerned. You might also check to see how many pages Google has indexed as compared to Yahoo and Live Search.

If you haven't done so already, you may want to create an XML sitemap to help ensure all your pages are being crawled / indexed. As of a week ago, the big three search engines all support a common format of XML sitemap. Read more here.

Good luck.

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Brandon Cornett
Real Estate SEO Support Center

One site is 2 years old. The other site is 4 yrs old. The one that is now custom is 2 years old and does have a good site map and the site map is indexed (indexed a week ago). It has only been a custom site for a couple of months. About 1/2 the pages are cached in Google. I hope we are doing the right things now on G to get better rankings but again if anyone has suggestions - I do appreciate input. I have a problem with the front page of the website today and my webmaster is on the road traveling for the holidays. If any of you guys have experience in Joomla and would like to help - I would be glad to pay you. Thank you. Wayne

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Wayne Long
Search all the Columbus Ga Homes for Sale listed in the Columbus MLS
as well as Fort Benning Real Estate and area info.
Check out the Columbus GA Real Estate and area info.

I have recently been asking the same question. I find my site gradually improving in MSN but no where to be found in Google. Thanks, for all the tips. Do XML site maps really bring value to the site? I am unfamiliar with XML.

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Boise Idaho Real Estate