On June 10, 1999 I wrote an article for Realty Times called 'What Realtors Should Know About Search Engines." One section of the article was called, "Search via Hyper-Links."

That's six years ago.

In this forum and others, members have talked and talked and talked about how Google is instituting filters. We've discussed the Google patent application. About how certain words or groups of words can be "poison" (like awards, link partners, and so on....). We've spoken about how link-farming can be disastrous for a site.

Yet we see a limited number of informed forum members engaging in those practices as if they were solid strategies for the future. They are solid strategies for the past, and solid failure strategies for the future.

Quality is the future. Quantity is the past.

Suggested rules for outgoing links:

1) Do not link to sites that you don't value. Period.
2) Do not create links that you don't want visitors to use. Period.
3) Do not create links, then "hide" them on a page no one will visit. Period.
4) You should not have such unorganized links pages that they are useless.

Your incoming links should be from:

1) Yahoo, DMOZ - big directories.
2) Real Estate Directories. A genuine "real estate directory" should not have "local" keywords in the description or title of its home page. That is a red flag and can easily be subject to filter. Regarding required "reciprocal links"...see rules for outgoing links.
3) Local Directories & Sites, plus your company's site, your MLS' site, etc.

There are reasons "why" or "why not" for everything. But that would make the post too long.

Rant is over. I've been doing this same rant for a couple of years and sometimes if I am low on my nicotine and caffeine intake for the day...it bubbles over again.

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Terry Light - Professional Contrarian
Office Phone - (949) 305-7995
RealEstateBytes.com
Real Estate Encyclopedia
Author for RealEstate ABC (Creator, too)

Terry, I agree with most of which you haved said.

I have alredy made changes in the way we pursue referral partners.

And like you, our focus is Quality.

Terry,

I agree with you. I've become alot more selective regarding who I link with. I wind up turning down many more link requests than I accept. A few months ago, when I created a state by state directory, I also made it a point to virtually eliminate any language on my site that referred to "link exchange" or "reciprocal links" and also changed any urls that had the word link in them. I may have went a little overboard, but I just wanted to try and avoid any possible trouble in the future.

Terry,

I had always been told that I should create a separate title, description, and keywords for each individual category page. Is this not the case anymore? I never got around to making those changes anyway, I just want to make sure.

For example: A webmaster told me that I had to change the title to "California Real Estate" for this page: http://www.hummerhomes.com/links/resources7.php It didn't sound right to me, so I just held off.

You should have a unique title and meta description for each page that you want SEs to rank. Somehow though, I can not think of any advantage of being on a state page with 10, 20 or more other real estate links with the only common factor being the state.

Robert,

I think your page title should reflect the content that's on that page. Now you don't HAVE to change the title to "California Real Estate" but I think a title related to the content that's on the page adds to the overall relevance of the page in relation to the links on it. That would enhance the benefit provided to your exchange partners. Of course, IMO.

Robert,

I have different titles for each page and keywords (keeping my main kw's & adding any important additional ones from the page), but I have not changed my description for each page.

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Southwest Chicago Suburbs Real Estate is an affordable area with close access to downtown Chicago. Money Magazine says that Orland Park real estate is one of the best places to live in the U.S. Next door you can find Tinley Park homes for sale and get Orland Park amenities at a more affordable price.

Thanks guys, I think that I'll follow judyo's lead and change my titles, adjust the keywords, and leave my descriptons alone.

Any additional thoughts?

Does the description match the content of the page? If not, then why wouldn't you change the description to match the content?

Take a look at this page's tags and let me know what you think: http://www.hummerhomes.com/links/resources2.php