Hi everyone:

My name is Jim Marshall, and I am an active realtor up here in the land of ice ‘n snow (Canada). I’ve been practicing real estate for 19 years now, selling mostly waterfront cottages and lots in an area 2 hours north of Toronto and have shifted most of advertising and promotion from print to web.

One of the biggest problems I’ve had recently has been with Google. When Google brought in it new search algorithms (last autumn), my site plummeted from the Top 20 to the bottom of the Top 200 (using the most common search strings, ie, “Parry Sound real estate). I’ve done a ton of research and reading since the beginning of the year, redesigning my site, adding content and reciprocal links, and have improved my ranking into the Top 30.

What I can’t figure out is why I’m not higher. Sites with few or no backlinks are consistently ranking higher than me, and even sites that I’ve traded links with are appearing 10-15 positions higher than me. I’m starting to wonder if the gods have it in for me, or I’ve been penalized for some reason. Nonetheless, I’ll continue to read, research and tweak the site, in hopes of a Top Ten rating, and look forward to any and all suggestions.

Cheers,


Jim Marshall, Associate Broker
Homelife-Al Boucher Real Estate Ltd.
Parry Sound, Ontario
Canada
jim@jimmarshall.ca
www.jimmarshall.ca

As of Monday, I've moved up from between # 4 and # 6 in the google rankiings for the "parry sound real estate" search phrase.

It is going to be interesting to see if I can maintain or even end up at the coveted " number 1" position as the many reciprocal links I've established start to get picked up by more and more search engine spiders.

Perhaps patience is the most important virtue in this entire search engine game.


Jim

Welcome to the forum Jim..we are glad to have you. As far as google and their algo yes it did change again this past week. Noone seems to know if this is a change that will last or google is just teasting us again.

As long as you add fresh content and keep doing what you have said you were there is no reason for the long run you cant get to the top and stay there.

I feel that if you keep coming to the site and asking questions or reading the post you will find a lot of very useful information that will help you and your site.

Have a Nice Week and May All Your Leads Be Good

Hey Jim,
Im a canuck as well, a Vancouverite in fact, if you would like to talk shop a little bit or want some help getting to that #1 spot, Im happy to help. In fact You would probably be able to solidify your ranking quite easily by adding or changing just one or 2 elements.

My suggestion, one of them (We add things gradually) is to add an H2 tag with the Phrase "Parry Sound Real Estate" as well as perhaps having a sitewide link in the top left of your site near your links to the about me, about us links that linked to your homepage with the anchor text "Parry Sound Real Estate Homepage" or something to that effect, use your own internal backlink votes to incorporate shoring up your kw's.

Im always available here on the forum if you have questions and dont forget there is also a link exchange forum.

Cheers and welcome

It's really nice to see a group of realtor like ourselves have a form to exchange ideas and offer suggests on what is becoming the most important aspect of our business (for me it is, anyway).

Thanks for the suggestions...I've incorporated them into my website and hopefully they will help solidify my Top Ten standing.

Jim

Welcome to the group Jim

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