Sometimes to get great search engine placement so consumers can find your Web site, you will simply have to pay for it. You'll either have to pay the search engine or a Webmaster to do it for you, or both. What should these services cost?

There are a number of major pay-for-placement search engines. Just recently, I noted Realtors paying up to 98 cents per each click-through on one keyword. Again, knowing that it could take thousands of visitors (hits) to equal a sale, unless you're selling million dollar properties and have a good advertising budget, this could be a very expensive proposition. Putting your money into creating a useful site that is user and search engine friendly would be a more cost effective approach.

Want to do it yourself?

There are a number of programs available to assist you in re-working the vital factors of your site in order to achieve top search engine placements. I’d recommend WebPosition Gold as the head & shoulders leader in this field. You can download a fully functional 30 day trial of this program at: http://www.websitetrafficbuilders.com/website-software-promotion.htm

Why Your Web Site Content Matters

On the Web, content is king. Without useful content, you will never achieve a good search engine position.

Take a lesson from Yahoo. It's estimated that Yahoo, the world's most popular search engine, takes only one out of a hundred sites submitted. One of their main criteria for submission is useful, informative content.

Is your site just a billboard for you, or are you really providing useful content?

Finally, when submitting your site to search engines, your site should be fully functional without broken links or 'Under Construction' signs.

Many site designers think that Meta tags (internal code to show the search engines your keywords) are the key to good rankings. This is a false assumption. Directories and a number of major search engines do not even use these tags. Meta tags are important, but are just one criteria to improve your ranking. Many sites stuff every conceivable real estate related keyword into these tags. Often one keyword is repeated a number of times.

Such improper use of these tags is a good way to insure a low position or even getting your site excluded from certain search engines. Again, advice from a professional is required here.

With many search engines using the number of other sites linking to your site as a criteria in their ranking algorithms, you should set up a links page on your site where you trade links with other astute web site owners.

Published: February 6, 2001

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Bob Schwartz is a Certified Residential Specialist, San Diego real estate broker & co-owner of an Internet search engine optimization firm, specializing in domain name registration and Internet domain website hosting. Bob received his BBA majoring in real estate & computer programming. Bob is an expert witness for major San Diego law firms, has served on the Consumer Affairs Community of the San Diego Association of Realtors, is past president of a local HOA and co-owner of a condominium management Co., and directs a multi-state high traffic network of legal directory sites. Visit Bob's San Diego real estate blog.