I am sitting in Las Vegas right now at the close of PubCon, a Search Engine marketing conference produced by Webmasterworld. I am tired (exhausted actually), but very satisfied with the past few days and what I have learned and who I have been able to get to know better. In an hour or so, I will board a plane and hopefully get some rest..
In my sleep deprived state, my mind is mulling over a question that someone (an SEO focused someone) asked me this week. Are bloggers getting too much credit from Search Engines? Actually, they were quite prepared to make the case that there in fact was an overabundance of credit to bloggers.
First off, I consider myself a proud member of BOTH the SEO crowd and the blogger crowd. I think there is a nexus between them. Always have. As I thought through the case this gentleman was making, my mind flipped back to Greg and Brian’s recent podcast that mentioned the subject. I am paraphrasing here, but in essence Greg said the same thing. That it will at some point flip back to where less creedence is given to bloggers in the search engines.
Hmmm…so bloggers think they are getting more than they deserve and SEO focused folks think the same thing. Can I offer a different possible reality?
I think the search engines have it right.
Why?
Principle #1: They are in the business of providing relevance to their customers (visitors).
Principle #2; If they do not provide relevant search results their search engine loses traffic quickly. Really quickly.
So what constitutes relevance? I would assert that it includes BOTH of the following:
1) information that is about the subject matter being searched for. (i.e. when I Google “widget modification techniques” I get information about how in fact can modify widgets.
2) And here is the kicker…relevance also includes TIMELINESS. In today’s world that is becoming an increasingly important element of relevance. This means that we want the LATEST information on widget modification techniques and not a page that may have been indexed 2 years ago…
If you agree with these principles and premises then isn’t it an easy conclusion that blogs and social networks–where people are passionately posting about subject they care about–are given much weight with the search engines…and for good reason. They bring coveted relevance.
FTR- I am not saying that blogs will replace sites or that they should. I AM saying that blogs and online social media offer relevance to search engines on less competitive and more specific keyword terms that DO bring long tail traffic in and that they should be given the deference that they have earned due to their timely nature in providing information.
Think of it this way…
If you were Google and wanted to have relevant data and included in your definition of relevance timeliness, wouldn’t you rank Hugh Hewitt’s blog above that of a mainstream newspaper site, all things being equal?
OK, they are starting to board…time for some much needed shut eye.
TracyTC says:
You raise a question I’ve been pondering and you seem like the perfect person to answer it. =-)
WHY does a realtor need a website in addition to a blog? These days it seems like blogs are pretty full featured.
December 8, 2007 — 8:22 am
Eric Blackwell says:
Tracy-
Thanks for the GREAT question.
Warning: Long comment ahead…
My opinion:
I don’t really think it is a question of features. I think it is more a question of passion. A blog and a website perform different functions, even thought they can be created using the same (or similar) software and tools. You need to do what you are passionate about and there will be the results.
For most REALTORs I think the answer is that they do NOT need both. They are much better off working on hyperlocal blogs about something they are PASSIONATE about. (There’s that word again…) They will attract more customers that way.
The world in my opinion has WAY too many sucky real estate websites with autogenerated or crappy content that inspires or moves no one, that do poorly in terms of SEO because the person simply did not take the effort to do it right. Overgrown online business cards well, umm…suck.
I spent all of last week with people who are PASSIONATE about SEO and are hell bent on getting it right. These people inspire me. If that is a fire that burns in your soul, then go for it. It will get you up early and keep you up late.
If not DON’T focus on City Real Estate as a keyword and try to rank for it.
Rather, find a hyperlocal niche that you are passionate about and blog. Your ROI will be solid and you will be more successful.
Many REALTORs as well start to blog and then stop or put up a crappy blog because they simply view it as a means to pick up a few customers or because they think it is the thing to do. This is equally offensive to me with the crappy websites.
In short:
Find a niche that you are passionate about and blog about it. Don’t feel bad or offended to those who optimize websites. Do your thing with passion and the results will follow. Allow others the same. You do NOT “need” to do both.
Too many REALTORS feel the need to do both because God forbid someone else attracts a customer that they did not. Wrong approach IMO. If you are not doing it with passion. then it won’t yield results anyway, Focus on passion and the real you will come out.
I hope me venting my opinion helps in some small way.
I’d welcome other thoughts on this as well…I by no means have the only answer…
December 8, 2007 — 9:36 am
Tracy says:
I think you’re right on. My thinking is exactly along the same lines, at least for agents and teams. Maybe a brokerage needs something more robust, but I’m not even sure that is the case. Even a brokerage needs a personality to attract today’s consumers. I’ve been wondering if there is something else I’m missing and your post allowed me to pose the question. Thank you!
December 8, 2007 — 9:55 am
Cielo says:
Okay… between a website and a blog. I take a website. Passion is good but it could be misleading at times. The question is, what is this passion all about? Is it just merely getting or influencing customers? Passion can be really relative. Now, a website could be misleading, no doubt abou that. Yet, I think the audience can be smart enough to distinuish what is crappy or not.
My point here is getting customers in a way that is informative but not influential. Things should be objective, direct and fast. I still believe in immediate interaction just like the real thing or personal proposals and marketing. Now, I found this site that help me get by my real estate business. I never thought SMS messaging could be somewhat important in real estate. You could check the details on http://www.cellmyhouse.org
I could blog about this site or its services, but I choose not to. I still believe in old-school honest advertisements. Blogging is somehow just a disguise of a personalized ad.
December 10, 2007 — 10:14 am
Ryan Ward says:
I’m beginning to see (at least for me) my blog and my website attract different types of consumers. For me, the heart and soul of my website is the MLS database that is fed into my website that buyers are looking for. My blog seems to be better at attracting sellers.
I think that buyers and sellers are looking for different things and one works better for buyers and the other for sellers. So for me, there is no question. I have to have both. Buyers just want the homes and sellers want to know more about you than a website offers. Experience may differ, but, that’s mine.
December 11, 2007 — 2:06 pm
Halfdeck says:
I agree that blogs are beneficial to Google to a certain extent. But considering the amount of misinformation published on blogs on a daily basis, I’m not so sure timeliness is enough. CNN.com is timely and reliable (to an extent). Blogs, on the other hand, are 99% opinion, those opinions often fueled by personal agendas and deep-rooted biases with no facts to back them up. Does Google really want to display blog posts on the front page, when Wikipedia editors, for example, refuse to acknowledge blogs in general as reliable source of information?
Passion also has to come hand in hand with an intelligent strategy. I don’t like to see blogging as a means to an end but there’s nothing wrong with getting a ton of money for providing great value. People make the mistake of either fixating on revenue or fixating on providing value. Focus on both and make sure they both feed on each other.
December 14, 2007 — 10:40 am