Have you heard the term “Search Engine Optimization” (or its acronym SEO)? Ever wondered how it works and why it matters? SEO is an important component of the online marketing you do for your listings because it helps your homes show up higher in search engine rankings.

First, a little background on some important changes to how the search engines work.Search engines like Google and Yahoo have made huge changes in the way they index content on the Internet over the last few years. Many old school web designers and IT professionals have not kept up on the changes in Internet marketing techniques and have been providing incorrect information to their customers and employers. I know this because I still regularly hear that adding meta-tag keywords to a web page are not only mandatory but the best way to get your website in the search engines. This is absolutely not correct.

In fact, I have a property for sale right now that I created a High-Def Virtual Tour for, and within a couple of days it was on the first page of search engine results. Here’s how I did it.

First, I opted in to Just Snooping.com’s Virtual Tour Export Options and made sure the tour was added to Realtor.com and my local MLS. I then took a few extra moments to submit my tour link to the three top search engines manually. Finally I added comments to each of the photos on my tour. The entire process took me less than 15 minutes.

I have to admit that I was a bit surprised that, in a down market like we are in today, my Virtual Tour soon showed up on the first page of the Search Engines. As of right now, my Virtual Tour is the third result on the first page search results for homes in my city. (View the Google results here.)

A large part of my success in the search engines is due to the fact that Just Snooping.com’s developers do an amazing job designing the code behind the Virtual Tours. The code is optimized to be friendly to search engines, unlike many other Virtual Tour product that search engines can’t index. Search engines love content, so by adding captions to my photos, I gave the engines more content to index. (And by the way, there are no keyword tags in the source code.).

If I can do it with my busy schedule, so can you. Just take a few extra moments to add comments to your photos, and submit to the search engines. Our system makes it easy to automate the export all your tours to a number of top real-estate search sites. And it only takes a few minute to submit to other search engines manually. Try to think of any other sites you could post a link to your virtual tour, such as Craigslist or personal websites and blogs. This is called Back Linking and it’s one of the most powerful mechanisms you can use to increase your online presence and search engine ranking. To help you get started I have included the free submission links for the largest search engines, below.

1. Google http://www.google.com/intl/en/submit_content.html
2. Yahoo http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
3. MSN http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx

It honestly amazes me when I hear complaints from customers that they aren’t placed well in the search engines …Yet the first time I follow the suggestions and use the built-in tools in Just Snooping.com’s system (which we have been freely providing for years) I have success like this. I don’t have any advantage at all. If anything, that fact that I do not spend my days marketing myself or my services should have put me at a huge disadvantage. Nonetheless, my Virtual Tour is raked above many, many others within just a few short weeks of listing my property for sale.

Are you doing all that you can to market your personal website and Virtual Tours? If you are a Just Snooping.com customer and need assistance or advice, our Customer Service Technicians are very knowledgeable and willing to help. We have extended our hours of operation and provide multiple methods by which you can communicate with us, such as Live Online Chat, e-mail or by phone Monday through Friday 6:30a.m. – 6:00 p.m. PST.

You should also consider taking advantage of other resources and products provided by Just Snooping.com, such as our Agent Website Packages if you don’t already have a powerful online presence. Lastly, check out the Marketing Tips document we’ve published, which clearly defines Search Engine Optimization techniques to help you become more productive in your Internet marketing efforts.

Posted by: Ben Kaeding on March 5th, 2008 | Filed under: Websites, Virtual Tours, Real Estate, General