Real Estate Investing and Marketing

Google Caffeine: how will it affect the rankings of your web pages?

Google Caffeine is the name given to Google’s next algorithm update that is going live this month. It seems that Google Caffeine will be more than Google’s regular updates. It will probably be a major overhaul of the calculations that Google uses to rank web pages.

What is going to change?

Of course, Google hasn’t revealed the details of Google Caffeine yet. However, the new index has been live on some test servers and some Google employees also talked about the next index. The following factors might play a larger role in Google’s next index:

* Website speed: if you have a slow loading website, it might not get high rankings on Google.

* Broken links: if your website contains many broken links, this might have a negative impact of the position of your web pages in Google search results.

* Bad neighborhoods: Linking to known spammers and getting a lot of links from known spammers isn’t good for your rankings in Google’s current algorithm. The negative impact of a bad neighborhood will probably be even worse with Google Caffeine.

* The over-all quality of your website: Google’s new algorithm probably will take a closer look at the over-all quality of your website. It’s not enough to have one or two ranking factors in place.

You’ll probably need good optimized content, a good website design with a clear navigation, good inbound links, a low bounce rate, etc. The number of social bookmarks might also play an increased role.

Factors like the age of a website, its past history, authority etc. will still play a role in Google’s new index. However, the effect of the different factors on your rankings will shift.

How can you adjust your web pages to Google’s new Caffeine index? Read more…

Tһіѕ month, Google wаѕ granted a patent wіtһ tһе name Duplicate document detection іח a web crawler system. Tһе patent ехрƖаіחѕ һοw a content filter frοm tһе search engine саח work wіtһ a duplicate content server.

Wһаt іѕ duplicate content?

Tһе patent contains a definition οf duplicate content:

“Duplicate documents аrе documents tһаt һаνе substantially identical content, аחԁ іח ѕοmе embodiments wholly identical content, bυt different document addresses.”

Tһе patent ԁеѕсrіbеѕ three scenarios іח wһісһ duplicate documents аrе encountered bу a web crawler:

1. Two pages, comprising аחу combination οf regular web page(s) аחԁ temporary redirect page(s), аrе duplicate documents іf tһеу share tһе same page content, bυt һаνе different URLs.

2. Two temporary redirect pages аrе duplicate documents іf tһеу share tһе same target URL, bυt һаνе different source URLs.

3. A regular web page аחԁ a temporary redirect page аrе duplicate documents іf tһе URL οf tһе regular web page іѕ tһе target URL οf tһе temporary redirect page οr tһе content οf tһе regular web page іѕ tһе same аѕ tһаt οf tһе temporary redirect page.

A permanent redirect page іѕ חοt directly involved іח duplicate document detection bесаυѕе tһе crawlers аrе configured חοt tο download tһе content οf tһе redirecting page.

Hοw ԁοеѕ Google detect duplicate content? Read more…

Where do you want to be? On the first page of Google results of course; it’s where everyone with a website wants to be, especially if their website is part of their business. There are a lot of search engine optimization firms out there, with new ones popping up out of the woodwork daily in order to meet the growing demand for SEO services.

Naturally, real estate investment is like every other economic sector in that investors and brokers are taking to the web in the attempt to increase their visibility and to gain a larger share of the market. If you’re in the real estate business yourself, you almost certainly have a website by now – and you probably receive a lot of come-ons by SEO companies who are trying to convince you that they’ll be able to get your website into the coveted top spot in Google’s search results.

Before you pull out your wallet in response to their pitches, think for a minute. There are so many of these firms out there and a lot of them make these kinds of promises. Obviously, they can’t all be right and the vast majority of them can’t deliver any kind of results, let alone what they claim.

Before we go any further, I’d like to offer this little nugget of advice: don’t do business with anyone who promises you a spot on the first page of Google’s search results, especially if they tell you that they can get your website into the #1 spot.

Why? Because no one can guarantee this with 100% certainty; search engine optimization is not an exact science, since the algorithms used by Google and other search engines are closely guarded trade secrets and are constantly evolving. What this means is that what worked to improve a website’s page ranking six months ago won’t necessarily work today. This is why no reputable SEO firm will make these kinds of promises; but of course, there are a lot of SEO firms and consultants out there who are anything but reputable businesses. Read more…

There is a lot of buzz today in the computing and IT world about something that is being called “Web 3.0″.  This is supposed to be exactly what the label implies: the next generation of the Internet. The next great quantum leap forward in communications and doing business on the Internet.

We are currently residing online in Web 2.0. If “Web 1.0″ could be considered just getting the Internet up and running and working out the incredible “bugginess” of its original platforms, Web 2.0 was what we first reached at the dawn of the 21st century. Computer programmers are basically the ones who first notice any quantum leap forward in the entire fabric of Internet applications, and when they mutter “Web 2.0″ they mean an Internet with:

* enhanced communications by way of social-networking technology;

* improvements in communications and interactions between separate software applications by way of open Web standard applications for accessing and describing data;

* enhanced Web interfaces which mimic desktop applications’ real-time responsiveness inside of a browser window.

Now, say those who believe that Web 3.0 is landing on the White House lawn momentarily, we are about to see implemented a new Internet experience, one in which the Internet “gets smart” at long last and becomes much more like Artificial Intelligence (  A.I. )  This will, in part, be the “Semantic Web” that was prophesied at the close of the 20th century by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web. Read more…

Many people are working on Internet-based knowledge-organizing technologies that stretch traditional definitions of the Web. Lately, some have been calling the technologies “Web 3.0.” But really, they’re closer to “Web 2.1.” !!! Here is the facts folks, Facebook, YouTube and the other social networks are beginning to penetrate the mainstream, but they are but a pixel in a much larger picture. Web 3.0 promises Much much more.

I have made numerous post about this on Facebook without naming names. Since posting on Facebook I have come under attack by many in the “RE Guru Circle” calling and emailing me complaining and thinking I was talking about them ! What does that say to you? To me, it seems I hit a nerve with a few people. I will not sit by and let a clever marketing ploy happen that will allow some people to position themselves in the market place as something they are not, or even have technology that claims to be web 3.0 when it is NOT! Consider the fact that MS and Google are only in beta with web 3 technology to test what can possibly be done.

I am not naming names, just that marketing with version numbers is not ideal. Here is what is important.. Just like a business plan, have a “web marketing plan” and it should take precedence OVER just relying on a number with technology. Numbers don’t really matter in the grand scheme, it’s really the engagement level and social collaboration and usability that is the real focus. Version #’s are really a distraction and point of debate for many who create and hype a lot of vaporware.

Lets take a look at a few videos

1.  The Evolution of Web 1.0,  2,0 and Web 3.0

2.  Now lets look at the problems still we are facing..

So where does that leave us ?  Do you feel like this now…..

Google improves its ranking algorithm on an ongoing basis. During the last weeks, Google changed three things on the result pages that are visible to all Google users.

The changes are an improvement for searchers but they might be bad for your website.

1. Google has increased the snippet length. Less visitors for you?

Google now shows an extended snippet for queries that consist of three or more keywords. The idea behind this change is that these multi-word queries are very targeted and complex. The usual short snippet might not contain enough information.

What does this change mean for your website?

The longer snippet contains much more information. As Google tries to provide the user with the most relevant information in the snippet, the snippet might already contain the answer to the user’s query. The longer snippets might result in the following:

Fewer users might click through to your website because they get the answer to their question in the search results.

Users might begin to use more multiple-word queries to get more detailed search result snippets.

As the longer snippets need more space, the longer snippets move another result page below the fold and web surfers will see fewer results at first glance. That increases the importance of very high rankings.

It seems that Google ignores the meta description tag for the snippets. That means that you must include a call to action in your web page titles.

2. Google now shows more related searches at the bottom of the results

When you search for a keyword, Google will display related searches at the bottom (and sometimes at the top) of the search results.

For example, if you search for the keyword “principles of physics”, Google will suggest “angular momentum,” “special relativity,” “big bang” and “quantum mechanic” as related terms that could help you find what you need.

What does this change mean for your website? Read more…