How I'm Getting All Over Page 1 on Google I've been concentrating on making my website and my blog more "visible" lately. When someone starts asking questions about home loans in this valley, I want them to have to trip over me at some point. More than once. There's are a bunch of little things, but the big thing is blogging. Before I go into the who, what, where, and why, (I'm skipping "when", because the answer is obvious--- NOW!!!), there's something I want you to do real quick. Take a look at the results I'm getting these days on Google. The two sites showing up are my primary site, www.extracredit.net , and my blog, www.activerain.com/blogs/quixote (or my blog profile: www.activerain.com/quixote ). Go to Google and Search on "Temecula Mortgage" (#5 and rising as I write this on June 14, 2007), "Murrieta Refinance" (#1), "Temecula No Down" (#1, #2, #3, #4), "Temecula No Down Real Estate" (#1, #2, #5, AND #7), "Temecula No Down Home" (#1, #2, #3, #4), "Temecula ZERO Down" (#1, #2) "Temecula Refinance" (#10- I've got to work on that...). Here's the Results for "Temecula No Down" 
You can click here or on the picture for a full size image. Now, these rankings can change from day to day, and your mileage may vary, but you get the idea. And I'm not done. I'm working on more keyword combinations. You'll be seeing me soon enough for "Temecula Real Estate", "Temecula Bank Owned", and "Temecula REO" which will lead to a page on my site featuring property listings belonging to realtors I am partnering with (hint.. hint..). Of course, all the real estate transaction leads go to the owner of the listing... I just want the loans since that's what I do for a living. I kinda feel like maybe I shouldn't spill the secret on this whole Google magic thing. But the thing is, it's not THAT much of a secret, and because of an article that is about to hit in one of the major Real Estate Agent focused magazines, it's going to be even less of a secret very soon. So there is still time to get a head start for a few "do-ers". Besides, there is at least one benefit to me to share this one secret with you. It's complicated, but you'll understand in a minute. Active Rain. That's the blogging site I'm using. It's entirely real estate and mortgage focused; and it's about 80% responsible for the successes I'm enjoying. There are some 30,000 industry professionals already signed up across the country, but only 65 in Temecula. A small percentage of them are actually doing anything with it; maybe 6-8 are actively blogging here in Temecula. And a couple of those are home staging professionals. Since Active Rain is a VERY high traffic site (Alexa Rank is 6359 out of over 6 million websites ranked; and is in the Top 1000 most visited sites in the US rankings), that means that more than just real estate and mortgage professionals are frequenting the site. Consumers are going there. A lot of them. And once there, they are navigating through the listings of professionals. They click on CA, then on Riverside County, then on Temecula. Guess who's #4 and rising in Temecula? Active Rain has a unique model. Everything is FREE to use. You can blog away and get all those Google brownie points, and it costs not one thin dime. What's their revenue model? I haven't figured that out yet. I don't care. It's FREE. Everything you do there, from posting your profile, to blogging, to commenting on other people's blogs, earns you points. Points determine where you stand in terms of visibility in your community, and have an effect on, among other things, how often the search engine ‘spiders' visit your blog, and give you Google love. So points are good. That's where the benefit to going ahead and inviting potential local blogger competitors to join Active Rain comes in. When you sign up from an invitation, the person who invited you...
...gets ‘bonus points' of 10% of whatever points you generate for yourself. So I'm at somewhere around 6,000 points. That means that Cyndee Haydon, the real estate agent in Clearwater Florida who invited me, has a bonus of 600 or so points related to my activities. Am I upset about that? Not really. Based on the results I'm getting, far from it. In fact I owe her a great big Thank You! Cyndee has one of the top 50 point totals in the country (somewhere north of 80,000 points), and is getting regular business from consumers finding her through the site, reading her blog, and calling her up. And, she has helped me get started posting on my blog and figuring out how to get points, just as I take the time to give pointers to anyone who accepts an invitation from me. I'm happy to help, and besides... I get points. Like Cyndee, I have already seen direct results. I just started this process about three weeks ago, and I already have two loan prospects (including one referral out to one of my realtor partners) in my pipeline directly as a result. One of them searched Google for "Temecula Wholesale Properties"; a word combination I never would have thought of. Guess who's there, Win, Place, and Show (plus #4 & #5 for good measure)? She clicked through to my blog, read a little of my ramblings, and clicked through to my primary website, where she filled out a lead capture form. That's a good thing. And besides, most people, even once they receive this invitation, will do nothing with this information. So I'm not too worried about someone out-working me. Won't happen. So if you're one of the few who will take action on something like this, then get going right now, before it shows up in Realtor Magazine. Before your competitors have a 6000 point head start on you for that first page in the local realtors listing on Active Rain, you need to get on it. Get started. There's a lot more to getting and keeping these high Google rankings, and I'm learning more every day, but Active Rain is a good start. I'm keeping some of the other little tidbits to share with some of the Realtors with whom I do business. The ol' back-scratching thing... I'm sure you've heard of it. Give me a call some time, and let's talk about how to get your web site ranked on page 1, and your deals funded smoothly. BTW, In case you haven't noticed, the hyperlinks to Active Rain are your invitation to join. Did I mention IT"S FREE!
Blog On,
Temecula Real Estate Information
APRIL 2007 MEDIAN PRICES IN SELECTED AREAS
City SFR Sales Median Price Apr. '06 to Apr. '07 Median Price Feb. 2007 Mar. '07 to Apr. '07 Median Price /Sq.Ft. Hemet 93 $303 -6.95% $297 1.75% $188 Lake Elsinore 49 $385 -6.60% $393 -2.20% $237 Menifee 45 $386 -8.80% $377 2.33% $196 Murrieta 109 $501 2.61% $471 6.06% $205 Temecula 107 $469 -5.51% $478 -1.91% $225 El Cajon 100 $530 5.86% $515 2.77% $294 Escondido 91 $489 -11.42% $522 -6.78% $291 Carlsbad 114 $750 -4.22% $795 -5.96% $338
HOME IMPROVEMENT
Garden Composting 101
Composting turns household wastes into valuable fertilizer and soil organic matter.
Learn How at DoItYourSelf.Com
BUSINESS NEWS
Starbucks needs a shot of caffeine
Stock Spotlight: Shares of the coffee chain have been ice cold lately, but they could start to percolate again soon.
Read the full story at CNN Money
How big will the iPhone be?
The new must-have smartphone may be a $10 Billion business - and could send Apple shares even higher
Read the full story at Business Week
YouTube for soccer Moms
Pure Digital is unveling a new, cheap camcorder that syncs easily with YouTube. It could be a hit with parents and, eventually, investors.
Read the full story at CNN Money
HEADLINES
That's some pig: Boy, 11, shoots 1,051 pound hog
An 11-year-old boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog his father says weighed a staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9 feet 4, from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. Think hams as big as car tires.
Read the Full story at CNN
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
Mango Creme Brulee
Try this delicious recipe for Mango Creme Brulee in June!
Read the full story at Recipezaar.com
ENTERTAINMENT
Review: Ocean's Thirteen
Another lightweight outing with George Clooney and pals passes the time...
Read the full review at Box Office Mojo
Stan Lee Signs Deal with Disney
Stan Lee, creator of major Marvel comics superheroes like Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, and X-Men, has signed an exclusive, multi-year development deal with Walt Disney Studios.
Read the full story at Etertainment Weekly
HEALTH
Ball Gains
Whittle your waist and torch hundreds of calories
Read the full story at Women's Health
Workout Plans
Lose your love handles in record time
Read the full article at Men's Health
WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
Steve Wozniak
Read about the co-founder of Apple!
Read the full story at Wikipedia.com
Bart Simpson's Chalkboard Wisdom From Wikipedia.com: The chalkboard gag is that occurs during the of many episodes of. In this gag, is frowning while he on the repeatedly; when the school bell rings, he immediately becomes glad, stops writing and runs out of the classroom. The phrase is usually in the form of an admonishment, implying that Bart has been assigned this task as punishment for some misbehavior left partly to the viewer's imagination. Here's some of Bart's wisdom: · I will not carve gods. · I will not spank others. · I will not aim for the head. · I will not barf unless I'm sick · I will not expose the ignorance of the faculty. · I saw nothing unusual in the teacher's lounge. · I will not conduct my own fire drills. · Funny noises are not funny. · I will not snap bras. · I will not fake seizures. · This punishment is not boring and pointless. · My name is not Dr. Death. · I will not defame New Orleans. · I will not prescribe medication. · I will not bury the new kid. · I will not teach others to fly. · I will not bring sheep to class. · A burp is not an answer. · Teacher is not a leper. · Coffee is not for kids. · I will not eat things for money. · I will not yell "She's Dead" at roll call. · The principal's toupee is not a Frisbee. · I will not call the principal "spud head". · Goldfish don't bounce. · Mud is not one of the 4 food groups. · No one is interested in my underpants. · I will not sell miracle cures. · I will return the seeing-eye dog. · I do not have diplomatic immunity. · I will not charge admission to the bathroom. · I will never win an emmy. · The cafeteria deep fryer is not a toy. · All work and no play makes Bart a dull boy.
More next month...
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