All right to post a listing, just make the listing up on postlets, copy the HTML to your clipboard.   Then go to activerain, post a blog entry, type the header, and then click on the HTML tab.  Paste your HTML info from postlet, and then add your tags.  At the bottom of the page select "Post to Localism".  Select the apporpriate info and area and then post it... and bam.. SEO at its finest =)

Thanks Dan! I was thinking along those lines, but it seemed to easy. I figured there had to be waaaaay more to it than that. LEave it to me to make it harder than it is. I'm gonna try it with a couple listing right now. I'll let you know how it goes. Andy

Hi Andy,

Welcome to Active Rain and the Newbie Group.  Since you've been "lurking" and reading and commenting for awhile I won't give you my usual advice -- since it's read, read, read, comment, comment, comment!!!  But I will say, keep on reading and commenting and blogging.

You've asked some very good questions and I've done a little research to see if I can help you.  I'm sure other members will stop by to add their advice and tips too.

Check out the Listings by Address Group to post your listings.  Here's a good post on RSS.

Thanks Judi! I'll take a look.

Andy

Thanks for the post. I'm a newbie, too so I don't have advice on this.  But I've learned from the comments.

Thanks Don!

Andy - I'm sure Brad appreciates your acknowledgement. When posting, the name of the game is attracting the most eyeballs, so go after the bigger groups. The Art of Marketing You and the Realtors groups are 2 of the bigger groups so they should be at the top of your list when posting. Next make sure your post are reader friendly. You know the drill, its all about being "scanner" friendly. Take advantage of your ability to link to your website or to other sources of your online identity. So link to those other sites and resources of yours when it is reasonable. You'll recognize a nice little bump in SEO. The effective use of bullets are nice, plus they're easy on the eyes. Use images to accent your articles. Plus images offer white space for readers to rest their eyes too.

You're off to a great start! If you feel so inclined, take a look at a post I wrote on "I'm New to Active Rain". BTW - Welcome!

Bobby - Thanks for the tips.

• I appreciate them.
• I read your post on "I'm new to Active Rain"
• It was very informative.
• Also, thanks for the heads up on posting to groups with the most "eyeballs"

And I'll work on linking to http://andywerner.com.

Andy  :-)

Andy,

Just stopping by to learn from the comments on your post. I too am brand new to AR and am trying to learn a little bit more each and every day. I feel so behind the times with all that there is to know. Happy Trails!

Claudia - There's pleny of room on my wagon!  :-)  Good luck!

Welcome, see you around the community. Looks like you are off to a good start.

Thanks for the welcome Dionne. I appreciate the support.

What was the tip on your user name? 

Congrats on your successes - you're right blogging can be addicting - but oh so rewarding.

Thanks Jack.

Tamara - Thanks for the comment. The tip is to put keywords in your username so the search engines can find you. Check out the other usernames posted in the blog responses here.

Here is the link.  

http://activerain.com/blogsview/158361/Optimizing-Your-Active-Rain

 Good luck!

Hi Andy!  Wow! Like you, I've been in real estate for many years yet, I'm a relative "Newbie" to AR and absolutely a blogging novice. Thanks for your posting; I learned soooo much from it!  I was wondering about the way to post listings to AR too (along with about a zillion other questions!) In fact, there's so much info and assistance avail on AR that, sometimes, my brain goes on overload!  One more thing though, what exactly are "tags" and how do I use them to best advantage? I know what keywords are but how do tags differ?

Sarah Miller-Legg, Phoenix

Andy,

welcome aboard, from a 3 week old newbie. BTW - when do we get into the grown-ups group? LOL. To be #1 on Google - were you searching on your name or "Gaithersburg  real estate"? As to what groups to post to - consider the topic and the readership of each group. There are groups that are more popular then others. I had a post about "successful closings" - i didn't think it belonged to the very popular SEO group, so I did not post there. The post about "inspections "I posted to the inspection group although it's readership is very limited.

I am still trying to find out about RSS, additional blogs, local blogs, SEO and where to get the great graphics that people here have. My posts  are so boring without it. Give me a shout if you learn more about any of the above. 

Sarah - Thanks for the post. You're right about overload. I learned to post my listings thru my blog using Postlets.com, which I already used for Craigslist.com and other stuff. Just cut & paste the HTML code from Postlets to the blog (HTML option) and then post to localism.com. Simple as that, I think, If not I'm sure I'll be corrected.  :-)

I believe tags are "meta-tags" and are like keywords. They need to be short & sweet and separated by commas and words that the searcher and search engines will find.

Faina - Thank you too. Don't know if I'll ever get to the grown up groups.  :-)  I was searching "Gaithersburg real estate" and am still on the first page, not bad for free. As for what groups to post to, I've been advised that in addition to content, post to the groups with the most "eyeballs", The Art of Marketing You & Realtors are two.

Be happy to give you a shout if I learn more.

Good luck to both of you.

ANDY, Wow sooooo much info to learn, I am in my first week of blogging like you I have been doing alot of reading who knew that there was so much info and help out there just waiting for us?. I have been inspired by your progress and hope to learn more. I never knew about posting listings on postlets.com but I am in Mississippi and we are a little behind the times here. I am going to follow your progress and learn some more from you Thanks Patricia

Andy it is nice to see you here.

Patricia - You are sooooo good for my ego. Thank you. But I have a long way to go. We can learn together.

John - Thanks for the welcome. I look forward to the experience.