Real Estate Marketing

Developing Link Popularity March 4, 2006

Perhaps, in your efforts to publicize your website and help your web traffic grow, you’ve come across the term “link popularity.�? Does this mean your site has to be the homecoming queen of the Internet? No, but it doesn’t hurt to have friends in high (ranking) places. And this form of web promotion is actually free – it only requires a little of your time. To understand link popularity and how to use it effectively to help your site, let’s take a quick look at how Google (the current king of all search engines) ranks websites.

Google is constantly searching for new websites to add to its search results. It does this by sending out “spiders,�? programs designed to surf the Net by following links from one site to another. A site with many links to it is more likely to receive a visit from search engine spiders such as Google’s, and the search engine will view the site as being very “relevant�? – so it is more likely to index the site with a higher ranking. And the quality of the links is also important: Don’t fall for a “link farm�? scam in which your site is linked to repeatedly from sites that are composed entirely of lists of links. Search engines place a much higher priority on legitimate sites with actual useful content.

The first step in achieving link popularity is finding sites that are similar to your own, but not so similar that they are competitors. For instance, if your site is about real estate in a certain geographic area, you might look for sites that offer advice for people considering moving to the area (such as sites with lists of local resources). Make sure that the sites you collect are good quality sites that you wouldn’t mind linking to in return, because you will very likely need to promise them a reciprocal link.

Once you have a list of websites that are good candidates for linking to your site, you’ll need to contact them. First, write up a good form letter that you can easily modify, if necessary, for individual sites that you contact. Tell the webmaster what you like about their site and what your site offers, and propose an exchange of links. If the other site’s links page is divided into different categories, make the webmaster’s job easier by telling them exactly which category your site belongs in. If the links listed have short descriptions of each site, follow their lead and write up a short description of your site in the same format. Anything you can do to make the other webmaster’s job easier makes it more likely that they will actually add your site to their links page.

Finally, on your own links page, check the links periodically to make sure they still work. Other webmasters that you contact regarding an exchange of links won’t be too impressed if several of your own links lead to blank pages that say “Error: Page Not Found.�?

Building up link popularity may sound like a lot of work, and it is! However, once you develop a link popularity strategy and a schedule for both contacting new sites and maintaining your own links, you might just find your website bringing in valuable traffic without depleting your advertising budget.

MillionSaverHomes.com is among the leaders in attracting Internet traffic through link popularity. The company creates marketing and management tools for agents to get more leads and close more deals. Link popularity brings a substantial amount of business to the MillionSaverHomes.com website and to real estate agents in markets across the USA.

MillionSaverHomes.com also provides an efficient franchise system to acquire buyers and sellers, and to manage agents. The company invests its own funds in various advertising, including websites, pay-per-click advertising, search engines and marketing partnerships. And there’s no upfront cost to agents; the company is paid by referral fees from closed business deals.

For more information on franchise opportunities with MillionSaverHomes.com, visit http://www.eastbiz.com/franchise
For an example of a successful real estate By Natalie Cooper for MillionSaverHomes.com