The latest update? Google now tracks the speed at which your pages open, and it’s quite possible to suffer lower rankings due to slow loading pages. Now let me clear the air about what was just said… This does not mean that page speed is suddenly a major SEO factor that trumps relevance of content, and other well known SEO factors.

Rather, it’s simply something that you should keep in mind if you’re going have a media-heavy site with lots of video, flash, images, etc. Content is still king when it comes to your Google rankings, but all else being equal, which site will be more popular? The slow site, or the fast loading site? Chances are Google agrees with you…

One of the simplest ways to build your following is to make sure that each one of your emails that is sent contains a link to your profile. (You’re sending emails every day anyhow, so why not use this as an opportunity to build your list without any extra ongoing effort?)

Here’s one way to do it… Observe:

That’s an eye-catching email signature that you can setup for yourself. Only takes a few minutes, and can be added to your plain old freebie email accounts, or even Outlook. Here’s how you do it. If you use Gmail, Hotmail or some other web based email account, you can create a signature  using  WiseStamp. It’s free to use, and works like a charm!

Outlook requires a bit more legwork, but it’s still very simple:

1. First you’ll need to select the buttons or icons you’d like to use. You can find them everywhere, but here’s a few links for you to search:

Click here to use Google Image Search

Click here to use Flickr Image Search

Search for images, or icons of the social networking sites you’d like to create buttons for. Need a Twitter button in your email signature? Then search for “twitter icons” or “twitter buttons.” Find and save the images you like best, and repeat the process for any other social networking sites you’d like to have listed in your email signature.

- Next you’ll want to re-size the pictures you downloaded.  You can do this with any basic graphics program, including Paint (Should be on just about every PC!) I tend to setup my icons around 80 – 90 pixels wide, and 30 – 40 pixels tall.

-  Now you’ll head over to your Microsoft Outlook and open it

-  Across the top toolbar, you’ll find the “Tools” menu, click on the “Options” tab, and then “Mail Format.” Finally, click on “Signatures”

-  Click to setup “New”

-  Give your email signature a name – This is for your use  (This is in case you have multiple signatures), then click “Next.”

-  Type in your name, contact info, etc. This is your text that will appear in the final signature

- Press Enter, then right-click and select “Insert Image.”

- Click “Browse,” select an image, and click “Open.” Name the image (Such as: Join me on FaceBook!) in the Alternate Text box. This is done in case the email client blocks your image, the recipient will still know what was there. Then click “OK.”

-  Left-click on the image, press Ctrl-K, copy or type in the full URL for your social media corresponding to the button (This is the web address that leads to your social profile: http://twitter.com/remarketinglab), then click “OK.”

-  To add the next social media button (If you’re adding more than 1) press Enter to the right of the image, right click again, and repeat steps 8-10 above.

-  When you’re all done with this, click “Finish” then “OK.”

- Be sure to choose the new signature name as the “Signature for new messages.”

-  Click “OK.”

Now you’re all done! When your emails go out, they will now have the shiny new graphics and link to your social media profile. This one time task only takes a few minutes to complete, but can help you attract new followers throughout the year! Not a bad use of time huh?

Well let’s look at why this is happening. WHat does Google look for in a website, and how do they determine who gets plastered all over page #1, and who gets boote down to the unseen depths of the search results? It’s simpler than you imagine actually:

3 Things Google Is Looking For:

#1 – Relevancy

Google takes its job of delivering the best search results very seriously. Because of this, it has now become your job to prove to Google that your ste is listed in the right place! If your website is all about “St Louis Homes For Sale” for example, how does Google know this? Do you have site meta information properly inserted? Do you chat about those key-phrases within your site on a regular basis? Keep your site “on topic” whenever possible for best results. In fact, Google’s criteria for ranking your website based on its relevancy is the best argument yet AGAINST having a “1 size fits all” or “all things to all people” style webiste.

Confused? Here’s the best way I’ve seen yet to explain what Google is looking for here. Let’s say you were opening a strip mall and every office was to be rented out to real estate related businesses… A title company, a mortgage company, an appraiser… What happens when someone contacts you about renting out a space, and asks for a drive through window on the building? You’re going to see some red flags there aren’t you? You’re going to want to see evidence that this business is indeed real estate related, and not some fast food restaurant. It’s all about proving yourself to Google.

#2 – Popularity

When you have tens of millions of people using you as their trusted resource, you have just a tad bit of pressure to deliver the most popular results! If you serve up websites no one cares about, then your users will leave to use something else: Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com, etc. So what this means is you’re going to need to prove to Google that your site is popular, or is becoming popular. This is called “off-site SEO” in most circles.

We;ll discuss this in more detail later, but keep in mind that the more popular your site is, the easier it typically will be to rank well on most major search engines. Popularity is often rated based on how many outside websites link directly to your own. Other factors at work here as well, but todays blog post is meant to explain the basics.

#3 – Freshness

What would it be like to have a friend who always did and said the same thing every time you saw him/her? Same jokes, same stories, eating the same meal, nothing new to say or do. Sounds kind of boring doesn’t it? More importantly, how often would you elect to stop by? In the same way, Google likes to see new content when it stops by. If every time Google crawls your site, everything remains identical to the last time visited, Google just may question if your website is worth the bandwidth, and choose to stop by much less frequently… This is not a good thing.

What this means to you, is your site needs to be dynamic – You need to add new content on a regular basis. I update my major sites several times per week. In fact, this is part of the advantage to having a self-hosted blog/htbrid website! Blog comments qualify as “new” activity on your site, and can help keep things fresh enough for Google to continue stopping by!

While this post is not full of links or “step by step” instructions, it does offer value in the form of understanding what’s important to Google – One of the number 1 sources of traffic on the web. Use your understanding of what Google is looking for when configuring or updating your website and you just might enjoy a friendlier relationship with the 900 pound gorilla of search engines.

For those of you who want to take this post much further, here’s a link to our online real estate marketing webinar today:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/707614058

The problem? There is an estimated 3,084,221 social bookmarking sites out there to choose from! (Random number made up for effect! The actual number exceeds 1,000 if you include scuttle sites) So how do you narrow down this ever growing list of websites to those that are actually worth your time?

How about a list of stats? I love lists chock full of interesting and ultimately useful statistics! Have a peek:

1. digg.com  – 383,598,000 Inbound Links - 33,433,760 Monthly Visitors

2. Yahoo! Buzz – 20,031,000 Inbound Links - 8,119,906 Monthly Visitors

3. StumbleUpon.com – 234,000,000 Inbound Links - 4,418,609  Monthly Visitors

4. reddit.com – 161,685,000 Inbound Links - 4,908,990 Monthly Visitors

5. Technorati.com – 175,287,000 Inbound Links - 3,309,174  Monthly Visitors

Wow! That’s a lot of ready made traffic for an enterprising real estate agent ready to jump in! There’s one more site I’d like to toss into the fray jsut for comparisons sake… The ever loved Twitter! Technically it’s not a bookmarking site, but it sure does have a large audience! Check this out:

Bonus stats: twitter – 486,750,806 Inbound Links - 19,728,619  Monthly Visitors

Nearly 20 million monthly visitors to Twitter aone! Toss in the other 5 social bookmarks, and you’re looking at a lot of extra exposure, and a whole lot of search engine love if you play your cards right. Make it a great one!

Chad Weber