We plan on displaying featured content from our network of contributors and providing you with the best tools on the market to generate leads and attention.  Owners of a Dev Element real estate blog are automatically given access to the network and have the opportunity to feature their content on our main page.

This site is still in a Beta phase of development while our team works to add more features and ensure an optimal user experience.  Thank you for choosing The Real Estate Expert Network!

 
LifeStreaming your Social Content from develement on Vimeo.

-Move a listing up and down in your personal search results. Using the arrow icons, you can make a listing #1 or move it to the bottom of your results page. If you vote a site up, it will automatically become first in your list so it make take some finagling to get your results to appear exactly the way you want them to. Same goes for any results you vote down.

-Remove a listing from your personal search results. Don't like a particular site? You can delete it from your results page with a click of the "X" button. From that point on, that site will not appear in your results pages.

-Add a listing to your personal search results. Like a site but don't see it in your results pages? You can add a URL to your results using the "Add a Site" functionality. Then you can move it up or down in your results pages.

-Comment on the listings in your results pages. You can leave a public comment on the sites that appear in your results pages and they will be visible to all SearchWiki users. You can let the world know if a site was useful to you or not by simply leaving a comment.

For the full 411 on Google SearchWiki, read this article from Search Engine Land.

Also, watch the video below for a demonstration of Google SearchWiki:

So what does this mean for your real estate blog? Well, a feature in SearchWiki is the ability to review the notes pages for a particular keyword. These pages are meant to allow you to view the comments made on sites that rank for a particular keyword in an effort to let you know what pages are useful and what pages are not. In the future, SearchWiki notes pages may become popular among search engine users. At this point you can vote for and comment on your site's listing using SearchWiki. When you do this, you will increase your site's chances of being seen at the top of the SearchWiki notes pages. Depending on the impact of SearchWiki, we may see the votes and comments become a part of how Google ranks sites overall and it may affect your sites placement in the search engines for your keywords. So it may be a good idea to go ahead and comment on your site for all of your keywords to get your site noticed on SearchWiki now rather than later.

See what others have to say about Google SearchWiki:

Aaron Wall of SEOBook

Michael Gray of Graywolf's SEO Blog

Michael Arrington of Tech Crunch

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM EST

Learn about Link Popularity-its definition, purpose, and importance to your site. Google thinks it's important and so should you! You will also find out how to gain link popularity fast and for free. Join me for this 30 minute webinar. Register by emailing webinars@develementllc.com.

Posting to Your Blog: Optimization Is Everything

Thursday, November 6, 2008 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM EST

You may already be blogging but do you know how to really make your posts work for you? Attend this webinar to learn some smooth moves in making the most of a post. There are key elements each post should have for optimal results. If you don't know what they are then register for this 30 minute webinar by emailing webinars@develementllc.com.

For Client's Only: Blog Training

Friday, November 7, 2008 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

If you have a Dev Element blog and would like a refresher course on our blogging platform, this is the webinar for you! We will walk through the entire system step by step and answer any questions you may have about the system. Register to attend by emailing webinars@develementllc.com.

Another easy way to build links to your site is by submitting your blog posts to article submission sites.  Article submission sites are a great opportunity to promote your best blog posts. As an author, you submit your posts along with an author information box which contains information about you and a link to your site. These sites take your article and publish it on their site for use by webmasters and bloggers as content on their sites. When other people use your article on their site, they are required to publish it with your author information box completely intact. That translates to a backlink from every site that uses your article in addition to the backlink you get from the article submission site itself. One good article could garner you a multitude of backlinks!

Here is an example of an article that has been submitted to GoArticles.com:

As you can see, the publisher guidelines are very visible at the top to remind those who would like to use this article that they must include the author's information when it is published on their site. Also note the "About the Author" area (this is the author information box) and how it contains a link to the author's site. Every time this article is published on someone's site, James Kobzeff gets a backlink to his site, www.proapod.com. He even gets one from here too since I just published his article.

When you submit your articles to these sites, you want to be sure that they are added to the category that is most closely aligned with your keywords. Virtually all article submission sites have a real estate category and that is where you will want to add your articles. This will ensure that the right publishers find your article and that you get the best quality link possible from the article submission site itself.

It is also important to change your article a bit before submitting it to these sites. You don't want to give these sites the same exact article you have published on your own site. I recommend that you change the article so that it is about 35% different from the post on your site. You may also want to tone down the use of your keywords so that your article appeals to a broader audience and is published by more sites. Try rewriting your article using your farm area as an example so as to keep some of your keywords without overwhelming the article with them.

Lastly, vary the anchor text you use for the link to your site within the author information box. Don't just use "www.yoursite.com "-use your keywords and site title in various combinations to get the best backlink possible. Using your variations of your keywords as your anchor text increases your link's value in the eyes of Google and the other search engines.

Here are 10 article submission sites to get you started:

www.goarticles.com

www.ezinearticles.com

www.articledashboard.com

www.articlesfactory.com

www.articles-hub.com

www.bestezines.com

www.buzzle.com

www.isnare.com

www.articlecity.com

www.articlebiz.com

As you do research into other article submission sites, you may come across services that claim to allow you to submit your article automatically to multiple sites in one click. Like I have mentioned in previous posts, do not pay for services such as these. If they do not offer their services for free, it is most likely a scam.

Remember, the more articles you submit, the more backlinks you will get so try to do this on a regular basis. To start, try submitting one rewritten blog post to the directories listed above each week. Use this backlinking method as a part of a complete link building strategy and you will be on your way to search engine success!

Related Posts:

Backlinks: The Key To Search Engine Success

Basic Backlinking Methods That Get Results: Blog & RSS Feed Directory Submissions

SEO 101: Choosing Your Keywords

Tuesday, September 30, 2008 2:00pm-3:00pm EST

The What, Why, & Where on Link Building

Get an overview of what link building is, why your site needs it, and where you can get links. Link building, also known as backlinking, is a major factor in your site's success in the search engines so be sure to attend!  Email webinars@develementllc.com to register!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 2:00pm-3:00pm EST

Your Blogging Platform - A Dev Element System Refresher Course

For Client's Only! If you have questions about the Dev Element blogging platform, this is the webinar to attend. We will cover all aspects of the back office including how to set up your categories, how to write a post, and how to include pictures and video on your site. Email webinars@develementllc.com to register!

Thursday, October 2, 2008 2:00pm-3:00pm EST

Using The Real Estate Expert Network

This webinar is for everyone who is interested in our new social network for realtors. We will show you how to use this site to promote yourself and your business. You will learn how to add posts, set up your profile, and contribute to the site. Email webinars@develementllc.com to register!