I ranked high in the search engines with Altavista and msn there for a while but I lost my ranking due to my change of real estate practice location. Right now, I am trying to target Dallas Real Estate instead of Plano Real estate, Dallas Homes, instead of Plano homes. Allthough I ranked high with Altavista, I am nowhere to be seen on Google.com, and that’s where I really want to be! Can you tell me how DallasRelo.com, ranks #1 in Google.com for the search term “Dallas Real Estate” when the quality of information provided is horrible in comparison with mine? Also, if his website is recommended more by other websites, is there a better way to get ranked?
Yours truly,
Jordan Hashem,
REALTORR / Relocation Specialist
http://RealtorsBlvd.com
Jordan,
Thank you for your question.
I think I might have a simple answer for you. It appears you are hurting your rankings in Google and other search engines because you are not making effective use of your index page. Your index page is your most powerful page and the one the search engines place the most weight on. Currently you are using your index page as a “splash” screen that asks visitors to select the version of your website they wish to see. Not much content there for the search engines to read, is there? Now, although your competitor’s site looks awful, it is the opposite of your index page as it has lots of information for the search engines to read.
You have two options. Either keep your current index page, but add more content to it. Provide text, add links….make it look like a normal homepage. Alternatively, use your DallasRealEstateTexas/index.html as your index page and add a button/link where people can click to view your graphic heavy page if they wish. Either method will help get your content on the page that matters the most, your index page.
There are a number of other issues that relate to the old site you used to have. Items such as keyword stuffed ALT tags, JavaScript links, redirects etc. These appear to have been resolved with your site redesign, so I will not go into depth with those issues.
I think if you make your index page more relevant and provide useful content you will see an improvement with Google over the next couple of months.
I hope that helps.
Regards,
Andy Beal
Visit Andy’s “Ask the Expert” page to ask him your SEO questions.
Andy Beal is an internet marketing consultant and considered one of the world’s most respected and interactive search engine marketing experts. Andy has worked with many Fortune 1000 companies such as Motorola, CitiFinancial, Lowes, Alaska Air, DeWALT, NBC and Experian.
You can read his internet marketing blog at Marketing Pilgrim and reach him at andy.beal@gmail.com.
