Search Engines and How They Relate to Each Other

How exactly do the search engines and directories relate to each other? Who feeds whom with search results? Who supplies others with pay-per-click results? As we endeavor to gain a better foothold in search engine rankings, it can be beneficial to understand them and how they work.

Bruce Clay (BruceClay.com) provides a nifty “Search Engine Relationship Chart” that they update as the engines change their alliances, merge with each other, and sometimes just drop out of the race. Visit their Chart page and when you mouse-over any of the engines/directories, it will take you to a page that explains the nuances surrounding that search engine. Pretty cool. They are also a quality SEO company with other tips as well.

If You REALLY Want to Promote Your Site Here's How

Search engines, pay-per-click, linking, submitting articles online...what's a web site to do to be found??

Here's an interesting article from SiteProNews on promoting your web site...

Then select their Archives for even more good reads...

Hope it helps!

Adding Pictures to Your Website

One of the best ways to add interest to a page on your website is by adding an appropriate photo or graphic. It is really very easy to do and there are a couple of ways to go about it. One way would be to add a page layout template when creating a button/page for your site. This template makes it easy to add headers, text and photos (and align them left or right on the page).

A second method which enables you to have more control over sizing, placement and the like, would be utilizing the “html editor” when creating your page.

In either case, first you upload your photos using the blue “images” button found on the left navigation bar when in your website design module. I like to try and have them sized to my task before I upload them. If I upload one that is too large, even though it can be visually resized in the editor, the larger kilobyte size can penalize your viewer’s download time. If too small, and you resize it up, it can pixelate and look of poor quality.

Now, let’s revisit the html editor [Note: this tool now to the Page Layout Tool]. Normally, you might first add text to your page…then in the approximate area you would like a photo to be placed, insert your courser at the beginning of the line of text. Then go up and select the small “picture (of a mountain peak)” icon in your html editor tool bar. Wait for all the photos to load horizontally, and then click on the one you want to appear on your page (see insert example above).

BUT WAIT….there’s more! There is also a field to add “alternative text” or what we call the “alt tag”. This is the text you see when you are surfing and you place your cursor over a picture and it pops up. This would be a good place to place a good keyword phrase.

AND MORE…In the Alignment section, select either left or right, depending upon which side of the page you would like your image to show. And while you are at it, note that there is also a spacing section. If you do not add space, the text will abut right up to the picture. So give the horizontal maybe 10 or 11 pixels. And you might need to adjust the vertical as well. If you need to revisit these selections after you have viewed you first results, first click on the picture (that is now on the page) and then click on the picture icon again in the menu bar…tweak and settings and view again. Once you’ve done this a few times, it will be a snap.

REMEMBER…once you have something you like, don’t forget to save your work (at the bottom of the page). If you leave the page without saving, you will lose all of your hard work.

Web Site Statistics

I authored an earlier article on web site statistics that was general in nature. I am following it up with a more detailed explanation of what the various items in the stat report mean…and how to get there to view it from within your GraphicalData site admin center.

Once you have viewed the stat center, you could bookmark it to your desktop for easy return if you intend to spend much time there...

Update: We are now using Google Analytics for website statics. Review the latest article here.

Holding an Open House This Weekend? Your Web Site Can Help!

If you are receiving decent traffic to your web site and regularly (or at least occasionally) sit open houses, then you should promote your open houses on your web site. It only takes a few moments to set it up from the admin center of your site.

Each time you will access through your GraphicaData admin center.

First, make sure that you have an open house page created. If not, just create a regular page, and name it “Sunday Open House”…or the like. Send over the open house module and your page is ready. Make sure you turn the light bulb to activate the button onto your site. You only need to create this page the first time.

Secondly, and subsequently, you will go to the “Listings” button on the top of your admin center page. Select the “Open Houses” button from the left side navigation bar. You will be asked for a name…something like “Beautiful Bellevue Waterfront”…and click add.

Easy from here…just fill in the MLS#, date and time…and any comments you might like to make about your open house to encourage visitors to attend. Then click the “Save Open House” and you are done.

Now customers can see the home you are going to sit…view all the info on it…and visit it if they like. The home does not even need to be your listing…any house you are going to be sitting open works.

Then, when you are finished with that week’s open, you can quickly pop into the site and turn off the light bulb until the next time you hold an open. And if you forget, well the date is on the open house announcement anyway, so pretty hard to get confused.

This is not only a great way to market an open house, but would be an excellent tool to use in your listing presentations to show how you go the extra mile in merchandising homes that you list for sale.