SEO strategy against Real Estate competitor

[da11]

Hi,

I need to help a Real Estate client of mine who is about 3 years behind in SEO against his local competitor in a small market.

The competitor has about 13 exact match domains all .com and about 5 years old.

Ok back linking with 40-80 each website - I would say average link is PR 1.5. Some 2's and very little 3's. Lots of 0's and 1's

My client has a PR 3 that he doesn't even touch. Its 10 years old.
Also a PR 2 that is 7 years old and a PR 0 that is 11 years old.

No optimization or backlinking has been done on any of my clients sites.

Is this a worthwhile cause? Can we overcome the giant competitor?

[da11]

sorry for the shameless "bump"

[linkbuildr]

If you need to ask here he needs to hire a new SEO

[da11]

Originally Posted by linkbuildr

If you need to ask here he needs to hire a new SEO

Very helpful comment??? What a useless waste of time

I'm an offline consultant trying to learn a new skill to help my offline clients.

Would love to have someone intelligent post up a useful reply relevant to my question.

Thanks

[yukon]

Is the competition targeting Google SERPs (text search) video thumbnail images?

Do this in Google video search: site:competionURLhere.com

Does Google return any videos for the competition?

You don't need videos yourself, just see what shows up for the competition.

[da11]

Originally Posted by yukon

Is the competition targeting Google SERPs (text search) video thumbnail images?

Do this in Google video search: site:competionURLhere.com

Does Google return any videos for the competition?

You don't need videos yourself, just see what shows up for the competition.

Thanks Yukon. No video. Mostly anchor text links some url links. They also have some paid links too.

[dodly]

make anchor text back link and you will kill the competitor

[Mike Anthony]

Originally Posted by da11

Would love to have someone intelligent post up a useful reply relevant to my question.

Thanks

I'd love someone to do my work for my paying clients and do it for free too. Have any tips for me? Sorry I agree with linkbuildr based on that link portfolio you ought to know the answer. If you don't know how to analyze and beat that site then yes your client needs a SEO.

[da11]

Originally Posted by Mike Anthony

I'd love someone to do my work for my paying clients and do it for free too. Have any tips for me? Sorry I agree with linkbuildr based on that link portfolio you ought to know the answer. If you don't know how to analyze and beat that site then yes your client needs a SEO.

You guys are reading into this the wrong way. What are forums all about right?

Are you just jealous that I have clients and you don't?

I don't plan on doing the SEO. Never said I did. I want to be informed so that when I go to hire an SEO I know what to look for, what questions to ask, etc.

I know who I am not going to hire big guy!

[Fernando Veloso]

Originally Posted by da11

You guys are reading into this the wrong way. What are forums all about right?

Are you just jealous that I have clients and you don't?

I don't plan on doing the SEO. Never said I did. I want to be informed so that when I go to hire an SEO I know what to look for, what questions to ask, etc.

I know who I am not going to hire big guy!

Mike was actually pretty honest and polite - and NO, you don't need to know "how" and "what", unless you're doing it yourself OR, you're hiring a SEO wannabe and you need to explain it to him.

[da11]

Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso

Mike was actually pretty honest and polite - and NO, you don't need to know "how" and "what", unless you're doing it yourself OR, you're hiring a SEO wannabe and you need to explain it to him.

I guess I took what Mike said the wrong way Fernando. I thought he was being a little condescending.

I didn't think my question was that way out of line. Just looking for some confirmation on the possibility of this.

[Fernando Veloso]

Originally Posted by da11

Those that can't do, teach! Or at least try to teach right?

Whatever rocks your boat dude.

We're trying to tell you 3 things:

One, you need a good guy working with/for you.
Two, you won't turn into a SEO rock star asking questions like these in a forum - even in a good one like this.
Three, and this is a personal of mine, your attitude won't get you nowhere near good people that can IN FACT help you out.

EDIT: Just saw your edit on YOUR post, but honestly, more then some random analysis on what you "see", you need some "good eyes" analyzing your customer site and his competition. SEO is definitely NOT an easy task, and you can get hammered with all the promises by some magical automated scripts... thats why we're trying to tell you to focus on get results - don't spend your time wasting time and money - yours, and your customer $$$.

If his competitors are doing good SEO work for years, you need a good guy/company working with/for you. Not a scripty kid with automated tools.

P.S. Oh and Mike is not that BIG... But he sure is a good guy and he knows his way around SEO.

[yukon]

OP, after you have enough forum post, PM me If you want to see an example of how to target video thumbnail Images (without video) in Google text search, for a real estate site.

I don't have time to get into new projects, but I can show you a real life real estate SERP/Site example that any Flash Pro on Odesk could reverse engineer for you.

If the competition doesn't have any video thumbnail images in the Google text search, that's the first thing I would target. Thumbnail images stand out BIG time on the first page when everyone else is targeting text only.

[da11]

Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso

Whatever rocks your boat dude.

We're trying to tell you 3 things:

One, you need a good guy working with/for you.
Two, you won't turn into a SEO rock star asking questions like these in a forum - even in a good one like this.
Three, and this is a personal of mine, your attitude won't get you nowhere near good people that can IN FACT help you out.

EDIT: Just saw your edit on YOUR post, but honestly, more then some random analysis on what you "see", you need some "good eyes" analyzing your customer site and his competition. SEO is definitely NOT an easy task, and you can get hammered with all the promises by some magical automated scripts... thats why we're trying to tell you to focus on get results - don't spend your time wasting time and money - yours, and your customer $$$.

If his competitors are doing good SEO work for years, you need a good guy/company working with/for you. Not a scripty kid with automated tools.

P.S. Oh and Mike is not that BIG... But he sure is a good guy and he knows his way around SEO.

Thanks Fernando! Rough day for me and I let it get the best of me.

Frustrated trying to piece all of this together. Even after researching and studying for weeks I know there is a lot to this.

I apologize!

I definitely want what is best for my client.

Ultimately I want learn so I can direct the right people. That is how I am in my own business. I don't hire anyone without knowing how to and what it takes to do their job. Same goes for hiring an SEO. I want to know how before I #1 make any promises to my client, and #2 before I start working on this project.

Thanks for the info.

[32paul52]

Ok - Read this post and it seems to be - what questions should I ask when I hire and SEO guy?

Here is what I would ask:

1. What results have you got before? (looking for results in competitive markets - use Google keyword tool to check how many searches - exact match per month)

2. As a plan, how would you approach SEO? (he should say some like keyword research, check and create on page factors - then build links and ask how builds links)

3. What % of time would you spend in each area above? (should be at least 80% in link building)

4. How long does it does to get results? (should be 6 months or longer - especially if you tell him the market - any sooner run away! -full of BS!)

5. How do you report? (you want monthly reporting, how many links built the where and how- sometimes they might not be 100% as some linking systems don't show everything)

In regard of how much you will pay, I would expect at least $500 a month, as there should be a lot of work and he will use some paid tools as well.

Find someone who communicates well, on a regular basis and talk about that right up front so everyone is on the same page (including your client)

Hope this helps

[da11]

Originally Posted by yukon

OP, after you have enough forum post, PM me If you want to see an example of how to target video thumbnail Images (without video) in Google text search, for a real estate site.

I don't have time to get into new projects, but I can show you a real life real estate SERP/Site example that any Flash Pro on Odesk could reverse engineer for you.

If the competition doesn't have any video thumbnail images in the Google text search, that's the first thing I would target. Thumbnail images stand out BIG time on the first page when everyone else is targeting text only.

Thats golden info if it works. Thanks for sharing Yukon. I'll pm you soon.

[da11]

Originally Posted by 32paul52

Ok - Read this post and it seems to be - what questions should I ask when I hire and SEO guy?

Here is what I would ask:

1. What results have you got before? (looking for results in competitive markets - use Google keyword tool to check how many searches - exact match per month)

2. As a plan, how would you approach SEO? (he should say some like keyword research, check and create on page factors - then build links and ask how builds links)

3. What % of time would you spend in each area above? (should be at least 80% in link building)

4. How long does it does to get results? (should be 6 months or longer - especially if you tell him the market - any sooner run away! -full of BS!)

5. How do you report? (you want monthly reporting, how many links built the where and how- sometimes they might not be 100% as some linking systems don't show everything)

In regard of how much you will pay, I would expect at least $500 a month, as there should be a lot of work and he will use some paid tools as well.

Find someone who communicates well, on a regular basis and talk about that right up front so everyone is on the same page (including your client)

Hope this helps

Will do!

Thanks for sharing Paul, I appreciate that.

[outwest]

I think the age of your clients site or his competitors site are irrelevant, I regularly see a 13 yr old domain of a competitor outranked by less than 1 yr old sites

if your client has zero backlinks and his competitor has like 80 backlinks with low PR if you are in any way qualified to CHARGE this person for SEO, you should KNOW that this is nothing, and can easily be outranked

[da11]

Originally Posted by outwest

I think the age of your clients site or his competitors site are irrelevant, I regularly see a 13 yr old domain of a competitor outranked by less than 1 yr old sites

if your client has zero backlinks and his competitor has like 80 backlinks with low PR if you are in any way qualified to CHARGE this person for SEO, you should KNOW that this is nothing, and can easily be outranked

What worries more is the exact match domains he has. 13 or so targeting my keywords.

What is the work around for that? Is it links? Do I need to do single mini sites with similar domain names? Or just focus on 1 authority site and have pages optimized for those keywords?

THanks

[MikeFriedman]

Originally Posted by da11

What worries more is the exact match domains he has. 13 or so targeting my keywords.

What is the work around for that? Is it links? Do I need to do single mini sites with similar domain names? Or just focus on 1 authority site and have pages optimized for those keywords?

THanks

Why not rank the home page of the main website for all 13 keywords?

[rickysmith2050]

This is the first time i am reading your post and admire that you posted article which gives users lot of information regarding particular topic thnaks for this share.

[Mike Anthony]

Originally Posted by da11

I guess I took what Mike said the wrong way Fernando. I thought he was being a little condescending.

Da people come on this forum all the time that don't have a clue about SEo but talking about their client and its a kind of fraud being perpetuated. You don't take money from people for a job you can't do.

Now is this your SEO client you are talking about or are you going to hire someone? I don't know because you are all over the place. One minute insinuating that you have a client and others don't and then claiming you are hiring a SEO even though your OP had nothing about how to choose a SEO and then later in the thread going right back to asking what YOU should do.

To me from the analysis you are looking for and the work you have already done looking at the site I would bet that this is your client and all anyone was telling you is that its really not fair to your client.

There was another thread last week with someone who wanted to learn SEO and sell services. He was flat out honest that he didn't know much and I applauded him. Why? He had not taken on clients and was honest about what he didn't know without an attitude that he was owed to be taught for free. I think in the future if you take that attitude then you will find people are helpful not if you show the one you have shown in this thread.

[outwest]

I agree
I consider myself somewhat of a SEO newbie compared to guys like Yukon

B ut compared to the OP? i Feel like he just stepped off the boat

Me? I would never even consider calling myself a SEO company and charging companies for my services. I feel extremely unqualified even with several years under my belt.

I think the OP should reconsider charging for SEO services until he actually learns SEO, (and I do mean LEARNS It)