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Unique and Quality Website Content

Do you have more than “stock” content on your site?  What content should you be adding?  What makes it valuable?  There are many items you can add to your website that are valuable by being both consumer and search engine friendly.

A great way to inform your website visitors and to attract search engines is to add content on your website specific to your area; these are commonly called “city pages”.

The first step is to start gathering content for your city pages.  Research your area by checking the official website for each city, visiting local attractions, etc.  Be sure to take your own photos with your digital camera so you can avoid any copyright issues, and also be sure you're allowed to photograph the areas you are in.  Take notes when checking out local websites, but just notes…no “borrowing” content…this is easy for search engines to spot and report, and is also against the law.  Advanced Access takes copyright infringement very seriously, and reserves the right to remove pages which have been copied from other sources; including other Advanced Access client websites.

Once you've gathered information and know what you'd like to highlight for each city or area, you are just about ready to write your content.  BUT, before you start, take a few moments to role play or “pretend” that you are taking to a close friend about how wonderful your city is.  Identify some of the words you would use to describe your city in a “regular” conversation, and try to use these types of conversational words in your written description.  Talk about local attractions such as museums, landmarks, and amusement parks.  Share some of the city history or governmental insight on where to go for certain kinds of information in that city, along with community, educational, athletic, or any other unique community highlight.  Don’t forget, you want to keep them INTERESTED, so be CREATIVE!  Remember, your competitor’s website is just a click away!  If you aren’t confident in your writing skills, hire somebody.

For search engine purposes, be sure to use your city name along with the words “real estate” and other keywords for your site on your city pages.  This is one way to let search engines know what your page is about.  It’s important NOT to write copy that includes a long list of key words, just for the search engines.  Here’s an example:  “Susie Smith sells Anaheim Real Estate, Yorba Linda Real Estate, Orange Real Estate, Placentia Real Estate, Fullerton Real Estate, Brea Real Estate, and Orange Park Acres Real Estate.”  These types of sentences do not look “real” and sophisticated search engine technology will identify it in their spidering.  We recommend that you read your text out loud to yourself and make sure it sounds natural.  This is the best type of writing that search engines enjoy.

Another key element to getting your city pages indexed in search engines is writing custom meta tags for each page describing its content.  This is easily accomplished using the Header Manager "Meta Text Options" feature within your Virtual Office under the Design Center section.  Once in this section, you will choose the 'Custom Meta Text' option.  Next, click on the link for the sample meta text, then click the 'Use' link.  This will put the meta tags in the appropriate place.  Now all you need to do is fill in the blanks.  The most important part is replacing "YOUR PAGE TITLE GOES HERE" with your own page title - this is the first way you tell a search engine what your page is about.  For example, if your page will be about Phoenix real estate, that would be an excellent title to use.

Once your pages are completed, begin adding links on your homepage such as 'CityName Real Estate' (the name of the city or area you are highlighting) and link that text to your new page for that city.  Add one for each area you do business in.  These types of links will be noticed by search engines for many reasons, one of which being the use of your keywords on your website.  The links will take your visitors to pages you create relating to that specific area, thus making your website even more useful to your potential clients.

Another way to add customized content is to highlight your specialties by creating and adding custom pages with information targeting your niche market.

For example, if you specialize in working with first-time home buyers, add a section on your homepage letting people know that you do.  Make it stand out on your homepage; get their attention!  Then link that section to a page with first-time home buyer information.  Make this page all about the first-time home buyer and what services or challenges you can help with.  You can even create and include an FAQ (frequently asked questions) section.  Don’t forget to keep your content interesting; even facts need a little flair to keep them reading.

Another example of a niche is relocation.  If you specialize in relocation services, create a page containing relocation information and add a link on your homepage to it.  You can feature movers that you have worked with and trust, include links to community profile information where your client can compare cities, and include moving tips, etc.

These are just a few of many ways you can cater to your website visitors while attracting search engines at the same time.

For additional helpful tips visit the "Kick Your Site Into High Gear" section of our website.

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