Appraiser XSites' Role

Search Engine Submission
After you register a domain through the XSites Wizard, we submit your site to Google™ and several other engines.  It generally takes four to six weeks or longer after being submitted for your site to show up "naturally" on these types of search engines.  Soon, we'll be adding new features to allow you to schedule when and how often individual pages get resubmitted when you change them.  Keep in mind that submission alone will not get you found in search engines and we've listed some tips in the "Your Role" section below.   

Your XSites' description and keywords
We automatically generate the Title, Keywords and Description for the pages on your XSite based on extensive research and information we know about your company.  This will get you started.  The XSites' Wizard gives you the ability to modify your site's keywords and description at any time (XSites Wizard, Step 2).   You can use this to personalize your site to a specific theme or idea.

"Search Engine-Friendly" coding
The site structure and navigation of your XSite has been optimized to make the site friendly to crawlers and spiders used by search engines to index websites. 


Your Role

Use the Provided Content to Your Advantage
It's important to personalize your XSite to you and what you do. Use what we populate the pages with to make the site unique. Make sure you tell people where you are, and what types of services you offer. This will tell the search engines too, so that when people use those words and phrases to search, your site
will be among the results. Try to get into the mind of the searcher. What words and phrases will people use to try to find you? Use those words throughout the text on your pages. (XSites Wizard, Step 7).

Make your home page work for you
Search engines will often give a boost of importance to the words and phrases on your home page.  Be sure to modify the home page you select to include your company name, county, city, and we suggest using words like "appraiser", "appraisals", "real estate appraiser", "home appraiser" or "appraisal report" as well.  If you can come up with individual pages that describe these services, use those words or phrases on your home page as a link to those individual pages. (XSites Wizard, Step 7).

The Role of Paid Listings

It's a fact that paid listings get your site indexed faster and can even guarantee a ranking position for a specific search phrase or phrases.  The two major paid listings programs that should be considered are Google.com and Overture.com.

Google.com
Google paid placements include both premium listings that are highlighted in color at the top of each search results page and AdWords in the form of square listings on the right of each search results page.  Google paid placements are valuable not just because of their coverage on the Google search engine, but also because they power the paid results of many other engines across the Internet.  The Google AdWords program is an excellent place to start for a limited budget, self managed paid listing campaign.

To get started with a Google AdWords campaign, go to adwords.google.com/select/

Overture.com
Overture offers a service called Precision Match.  There are two levels to these paid listings.  The less expensive and easier to manage Self Serve plan is very simple to setup and manage.  Using the online interface, you can cap spending to as little as $20 per month, with a one time $50 deposit.  Positions on Overture reach other excellent search engine sites like Yahoo, MSN, AltaVista, CNN.com, and others.  These features make Overture an excellent choice to test the waters of paid listings with a self managed campaign on a limited budget.  There is no service fee to sign up for the Self Serve plan.

Details can be found at www.content.overture.com/d/USm/ac/pr/p4p.jhtml

By following the tips here, your Appraiser XSite will be optimized for "free" results in major search engines.  We don't charge you for this, and we don't see any money if you elect to use Google, Overture or any other paid listing service.  If you decide it's right for you, go for it!  But your Appraiser XSite will fare well in free listings if you follow the simple suggestions we've made.

Site Optimization

The tips here are targeted toward improving your XSite's search engine visibility.  It's only a small part of "site optimization."  Click here to read more about site optimization.

Are You Popular?

Another powerful avenue for improving your site's search engine ranking is increasing the number and quality of websites that link to your XSite.  Take advantage of the resources already available to you — update all your online listings to include a link to your XSite.  Exchange links with local businesses including banks, home inspectors, title companies, the local and state chamber of commerce, and even your alma mater!

Featured Links

MarketLeap
Link Popularity Check

Compare the popularity of links on your site against three competitors.  Link popularity is measured by the number of quality inbound links pointed to your site and is used by search engines in ranking your site.

"Keywords"

You can edit the keywords and description of your XSite.  The description should be a short couple of sentences that encompass the words and phrases you think people will use to search for your XSite.  The keywords should contain common misspellings and synonyms.  Note:  The keywords section won't give you a boost in ranking per se, but could help you get found if someone uses one of these words in a search.

Free Submissions

You can submit your site for free, but be prepared for a wait. It can take anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks for some search engines to visit after you submit them.

Use these links to submit your pages to Google and Yahoo!:

| Google || Yahoo |