Savannah Ga Real Estate: Long Tail Results

Overnight I dropped from 13 on Google to page 3. At the same time I dropped from Yahoo 1st page to #13. It's truly a mystery. I have a good statistics program on my business website, so I follow all this closely. The search terms that are bringing me 5-7 leads a day are mostly terms other than "Savannah Ga Real Estate", at least the number of search terms used to reach my site are far higher for terms other than the King of terms.

Does my fall from the front page matter? I think not, and here is why: "City/State/Real Estate" is not my main concern.

I'm not an SEO expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. While I will continue optimizing with the King of Terms in mind, my most profitable efforts are a tad outside the kingdom, although still within the land of the tail. However, when I print out search term results from my statistics program the results are, visually, one thin, long tail, even if they can be considered within the land of the short-tail -- it's a large land, maybe larger than we've realized, which makes a long-tail viable as long as the tail is part of the same species.

The search terms I receive traffic from are diverse, yet I contend they are mostly transactional results. There are some who believe the "City/State Real Estate" and other such generalized terms are too generalized, most likely from curious researchers than serious homebuyers. I would also suggest that a lot of the traffic from the King of Terms is real estate agents checking placement, SEO experts checking placement and agents checking other agents' placements. But even with serious homebuyers who are using these terms as first-search terms, searching is a process, not a one time event.

Most searchers use search like I use it, to narrow down to the personalized results, then use it even more to clarify results in the arena of nuances.

I've developed my own theory regarding search as it applies to my business. I have two business websites. Except for one or two local real estate companies here in Savannah who have done a good job of getting front page placement for the King of Terms "Savannah Ga Real Estate", the other results are for national sites not all that relevant to local, Savannah real estate. I bounce around in placement for the King of Terms -- front page, second page, third page, back to first page, and so forth. My bread and butter are the other search terms that are more specific, and although not any one search term produces over 4 visitors a month, all together they produce a significant amount of visitors for a small town like Savannah.

The term combinations are many and are a result of all the rich, varied content I've provided through the two websites. I've found two things very helpful lately: Blogs and photo albums with a description function. We all know about blogs, and although there is some controversy about content, I maintain that good rich content about local areas, specific listings and local trends is the key to being found under diverse search terms that can lead to transactions. After you've learned a little about SEO, applying the best techniques to rich content is the way to get good results, the more specific the better.

The photo album is a recent addition to my marketing efforts and I have found it very effective. We know people are visual, and recently I have seen more and more buyers  using the term "photos" or "pictures" for the Savannah area. I am getting requests from buyers who have complimented me on the photo site, especially the descriptions where I can tell the story of Savannah, provide rich information and link to even more useful information. This is part of the second, third and fourth search, I'm positive, where buyers are narrowing down or gathering more information after the initial generalized search.

The first generalized search may have landed them on Realtor.com but as they personalized their search they found me. They found me through a more specific, even a little obscure, search for terms Realtor.com doesn't know or acknowledge. The effect of this is likely to be that buyers who use search to narrow down and personalize wind up on the long-tail of the same species, and while I would like to get them on the first, generalized search, I can still reach them as they personalize their searches after they've gathered enough knowledge to know what specific questions to query. If I'm going to be beat by the big competitors, I'd rather lose the battle for the general and win the war of specifics and personalization and context.

It's not a one shot proposition anymore -- searchers perform many searches as they gain more knowledge and look for more specific information than a site full of listings. In a way, Realtor.com is leading serious buyers my way where I have visibility along the long tail of the same species. And as I add more functions like photos & info of the whole damn town, I satisfy the buyers needs, not only for personalization, but also for context. The thing is that searchers are becoming better, more avid, searchers, so I have to continue providing different, better content to be found as they narrow down along the long thin line of possibilities.

That's my humble theory.