I have been playing around with Touchgraph, a cool visual analytics tool that can quickly give you the Big Picture of important sites recognized by Google for certain keywords. It also shows you visually the relationships between sites that link to each other.

The help section explains how this works:

"Searching for a keyword will retrieve the top 10 pages matching that keyword, and the top 10 similar pages for each of those pages"

I ran a series of queries on keywords that I was familiar with and the results are indeed visually accurate.

Here are some fun sample queries:

Search term: "Real Estate Technology"

The top 10 clusters:

Future of Real Estate Marketing
NAR
RealEstateToolBox
Computer Camp
Real Estate Technology News
Retipub.com
Amazon.com/
MyTechOpinion
RealtyStar
RealEstate.About.com

Search term: "Zillow"

The top 10 clusters:

Zillow
Zillow
Zillow
ZillowBlog
Techcrunch
Techcrunch
BloodhoundRealty
Techdirt.com
Wikipedia
WallStreetJournal

Here are some hyper-local queries:

Search term: "palo alto real estate"

The top 10 clusters:

Trulia
PaloAltoOnline
PaloAltoOnline
PaloAltoOnline
Topix.net
Relo-Experts.com
Yahoo
Yahoo
3OceansRE
3OceansRE

Search term: "los altos real estate"

Search term: "cupertino real estate"

There's much more to it than this…you can run reports, analyze the results for patterns and use it as a powerful analytics tool…

Try it here at Touchgraph

Popularity: 35% [?]

Finally, the ultimate definition of Google Pagerank, at least for the next 3 weeks or so.  If you really want to know, it is all right here:

PR(A) = (1-d) + d(PR(t1)/C(t1) + … + PR(tn)/C(tn))

that's it, that is the formula for Google's Pagerank…now go here to read the full explanation

Here are some interesting notes.

Frequent content updates don’t improve Page Rank automatically.
I really don't think this is true… I've done a few experiments with Wordpress blogs set up with auto-posters that post articles from article databases. These sites had no links coming in, and the page rank was solely based on fresh content. In about 3 months they reached PR3.

Efficient internal onsite linking has an impact on PageRank.
This might explain the above link, since the "experimental sites" had many internal links based on sub domains.

Site can be banned if it links to banned sites.
This seems scary to me, since you probably don't know what sites are banned.

Popularity: 18% [?]

There are two features of our single properties websites that need to be highlighted because they are great features and essential to get the most from your sites. Google Sitemaps, and Google Analytics. In this post I will be talking about google Sitemaps.

Why do you NEED to do this?
Because every single property website you make needs to have links to all your other websites, creating a web of links to all your websites. When the Google bots index your websites they see all these links to your websites and increases your page rank. The higher the page rank, the more often your website will appear on searches.

What does it do?
The Wordpress Google Sitemaps plugin builds an XML file that maps your website and lets the google robots know about pages and posts in your website. Once the sitemap is built, you submit the xml file to google using their webmaster tools and within a few days you will be indexed on google and in the search engine. The webmaster tools allows you to see how Google indexes your site, views your keywords, shows incoming links, etc… You can add unlimited number of sites to you account which makes it easy to check the status of all your websites

If you have a self hosted wordpress website, you can download the google sitemap plugin here

Since we run wordpress MU to host all the single property websites, we had to tweak the sitemap plugin to work for us. Below are the steps to create and submit a sitemap for our single property websites.

1. Activate the plugin, then in options you will see the sitemap tab. Once on the sitemap page, simply click build sitemap. Or rebuild sitemap. You only need to build it once, unless you do major changes to your site. 

the sitemap gets created instantly and then provides a link to the webmaster tools.

2. If you do not have a google account, create one, then add your site. At the top of the page, when you are in webmaster tools, you will see the textbox to add the url of your website.

3. Once added you need to verify it. There are 2 ways to do this. Since our single property websites do not have ftp permission, and you cannot add meta information to the site we had to make a little hack to allow Wordpress MU to get indexed.

4. at the dropdown, choose Upload an HTML file.

5. That will bring up this page, which tells you to upload a certain type of file so Google can verify that you are the owner. 

You are suppose to upload that file, but our little hack takes care of it for you, so just click "Verify" and in a few seconds, you will see a success message that your site has been verified by the google bot.

Now you need to tell Google where your sitemap is.

Navigate to the sitemaps section in webmaster tools. You have 2 selections, mobile or nrmal sitemaps…choose normal. You will then see this page. Notice the example below the textbox. That is the link you need to add. Just copy and paste the example url into the textbox, click submit and your done. Now just let Google do it's magic. 

Like always, if you have questions, shoot them my way  

Popularity: 20% [?]

Six Apart is the worlds largest blogging software company, granted Wordpress is not a company. They do provide very good products, and I have learned a lot from them in terms of blogging technology. For example, I learned about pings, trackbacks, and RSS from some developers over there.

Here is a video of spokesman Anil Dash on Obtaining “Google Juice” through effective blogging.

I like the way he puts it. Give and you will receive, this is so true.

Look at the white board behind Anil…I like the “me” with the arrow pointing to Anil…I chuckled

Popularity: 9% [?]

Realivent.com is proud to announce that we have put together some incredible single property websites using Wordpress, our real estate plugins, and other worpdress plugins to make a website for your listings that are just amazing.

Website Samples: (Click to go to website)

In less then 5 minutes you can have a fully functional website, that has all the search engine optimization, spam filtering, lead generation, and contact forms for you to get more business.

Simply add your listing details, add your listing photos, choose a theme and publish. If you have a listing in our system already, you can just select your current listing and choose a theme…this takes less then a minute.

The themes have an interchangeable header image so you can upload your own header to the website. You can change most of the colors on the website including the background color, menu color, and link color.

Change Colors with our color picker 

Since the website is built on Wordpress, you can blog about your listings, and people can subscribe to you listing and get automatic updates via RSS 

Many plugins are installed for you automatically.
The Realivent plugins include:

• Featured listing plugin - This plugin puts your listings on every website you make, add a listing once and it is will appear on every website. includes mapping, neighborhood data, email to friend, print flyer, and information request forms.
• IDX smartframe Home Search plugin - this allows you to put your home search in every website you make.
• About Me Plugin - make one professional profile and use it on every website you make.
• CMA form with Zillow estimates -This plugin is a lead generation monster…It allows people to get the value of any home in the US instantly from your website. There is also a form that allows people to request a CMA from you.
• Calculator - A wonderful financial calculator that returns monthly payments.
• Property Watch - Allows people to send you their home search criteria to you as an email, you then put them on an automatic home search.

Wordpress plugins:

• SEO Title Tag - makes your website better for google search engine
• Spam Karma 2 - blocks all comment spam from your website
• Ultimate Tag Warrior - fills your metatags with keywords based on the website content to make your website better for google search engine
• Related Posts - Adds a list of related posts to each blog post you make.
• Google sitemaps - allows you to add your website to google search engine for indexing and use Google webmaster tools to make sure your site is high in rankings
• Meebo Plugin - Adds Instant Messaging to your site.
• MyBlogLog Plugin - Adds social networking to your website
• Google Adsense Plugin - Allows you to monetize your websites.
• More coming soon!

As we update the websites with more plugins and features your active websites will stay updated, and you will have access to all new plugins immediatly after they are released. This also applies to themes…

Manage Your Listings From Within Your Website Control Panel

Another great feature is that you can add and edit your listings and your profile from any admin section all within your own website. Say you have 5 listings, and therefore 5 websites… You can control all your information from any website…simply amazing. You can also create beautiful HTML Posts for Craigslist, Live Deal, and Backpage from your admin section, and we syndicate to many sites like Google Base and Edgeio automatically.

You can also add a custom domain name your single property website instantly. Just point your domain nameservers to Realivent servers, and your set.

You can make unlimited websites for Free. Custom Domain Name hosting starts at $9.95/month, or host your single property website for a full year and save $50!  

Popularity: 19% [?]

I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit this but I have neglected my self on the internet and it has come around to bite me in the ass. Well no more! Your online profile is very important, after all you are a brand, and you should market your self accordingly.

My name is Matt Dunlap (Matt#1 for future reference) and if you do you search for me on Google you probably run across all kinds of impersonators. This scares me, especially since many employers are no doing background checks on the internet before they hire potential employees.

In a 2006 survey by executive search firm ExecuNet in Norwalk, Conn., 77 of 100 recruiters said they use search engines to check out job candidates. In a CareerBuilder.com survey of 1,150 hiring managers last year, one in four said they use Internet search engines to research potential employees. One in 10 said they also use social networking sites to screen candidates. In fact, according to Search Engine Watch, there are 25 million to 50 million proper-name searches performed each day.
Source: Computerworld.com

For example, a quick search for Matt Dunlap will bring up this guy…He says he's name is Matt Dunlap, but we really don't know.

Matt delivers a warm, friendly voice for all your voiceover needs. His voice is perfect for your project whether it's a radio or TV commercial, industrial presentation, multimedia CD, game, web audio or book on tape.  He can deliver a range from "man on the street" to "announcer" to "soft spoken" depending on your needs. He is frequently compared to Tom Brokaw by friends and acquaintances.

Not bad…he seems like a professional guy. I don't think any employer will have a second thought about me if they run across matt#2

Then we get to matt dunlap #3 at AmericanSingles.com, The second result in google…This guy is going to ruin my life!

Don't get me wrong I feel sorry for guy, after all nobody likes women that hit you, but come on dude, think about the other Matt Dunlap's out there. On a side note, I like how he is looking for a friend or JUST A LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP.

At least I come up first on Flickr, when searching for Matt Dunlap. Unfortunately, a few pages into it you run across this…not good for me! That can easily be mistaken as me, and I'm 75 percent sure it's not me, even though I've been there… We all have, just admit it!

So as you can see I'm on shaky ground for any interview process. I'm giving myself 3 months to become the most downloaded highest ranking Matt Dunlap on the internet. If I can't do it, I can always hire a professional

A great brand can take months, if not years, and millions of dollars to build. It should be the thing you hold most precious. Don’t let even one negative blog comment go unnoticed, call Andy Beal today to discuss an online reputation management strategy that matches your company’s needs.

Popularity: 17% [?]

No less then 3 days after we announced our army of real estate data collectors, the competitions started announcing their plans for global real estate domination. Greg Swann at bloodhoundrealty built a zillow bot to compete with our new mega real estate monster…Well, all I have to say is bring it on. 

Any of you, bring it on…if you think your little bots, and computer hacks can compete with our geniuses, so be it.

By the way we added another child superstar to our team:

This is little Hairy, we found him in a box eating lightbulbs in the BestBuy parking lot , and yes…That is his real hair, and Yes, He CAN read minds, and will probably move our completion date up at least 3 months.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Kevin boer at 3oceansrealestate has started a thread about the most marketing property on the internet. When Kevin first spoke to me about this project, I couldn't believe it is 2007 and finally someone has started this…IMO Realtors should have been doing this for years, but I guess it just flew under the radar.

I'm not going to predict the future…again, but I will say this is going to send property marketing into the next phase. We are going to see properties with some pretty amazing marketing soon. Not just video, not just podcasts, not cellphone text messages…I'm talking cool stuff that will knock your socks off.

One of the first things to do when you get a listing is buy a domain name for the property. For example 123greenst.com

Now how do you use it?

There are 3 ways to add a listing to your website. for the following examples, let's assume your domain name is agent.com

1. Subdomains:  123green.agent.com. I would recommend this over the other 2 types. subdomains are considered as different websites, so 123green.agent.com is considered a different website then agent.com. So for every subdomain you make, the links back to your main site (agent.com) boosts the page rank for the main site.

2. top level domain names: 123greenst.com. I would recommend buying it, but only using it for the sign rider at the listing. You can park this domain name on top of the subdomain name, so you still use the subdomain for google juice. It is a lot easier to remember 123greenst.com on a sign rider, then 123green.agent.com or agent.com/123green
3. trailing folder: www.agent.com/123greenst. This domain will just be another page in your website, so there really is no benefits to this.
   

   EDIT:
   I shouldn't say there are no benefits to the 3rd type. The more pages you have in your blog the better the google rankings. I meant, out of the 3 choices, I would go after the first 2. I was thinking about this after I wrote it and was wondering how a redirect would work for this? make the trailing folder redirect to the top level domain? Hmmm…maybe another post about this will be coming soon.

The main argument from SEO Guru's (not me) is that subdomains do not help anymore, especially after one guy got 5 billion websites indexed by google in less then 3 weeks. Since you are not going to spam, and all your subdomains will be realivent relevant website, subdomains will help your main site with google juice.

5 Billion pages on google, put some adwords, and imagine making a penny per page.
As Borat would say "That's Niiice"

Popularity: 14% [?]

I actually hate graffiti. I don't think it's art, I don't care how much time you spent on it…I just hate it. Especially graffiti that is just a tag for a symbol or something. There is more and more graffiti in my area everyday, it just ugly.

Another one of my pet peeves is when someone tries to paint over graffiti, but they use a different colored paint then the rest of the wall. Even if it is just a shade off, it looks awful. Either paint the whole area the same color or try to just remove the spray paint graffiti.

Anyhow, here is my tag on America. I used the new Google Maps "My Maps" to make it…cool stuff. Just spent about 5 minutes on it, but I can see the possibilities. Custom heat maps, school zones, districts, neighborhoods… should add a lot to real estate websites

Popularity: 14% [?]

A few days ago, Trulia announced they inked a deal with Realogy.

That’s because today we announced a strategic marketing agreement with Realogy Corporation, the largest real estate franchisor and owner and operator of residential real estate brokers in the U.S, to put more than 500,000 of their affiliate real estate listings on Trulia.com.
Source: Truli-a Real Estate Milestone

That same day, Realogy announce that they putting listing on Google base, and Trulia 

Parsippany, N.J.-based Realogy has added about half a million listings from the three brokerages to Google Base and to Trulia.com, a real estate search engine started in 2005 that makes money through advertising.
Source: Businessweek.com

So who wins the battle of the listings? We all do!

This is a major breakthrough for all real estate tech developers, access to 500,000 listings using google base API's.

Is this bad news for Trulia? of course not…they are way ahead of the curve and one of the top real estate search websites. If the not the best. so the rest of the developers will have to catch up. The questions is will they?

One downside is there are going to be a lot of junk sites using homes to generate traffic for their adsense revenue. We have no problem with sites spidering our listings, but the links better all go to us. If I search for one of our listings and I find it on a scraper site, with I link going to some other brokerage, I get spun up. 

Is there a way to stop scraping? I don't know

Can agents get more control over their listings and stop it? I think so, but maybe not?

Popularity: 13% [?]