I've been really impressed with the help I received from everyone. Especially with Katerina Gasset who even took the time to talk with me on the phone and help me with guidance in my specific niche in real estate marketing with a client whose budget $500.00 a month. She's very knowledgeable with marketing. I plan to be working more with her in the future and with some Virtual Assistants she's helping me with as well. I'm very glad to be part of this wonderful group and I'm looking forward to growing and learning more!
Nathan Kaufman
UI/UX Designer
Connie Wolff REALTOR® Pittsburgh
I highly recommend that anyone who's looking to boost their rankings in Google to follow Katerina's highly effective SEO strategies. Thanks to Katerina, I was able to position myself within two weeks in 9 of 10 spots on page one of Google for a condominium complex I was farming and have also been able to dominate page 1 of Google for two other relevant keywords in my market area. Katerina ROCKS! Her SEO techniques work!!
My coach, Katerina Gasset, is getting ready to host a blogging webinar with the topic of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and I thought now would be a great time to share with other Active Rain members, the success that Katerina brings to her students.
In under a month, I had risen from not even being on the first page of many of my neighborhood searches to being on the first page multiple times. Katerina, being the amazing coach that she is, steered me in the right direction to obtain a higher profile on all of the search engines, despite my insistence that we were posting the wrong keywords!!
Keywords and longtail keywords are what it's all about and once you've discovered that, 30 days of posting TO your keywords is all it takes. As a matter of fact, I did an experiment with one of my neighborhoods and found that it took only about 48 hours to climb to the top with her advice! Below is one of the search terms that I used, "Charlotte NC Carmel Park." Below are the results of the search. Now I'm not number one--a paying company is but, my listings are right up there below the paying company's link. Honestly, when I do a search myself, I always skip BELOW the paid ad because I want the 'real' information--ALWAYS!
REALTOR® North Carolina
I’d like to share my experience of the additional Keyword tutorial with the class:
I’ve always targeted “XXXXXXXXXXXX” as one of my main keyword in my information. After I did the Keyword tutorial with you, I realized that only 5,400 hits for that keyword, versus “XXXXXXXXXXX” at 27,100. Also, you taught me how to look at the Google Keyword Bar indicator to see how much relevant information is out there for those keywords. Funny thing is that the 27,100 hits per month one is the one that is less competitive.
So, guess where would I focus my keywords now? I invested in a small amount of my financial resource. But the knowledge you imparted into me will sustain a lifetime. Now, I’m even more focused on what I need to do, what I need to write. I have always gained some presence in my market on the Internet, now I think I might just bust through the roof. Watch out, XXXXX realtors! I know what I’m doing but apparently from your tags, anchor, titles and links, you probably not!
REALTOR®
Do you intend to make blogging a part of your real estate marketing toolbox? If so and if you are like me, you will probably jump in because you love the practice of real estate and you love to write and you feel that you have something to offer.
You will spend hours thinking about topics, agonizing over the writing, trying to figure out how to make your posts presentable, and then waiting for comments and leads to materialize. Let me give you some advice that will give you a quicker start and allow you to efficiently and profitably make blogging a key component of your marketing program.
Get a coach. Coach Katerina, to be more specific. I just finished Coach Katerina's first SEO to the Top Webinar. Here are some of the things that I didn't know about blogging before I attended the webinar:
It's not about how well you write or what you know about real estate. It's all about Google juice!
Everything you do must be about SEO or search engine optimization. If the consumer can't find you in the searches, did you really write that post that took hours of your precious time?
You need to know what key words are and you need a plan to incorporate the best key words for your target audience into your blog and website. If you don't have a good plan, your beautiful posts will be scattered all over the internet. Once again, if they can't find you, did you really write the post?
- After key words, it's all about the links. And there are so many ways to link, it boggles the mind. One more reason to have a plan.
There's more but I'll leave it at that. Don't be like me and my backward blogging efforts. Do yourself a favor and check out Katerina's SEO to the Top Webinar. It's very reasonably priced and a great value. You'll learn to use your blogging time more efficiently and most likely get results a lot quicker.
Thanks Katerina for the great webinar. I'll see you on Page One!
Katerina: The seminar has been awesome. I have learned a lot. I am redoing my websites, and trying to get ownership of my own name. I have a lot going this summer not work related, and I will get back to work full time in September. In the mean time, I am trying to write a page per day for the two websites that I am creating. I have some blogs on draft, but I am still working on photos for them. If I got several leads right now, I could not handle them, so I am not trying very hard.
Thanks to all the information I have received from you, I am changing my bussines model. Thank you. I have to run and pick up my daughter, she just called me.
Real Estate Professional
I want you to know how much I appreciate having the opportunity to take your class to learn more about SEO. But the class was a lot more than SEO. I believe that Bruce & I have already benefitted from what I have learned. It will be a while before we are able to implement some things (i.e. web structure, design) you have taught but it will happen. Thankfully, right now we are busier than we have been in quite a while and of course, business comes first. It is also baseball season and with two grandsons playing, that's a priority for us! I will post a blog about your webinars but I would like you to suggest the best time for me to post it since you are going to begin sign ups for your next webinars soon. Perhaps someone will read what I write and take your class as a result. I already have a title - 'How to Sharpen Your Edge with SEO.'
How to Sharpen Your Edge with SEO or What does SEO have to do with retirement and second homes in McCormick County, SC?
First - the background: Bruce and I are not products of the technology age. We grew up when kids didn't have Facebook and text messaging. We flew kites, collected baseball cards and pulled the family dog in the red wagon. We both remember our families getting their first television. That being said, Bruce has been in real estate since 1972 and has lots of real-world experience. I am a newbie, having been an educator for 31 years and, since my first retirement, a REALTOR® for 9 years.
Next the challenge: We love real estate and if we are going to work in the business, we will do it well. We also love satisfied buyers and sellers. Our market is
Now to Active Rain and How We Sharpened Our Edge with SEO: After attending a technology seminar, we realized that, although we were skilled computer users, we were dinosaurs when it came to ‘social media.' So in the fall of 2008, we joined AR. We enjoyed reading about real estate issues but quickly discovered that, when it came to technology, sometimes ya'll were speaking a foreign language with terms like Google juice, search engine optimization, SERPS, Twitter, etc.
I started reading technology posts in an attempt to learn more and was quickly attracted to Katerina Gasset's technology tutorials. We knew we had to do things differently to attract buyers of retirement and second homes via the Internet, especially to McCormick County, SC. When Katerina posted about an upcoming SEO to the Top Webinar, I quickly emailed her and said, "My SEO Edge is Dull! Do I know enough to participate?" Katerina and I talked on the phone several times and with her support and encouragement, I signed up!
Here's the Sharper Edge part of the story: What I didn't know going in to the webinar didn't matter. Katerina's series of posts helped me get my feet wet with SEO. I'm a lot sharper and I understand SEO much better through the SEO to the Top Webinar by...
Reading Katerina's posts about SEO for background knowledge before the class began to develop a foundation.
Being in a class with people with all levels of knowledge, reading their posts and listening to and learning from their questions and concerns.
Developing more than a 'working' knowledge of SEO terms. (Katerina continued with explanations and examples until everyone understood.)
Developing a better knowledge of keywords.
Understanding more about Google - functions and programs and most importantly, information about how they treat blogs and websites and use keywords to determine placement in their searches; looking at Yahoo & MSN.
Analyzing searches and learning to choose terms to help the search engines to find us.
Testing and measuring the results of placements efforts.
Using technology to develop a business niche.
Learning about outside blogs.
Looking at URL's, owning our name, personal profiles.
Examining links and how to use them.
Looking at structure, design, keywords, descriptions, etc. to get to the top.
- Examining general social media sites and learning why they are important . . . and more!
So, thanks Katerina for helping me know what it means to Sharpen My Edge with SEO! We have learned that this is a process, not an event so we are working to implement changes so that web users can better find Bruce & Mary Smith and Savannah Lakes Village in their search for retirement and second homes in McCormick County, SC.
Katerina, you're a great teacher and an inspiration for all you do!!! Thanks so much!
REALTOR®
Hi Katerina,
I just wanted to send you a quick note to say thank you for the webinar yesterday. It was fantastic. You and Gabe both did a fabulous job presenting all the material. I took a bunch of notes and actually did a post yesterday using the search screen - Branford Homes for Sale-Start Your Search Now! It didn't make the first page of Google but it's at the very top of page 2. I did a little more tweaking on the post a few minutes ago and will writing a few more posts using my selected keywords to get myself on page 1.
I received a comment on this post from one agent and was privately contacted by another who would love to learn how to use the interactive search screen. I would love to do a post about some of the things discussed yesterday with "link love" to you and Real Bird (Gabe) in the post and wanted to check with you first to see if that would be okay. I wanted to do a little tutorial about Real Bird (setting up an account, how to post a listing, adding photos, the single property page along with some of the other things Gabe talked about yesterday.
I'd also like to mention a little about what you spoke about in reference to the importance of longtail keywords and information about your next SEO To The Top Webinar if that's okay with you. Thanks!!
You guys will want to get on board for this class before the price increases. I have received a minimum of 7 listings specifically due to this class!
I wouldn't say this, unless I truly meant it-WELL WORTH CHECKING OUT.
10632 Inspiration Drive-$89,900 Closing next week
2644 Governors Point-$154,900 Closing next week
1226 Winter Hawk Court-$123,000 Closed
1196 North Aberdeen-$107,500 Closed
1914 Fountain Circle-$74,900 Recently listed and have an offer
- 9645 Arend Road-$112,900 Recently listed and have an offer
You do the math on just some of the listings that we have received due to the class and training from Katerina This is the best return on investment that I have ever gotten on ANYTHING!
3.5% commission on these listings-you do the math. Over $16,000 that we have and will receive commission on in the next week. Where else can you get this kind of return on investment? I don't know of any.
I am a student of Katerina. I am one of those older ones she is talking about. I chose to take her expired listing class. I wanted to spruce up my expired listing material, and it worked. Her material was right on spot. I have also taken her SEO class and her SEO extreme class and I am also taking private coaching from her. I admit to not understanding all of that SEO stuff, but she has made it so I can revisit the material she teaches anytime I want. Even at my age, I have goals. I will have a 6 figure income next year and each year thereafter.
I will be on page 1 of Google next year. I will be at the top of my game. It is because I have learned over the years, how very hard this business is. The old ways will not allow me to compete at the level I want to be. So I need Katerina to make me competitive. The rest is up to me. She will help me get the clients, I will do the rest. But we all need to invest in ourselves to stay on top.
Now back to the topic of Katerina’s blog. Speaking as an ex Prudential franchise owner, I believe, the Brokers need to help sales associates leave the business. I remember keeping some that made less than $20,000 a year. But brokers will let associates hang on by their fingernails. Why? Maybe they will make that big sale next week....next month.....someday? Probably never. Some agents never get it.
Some brokers never get it....until they close the doors.
My Blog Was In Need Of A Make-over - I'm Not Done Yet!
I have been thinking for a while now on how to give credit where credit is due and Missy Caulk's blog post "Does Your Image Need A Make-over" really ignited my flame to honor those who recently made me think about my business, myself, and my image. Although my picture will not change, since someone told me that I still look like my profile picture - why would I want to change a good thing.
Back in August at the Orlando Raincamp, I met some great folks and as Debe Maxwell handed out her business cards and other well designed cards, I asked her who did those, she replied "the couple standing next to you". To make this long story short, soon thereafter the Rain Camp I contacted Inna and Jon, web developer and designer of ha media group . After a few telephone and email conversations of what I looked for in a design, they immediately went to design my business card and sent me the proof a few days later. The high quality business cards were shipped and the response I get from folks I give my business card to is truly extraordinary. Inna Hardison, an Active Rain member and her husband Jon are very talented in whatever they design from my business card to my blog header design on my Active Rain blog, outside blog and WordPress blog. They truly have the "Wow" factor!
Before - Active Rain Header:
After - Active Rain & WordPress Header
Active Rain Outside Blog Header
Have you ever heard of the saying, "You don't have to be an expert, however, knowing where to find reliable answers is key to your success"?
I have been following Katerina Gasset's blog aka as Coach Katerina from the time I joined Active Rain. She has shared her life stories, she doesn't shy away from a healthy political debate, she and her husband Nestor Gasset has had tremendous success with their Expired Listing program, so much, that their success was featured this year in Realtor Magazine. More importantly, she has shared so many tips and information on Short Sale she could write a book - oops I think she already did and the book will soon be published.
When it comes to SEO and I'm not an expert, I wanted to learn from someone who could relate to Real Estate. There are many SEO Experts promising you to be on the first page of Google and at the same time stealing money from you without paying much attention to you, the Realtor® and your niche.
When it comes to SEO and I'm not an expert, I wanted to learn from someone who could relate to Real Estate. There are many SEO Experts promising you to be on the first page of Google and at the same time stealing money from you without paying much attention to you, the Realtor® and your niche.
As I followed Katerina's tips on her SEO for Real Estate Agents where she also mentioned that she was holding an SEO to the Top webinar. Now I did not sign up right away, simply because I wanted to see the results from fellow real estate agents. You see, I now need feedback from other reliable sources and what better advertisement than "Word of Mouth" advertisement with results. I just wish I had signed up before, because live and hands on interaction is best for me to learn. I like to be the guinea pig and learn from my mistake, I'm not ashamed showing my blog or website and having it critiqued, this is my most effective learning tool, since I'm a visual learner. It did not stop at SEO to the Top. When I signed up for Katerina's SEO Extreme Bootcamp Class, boy was I in for a ride - the class supposed to be only for three days, however Katerina wants to make sure that her students get her full attention and the most information so she tacked on a few extra classes on top. The money was well worth spent, again she truly gave me the "Wow" factor with her proven expert knowledge, her insights, and her own experience.
Although I 100% recommend Inna and Jon Hardison with their imaginable talents and Coach Katerina for her expert knowledge in SEO. My advice to you if you are in need of a make-over, do your own research, ask questions, don't just stop at your first contact - see if you are a good fit.
While my wordpress blog still needs some tweaking and my website will be heading into a different direction, the one thing I do know for sure that not everything can be done in a short amount of time when you are doing it yourself. Things will have to be delegated or outsourced too, again to someone I've researched, have known and have come to trust.
Lakeland Florida REALTOR® Lakeland Florida Homes
I can Vouch for Katerina's good advice too. I easily jump to the top in Google and often stay with my key words, and impress clients at my listing presentation on how I can put their home at the top of Google. Good Stuff, nobody here show clients this stuff, all thanks to my coaching from Katerina, I'll be there in case she has some new tricks up her sleeve, which I know she will.
REALTOR® Victoria Canada
Coach Katerina Rocks At SEO!
I just want to take the opportunity to thank Coach Katerina Gasset for her class "SEO to the Top."
Before taking the course, I felt like I had a lot of pieces of the puzzle but not the complete picture. She fills in the blanks and the tips she provides are worth their weight in gold. The class was in depth, serious, and changed the way I look at blogging and SEO. There was so much more I could be doing. She provides hands on practical tips that will get you to the top of the search engines and help you dominate page one of your key words. She has a unique perspective that you will not find from another SEO consultant; not only does Katerina fully understand SEO, she understands real estate and puts it into practice every day on her own sites. I have paid SEO consultants thousands of dollars and not received one tenth of the knowledge that I gained in her class.
I walked away with a concrete road map for SEO success, as well as an education in the principles that support my plan. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to take Katerina's class and learn some of her secrets. If you need a boost to the top, you should consider doing the same.
Want More Visitors To Your Website? Call Coach Katerina!
In January/2008, I paid big bucks to have a "website designer" develop a website that he promised would be "cutting-edge".
I explained that I wanted the site to cater to people looking for a Phoenix short sale Realtor who could help them through the difficult decision of dealing with the possibility of losing their home. I wanted it to be informative, and I wanted to be able to make changes to it as the market changed. He promised it would do everything I wanted, and his "SEO expertise" was his strength. Here is the problem I ran into... Anytime I wanted to make a change to the website, I had to call him, wait two weeks, and it would finally make it to the site. Uh-oh, two weeks doesn't work for me. When something changes, I want it on my website ASAP (as in, same-day).
To make a long story short, things didn't work out. The great majority of my visits came from my blogging (Thanks to AR, which is a great thing), I was getting very little organic search traffic via Google (which is what I thought I was paying for), and I didn't like waiting for weeks to make changes to our Phoenix Short Sale website.
Fast-Forward to August/2010... I wanted to learn how to create our own Phoenix Short Sale website, where I could add information immediately, without waiting two weeks and paying crazy hourly fees for something I knew would only take minutes to add to my website. I knew it would pull me away from my business temporarily, but I felt it would be worth the time and effort.
Enter Katerina Gasset (aka Coach Katerina). I've always followed her blogs on AR, and respected her as someone who "pays it forward". I looked into her SEO To The Top class, and decided to "jump in".
Here are some actual examples of what I've seen since taking her classes and using her to design my "new" Phoenix Short Sale website.
This is no BS folks, I've taken actual numbers of my before/after. Just an FYI, our "old" Phoenix short sale website was www.foreclosureuturn.com, and has been in existence since March/2008 (over 2 1/2 years). Our "new" Phoenix short sale website is www.forsalephoenixhomes.com, and has been in existence since September 1st, 2010 (less than 3 months).
Following are actual screenshots of the Google Analytics of both sites.
This is the screenshot of my "old" website, the last month it was in existence (July-August 2010)
Now, look at the screen shot of our "new" Phoenix short sale website that I took today, from 10/24-11/23/10. Again, please note that this site wasn't "officially" launched until September 1, 2010 (2 1/2 months ago).
Folks, the "proof is in the pudding". Check out the changes: (remember, these results are over a 30-day period)
1. Visits increased from 429 to 611
2. Pageviews increased from 882 to 1,252
3. Pages/Visit shows no major change
4. Bounce Rate Increased from 53% to 63% (this isn't a good thing, but is probably due to the huge increase in organic traffic, which is to be expected, but my goal in this was to increase organic traffic).
5. Avg. Time On Site increased from 2:29 to 2:40 (not huge, but an increase nonetheless)
6. % Of New Visits increased from 48% to 71% (this was HUGE to me)
7. Most importantly, look at the gradual increase in visits of the "new" website over 30 days, vs the up-and-down of the previous website for it's last 30 days of existence.
I think the most important statistic to look at is the difference in the Traffic Sources Overview Pie Graph. Look at the change in organic traffic (these are the visitors that are conducting Google searches, and this was the most important statistic to me). With my previous website, 21% of my visits came from organic searches. Today, 49% of my visitors come from organic searches. This would explain the HUGE upsurge in Buyer calls I'm getting in recent weeks.
With almost 90% of potential clients searching the internet before contacting an agent, this was the market I was looking for, and this was the reason I wanted to increase my SEO presence.
If there is one thing to take from this post, understand the following: I had a website that was in existence for well over 2 years. I launched a brand-new Phoenix short sale website with Coach Katerina on September 1, 2010 (less than 3 months ago), and am already seeing a huge increase in organic traffic, total visits, new visits, page views, and total overall visits.
To make an already long story shorter, I can't wait to see what the next year holds for our Phoenix short sale business. I can already tell you that I can't keep up with the classes that Coach Katerina offers due to our increase in Phoenix short sale business we've experienced over the past two months. I think it's time to hire an IT person to keep up with her.
Thanks Katerina. You are truly one-of-a-kind.
Summit Home Consultants
Today was my 3rd day in Katerina's SEO Bootcamp, and
Once I learned how to blog, I was bleeding on my keyboard and burning the midnight oil to churn out blog posts. I got just a taste of google juice and wanted more. In fact, my husband teases me that if they bottled and sold google juice, I would spend half my commission checks on it!
But why pay for google juice when you can learn how to make it? If you want to learn about link love and make sure you're using the most effective keywords, you need to take this class. Learn how to engage, ping and evaluate your efforts. Figure out what is working and why. Your time is worth money, so don't you want to know how to effectively use it?
Katerina's SEO Extreme BootCamp is called BOOTCAMP for a reason - better muscle up!
Understanding what makes Google find you and love you is only half the battle, because if you're driving traffic to your web site, you had better have a fine web site on which people will land. Is your web site designed to satisfy your target audience, and better yet, have you defined your target audience?
If you want to learn the tips that will help you climb the Google ladder within days or even hours of implementation, I strongly encourage you to take this course. I would write more about what I've learned thus far, but I've got homework to do. Even if Katerina would believe that my dog ate my homework, I would not benefit from the valuable lessons without fulfilling my side of the bargain. So, I'm thankful for a few days break before the next amazing module.
Yep, it's called bootcamp for a reason - wishing now that I had done a few push-ups each day before it started!! Thank you Katerina!! You rock!
My Mistake? Thinking I could get there by going to free lender sponsored classes, by reading posts, by trial and error.
The results? I have been spinning my wheels, wasting time, money, opportunities.
The answer? Real estate has become a challenging career that requires a myriad of complicated skills.
I have learned I cannot be the expert in all the skills I need to reach my goals without the help of someone who specializes in the the things I know less about.
We know Olympic athletes, sports professionals, actors, singers use coaches.
So I stopped making the MISTAKE of trying to do it all myself. I enrolled in the SEO Extreme Webinar taught by Katerina Gasset. This is not just a class-it is a phenomenal ah-ha experience. She is passionate about equiping her students be successful as she shares the knowledge she has gained building a powerful online presence. I can honestly say the webinar by far exceeded anything I expected. You can not get this from attending other classes. Even though I have been diligent in learning SEO, very quickly I learned things I was doing that were sabotaging all the work I had put into marketing my website.
Katerina has other courses on SEO and fortunately for us her expertise isn't limited to SEO. She also shares her knowledge on short sales and expired listings. Be sure to read her posts here on Active Rain as she generously shares with the community.
A little secret-Some of our most successful peers here on Active Rain have been coached by Katerina. Now that I am in that group-I will use the knowledge I am gaining from Katerina to reach my Goal.
I made a big mistake-I wonder, are you making it too?