From time to time we do check out the Real Estate Webmasters forum just to see if the former Canadian porn webmaster turned Real Estate sales evangelist is slamming UltimateIDX or PREN.

Today I forgot to turn my Fire Fox DoFollow link checker off before I went to the Real Estate Webmasters forum and low an behold I noticed a Member with over 500 posts had “nofollow” tags on all of his signature links. I remember hearing something about REW Members with less than 300 posts would have the “nofollow” tag on their signatures but had no idea that was implemented or substantially raised until today.

It now appears that the figure to achieve before REW Members get any credit for posting is over 650. Please don’t take my word on this. Check it out for yourself. Now that seems like one hellofalot of work on Morgan’s website BEFORE you get any link love.

My question is what will REW raise it to the next time 1,000 posts, 1,500 posts or??? And do New REW Members know about this?

The Rest of the Story

OK I admit my curiosity kicked in and I really needed to know “the rest of the strory”, so I started checking further. Right off the bat you can see that REW places a “nofollow” tag on any text links within a post and it is obvious that Google has substantially devalued REW Blogs and any inbound links from these blogs.

So then I wanted to know what kind of link juice the Real Estate Webmasters forum generated for the “Uber Real Estate Webmaster” Members (aka “Kool Aide Drinkers”). I targeted a Members website that primarily only had REW inbounds. This REW Member joined back in 2005 and had in excess of 1,100 posts and a multitude of blog posts. The Member’s website displays a dismal PR1 for all the hard work and effort.

Conclusion

Now if the same REW Member had posted over 1,100 blog comments on 1,100 different websites, posted to his/her own Blog the same amount as he/she posted to the REW Blog the Member’s PR would be significantly higher. This is a no brainer folks!

Now you can call me bias all you want (and yes I am). But do the research yourself. Please don’t take my word for it. Regardless or whether you are a new REW Member or a Kool-Aide drinking “Uber Real Estate Webmaster” the Real Estate Webmasters forum is nothing but a huge waste of your time.

What was most shocking is that Morgan Carey even applies the “nofollow” tag to REW Clients!

Admittedly, Morgan Carey is one of the BEST self promoters I have ever come across, however his loyalty is strictly to himself and enjoys the fruit of his Members labor to glorify and promote who? Not you!

It seems as though all new Clients for the UltimateIDX™ all want to know short cuts for ranking well in the three major search engines. The simple truth is there are no short cuts. It takes many months of hard work and dedication to rank well in Google, Yahoo and MSN.

With Search Engine Optimization practices over the past decade I have seen many fads come and go however the only real constant has been good and fresh content. Without fresh content readership inevitably drops and so do rankings in the SERPs.

Over the years I have watched how many website owners will go through a lot of work and effort to manipulate the Search Engines when it would have taken less effort to keep their content current. For this there really is no excuse. Even if a website owner can not write or does not have the time to write there are many copyrighters available that do an excellent job for a reasonable price. There are also a lot of copywriters that will even maintain your blogs and keep them current.

Inbound Links

Inbound links are also very important when it comes to Search Engine Rankings. But all IBLs are not created equally. Incoming links from .edu and .gov sites are cherished but rare. It is much easier to get links from sites that are considered authoritative or “Trusted”. How can you get these links you ask? Maintain good fresh content on your website. If others consider your content to be authoritative, relative, informative or though provoking they will link to your website. This is also known as “Link Baiting”.

Link Baiting

Link Baiting is exactly what it implies. You write though provocative or controversial articles (Blog posts) that will cause other Bloggers or website owners to link to you. An extreme example would be: “Blue Widgets” vs. “Blue Widgets May Cause Cancer”. Of course the latter of the articles is much more likely to be quoted with a backlink. However, be sure to keep your articles or Blog posts accurate and well documented if you want to remain credible in the Blogosphere.

Smaller Search Engines

If you continue to generate good content the first rewards for your efforts will come from listings on smaller Search Engines like PeekYou and if you are lucky enough your site may appear in EDU Search Engines Like Bates.

Again it all depends on the quality of your content.

Summary

While there are many aspects involved in your Search Engine rankings, they all revolve around Content. Content is and will remain “King” and the key to your rankings in the SERPS.

The Brokers Edge was intended to be a completely a different type of Real Estate Community and portal. Unfortunately, owners of UltimateIDX™ and The Brokers Edge formally split the Company into two distinct entities and completion of the real estate portal at TBE was halted.

This has not deterred UltimateIDX, Inc. CEO Rhonda McMillan from her aspirations to create a “one-stop” shop for REALTORS®. Rhonda plans on launching Agent Blogs and our Real Estate Forums in the spring of 2009.

The major difference in UltimateIDX.com and other Real Estate Communities is the owners and most of the administrators at UltimateIDX™ are veteran real estate professionals. We have been with you in the trenches so to speak; some of us for over two decades. We understand the “ins and out’s, “highs and lows” and what it takes to be successful in real estate sales.

Products and Services

In our quest for success we have developed products and services not because we want to, but because we had to. Most RETS and IDX services vendors that cater to the real estate industry on the Internet are webmasters, hosting companies or software engineers that attempt to solve problems they know nothing about in an effort to make sales. Old solutions and tools are revised and rehashed and then labeled for “the real estate industry” and sold over and over again at inflated prices. As a result, REALTORS® end up overpaying for outdated products that do not perform as promised let alone meet the everyday needs of the real estate professional. Our products and services are designed by REALTORS® for REALTORS®.

So yes we do offer products and IDX/RETS services but even more important we offer solutions. Unlike other Real Estate Communities we will not only allow vendors with competing products and services to cater to our Members; we will encourage it. Competition increases quality while reducing price.

Summary

Members at the UltimateIDX.com will be encouraged to visit our real estate forums and take advantage of our Member real estate blogs when launched in 2009.

We will strive to make this the best Real Estate Community on the net and to assist any real estate professional that genuinely wishes to succeed.