I can find "Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla", but I can't find "he, him, or his."
It hit me as I was actively singing along to my kid's Schoolhouse Rock CD, that I unconsciously use pronouns for exactly the reasons that my favorite Schoolhouse Rock song describes. My favorite is called "Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla." I loved it when I was a kid and I love it now. My kids get a kick out of me belting it out at the top of my lungs.
Here's the best part of the song:
Now I could tell you Rafaella Gabriela and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla
and Albert Andreas Armadillo found an aardvark, a kangaroo, and a rhinoceros.
And now that aardvark and that kangaroo and that rhinoceros belong respectively to
Rafaella Gabriela Sarsaparilla and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla and Albert Andreas Armadillo!
Whew! Because of pronouns I can say, in this way:
"WE found THEM and THEY found US and now THEY are OURS
and WE're so happy."
Thank you, pronouns!
You see a pronoun was made to take the place of a noun,
'Cause saying all those nouns over and over
Can really wear you down.
Yes, it can really wear you down. That's why we use pronouns. But if I say that's why "WE" use pronouns, then I miss out on an opportunity.
Here's the problem. Type he, him, or his into a google search and see what you find. Search results for he, him, his. The results are all over the board. Here's what you get when you search on Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla: Search results. There are 816 results and even if you go the last page of the results, they all point to Schoolhouse Rock references.
Make Jeff Turner's point, Jeff Turner! (Jeff Turner is now going to show ActiveRain members Jeff Turner's point by over exaggerating Jeff Turner's point. Because Jeff Turner really does have a point.)
If ActiveRain bloggers want to get the biggest bang from the Active Rain bloggers' ActiveRain blog posts, ActiveRain bloggers need to look the ActiveRain Bloggers' posts over carefully. When ActiveRain bloggers can replace a pronoun with a noun and not sound as ridiculous as this paragraph sounds, ActiveRain bloggers have increased the chances that the posts ActiveRain bloggers write will show up in search results.
That's obviously ridiculous. Here's how we would all normally write that paragraph:
If you want to get the biggest bang from your blog posts, you need to look your posts over carefully. When you can replace a pronoun with a noun and not sound as ridiculous as that paragraph sounds, you have increased the chances that the posts you write will show up in search results. This is subtle, but effective, and won't take much time.
Write to engage. Read to improve.
Don't even think about nouns or pronouns when you're writing. Just write. Write to engage the reader. Then save it as a draft and go get a cup of coffee, or take a nap, or kiss your loved ones, or mail me a dollar. When you're done, come back and read it to improve it's search engine attractiveness.
Example: Julie Ferenzi wants to be known for Plainfield Real Estate. So, whenever she gets the chance, those words need to be in a post. So the same rule applies to words like "here" and "there", when "here" and "there" are taking the place of nouns. Why say "here" or "there" if you can say "in Plainfield?" "I love living here" does not work for you like "I love living in Plainfield" does. The same holds true for the areas around Plainfield that she touches.
In Julie's last post, Where to buy near Plainfield, IL: River Hills, Bolingbrook, IL, she ends one paragraph like this, "...the 1st phase of the beautiful new community being built there." Where? Of course you and I can tell Julie is referring to Naperville from the context, but saying "being built in Naperville" gets "Naperville" in the copy one more time. You don't want to go crazy, but finding a few places to replace a pronoun can really add up over time.
Laurie Manny wrote a great post along these lines back in March, titled "Do You SEO?" She shares the same basic message: "Just go ahead and write your article. Go back into it and slide in your keywords where ever possible, as many times as you can without making it impossible to read." And she gives some great examples.
Ok, that's the SEO part. What does this have to do with YEO (You Engaging Others)?
Remember Julie's post about Casey Fisher? It's a great example of YEO, and she used very few pronouns. Julie used Carrie, Rich and Casey as often as was appropriate, even in cases when she could easily have gotten away with she, him or her. And it works for YEO because Carrie, Rich and Casey will love seeing their names in your post. Will "they" also love the pronoun replacements of Carrie, Rich and Casey? Not so much.
You see a pronoun was made to take the place of a noun, but saying all those pronouns over and over again really brings your SEO and YEO results down. :)
Enjoy my favorite Schoolhouse Rock Song:
Jeff Turner aka respres
So now I'm scratching my head. How much is too much?
Thanks!
Good post! An easy thing to do, but something I wouldn't have thought about without you pointing it out...Thanks!!
Heather
My favorite was a lesser known one, The Tale of Mr. Morton.
I was just working on this today, thanks to George Tallabas who learned from Chris Griffith. I've spent the evening on my website, adding in "Hurricane WV real estate" and then playing with your Website Grader. Good stuff!
Tried to make one of your Wufoo forms, too. My website will not accept it. <Sniff!>
Teri Lussier thinks Jeff Turner has given Active Rain another great post. Teri is thrilled to be learning so much, and Teri would like to thank Jeff for Jeff's contributions to Active Rain.
How'd I do? :D
"or mail me a dollar" Dang, I almost reached for my wallet.
I must have missed the "subliminal marketing" post.... or was this neuro linguistic programming? Great post as usual.
Three is a magic number,
Yes it is, it's a magic number.
Somewhere in the future of re technology
You get three as a magic number.
The past and the present and the future.
Future and Real Estate and Technology,
The heart and the brain and the body
Give you three as a magic number.
Brought to by School House Rock
and
The Future of Real Estate Technology
Loren
Jeff,
Sometimes the article doesn't have good natural breaks to insert all the keywords that I would like. For example if I'm doing an article on a restaurant thats in another city, it may be difficult to naturally include some of my favorite keywords, like mortgage or Santa Clarita..
So a simple disclaimer at the bottom of the article, (even if its in fine print) can do the trick..
In this example, an article about my favorite restaurant can close with a line like, "what do I know, I'm just a mortgage broker from Santa Clarita, but the food here really is good"
Thanks for the ongoing training.
Martin..
PS.. a really good blogger that I know, showed me this trick.. ;-)
Oh one more thing..
I clicked on your school house rock song.. I was disappointed. I was expecting a webcam video of you singing the song..
Now that would've been better...
MR
Sarah, that is my 6 year old's favorite. He makes me play that one over and over on the CD!
Theresa, you get kudos for applying the lesson first in the comments and therefore a bit of link love for www.theBrickRanch.com!
Herb, Melody & Irina... thank you.
Gary... don't put your wallet away, dude. :)
Ines... yes, of course you can go too far with it. And I go by feel. If it doesn't sound natural, it's not doing you any good on SEO or YEO!
The point of my post is that most people don't go far enough. Let's use my silly example above. ActiveRain is the keyword.
This is too far:
If ActiveRain bloggers want to get the biggest bang from the Active Rain bloggers' ActiveRain blog posts, ActiveRain bloggers need to look the ActiveRain Bloggers' posts over carefully. When ActiveRain bloggers can replace a pronoun with a noun and not sound as ridiculous as this paragraph sounds, ActiveRain bloggers have increased the chances that the posts ActiveRain bloggers write will show up in search results.
This is what you normally see, and it's not enough:
If you want to get the biggest bang from your blog posts, you need to look your posts over carefully. When you can replace a pronoun with a noun and not sound as ridiculous as that paragraph sounds, you have increased the chances that the posts you write will show up in search results.
This is just about right:
If you want to get the biggest bang from your ActiveRain blog posts, you need to look your posts over carefully. When you can replace a pronoun with a noun and not sound as ridiculous as that paragraph sounds, you have increased the chances that the posts you write on ActiveRain will show up in search results.
School House Rocks.... Is the Cat's ASS..... I just bought that video collection for my 3 year old niece... great learning tool. Much like yourself..... you are the School House Rock of AR... thanks again for the great information
woo hoo conjunction junction what's your function.................... yeah yeah
I think Mr. Future of Real Estate Technology is trying to tell us that three is the magic number. :)
Aziz... thank you.
Beth... see my explanation to Ines above. I agree, it is possible to overdo just about anything. I think you can sense when you've gone too far.
Joan... excellent.
Ines... :)
Martin, when I told you that, I already had this post in mind. :)
James.. thank you.
Desiree... Cats ASS? I may be getting old. That is the first time I've ever heard that expression! Hilarious.
well.... i wanted to be a tad more "descript"..... but then I opted out of that one... I have Colleen's blog in my brain about "standing by your words" and it reminds me that my "descript" word will be attached to ME...
I am only a bill... sitting here on capitol hill..... god i really loved that show
"Go back into it and slide in your keywords where ever possible, as many times as you can without making it impossible to read." And she gives some great examples."
I love Lauriie Manny, but when I read that I thought it was pretty hokey. In "my blogworld" people stop reading you and you lose credibility if they think you are "link baiting" or SEOing to the extreme. I can get away with some, but sliding keywords whereever possible?
But, I tried one today (before I read this) that had loads of keywords and a loaded title and stayed true to my writing, and it worked. It isn't as "loaded" as a Laurie Manny post, but I juggled the content and keywords best I could.
I hadn't read this before I wrote mine. Would you mind taking a peek at it. It's a featured post...I'll go get it to make it easier. Here it is. I used Keywords a whole lot more than I usually do, and I felt really sleazy when I was doing it....like I needed to take a shower afterward.
Ines,
That's because we are "simpatico" :) Did I overdo it on my post in your opinion, Ines? You know I value your opinion.
I started it as a Keyword Rich post, but in the end I went where my heart took me.
Jeff,
I liked the song :)
Rufus Kangoroo !
Jeff how do you fit all of that "smartness" in the size of an average human head?!
As you may or may not have guessed by now I LOVE analogies. This is brilliant!
There is magnificence in the mundane if we only take the time to take a look.
Schoolhouse Rock! Am I really that old?!
Love it!
Jeff,
I'm all for Project Blogger being able to help me out as well as Julie. Thanks for the tips.
Fran
Ines,
Then I guess that "shower" feeling was appropo. I don't like the idea and I do OK in the Search engines without having to alter my writings. I'll stick to pinging often.
Ardell... for me it's about balance. You have written posts in the past with tons of detail, so it would not have seemed odd to me. Except for one thing. It wasn't the keywords that got in the way for me, it was all the links. I know that's one of those things that we're "supposed" to do as well, but, as we've heard in this comment stream, you can take anything too far.
I don't feel sleezy when I do what I'm suggesting, because I'm not about to sacrifice the feel of a post to do it. If you're starting to feel sleezy, then you've probably gone too far. In my opinion. But if I can find two or three places where doing so doesn't impact negatively on the reading of the post, I think that's a good thing.
Desiree... I love it!
Ines... now that's funny, because the links are what threw me off. It mad it look and feel un-ardell-like. :)
Ray... I LOVE the song. I'll actually make the kids listen to it two or three times in a row, just so they know how I feel when they do it to me!
Todd... no home should be without one.
Julie... :)
Fran and John... thank you.
Sandra... we all have a lot to learn. You're not a lone in that category.
Ardell... again, it didn't "feel" like you. There was a middle ground that you probably went past on purpose. :)
thanks
great advice
it does sound bad but we're writing for effect not the value of the prose
Jeff - to borrow from TLW - "hubba hubba!!!" Love this advice, and I like the examples you gave as that's really helpful for me to see just how to sprinkle those phrases into posts. Balance is key, and you're right about too much coming across as awful. I had read some posts where it was really obvious that the person who wrote it was doing just this, but it seemed like it was just about every other word. I stopped reading and just left those posts without even commenting.
Keep sharing all this great stuff - and we'll keep soaking it up and learning and trying to put it to good use. I have tried to use balance in mine, but will go back and re-read my local posts to make sure it's not over-done, or under-done.
Many thanks!
Ann
Christy, Chrissy and Missy... thank you.
David... well, don't make it sound bad. I really hope people aren't coming away with that. Balance is the key. You want it to read well. I think you can do both, as long as you don't go overboard.
Jeff, love the video. I have never heard or seen it so I found it very entertaining and it certainly does an excellent job of teaching pronouns. Thanks for sharing it and the lesson of the opposite...
By the way, the number thing in the url was still not working...did you get my email with the actual link?
Ann... that's it. It's really nothing more than being aware and paying attention. Simple, really.
Gena... thank you. NO! I did not receive your email. Can you please send again?
I did have more links than I normally would, but that was not for "link bait". Once I mentioned some people, I felt obligated to go through the whole list of people and link to something of theirs, so they didn't feel slighted. Otherwise it would have looked like three of us were more important somehow than the rest of the group.
It was also because I got lost on my own message and started "visiting" all of the players. My journey went further than intended, but I felt it better to keep going than to hurt some people's feelings. So I erred for personal reasons and not SEO reasons. I can live with that.
Ok, This was great. Good information again. I do want to be careful not to over do it though. But I see why it is so important.
Now, on a personal note, I have to say how funny it it was when I first saw the Schoolhouse Rock Logo - my son has been home for 1 1/2 weeks recovering from minor surgery and I walked in the other day and he & my wife were sitting on the couch bopping their heads together in unison watching Schoolhouse Rock. Its been years since I have heard these songs and I still remembered almost every line...
so what is nick to say? nick doesn't write for nick to be in search terms, but nick tend to write like this alot. nick deosn't know what that means anymore. little nicky had an idea, but nick made little nicky get quiet real quick!
ok, seriously, i'm guilty of overSEO'ing, but i try to keep em with pics and vids. hey! did i just say that
shut up nick!
PS. thanks Jeff. nick appreciates the eye opener to engage a little more. til now we (nick and little nicky) are just engaging the jetski onto the trailer. :)
WOW! I really enjoyed your post. You are very imformative but engaging in your style. You are definitely going on my weekly must read list!
Conjunction Junction is the one I can remember from childhood!
Jeff, This is our Schoolhouse and you Rock! How about that! Everytime you write, we learn! (and you usually make it fun and easy to grasp! ) Tell the kids they get a Gold Star for getting your creative juices flowing!
MaryAnn.. thank you.
Michele... what's really cool is that my kids have never SEEN the videos. So, in preparing this post, I found some of them online and they've been able to watch them. Now THEY think I'm cool! :)
Larry... very good point. I know Mrs. Herman, my high school creative writing teacher, who may actually be reading this since we stay in touch, would not be happy with even this sentence that includes her name! :)
Ronda... See my response to Michele above. i think I'm going to have to go get the DVD now.
Great post Jeff! Thanx for the video too! Took me back a bit. I remember watching those cartoons on Saturday mornings as a child. They usually came on between featured cartoons, almost like commercials. It's almost sad that they don't run them anymore. No...it is sad.
Thanks again :)
Steve
Hi Jeff,
Here's an article I wrote, which might further assist & was recently published in several trade magazines:
Expanding the Realtor Reach - Five (Free) Building Blocks to Fast Forward Future Sales
Realtors don't need to be reminded how competitive it is to gain new clients, nor do they need to be reminded how the recent economic turmoil affects local transaction activity. Instead, well-healed Realtors are better served focusing on the future and how they can progressively promote their skill sets to attract and retain new clients. Below are five free building blocks to expand the Realtor's reach and gain new clients:
Website - Okay, this may be a bit obvious, but let this be your core - your foundation for the building blocks that follow. Make sure it presents well, personifies your abilities, showcases your listings, and conveys confidence.
Blog - Consider the website your formal business card and your blog is the less formal conversation you have as you exchange business cards. Make sure you have something good to say. Chronicle a unique experience. Feature timely information about the local market that only you know best. Feel free to provide tasteful links to your listings, but don't dilute your blog with that (admittedly important) content. Instead, let that content reside on your website. If your reader likes what you share in your blog, then they will find you and your listings on your website.
Facebook - A nifty profile with lots of friends just isn't enough. Instead, create a fan page and encourage all your friends and past clients to "fan" you. Using this platform, broadcast recent listings (with links, of course), sales, recent blog posts, open houses, and all other meaningful activity.
Twitter - Twitter is now the medium where news breaks first. Think of it as your personal news room. Create an account, follow only those who interest you most (not the whole planet), and encourage your clients and prospective clients to follow you. After all, this is the platform you will use to broadcast the latest listings - in most cases before they surface anywhere else. This is your chance to get a leg-up on the competition. Do not underestimate the power of this free resource!
Village Voyage- The Internet is an abyss of information and you've worked hard to build your brand. Tie it all together with Village Voyage. Similar to Wikipedia, Village Voyage is a wiki and anyone can participate. Think of it as your on-line cocktail party with many different conversations all centered around your community, your target audience, your clients. Create a Village Voyage page to further expand your online presence, while at the same time, taking advantage of the opportunity to add valuable back-links to your website, blog, and other online pages. Beyond that, be bold. Use Village Voyage to meet new clients, build credibility, and differentiate yourself by demonstrating your local market knowledge and expertise. (See the State index to locate the market(s) that interest you most: http://www.villagevoyage.com/wiki/Category:States )