Answer: Hard to say, because it depends on a number of factors. The first is the competition. Are you trying to get to the top for one of the most expensive or largest areas in the country? This will take significantly more time than getting a good result in rural Kansas. Give us a call and we can quickly estimate the competition for you.

The second major factor is the search engine that you’re shooting for. Google is the hardest and most time consuming, while Yahoo and MSN are somewhat easier. We’ll be glad to explain the details of why this is the case on the phone.

So that’s the long answer. The short answer is 2-6 months for our average client on Yahoo and MSN, six months to a year for Google.

There is another option for those who are anxious to get a Top Ten listing immediately, and it’s called ‘Pay-Per-Click’. These are the listings that are shaded at the top of the page and down the right side of a results page from Google. Every time you click on one of those links, the owner gets charged. The amount that is paid is determined by ‘auction’, meaning that the site at the top has offered to Google to pay the most for each click.

This means that if you offer enough for each click, you can be at the top within about ten minutes. There are advantages and disadvantages to this type of advertising which we’ll be happy to discuss with you. Needless to say, one of the largest disadvantages is high cost, but for certain Realtors it makes sense to get a paid listing while they're waiting for a ‘natural’ ranking.

If you’re interested in getting a jump-start on PageOne, give us a call and we’ll tell you all about it.