Real Estate Search Engine Optimization is not only for Google.  Think about this if you are fighting for natural placement clicks.       

While the clear market leader has a 70 share in search clicks, there are signs of change.  Google search clicks are down while Microsoft Search Clicks are up.  This may be a sign of the times as far as the economy goes, according to the article, but it also shows that it may be harder to stay on top than to grow.

See full story > http://ftp.media.radcity.com/ZSND/issues/february2008/C3210.pdf

Perhaps it is the Google Sandbox effect at work in a negative way?  The Sandbox process at Google is used to prevent new sites from being highly ranked.  The premise is that new sites are not as valuable as long established ones. Since RELEVANCE is the buzzword in search results, then we can see that Google simply assumes that new sites are not as RELEVANT. There is no other arena in the tech world where the newest thing is automatically penalized.  File under Things That Make You Say.... Hmmmm..... Maybe they should rethink their Sandbox strategy?

Consider:  my new Real Estate Search Site to find homes for sale in Toledo Ohio is found at www.HomeFinder100.com.  This site has been up for a few months, and is already on PAGE ONE for search terms "Toledo Real Estate" and "Toledo Homes For Sale"  at Microsoft's search site www.live.com.  At the same time, Google has not treated us as kindly - yet.  Nor has YAHOO (which is usally faster than Google to offer first page results to newer but well done sites).

FAST counts.  At least in the tech world.  I am generally not a big Micro$oft fan, when it comes to online services(they have enough of my money).  But they have just proven to me that they give prompt ranking to new sites with good search optimization.  In fact, my newest site is getting most of it's search traffic from the Micro$oft search site at the moment. 

Moral of the Story:  When playing KING OF THE HILL, one thing is sure.  It may be easier to move forward, or to get to the top - than it is to stay at the top. 

What does this have to do with you?  Just because other agents are currently on top of the search hill does not mean they will stay there.  Smaller is usually faster...  As they say on the show, SURVIVOR - you can OUTWIT, OUTPLAY, OUTLAST.  Don't give up the SEO battle just because your site is too new to be ranked at Google.  I have seen my sites ranked at msn and yahoo faster than Google before.  In the end, persistence has paid off with a good Google rank.  The same can be true for you!     

For fun, I would like to know if you have checked your site rank at www.live.com and whether or not the results are significantly different than at Yahoo or Google.  Let me know!