This post was originally written by Ken Shafer, past SEO Manager for Apartments.com.

So you’re considering adding a blog to your website. That’s great! But hold on a second. Where you put that blog can have an impact on search engines and how they view all that great, new content you’re providing them. When you or your developers are building the blog, more often than not, this question comes up:

“Should we put the blog on www.companyname.com/blog or blog.companyname.com?” Read More

There’s been a lot of debate about the roll – and the perils – of online reviews in the multifamily space. Mostly, the concern, when boiled down, is about ceding control of the message from the marketing department to the consumer/renter. And that’s a daunting prospect, no doubt. 

Those who know me know I’ve got my own reservations about user reviews, not so much because, if abused, they can be unfairly damaging to a business (that risk is overblown), but because I often find them more confusing than helpful, and don’t like the anonymity factor. (I have other issues, too. For example, have you noticed recently how pretty much every restaurant on Yelp! is now rated 3-4 stars? It’s uncanny how consistent our restaurants are today!) Read More

This post was originally written by Ken Shafer, past SEO Manager for Apartments.com.

DigitalSurgeons.com, an online marketing agency, put together a very interesting graphical representation of Twitter and Facebook users. Take a look at the image below, or by checking out this link: http://www.digitalsurgeons.com/facebook-vs-twitter-infographic/

I think it is interesting to consider that more people follow brands on Facebook than on Twitter. We should potentially keep this in mind when considering managing our expectations for interactions. If you’re short on resources, perhaps focus your intra-community communications on Facebook, rather than Twitter. What jumps out at you from this graphic? Read More

If you haven’t heard already, a lot of buzz has been generated around our What Renters Want survey results revealing how renters are using social media during their apartment search.  Check out some of the conversations happening online and let us know your thoughts on the survey results. 

Is your community using social media to attract prospects and retain residents?  If so, tell us what’s working and what you’ve learned. Read More

The November issue of the Apartments.com Multifamily Minutes newsletter in now available.  Check out this issue for stories on chat etiquette, tips for making ads pop using short and descriptive text, survey results on how renters are using social media during their apartment search, customer testimonials on the MyMedia Craigslist Ad Builder and much more!

As if browsing the web wasn’t distracting enough, along comes RockMelt, a new browser causing buzz and envy over invites into the not-so-private beta (any club that accepts me as a member can’t be too exclusive, to paraphrase Groucho Marx).

Because of its integrated diversions, RockMelt truly is a fun and unique experience, and easily the most innovative new browser release in years. I’m going to tick off a lot of zealots, but the average user wouldn’t know the difference between Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer. They each have tabs and toolbar search and private browsing. If you’re someone who has a preference for how one browser renders JavaScript over the other, well, then, you’re not an average user. Read More

While I would like to believe my recent post inspired our friends at Archstone to up their investment in their mobile presence, clearly they have been all over this for a long time.

As the release of their new mobile website and iPhone app for residents demonstrates, Archstone understands that mobility is key to reaching its audience. I tried out the site (to use the app you must prove you’re a resident, which, unfortunately, I am not) and was truly impressed by how fast and easy the site is to use. I was even more impressed by Archstone’s motivation to invest in mobile, as Donald Davidoff explains in his recent blog post: 1. Prospective and current residents are mobile, 2. It improves efficiency and 3. It improves communication. Read More

The October issue of the Apartments.com Multifamily Minutes newsletter is now available.  Check out this month’s issue for exciting news on the launch of Apartments.com Live Chat and Call Recording, national and local market apartment data from the quarterly STaR Report and PR coverage from our Biggest Moving Day of the Year satellite media tour—more than 300 television outlets broadcasted our story!

This post was originally written by Ken Shafer, past SEO Manager for Apartments.com.

Everyone’s heard of finding a keyword and trying to rank for it. Next thing someone does is put that keyword in their Title Tag, Description Tag and throughout the copy someplace like their homepage.  As far as on-page keyword optimization, what else can you do? Turns out, there’s more you can do on the page to let the search engines know that your page is about a specific keyword or phrase.

Allow me introduce you to latent semantics. Latent semantics is just the technical term for using surrounding words to gain or provide meaning and context.  Placing relevant and related words and phrases in close proximity to the keyword you are targeting can actually be a stronger signal to search engines than simply repeating the targeted keyword over and over again. Let’s take a look at an example of how to research and implement latent semantics. Read More

Are you investing in mobile advertising? Well, someone sure is.

According to an eMarketer study released yesterday, mobile ad spending will be up nearly 80 percent in 2010, to $743 million (which is revised from a $593 million estimate released earlier this year), and in 2011 will top $1 billion. Therefore, says eMarketer, “Mobile has broken through to reach the mainstream of digital advertising.”

This growth is driven by the explosion in smartphone usage. At Apartments.com, visits to our mobile sites have more than doubled year over year and the trend can be traced back to the 2009 holiday season when the proliferation of Android-powered handsets and iPhones, not to mention the steady sales of Blackberries, caused an unmistakable hockey stick-style spike in traffic. Those trends have continued through 2010, and throw in the expected surge in mobile-enabled tablet sales this holiday season, and it’s safe to agree with eMarketer’s assertion that ad spending – which, let’s face it, always follows consumers – in mobile is going mainstream. Read More