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Google’s Blueprint for Search Domination | Armonk Real Estate

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Do you really think Google would reveal its plans on how they want search to evolve? I sure do. If you don’t believe me just ask Matt Cutts. Or better yet just watch him answering the question below.

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After bypassing the cyborg comments he makes some pretty profound statements that Google should be a “good assistant,” “understand the context,” and “synthesize information.” But more importantly he goes on to say that Google should be able to handle difficult syntax not just by data or knowledge but towards analysis and wisdom. Now what does that mean?

Quick Algorithm Recap

In the famous words of Hitch “You can’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been,” so to get a better understanding of the future lets back up a few years and look at what Google has done with previous algorithm updates. I am only going to hit on the high points, but if you want to go further I would recommend referencing SEO Moz’s Algorithm History.

  • Florida Update – November 2003
  • Paid Links – October 2007
  • Rel Canonical – February 2009
  • Social Signals – December 2010
  • Panda – February 2011
  • Google Authorship – June 2011
  • Penguin – April 2012
  • Knowledge Graph – May 2012
  • EMD Update – September 2012

Many of the previous algorithm updates and iterations listed were aimed to dismantle spam, technical manipulation, and improving their infrastructure. It took over a decade of progress before Google was even able to begin to tackle the context issue.

Google Authorship and the Knowledge Graph implementation was the catalyst to bring data together in a sensible format. The Knowledge Graph pulls data from reliable sources to show images, descriptions, background information, people involved, and other related information while Google Authorship connects content with a specific author. The Knowledge Graph is even more sophisticated than it would appear at first glance. Bill Slawski at SEO by the Sea has uncovered that the information in knowledge graphs can be dynamic depending on what users are searching for, so not all knowledge graphs are created equal.

                                               

Back to the Present

So what does Matt Cutts mean when he says that search will be going toward analysis and wisdom? The simple answer is Google wants to answer every single question the user has on the very first try and if possible before the user even asks the question.

In an article in the Guardian, Google’s CEO Larry Page said that they are trying to reduce every possible friction between the user, their thoughts, and the information they want to find. He even mentions brain implants to answer questions at the time a thought originates. Maybe Larry and Matt are in cahoots to make us all cyborgs. But I digress…

In order for Google to get to the point where they can answer every possible question a couple of things have to occur. They need to have access to a lot of data and a way to relationally put it together. Part of the data gathering process has already been explained above with Google Authorship and the Knowledge Graph, but lets continue going down the rabbit trail on more sources they are using to get data.

First they have Google Analytics which is installed on millions of websites. Have you ever wondered why Google Analytics is free for up to 10 million pageviews a month? It is the amount of data that is now at their disposal. Google makes it very easy for you to share your data with them. When you’re setting up a Google Analytics account, they have conveniently pre-checked all the data sharing settings for you even though they are technically optional. This data allows them to understand user behavior for individual websites but more importantly for different verticals.

 

Google’s Blueprint for Search Domination | Find and Convert.

Westchester May See Traffic, Transit Delays After Metro-North Crash | Armonk Real Estate

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Westchester residents can expect chaos on highways and rail lines for at least the next week as crews continue to repair damage caused by Friday evening’s train collision in Fairfield County, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said Sunday evening.

“There are going to be substantial delays until we get this line back in full service,” Malloy said in a press conference. “Residents should plan for a week’s worth of disruptions. The delays will not be limited to mass transit, as more people get behind the wheel to drive and make their own connections.”

Metro-North warned customers that travel times will be significantly longer and trains will be crowded Monday. Customers should stagger their work schedule or seek alternative means of travel to get to work, Metro-North said.

About 30,000 train commuters are affected by the break in train travel in the Bridgeport-Fairfield area, Malloy said. Those commuters are expected to hit train stations in lower Fairfield County or Westchester County or to travel via Interstate 95 and the parkways to get to work or elsewhere Monday morning.

Connecticut will have 150 buses on the highways as train shuttles, in addition to the normal rush-hour traffic. Malloy also noted that the weather is expected to be wet Monday morning, causing more potential problems.

“If all of those were to get on the highway in single-occupancy cars, we will literally have a parking lot,” Malloy said.

 

Westchester May See Traffic, Transit Delays After Metro-North Crash | The Bedford Daily Voice.

Hedge Funds Drive up Atlanta Prices | Armonk NY Homes

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A new analysis of institutional investor purchases in Atlanta over the past year found that hedge funds are driving up prices and depleting inventories, yet they are still able to buy properties for less than the market rate.

An analysis of hedge funds’ impact by Radar Logic, a real estate data and analytics company that tracks housing values for major U.S. metropolitan areas and publishes the Residential Property IndexTM (RPXTM) to enable real estate to be traded as a liquid asset, via property derivatives marketed by major financial institutions, found that hedge funds’ impact on the Atlanta market over the past year has increased substantially.

Some key findings from the study:

  • Institutional investors are paying less for homes than non-investors. While 90 percent of all Atlanta home buyers paid between $45K and $499.4K in February, 90 percent of institutional investors paid between $39.3K and $232.1K.
  • Institutional investors are also paying less on a price per square foot basis. While 90% of all Atlanta home buyers paid between $28.19/SF and $196.92/SF, 90 percent of institutional investors paid between $24.18/SF and $108.24/SF.
  • Institutional investors are purchasing smaller homes than non-investors. While 90 percent of all homes purchased in Atlanta in February were between 1,029 SF and 4,233 SF, 90% of homes purchased by institutional investors were between 1,054 SF and 2,901 SF.

Also, institutional investors are paying up and moving up in size relative to a year ago. In the past year, monthly hedge fund purchases have increased 148 percent in the Atlanta market.  Even more interesting is the finding that average investor price per transaction has increased by 65 percent over the past year compared to 15 percent for the market as a whole.

 

 

Hedge Funds Drive up Atlanta Prices | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

For $4.5M, a Classic Shingle-Style Estate on Cape Cod – House of the Day | Armonk Real Estate

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Location: West Falmouth, Mass.
Price: $4,500,000
The Skinny: This shingle-style estate on Frederick Law Olmsted-plannedChapoquoit Island is the pinnacle of preppy summering. Located within a private association, with easy access to the prime sailing grounds of Buzzards Bay, the five-bedroom cottage sprawls over 3,800 square feet and enjoys dazzling water views from nearly every room. The listing focuses on the cottage’s beautiful exterior, saving only one HDR-heavy photo for the interior, so its safe to assume that plenty of work is necessary on the inside to bring this 1902 beauty up to modern standards. Listed for $4.5M, the house sits on 1.43 acres, with a pond and a coveted private dock.

 

 

For $4.5M, a Classic Shingle-Style Estate on Cape Cod – House of the Day – Curbed National.

Retail real estate landscape is looking different after the recession | Armonk Homes

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As New Jersey continues to emerge from the recession, observers are noticing changes in the commercial retail real estate landscape: Bigger isn’t better, but variety is. And for the time being, it’s a tenant’s market.

In 2002, vacant storefronts represented about 2 percent of the shopping corridors in the central and northern parts of New Jersey. Buildings didn’t stay empty for long. Because space was at a premium, rents were high.

When big box stores such as Bradlees or Caldors went out of business, other enterprises like Kohl’s or Home Depot moved in.

But as the dark clouds of the recession roiled over New Jersey, large and small retailers became tentative. A survey of lease renewals by CoStar Group, a commercial real estate information company, showed 10-year lease renewals for retail outlets began plummeting in 2005, while one-year leases climbed dramatically.


Ryan McCullough, a vice president at CoStar, said it was as if stores had been placed on “a waiting list for foreclosure.” Parent companies wanted to take a wait-and-see approach before making long-term commitments. At the same time, landlords, looking to hold on to their tenants, lowered rents.

By the fourth quarter of 2006, the vacancy rate had risen to 7.6 percent and rents were $20.92 per square foot, according to CoStar. In the first quarter of this year, however, the vacancy rate is 6.6 percent while rents average $19.37. And lease lengths are showing signs of growing longer again.

“Think of it as a sign of retailer confidence,” said McCullough.

Marta Villa, vice president of CBRE, a commercial real estate firm, said, “One reason for the longer lease is the lower rents brought on by the recession. If (a retailer’s) lease is coming due in the next 24 months, they want to get in there and tie up that space.”

Villa said it is part of the new mantra in the commercial real estate market: “blend and extend.” In addition to extending leases, she said landlords are also willing to shake up the mix of outlets on a property.

Landlords have “become more receptive to filling space with nontraditional uses, like fitness centers, or day care or medical centers,” she said. “Gyms are one of the major retail sectors on the move.”

Fast food franchises are also growing rapidly in New Jersey, Villa said, as well as quick-serve restaurants like Smashburger or Chipotles.

Part of the uptick in activity is the lower rents

“A couple of years ago, we were fielding a lot of rent reduction requests,” said Matt Harding, president of Levin Management. “We reviewed them and we did work with tenants. But over the past 12 months, the number is slowing, absolutely.”

 

 

Retail real estate landscape is looking different after the recession | NJ.com.

Dallas-area builders worry that new-home prices are rising too fast | Armonk Real Estate

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Jumps in new home development and construction costs have builders worried that their sales prices are outpacing buyer incomes.
Dallas-Fort Worth new home prices in the first quarter hit a record high of $244,113, according to Dallas-based housing analyst Residential Strategies Inc.
And with costs such as building lots, lumber and labor rising rapidly, the outlook is for more price increases in new homes throughout 2013.
“Builders are reporting that they have increased housing prices $20,000 to $50,000 in some submarkets,” Residential Strategies principal Ted Wilson said Thursday morning at a seminar for local builders.
“They are raising prices not to make more money but to keep up with the pass-through price increases they are facing.”
Wilson said that lot prices in North Texas are up as much as 60 percent and lumber prices are 30 percent to 50 percent higher than a year ago.
If it wasn’t for the near-record low mortgage finance costs, many buyers couldn’t afford the housing being built in D-FW, he said.
“The homebuyer can now purchase almost 31 percent more house today than he could three years ago because of the drop in mortgage rates,” Wilson said. “The drop in the mortgage rate is helping to mask the inflation many homebuyers are now experiencing.”
More construction
Residential Strategies reports that first-quarter new home starts were up about 30 percent from the same period of 2012. The analyst is predicting that local builders will start between 20,000 and 21,000 homes in North Texas in 2013.
That’s still less than half the number of houses that builders constructed in the area in 2006.
“The housing recovery is in full bloom this spring,” Wilson said. “Starts are up 46 percent from the market bottom” in 2009.
The biggest rise in local home starts has been in houses priced above $300,000.
“The $300,000 to $500,000 category continues to see what we think is astounding growth,” said Residential Strategies’ Cassie Gibson. “Year-over-year growth was about 40 percent in this price range.”
These more expensive houses account for about 1 in 4 homes being built in North Texas, she said.
Under $200,000
Starts of homes under $200,000 have grown at less than half the rate of pricier properties. This price range once accounted for more than half of the D-FW starts each year, but it’s now down to about a third of total construction.
“Many submarkets are reaching historic highs in terms of the average and median home prices,” Gibson said. “The market will need help in the way of rising household income levels.
“There obviously is a ceiling to how high prices can rise, and in some areas the market may be close to reaching it,” she said.
Homebuilders worry about their ability to keep passing on cost increases to the consumer.
“It’s the biggest concern of all builders right now,” said Dustin Nelson, president of David Weekley Homes’ D-FW division. “I think when the lending market for residential developers opens up a little bit more, they won’t have to get the lot price increases they are asking today.

 

Dallas-area builders worry that new-home prices are rising too fast | Armonk Real Estate | Bedford NY Real Estate | Robert Paul Talks Life in Bedford NY.

8 Ways to Create the Perfect Facebook Post | Armonk Realtor

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We recently updated our Superlist of Social Media and Content Marketing Case Studies and one of the enhancements that people really like is the Facebook Page section.  This section provides examples of the myriad ways smart  companies are using their Facebook pages successfully to engage customers and grow their businesses.

I recently discovered a terrific Blueprint for the Perfect Facebook Page Infographic from Salesforce that provides great tips for creating the perfect Facebook post.   In sum, the recommendations are:

  1. Keep your post copy short and your tone personal.
  2. Target your audience by location or language.
  3. Use a call-to-action hyperlink to a page on your website.
  4. Achieve more impact by including an attractive, relevant photo with your post.
  5. Reach more fans with a sponsored story within 24 hours of your posting.
  6. Don’t be a passive poster. Engage by asking questions and adding comments.
  7. Post with mobile users in mind: short simple copy , images and video.
  8. Evaluate what’s working and what’s not by reviewing the “Engaged Fans” metric on your Insights Page.If you want to see examples of how companies are using Facebook

Go grab this terrific infographic right now and keep it handy.

Read more: http://www.interactiveinsightsgroup.com/blog1/ways-to-create-the-perfect-facebook-post/#ixzz2SVy0IF25

Recolor Your Walls for a Better Mood | Armonk NY Real Estate

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Feeling uninspired in your creative life? Wish you could sleep better at night? Repainting your walls and redecorating with a new color scheme could be the solution — or at least the first step in getting out of your rut.

While color is not a magical solution to solving all of our problems, it does affect our mood and outlook, sometimes without us even realizing it. The advertising world, for example, takes advantage of our physical and psychological reaction to certain colors; most action movie posters have a blue and orange hue, and fast-food restaurants combine red and yellow to increase diners’ appetites.

Here are a few ways you can use color to create the mood you desire:

Red

Red walls - kitchen

Red is often associated with passion, excitement and love, which means that it can be the perfect shade for your bedroom, kitchen or creative space. Darker hues indicate elegance, while red in its purest form communicates a vibrant energy. Red is an extremely powerful color, so be careful of overdoing it and turning your room into a living furnace. Balance it out with neutral colors, pair with blue and white for nautical tones or add dashes of green decor for a natural complement.

Orange

Orange kids room

Orange can have much of the same effect as red and yellow, but can give your home a much quirkier feel, as it’s not used as often as the other two. Orange is also more inviting and a gentler way of greeting your guests than the bolder red. Go for dark hues if you’re aiming for a cozy, autumn feeling in your living room, or bright shades if you want to re-create the excitement of summer. Optimal rooms for an orange theme include the living room, dining room, kitchen or a child’s room.

Yellow

Yellow office

Yellow is easily the most uplifting color in the spectrum and is associated with cheer, joy and happiness. Paint your kitchen, bedroom or office yellow to inspire creativity and instantly de-gloom even the most windowless of rooms. If you don’t live in mostly sunny areas, use yellow as your secret weapon and invest in some mirrors to perpetuate openness and space.

Green

Green bedroom

In addition to being the natural color of most vegetables and thus associated with health, green also has a calming effect and can inspire balance. Green is also closely related to fecundity and growth, and can greatly maximize the creative aura of your home office or creative space. If you’re not quite committed to painting the walls green just yet, try populating the room with plants instead.

Blue

Blue living room

Keep blue, gray and black out of the kitchen and dining room, as these are the most unappetizing colors. Blue can be a perfect hue for bathrooms and bedrooms, encouraging feelings of serenity and peace. If you have trouble sleeping or feel frenetic at night, paint your walls blue to trick your mind into slowing down.

While many do associate it with sadness, remember that the specific shade of blue can have different meanings, including a host of religious connotations for many different cultures. Overall, a lighter blue can be refreshing and hip, while darker shades in a main living area are stable and strong.

Purple

Lavender bathroom

This is an extremely energetic color in its purest form, which is why many feng shui experts advise against painting walls purple or going overboard with purple decorations. Rather than a strong purple, opt for more muted shades like lavender or pink.

Pink is obviously often related to love, but can also be a gentler and more delicate option for purple enthusiasts. Pair with yellow-green for a dramatic pop, or black for a classy effect with just the right amount of flair.

 

http://www.zillowblog.com/2013-05-03

Home prices near new peaks in many markets | Armonk NY Real Estate

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Home prices in 10% of the nation’s top 200 housing markets have recently hit new peaks or are only a hair away, new data show.

Another 24 of the top markets are within 5% of their previous peaks, according to data provided to USA TODAY by real estate tracker Lender Processing Services.

Many of those cities are likely to hit new peaks this year, economists say, given projections for continued price increases.

The data show how far prices in many cities have rebounded since the historic housing bust after mid-2006 — and how far they still have to go in most cities. The figures also underscore the uneven impact of the housing bubble, and then bust, in different regions.

Dozens of markets where prices peaked in 2006 or earlier are still 25% to 58% below those plateaus, LPS says.

Many cities now at or close to previous highs never saw the price run-ups leading up to the bust that others did. They didn’t drop as far, so they have less of a climb back.

Of the cities within 5% of their previous peaks, none saw more than an 11% decline in home values from mid-2006 to the market’s bottom in early 2012, LPS data shows. Nationally, prices fell almost 28% during that time.

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story

Inbound Marketing | Difference Between Tactics and Strategy | Armonk Realtor

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Every marketer wants to open up the inbound marketing floodgates, or so they think. But, when you get down to doing inbound marketing what is tactical and what is strategic? This really begs the question: which inbound marketing tactics can you do relatively quickly and without too much effort versus those that require more effort but offer long term results potential?

Our parents taught us that anything worth doing is worth doing right. We were taught “if _____ was easy everyone would do it.” By no means am I suggesting that inbound marketing is easy. But, let’s look at some inbound marketing activities that might be considered tactical and those considered strategic.

Tactical Inbound Marketing

Pay-per-Click Advertising (PPC)

Some call this SEM. This involves setting up search marketing campaigns in Google Adwords or Bing whereby your ads are displayed for certain keywords for which you bid an amount you’re willing to pay each time someone clicks on your ad. Setting up one or two campaigns properly takes a matter of hours. Getting Google or Bing to approve them also takes hours. Generally within a day or two you can have a few PPC campaigns up and running. Some will argue that PPC is strategic. For those brands that make a serious commitment to PPC with ongoing monitoring and optimization it can be strategic. That said, PPC campaigns could be turned on and off based on need and budget.

Optimizing Current Your Website

Undergoing an “on page” optimization exercise of your existing website content is also tactical because it is focused on the existing content. Depending on the size of your website the effort may take days, or weeks or even months. The result may be improved discoverability of some of your website’s pages in search results, which could result in more traffic to your website.

via findandconvert.com