Stephanie Sims is Chicago Agent’s managing editor

With Web technology, things are always changing – search algorithms, website design and user experience, for example. Staying on top of everything tech encompasses and how those changes can affect your business is vital.

This is true for all technologies, but in this issue’s cover story, we explore search algorithms and SEO, and just how the companies who land on the first page of search results optimize their content. We look at such things as: the companies’ use of video; how they use social media to help gain search traction; and how they develop and maintain their strategies according to changes to search algorithms. Unfortunately, like everything else, to obtain great success requires hard work and maintenance in addition to skill.

“SEO is not something you can do once, sit back and see results,” Mike Callaghan, vice president of digital marketing for Century 21, said in our cover story. “Our SEO success has been dependent on us staying nimble and constantly analyzing.”

And analyzing is imperative, not only to figure out what you need to do to land on the first page of a search, but also what could get your website penalized. For example, you can’t just write a page that’s filled with the phrase “River North real estate” – having these keywords appear every other word is a black hat technique called “keyword stuffing,” which will actually cause Google to penalize your site and make it very hard for consumers to find your website. And other than your basic keywords, content and links, consistency is just as important – a stagnant page written four months ago won’t rank high with Google at all; updating your site with fresh content anywhere from once or twice a week to daily (your best bet) is key. Read more about how you can develop and maintain SEO and other tech strategies in our cover story.

One other note: our annual Truth About Agents survey is still on our website to help prepare for our upcoming Truth About Agents issue. Everyone’s opinion is important when it comes to this survey, so please head over to chicago.staging312.com/2014-truth-agents-survey and fill out our quick, 10-minute survey. This is an anonymous survey, so please, be honest – tell us how you really feel!