Archive for January, 2008
I haven’t had a chance to write many posts ahead of time lately. In addition to regular work, I’ve been pretty busy handling technology messes. If I’d had a chance to post this last night as I had intended, it wouldn’t have been a Whimsical post because I forgot today is Wednesday.
So, what technology messes have I been handling? Glad you asked!
First, I have been having a great deal of trouble with my DSL connection. It’s an INTERMITTENT PROBLEM.
I hate those. What that means is that when the repairman (no, I’m not being chauvinistic, all of the repair persons have been males) comes to check the connection, it is working fine. When he leaves, the connection can drop 10 times in an hour.
The phone company (who shall remain nameless, except to say that it is a combination of the companies who were previously separated) has replaced my older modem, and a dedicated line was run directly from the modem to an outside filter. I’d say that pretty much eliminates the possibility of any wiring problems from the computer to the outside lines, right?
So, why does the company insist on sending a technician to check the connection every time I call? No explanation.
So, last Friday (yes, at that point, I knew what day it was) I finally called the Public Service Commission. And, at their suggestion, filed a complaint with the FCC. Kinda scary. The FCC… We’ll see what happens. I got a nice call from a woman in the “Executive Escalation” department yesterday. Film at 11.
The second problem occurred when I tried to download and install a trial of Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional software. Ever heard of Error 1606? Neither had I. But, we’re now old friends. After talking to support folks from Adobe, Dell and Microsoft, I learned a few things.
First, NO ONE knows how to handle Error 1606. Second, NO ONE is responsible for assisting someone who is getting an Error 1606. Pretty amazing, huh?
Third, the “escalation” at Adobe is truly amazing. Most of the time, when a problem is “escalated” in a tech firm, that means you are transferred to a more senior-level technician. At Adobe, it means that after the tech you’re talking to fills out about 10 minutes worth of paperwork documenting the issue, you can expect a call back from the “escalation team” within 48 hours. 48 HOURS. The world could end in that amount of time.
Needless to say, I didn’t have 48 hours to wait. Needless to say, I no longer use Adobe Acrobat. Ever heard of Nitro PDF Professional? It works pretty well. If anyone has a suggestion for the best alternative to Adobe, however, please let me know.
How to Make the Most of Your New Home Page
· CommentsSo, What’s Your New Home Page?
Well, Joel Burslem made a case on his blog Future of Real Estate Marketing, explaining how your listing pages are destined to become your new home page. I’m not convinced that we should all give up trying to be found for main keywords like CITY Real Estate. But, I think there are any number of reasons why your listing pages should get a good bit of your attention.
MLS vs “Featured” Listings
All agents put their listings on their MLS system. It’s a necessity, if for no other reason than to get the most exposure to other agents in the area who may have a buyer, and exposure to buyers through IDX agreements.
Most real estate websites have the capability to produce “featured” listings. That means you have the ability to create custom listings on your website. If you don’t have that capability, you should – check out Point2 Agent websites for a great real estate website platform.
Which Listing Portal Should You Use?
Both! Why? Because they are two very different animals!
MLS Listings are for promoting your listings to other agents
Featured Listings are for promoting your listings to consumers
MLS Listings typically let you display a few photos and a very brief description, which often comes out in code like this:
- 5% FIXED RATE ASSUMABLE MORTGAGE!LOCATED IN HEART OF PTC RELAXING SUNRM*VAULTED CEILINGS*MSTR RETREAT OR NURSERY/ OFFICE/BEDROOM 4*SMOOTH CEILINGS, CROWN & TILE ON ENTIRE
I imagine there was an end to that last thought. But, it didn’t show up in the MLS listing. That description is great to give another agent the basics about the home. Maybe. I’m not sure what a Mstr retreat or nursery is, though. But, obviously, it doesn’t sell the home to a consumer!
Your featured listing on your own site is your opportunity to speak directly to the consumer. In English. In complete words and sentences. With lots of photos. It’s your chance to “sell” the home, not just list it.
Overcome Duplicate-Entry-Itis
The biggest reason I hear from agents for not putting time and thought into their featured listings is that they hate the “duplicate entry”. They have to put the listing in the MLS system, then enter it again on their own website.
Leave your duplicate-entry-itis behind! You’re not duplicating effort – you’re talking to two very different audiences! Don’t sell your listings short.
Do-It-Yourself-SEO: Part 8
· CommentsUse this link to see all the posts in this series: Do-It-Yourself SEO.
Blogging and SEO
If you blog on a regular basis, your blog will be a search engine favorite – search engines just love the fresh content. And, if the information you post is useful, your site visitors will love it, too.
7 Tips to Make Your Blog SEO-Friendly.
- Blog Frequently – Blog as often as you can. Check the Real Estate Blogging category on this blog for ideas on how to be consistent with blogging, and where to find topics.
- Optimize Your Blog – Use the same guidelines for the On-Page Optimization of your web pages. On your blog, you can put keyword phrases in your blog’s title, post titles, post content, category names, tag names and the ALT text of photos or images that you use in your posts.
- Maintain a Focus – You can blog about anything you want. But, especially when you’re first starting up a blog, make the majority of your posts about real estate and your keywords. That focus will help the search engines understand the theme of your blog. If this blog had two Whimsical Wednesday posts for every post related to its keywords, the site would not rank as well.
- Link to Your Website – Use your blog as a way to get quality incoming links to the pages of your website. This is a great way to get deep links to the interior pages of your site. You can write about a variety of topics and link to your community pages, MLS search page, market condition page, etc. and it would make perfect sense within the post. Use good anchor text in your links to get the most from them.
- Link to Outside Resources – You don’t want to put too many outgoing links in your posts, but 2 or 3 links to quality outside websites that can be helpful to your readers is a good idea. You may get a link in return, and the search engines will notice your choice of outgoing links, too.
- Submit Your Blog to Blog Directories – One way to jump start your blog is to submit it to blog directories to help the search engines find it. Just do a search for real estate blog directory, and you’ll find quite a number of directories that focus on real estate blogs.
- Advertise Your Posts – Set your blog up to “ping” Update Services. If you’re not familiar with pinging or Update Services, take a look at this explanation on the WordPress site.
Typically, you can also increase the traffic to your blog by being active on other blogs. If you read and leave comments on other related blogs, that may bring visitors on that blog to yours. And, if you leave comments, very often other blogmasters will return the favor.
I hope you have found this SEO series helpful. If you decide you’d like professional assistance, you can find more information about SEO for real estate websites, and please feel free to contact me!
What Are Most Virtual Tours Missing?
· CommentsI’ve looked at quite a few virtual tours, and I’ve always thought that there was something missing. Was it the music? No, lots of tours have music. Was it good photographs or video? Well, sometimes. But, the production of many of the tours is good.
What I’ve always thought was missing was the personal touch – a person to relate to, and someone to help me focus on and understand what I’m looking at. There may be some people who can tell a Travertine floor when they see one. I’m just not one of those people.
But, I was interested to come across a company that is offering tours and property websites that include voiceover capability. The company is called VizzVox. They offer a number of services, ranging from do-it-yourself online tour creation, to professional script writing or a professional to do the voiceover for you, to statistics on the number of times your tour is viewed.
I liked one of the examples where the agent did the narration herself. What a great way to make an impression on your seller and become known to potential buyers! Take a quick look at that one. I found it much easier to interpret the tour with someone pointing out the key features in each room.
Another example had written “slides” toward the end that reinforced features of the home when they appeared in writing.
You can learn more about VizzVox at their real estate page. The fees as of this date are competitive with some other virtual tour companies – $99 for a “Vizzie To Go” and $149/year for a single listing website. The single listing sites don’t have as many bells and whistles as some I’ve seen, but I think the voiceover is a big advantage.
The other interesting thing is that they are offering a Free Personal Account that allows you to try their service and make up to 10 tours that can be viewed via a link to the VizzVox site. Those tours will show their advertising.
If you’ve ever watched a virtual tour and wondered where to look first, you might be missing the personal touch, too.
- Do you think a voiceover is an advantage on a virtual tour?
- Would you record one yourself?
- Have you ever used a virtual tour with a voiceover?
- If anyone has or does try this out, let us know what you think!
Whimsical Wednesday: Wild Pets
· CommentsAfter my meeting with the Turkey Vulture a while ago, I started thinking about all the cute little animals that we are lucky enough to have in our neighborhoods. In fact, a friend of mine has adopted an entire troop of small animals as pets.
It probably began because my friend and her husband travel quite often for business and family visits. Therefore, having a dog as a pet didn’t seem fair. And, since her husband is allergic to cats, that eliminated the feline pet opportunity. So, over time, she seems to have adopted all the local wildlife and turned her backyard into a haven for quite a variety of outdoor pets.
The staple food for her pets are the peanuts that she throws out on the back patio, deck and lawn. As long as the various species get along, they are all welcome, but there are rules.
First, squirrels aren’t allowed to chase the chipmunks away. If such an infraction is discovered, a quick sweep of the broom sets the squirrel felons running. And, in fact, it is the squirrels that live on the left side of the yard that are always the culprits. The squirrels that live on the right side of the yard never get so aggressive.
The hawks aren’t really part of the family, but if they stop by, they aren’t allowed to hunt the squirrels, chipmunks or rabbits. The squirrels and chipmunks can take shelter under the outdoor furniture. But, the rabbits mostly stay on the grass, so there are a few strategically placed chairs on the lawn to provide emergency shelter.
Box turtles stop by from time to time. A shallow water dish set out for their use reports their visit if no one is around to see them. The amount of mud in the dish indicates that a turtle has recently taken a bath there.
And, like any pets, the animals have rules, too. The bully hummingbird won’t let any others share the feeder by the house, and the interlopers seem to prefer to fight it out rather than just go to the feeder in the backyard.
It isn’t unusual to be sitting around my friend’s breakfast table chatting, and look out the glass door to see a squirrel or chipmunk sitting on the doormat outside peering in. A sure sign that peanuts are required.
Or, to see a titmouse or cardinal sitting on the outdoor furniture making a racket. I’d think it a coincidence, except that all is quiet once the required peanuts are thrown out the door. And, the birds don’t even fly away any more when the back door opens.
When my friend and her husband bought this house, they also looked at some new construction. The new homes had all the latest amenities, but the backyard on this home won out. And, there’s a large family of nature’s children who applaud that decision.
