Archive for Real Estate Blogs
Whimsical Wednesday: WordPress 2.7 Rocks!
· CommentsI’d probably have more to talk about if I hadn’t spent such a large portion of last weekend getting this website updated.
I don’t really enjoy updating to a new version of Wordpress. I do it so infrequently that I never remember how it goes, and of course, writing things down would be too easy.
This time, I was upgrading from WordPress 2.3.2 to 2.7. Yes, I’d put it off until the big update came out, then waited until everyone else figured out whether it really worked or not. But, I’m glad I did do the upgrade. The 2.7 version is a huge improvement from a “back office” perspective.
I’d read posts from people who were having difficulty finding things, and it’s true that things are in different places. But I think everything works so much more easily, so I don’t mind poking around until I figure out how to do something.
The other thing I had to deal with was the fact that the theme I had been using for quite a while wasn’t compatible with 2.7. That, coupled with the anniversary thing, prompted me to completely redo the site.
I went over to WordPress.org to look for a new template. I don’t enjoy doing that, either. And, customizing a WordPress theme isn’t at the top of my list of skills. So, I decided to look for a “premium WordPress theme”. In the lingo, premium means that you have to pay for it.
After researching the alternatives, I decided to purchase a Flexx theme from iThemes.com. I’m really in love with this theme, so if you’re running a WordPress blog, you might want to check it out.
Once you install the theme, at least on 2.7, you end up with a menu of theme options incorporated right into the WP menu. You can easily change the layout of the blog, meaning that you can select where to put sidebars, headers, widget areas, etc. And, all you have to do is click on the sketch of the layout you want - just my speed!
The theme has a built in flash-like set up for the header, so all you have to do is upload a .JPG or two, and the rotation is done automatically. There’s also a “billboard” section where you could easily display advertisements for blog sponsors. iThemes has a number of themes, some of which lend are set up magazine style and others that lend themselves to integrated website/blogs.
Why didn’t I just combine BuildRealEstateResults.com and this blog? Yup, you got it. The ranking I’ve got on BuildRealEstateResults.com might have fallen apart if I transferred it to a site with such a different structure. And, I wasn’t willing to take that chance.
The best thing about this purchase, though, is the support. Yes! Actual support for a WordPress theme! There’s a support forum that has the most helpful group of company and user folks that you could want. Needless to say, I had a few issues getting things together. And, the worst ribbing I got was one person who agreed with me when I said I knew enough about this stuff to be dangerous!
They were all operator errors, but I got quick resolutions on the forum. Over the weekend. Amazing.
You may have noticed that there’s a new category showing on this blog - Link Building. That category has been updated to identify the posts that relate to building incoming links to your website. I didn’t go all the way back to the very beginning of this blog, but tagged the posts that talk most specifically about how to get incoming links. Older posts would be under the SEO category.
And, here’s another tip. RealEstateABC.com just updated their agent directory to provide more features for the $25/year “Official Member” listing. Here’s what you get for your money:
- A do-follow link under your name, linking to your home page
- No-follow links to your listings page and home search page
- Your address and phone will be displayed; adding a photo is optional at $50/year
- Up to 250 characters of “Area Text” - describing the area you work in.
Visit RealEstateABC.com to learn more about getting listed in the real estate Agent Directory. I was surprised to see that the chart on that page doesn’t list all the things that are now included in the “Official Member” listings. But, I contacted them and was assured that the features listed above are in effect.
The directory pages don’t have high PR, but they are cached by Google. And, the site gets a lot of traffic, so you may end up with people clicking through to your real estate website, too.
WRUD About Text Messaging?
· CommentsIf you can understand the title of this post, you must be using text messaging. For everyone else, it means…
What Are You Doing About Text Messaging?
To be honest, I’ve never really understood why people love text messaging so much. I always think: If you want to talk to someone, why don’t you just call? And, if you’re in a meeting and texting your REALTOR® at the same time, you’re probably not paying much attention to either.
Besides that, I worry about the nation’s literacy. If an entire generation grows up saying WRUD - will they be able to interact with other human beings? Give a speech? Win at a job interview? But, this isn’t Whimsical Wednesday, so I must not digress.
Really, none of us can afford to ignore the fact that using text messaging is a very normal way for a lot of people to communicate. So, if you’re not into the lingo or you don’t have the capability, you should probably look into it.
Support Text Messaging on Your Real Estate Website or Blog
Many agents have a “widget” (an object placed on a website using a small piece of code) on their sites that visitors can use to chat online or place a telephone call. The next thing you might want to consider is a widget that lets visitors send you a text message.
Here are a few vendors you can evaluate, in no particular order:
The three links above will take you directly to a page where you can see what the widget looks like, and where you can generate the code needed to put it on your real estate website or blog. The nice thing about these three services is that they are free. Another good feature is that your cell phone number is not displayed on your site, but most REALTORS® I know use their cells almost exclusively, so the privacy issue isn’t a big one.
If you try one of the widgets, let me know how you like it!
When a Google Sitemap Hurts Your Rankings
· CommentsIf you’re doing real estate marketing online, you need good rankings in the search engines. One of our contributors, Sam Chapman, wrote about the fact that he had fallen off the first page of Google for his main keyword. Luckily, his website is strong enough that the activity on his site wasn’t really affected.
I got an email from Sam the other day. He’s figured out how to retrieve his high ranking on Google for his main keyword phrase!
And, it’s a pretty weird fix.
When Can a Google Sitemap Hurt Your Ranking?
Sam wrote, “I had a Google sitemap warning in the Google Webmaster Tools. It stated that my RSS feed had too many tags and that I should fix and resubmit. The thing that both puzzled me and troubled me was that I first saw the warning a few weeks after falling off page one for my most coveted search term - Austin real estate.”
Sam tapped the resources at the REW forum by publishing a post asking if anyone knew anything about that error. One of the other REW members posted a link to a blog post that discussed merging two blogs into one.
The owner didn’t mention getting an error message, and his merged blogs were doing OK, but he was frustrated because his pages weren’t getting indexed very quickly. The answer came from another REW member, whose advice was “Delete your Google Sitemap.xml file and make the search engines crawl the site from scratch.”
Once the file was deleted, the owner of the combined blogs saw his indexed pages increase dramatically. So, Sam decided to try the same thing with his website.
Within 10 days, he was back on page one of the Google SERPs for his key real estate marketing term, Austin Real Estate.
The Morals of the Story?
- Having a site map on your real estate website is a good thing. And, in most instances, submitting a Google sitemap is a good thing, too.
- You may or may not get an error message in your Google Webmaster Tools when a site map is confusing the search engine web crawlers.
- There may be times when some issue with your Google sitemap can negatively impact your rankings, and you’d be better off deleting the site map.
- If you have submitted a Google sitemap, you better check your Google Webmaster Tools periodically to make sure that there are no issues you need to be aware of!
Promote Your City’s “Walkability”
· CommentsWe all know that walking is good for us, but now you can promote your city’s walkability on your real estate website or blog. And, if you market in an area that is laid out well for walking to various locations, you can give your visitors an idea of what’s in the area.
In fact, if you visit this page on WalkScore.com, you’ll be able to get the script you need to put a WalkScore map on your real estate website or blog. Here’s an example from a Walker’s Paradise in Seattle, Washington.
It’s a pretty handy tool. And, if you’re in a good area for walking, the map would be especially interesting to people who want to move to a new part of town, or those who are relocating.
There are links back to the WalkScore site, but the WalkScore folks have made the map even more attractive to add to your site because the links open in a new window - that means you won’t lose your visitors because it will be easy for them to find your site still open in one of their browser windows.
There are also instructions on the page referenced earlier for customizing the map. But, if you’d rather not figure out how, the basic map you see above looks pretty good!
Enjoy!
