Custom Website Design, SEO, WordPress Custom Blogs!

Neighborcity.Com - claim your profile and increase business...it's FREE!!!

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:50:26 -0600

Agents - Claim Your Profile and Increase Business - Get in front of qualified buyers and and sellers - for free. Claim your profile to access thousands of buyers and sellers who are using their site to find a home and connect with a local agent using their unique matching technology.

Brokers - Get Exposure for Your Agents - You don't need traffic, you need prospects. Qualified prospective clients, ready to work with your agents. Neighborcity has them. Put your agents front and center with in-market buyers and sellers by claiming your company profile and making sure your agents fill out theirs.

For you avid bloggers out there, you can set up your blog as well!

All they ask for is a link back to their site :-)

Neighborcity Marketing

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Nancy Golliday
Website (re)Design for Marketing Results

Custom Website Design
FirstCoastDesigns

Social Media Customization
Custom WordPress Blogs using Thesis
Custom Fan Pages for Facebook
Twitter & YouTube Backgrounds
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SEORedefined

Point2 Agent Website Customization
NancyGolliday

Custom Website Design | Ultra Agent Website Customization | Point2 Agent Website Customization | Innuity Website Customization | Sam's Club Members Website Customization

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A Plea to the National Association of REALTORS(R).......SHUT UP!!

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:19:03 -0600

This is a very interesting article for those of you Realtors out there wanting to focus your website on "Why Now's A Great Time to Buy" - read this before you stick your foot in your mouth!!!!!

Via Bryant Tutas-Tutas Towne Realty, Inc:

Hi folks. This post is inspired by Linda Davis' great article "The NAR Predicts Sunshine and Lollipops". Her post is referring to the NAR's Chief economist Lawrence Yun once again making statements about the Real Estate market that are really nothing more than "spinning" reality to help REALTORS(R) put money in their pockets. As a REALTOR(R) myself I personally find his comments on the state of the market embarrassing. Why can't he just be truthful?

In 2007 we were asked to pitch "Now is a GREAT time to buy Real Estate". Fortunately I didn't jump on that band wagon either. In November of 2007 the average price for a house in Poinciana Florida was $177,600. Today it's $75,000!! That's a decline of 58%. Sure looked like NAR nailed that one!

Here's a post I wrote in 2007 showing what the consumer thought at the time about the NAR's foolishness. Will they ever learn?

This a follow up to "Now is a GREAT time to buy Real Estate! Or is it?" In that post I was pointing out how our local board(and now FAR) are asking us to advertise "Now is a great time to buy Real Estate." My thoughts were and are that this is actually being less than honest and I do not agree with this type of advertising. Pop over and read the post if you haven't already.

Anyway, I've had quite a few consumers who have read and left their opinions on that post. Here are their responses: (the comments have been edited for length only).
******************

FROM STAN:

Anything the NAR says now doesn't make any difference in the consumer's mind as they have looked like fools for the past couple of years. With an approval rating on par with Congress, there's little room for any downside movement. Let's see....they said the market was going to bottom out and begin another upward movement....when was that? LOL Then, it's the end of '08 and now it's '09 and in six months, it will be '10.

You just keep telling the truth and you'll continue to do just fine. For ANYONE to say it's a great, or even good time to buy in FL is blowing smoke. Patient, careful buyers will know when it's the right time to buy and not based on any slogan by some trade organization. The same people who said it was a great time to buy this time last year, overpaid by how much??...10%, 20%, or more in some markets?

The only thing more laughable than "Buy Now" is "It's different here". After reading the market numbers for some of the markets represented in the comments, who are they trying to convince...clients or themselves?

FROM WAR EAGLE:

Thanks for displaying a beacon of conscience in a turbulent market. Please know that your honesty is what people are paying you for. Buyers/Sellers user Realtors (R) because they need advice from someone they can trust. For most people, buying a home is the most significant expenditure that they will make in their lifetime. The idea that their Realtor(R) would have "money in their pocket" at that time, versus the well-being of their client is appalling. In all honesty, your profession is due a massive shake-up, and when it is all said and done, those that have had integrity will leave with their reputation intact and will not have to compete with all the greedy johnny-come-latelys for listings. Again, thanks for the honesty.

FROM DAVID:

As someone who is not part of the industry, I can tell you that I would NEVER use an agent who parroted that kind of garbage either in an ad or in person. Really, it would be equivalent to you saying "I am either an idiot or a con artist, and I'm hoping you are dumb enough to believe this transparent propaganda. Please hire me."

If you have built your business on honesty and trust, now is not the time to abandon that policy. The era of the Huckster Realtor is coming to a crashing halt. In a few years, with any luck, the only real estate agents left will be those who have distanced themselves from the NAR and its self-serving hype, and who have earned the trust of their customers.

FROM WEARY CONSUMER:

Mr. Tutas - I applaud and appreciate your integrity. Stand by for something less pleasant for others: Regrettably, far too many agents are blind to the circumstances around them. A famous quote says "It's hard to get a man to understand something when his job depends on him not understanding it".

This is the current case with RE. QUIT CALLING BOTTOMS in the market. You are destroying your credibility as professionals. What if you are wrong? So you get the sale, you will be thought of as a swindler forever.

I am a high 700's FICO no-debt, non-contingent buyer with cash in the bank. And every time at an open house when some agent tries to tell me it's a great time to buy, I feel insulted. As if most agents would ever tell you that it is a bad time. I've met a few, but not many.

I DO PLAN TO BUY. I am not waiting for the bottom. But I am sick of these agents insulting my intelligence with their fast-talking sales hype. I know there are good realtors out there. I am working with one. But the rest of you better get straight with the facts and quit blaming the media. Most of the gullible buyers are locked into an underwater house.

Now, you have the people like me. We didn't get in this position of power by believing sound-bite advice. I sincerely apologize to the conscientious and competent agents who truly have their client's interests as a priority. But the rest? Your world is changing, and you need to realize it fast.

**************

I'm glad I didn't tell folks back in 2007 that "It's a great time to buy Real Estate". These people are now way under water in my area. I also won't be telling buyers now that they can count on 4% appreciation next year. Will you?

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://CentralFloridaShortSales.com

http://ShortSaleSuperStars.com

Are you a Florida REALTOR(R) looking for a change? Check it out.

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR(r) OPPORTUNITIES

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

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The Crazy Lady Who Wouldn't Leave. Vancouver WA Real Estate

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:52:47 -0600

Is this familiar? I would have booted her from the git-go!!! My husband and I hated when the sellers were present when we were looking at houses, which wasn't too often, but still...that picture is just PERFECT!!!! What a visual!!!!

Via Mark Hall Vancouver Washington Real Estate (Elite Realty NW - Keller Williams, Vancouver Washington):

The Crazy Lady Who Wouldn't Leave. Vancouver WA Real Estate

At the doorstep I gave my customary door knock and courtesy ring. It is a habit that I picked up during my first weeks as a realtor®. I always knock and ring the doorbell before I unlock the door. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to use the key because the seller opened the door and invited us in!

"Have you shown this house before?" she asked.

"Uh... No." I answered.

"Then you won't mind if I show you around." she said as she ushered us through the door and started her tour. She proceeded to take us through the cluttered house at a pace that would make snails looks like track stars. "This is the bedroom...this is another bedroom... this is the kitchen...this is..."

My clients peeked into a bathroom during her explanation of the second bedroom and were swiftly reprimanded for moving too quickly and asked to "pay attention."

My clients were annoyed and they completely checked out. There wasn't anything that anybody could have said that would have convinced them to consider buying that house. During the remaining home tours, they kept referring to it as the "Crazy Lady's House."

The sad part is that the home would have been perfect for them. The right size and layout. The right neighborhood and school district. The yard that they dreamed of. The problem is that they just can't get past the fact that it was the "Crazy Lady's House."

With that said, let me share a few thoughts with the sellers out there:

1. Most good realtors have toured thousands of homes in their careers.

2. You don't need to show them where the kitchen is, or point out the great room, or let them know that the bonus room could be used as an office, or a bedroom, or a den, or a... well you get the picture.

3. You make the buyer VERY uncomfortable and your presence will probably cause them to cross your home off of their list.

4. Listen to your agent when they talk to you about pricing, when they make suggestions about staging and de-cluttering your home, when they tell you how to successfully sell your home, and when they tell you to leave during buyer visits. You hired them for a reason. Take advantage of their expertise.

5. You don't want to be known as the owner of the "Crazy Person's House!" That would mean that the crazy person is you!

When you choose us to handle your Vancouver WA real estate needs, you choose a team of realtors® who care about you and your family. Buying or selling a home is always more enjoyable when you work with professionals who will listen to your needs and who will work together with you to achieve your objective. We are very familiar with all types a real estate in Clark County and we specialize in Vancouver, Ridgefield and Battle Ground. We are also very experienced with new home and custom home construction having assisted several local builders in selling new neighborhoods in the Vancouver Washington area. Additionally, we have helped numerous families build their own Vancouver WA dream homes. We are dedicated to helping you make intelligent, informed decisions and to providing you with exceptional service. Go to www.ernw.org for more information. See our video here. The Crazy Lady Who Wouldn't Leave. Vancouver WA Real Estate

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Breaking News about Google and Real Estate

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:48:43 -0600

Great article!!!

Via Wayne Golliday (SEO Redefined):

Well Google has officially announced what most of us have been seeing for quite sometime. . Yesterday in an Australian Blog a Google employee announced that Google will now be adding Real Estate information to it's Google Maps. The new "Real Esate" tab will include such things as property information, photos, for sale or rent information, and even AdWords. If the Street View is available of the property then that will also be included. For right now all this information is being pulled directly from two data bases. The most prominent one being Prudential.

To those of us who follow Google on a regular basis we have already seem this in Google Maps. The fact that Google has officially made the announcement is really the news.

This will have far reaching ramifications not only for the folks searching for a home to but but also for web design and SEO. I for one have seen this as a very positive move by Google and can only help both Real Estate Agents and Potential Buyers. It looks like Google will soon have a National MLS Service Database.

Once I have had a chance to better analyze this for you I will go into greater depth my thoughts on how this will benefit agents, buyers and sellers as far as Online Marketing Services for Realtors are concerned

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6 Easy Steps to add your Realtor.com Listings to your Facebook Profile

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:12:49 -0600

Thanks soooo much for doing this Kathy!

Via Kathy Hyatt (Keyes Real Estate):

6 Easy Steps to add your Realtor.com Listings to your Facebook Profile

1. Go to the website of www.seemylistings.com and click on "Add my Listings"

2. You will then be asked to Login into Facebook

3. Facebook message comes up and click "Allow"

4. Fill in your MLS Board Information Realtor ID

5. Next screen will say "Show Your Listings on Facebook", Click on "Add to Profile"

6. A new window pops up asking you to Confirm, click on "Add"

That's it, now all your Listings will Auto Populate from MLS to your Facebook Page. Enjoy!

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Google Webmaster Tools Unable to Verify Point2 Agent Websites...

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:52:31 -0600

Hey all...I'm running into problems when trying to verify Point2 websites and am hoping to get input before I approach Point2 because I'm not sure how they can test what's happening...

The last 3 websites I've tried to verify with Google and submit the Site Map have failed with the first step of site verification within "Google Webmaster Tools".

However, on the Point2 end it's saying "you have already submitted a Google Sitemap, click here if you wish to proceed yada yada yada" - even though I haven't even submitted a sitemap because the site hasn't even been verified so I couldn't get to the site map submission step.

I'm afraid Point2 will see the message within the Point2 website which is saying we've already submitted a site map and tell me that everything's fine, but it's the Google Webmaster tools end which hasn't been able to verify anything or receive a site map from the Point2 website.

Your sites are still getting indexed by Google and other search engines, Yahoo, etc. I was able to verify that with the above website. This is both a brand new Point2 website, as well as a brand new domain and it's getting indexed already. A way to test your website is to search for your domain. If it comes up as a result, it's getting indexed. When it's brand new, you'll get a message that it can't find it and will give suggestions. You can also find out the last time Google indexed your website - once you come up in the search results, click on the text link "cached" and it tells you the screenshot "as of" - this is the date you were last indexed.

HOPE THIS HELPS!!!!

UPDATE AS OF 11/7/09 - David at Point2 emailed me back!!!! Yeahhh!!! Point2 is aware of the verifying problem and working on it, which means it won't be long before we'll be able to verify through Point2 again! Thanks David and Point2!!!!!

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Custom Fan Pages for Facebook!

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:19:30 -0500

Sample Facebook page with FBML - this is what viewers will see if they are not a fan or friend yet. Fans and friends are taken directly to the Wall below. We're still adding to the FBML page above :-)

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Latest Addition to the Portfolio

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:49:41 -0500

Next Generation Realty Group
Naples, Florida Real Estate
Point2 Agent Web Design
View Portfolio of Point2 Agent Websites

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A 6 Year Old's "Guide to Adulthood"

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:20:59 -0500

In this order...

1. Get Job
2. Date
3. Get Married
4. Go to Hospital
5. Get Baby
6. Go Home

I'll be waiting a while to explain that "Get Baby" part!

Have a good day everyone!

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Watch Out Who's Following You On Twitter!!

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:36:42 -0500

I always enjoy seeing new followers on my Twitter account, HOWEVER, this morning, I got one and checked out their profile only to find a buttox and "something else" which I can't mention, strictly porn related!!! So couldn't wait to block 'em!!! So don't get too excited when you have new followers. Always check out their profile to make sure you're not getting linked to porn!

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Mom You Gotta Go To Sleep Or The Tooth Fairy Won't Come!!!

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:54:36 -0500

Our youngest lost his second tooth last night...so "the tooth fairy" got up at 4 to put moolah under his pillow, only to find that she couldn't reach his tooth as Max had put it so close under his head, she was afraid she would wake him trying to grab it. So money was left, along with the tooth.

About 15 minutes later, while at my computer, Max comes in with tears just pouring down his little cheeks and saying, "Mom, you gotta go to sleep or the tooth fairy won't come!" - I assured him that I "did" go to sleep and just woke up. And thought to myself what happened to the money??????

So we went back to his bedroom and checked under his pillow, and low and behold, the money was there, and so was his tooth...he was thoroughly confused! "Why didn't she take my tooth?"

I told him the tooth fairy probably was afraid of waking him so we're going to put it under his pillow tonight so the tooth fairy can grab it on her way "outta town"!

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Moms Helping Moms...and MI Dept. of Human Services Trying to Stop it!

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:50:59 -0500

"Each day before the school bus comes to pick up the neighborhood's children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms, welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they left for school."

Regulators who oversee child care, however, don't see it as charity. Days after the start of the new school year, Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services warning her that if she continued, she'd be violating a law aimed at the operators of unlicensed day care centers..."

Now really...doesn't this agency have better things to do?????????

I guess my question would be how did they even find out about it???????

Unbelievable.

Click here for the full article in Yahoo

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Social Media Isn't for My Age Group! Really? Some Facts to Ponder.

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:36:01 -0500

Some more great stats from Jeremy :-)

Via Jeremy Blanton (ActiveRain Corp.):

Yesterday I received a call from a member who was interested in the new One on One ActiveRain Training Program for new members to get their blog on ActiveRain enhanced & fully optimized. While we were discussing the benefits of becoming a Rainmaker, the member made a statement that I have heard more and more recently. She said, "Jeremy, I work in an area that is made up of an older generation. They aren't into twitter and Facebook and all this Internet stuff. So, I don't know if writing a blog would be a big benefit to me." So, I asked a few more questions about the demographics and came to the conclusion that it appeared the average age range she was referring to was somewhere between late forties into late sixties.

So this morning I started to do some research to see what type of age groups are making up social media and if older generations are participating or if they are non-existent. The first place I started was here on ActiveRain. I remembered the wonderful article by Art Kruschka titled: The View from the 84th Floor (which btw, Happy Birthday Art!) in which he wrote about celebrating his 84th birthday on Monday! Art has been a very active member here on ActiveRain. In fact, since starting here in March 2008 at the young age of 82, Art has published 566 blog posts!

Next, I decided I would visit both my Facebook business page & also ActiveRain's to see what the age breakdown looked like. Here are the results:

This first graph is from my personal Facebook business page. You will notice that only 35% of my group is under the age of 35. While 35% of my fans are over the age of 45! Also, I have twice as many fans over the age of 55 than I do between 18-24. That stat really shocked me!

This graph is for fans of ActiveRain's fan page on Facebook. The numbers here were even more astounding. Fans under the age of 35 only make up 18% while there are just as many fans over the age of 55. Fans over the age of 45 make up almost half of the members. 82% of the fans are over the age of 35!

After viewing these two graphs it leads me to believe that while many believe that Facebook is just for teenagers and college kids it appears that the majority of users are those over 45 years old by a long shot. With that being said, I started to doubt the validity in the statement that the older generations are not on the Internet and definitely not involved with social media.

Are you still thinking this might be the case? If so, let me share one more thing that should solidify my results that social media and Internet marketing isn't just for kids.

Ivy Bean just celebrated her 104th birthday the beginning of this month and has become an instant celebrity. Where you might ask? Well on twitter of course! I just followed her on twitter and became her 46,000 follower! At first when I heard about her being on twitter, I thought it was some promotional stunt that someone was trying to just collect followers. But when I investigated things I found out that it was legit. Take a minute to watch this awesome video from Ivy.

So I ask if this statement is true? Older generations are not reading blogs or using other social media platform. I will let you be the judge of that. My personal opinion is that it is the exact opposite, more and more are signing up for these different social media platforms every day.
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Feel free to subscribe to my blog to keep up to date with my latest posts of tips & tricks to enhance your experience on ActiveRain. If you would like, you can sign up to receive updates via email directly in your inbox.

New to ActiveRain? Become a Rainmaker and I will give you a personal one on one training session to get you started. The first month is only $5.00. Click Here to sign up and then contact me directly to schedule your session.

Also, lets connect on these great social networks:

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Are Blogs a Thing of The Past? Some Interesting Statistics

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:48:29 -0500

A very interesting article by Jeremy over at Active Rain!!

Via Jeremy Blanton (ActiveRain Corp.):

It seems that everywhere you turn lately you are hearing buzz words like Social Media, Web 2.0, and the latest buzz word, "New Media." You hear experts debate the best way to use twitter and facebook to increase your business. Tweets from celebrities like Oprah & Shaq are posted all over the news and discussed by millions. All of this buzz and hype have people seeking more information on how to use these two services to generate business.

But, one of the other types of social media and in my opinion the most effective avenue is being pushed to the wayside. The amount of hype that you hear about writing blogs and using one for business seems to becoming a dying breed and lost art form. That being said, I decided that it was time for me to do some research to see if blogs really were losing steam and becoming an ineffective means or if the "gurus" were just omitting an important component to any social media strategy.

The first thing I wanted to see is what is driving traffic to ActiveRain. Are search engines still what brings people to your site, or are they finding your sites through other social media means like Facebook & twitter. Over 75% of the traffic Came from search engines. On the other hand, the two social media giants, Facebook and Twitter are only accountable for 1.65% of web traffic. Seeing this, was a major shock to me. I thought for sure that both would be in the top 10 and probably bring somewhere from 12-15% of our traffic. In retrospect, if you remember my post about the importance of labeling images, we learned at that time that 3.65% of our traffic comes from image searches. That is more than double two social media giants!

Since it seems like social media is not great for directing traffic, I next decided I would see how a blog ranks in comparison to regular websites. Whenever I ask someone if they use a blog on a regular basis, the top objection/reason they say is "they already have a web site that gives them an Internet presence.

I started doing some typical searches that a consumer would do to see which show up higher in the rankings. My first keyword I did a search for was Austin Relocation Package. The #1 result out of over 600,000 for that term was a blog by member Jason Crouch that he wrote in March 2008. What was even more interesting was that Jason's website, only ranked #6.

Next, I decided to do a search for a community that Virginia Hepp, another member markets on both her blog and also on her website called Copper Bluffs in Mesquite Nevada. The Results were astounding! Virginia's ActiveRain, Localism, and Outside Blog captured places 1-6 while her personal website showed up in the results at #8. If you don't believe me, take a look at this search for Copper Bluffs Mesquite Nevada Real Estate.

As I continued to do searches, this seemed to be the recurring theme. Blogs consistently outranked personal websites on just about any and every search term I used. This leads me to the conclusion that if someone is just using a website and has no active blog that they are updating on a regular basis that they are missing out a major chunk of potential business.

The third test that I used was to check activity from and whether it has decreased over the past few months as Twitter and Facebook have grown.

A few months ago I wrote a post titled: 40,000 Visitors To Your Rainmaker Account in Just 25 Days! This post shows how over a one month period of time I wrote 25 posts that garnered well over 40,000 visitors to my blog. I also went on to share in that post how the best performance I ever had on my regular website was just over 3,000 hits. My blog had more than 13 times the amount of traffic! Since this was written several months ago, I decided that I would run the numbers again to see if my blog is decreasing in traffic since other social media sources are gaining such popularity.

For the last 25 posts, the total number of visits is 47,881 in comparison to the 40,699. This averages out to a 6% increase or almost 300 more clicks per post. This would lead me to believe that instead of my blog losing traction to other social media realms, it is actually gaining popularity over the past 5 months and becoming a stronger tool in social media arsenal.

So in closing I ask this question to you, Are blogs a technology of the past and something you should not focus on any more? From the research I have done, I do not believe that statement to be true. In fact, I believe the opposite. Your blog is something that needs to be the main component to your social media strategy that you should focus on. What do you think?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Feel free to subscribe to my blog to keep up to date with my latest posts of tips & tricks to enhance your experience on ActiveRain. If you would like, you can sign up to receive updates via email directly in your inbox.

New to ActiveRain? Become a Rainmaker and I will give you a personal one on one training session to get you started. The first month is only $5.00. Click Here to sign up and then contact me directly to schedule your session.

Also, lets connect on these great social networks:

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Does your website reside in a bad neighborhood? (Part 1)

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:14:09 -0500

Do you know who has linked back to your site?

Via Wayne Golliday (SEO Redefined):

It is all about Location, Location, Location; even for your website. Do you know who has linked back to your website? Do you know if all of your back-links are links you would want linking back to you? Do you have adult sites or gambling sites linked back to you? Is your current SEO Company only producing good links back to your site? If you do not know, then you may be in for a big surprise or worse yet banned by a search engine.

Recently a former client of mine called because his website had dropped off of Google. It was no where to be found. After a checking I discovered that his current SEO Company had done a massive back link campaign for him. They did 500 back-links for him in a 3 day period. The majority of the back-links were from adult services and gambling sites. A huge mistake for anyone to do.

First, 500 back-links in 3 days can be red flag for the search engines. Google tends to see this as blackhat seo and can knock your page ranking down to zero. Anytime the search engines see massive irrelevant back-links to a site you are looking to get banned. Especially if the sites are directories whose sole purpose is to create massive back-links. This is what happened to my former client.

Google tends to like to see back-links developed over time in a more organic way. Listing your site with directories that are relevant to your site is very important. Commenting on blogs that have similar content as your site is also excellent. It is a slow process and can not be rushed. If it is rushed or down wrong the search engines will look at this as spam and your site will be removed.

So what can be done to check to see if your site is a bad neighborhood or not? How do you remove the back-link you do not want associated with your site? How do you get the search engines to re list your site? What tool can you use to check your back-links? You will have to read my next blog for that information.

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For those who have custom featured listing modules in Point2 Agent...

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:37:35 -0500

I happened to be in a Point2 Agent website tonight making some updates when I noticed that the client's two featured listing modules were showing the same listing.

This client had her site designed by another designer who had customized the featured listing modules.

The 2 featured listing module settings were at the bottom of the home page in edit mode for updating, and the actual featured listings show up in the right column where they normally do.

So to update them, all we had to do was visit the 2 features at the bottom of the page to change listings that showed and they would automatically appear in the right column in her site.

When I went to the bottom features to fix them, I noticed that the text links to "add/edit featured listings" is no longer there, along with the "edit header" and "delete" links. So this client now has "no way" to update her featured listings on her home page.

Those of you who have custom featured listing modules and are familiar with what I'm talking about may want to check your website. It's Point2's platform, and the only reason I know this is because we "were" able to change them, now we're not.

Wanted to let you know.

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It's NOT You...

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:29:24 -0500

"I have some paragraphs for a couple towns but when I tried to enter them, I obviously did not do it right because the text was all screwed up, so I gave up."

"The fonts on my page seem bigger when I'm editing the page than when I actually view it...what am I doing wrong?"

"I can't get the font to change from Arial to Verdana...what am I doing wrong?"

I'm here to say...IT'S NOT YOU!

I can't tell you how many times over the last 2 months I've gotten emails from clients trying to add or edit their own pages in their Point2 Agent website only to find that the text gets so messed up when they try to change fonts or font sizes, that they blame themselves and give up.

Paragraphs seem to skew upon saving as well. To enter a content box once to make changes is no longer possible...expect to have to get back into that same content box 3-4 times after each save because something else will be messed up.

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Point2 Agent Drip Email Campaign Headers

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:55:50 -0500

I've had numerous inquiries from clients about the headers in the drip email campaign and wanting me to "fix them". I was told about a year ago that Point2 Agent was working on changing the appearance of the headers in the emails generated from websites, but just tested some websites and they still look the same.

The header simply pulls in the primary, secondary, and tertiary color choices from your website options and depending on what that combination is, your drip email header may look okay, but it may not! Even if your Point2 Agent website is customized, we have no control over this feature except to change the color choices, which could then affect other areas of your website's appearance.

I would love to see them be able to just pull in whatever custom header is within the theme - we "do" have control over this. The header within the theme is what shows up above a Point2 listing.

Here's a few samples of the headers I just captured from drip email campaigns from a couple Point2 Agent member websites.

Now visit the website

I always tell clients to "be your own prospect" - go through your Point2 agent website and request documents, fill out the calculator, request brochures for listings, etc. and see what your viewers are getting emailed to them and how it looks.

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Featured Listings Widget in Point2 Agent Websites

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:42:22 -0500

When you enter your very first listing into Point2 Agent, your Featured Listings widget that is on your home page automatically pulls in that first listing.

Beyond this first listing, you will then need to visit the home page in edit mode to include any new listings in that widget and they will rotate. Same goes if you have this widget throughout your Point2 Agent website.

It gives you more control over which listings show on any page in the site. You can also use more than one widget on a page for those of you that have lots of listings!

No more than 3-4 Featured Listings Widgets on a page though or the page takes too long to load.

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Social Media - What is It and How Can it Help Real Estate Agents?

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:33:19 -0500

Social media is online content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies - it's a great tool for real estate agents wanting to build links back to their website.

Social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content; it's a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers.

Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal, political and business use. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).

Some Social Media / Networking / Blogging Platforms That AreOut There...

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Point2 Agent Content Editor and Fonts

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:30:34 -0500

Any of you been in your Point2 Agent website and tried to change the font face or size only to find it's just not taking? You'll either see it's just not changing or it seems to change and seems fine in edit mode, but doesn't look the same in view mode (even after the hour it takes to show up "live" in Point2)?????

I originally posted an article in A/R discusssing the new content editor and some were finding a problem back then as well. Click here for the A/R article.

When speaking with Point2, they advised it had to do with the "stylesheet effect" snippet of code that's in a lot of Point2 Agent websites to give it that "centered" look.

This is the code I'm talking about:

<STYLE type=text/css>
<!-
form {
margin-top: 5px;
background-color : #ffffff;
}

.DesktopDefaultPage { background-color : #c9e4ff; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 820px; padding-left: expression(document.body.clientWidth > 820 ? (document.body.clientWidth-820)/2 + "px":0); padding-right: expression(document.body.clientWidth > 820 ? (document.body.clientWidth-820)/2 + "px":0); }

.DesktopPortalFooterPanel {
background-color : #FFFFFF;
} ->
</STYLE>

However, it's not just in these sites that I'm seeing the problem. I've also noticed it in newly generated sites.

If any of you are noticing the same thing, please comment or contact Point2 directly via email through your website. Let them know which page you're working on so they can check it out.

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Stylesheet Effect and Point2 Agent Listing Views

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:29:38 -0500

I've noticed over the last couple of months that when the stylesheet effect is in a Point2 Agent website, listings in "detailed" view, which used to be expandable to fit the page or retractable, are no longer expandable...if you have a lot of details included in the view, it just goes on and on.

I'm not noticing it happening in any Point2 Agent websites that do not have the stylesheet effect, so I've been able to narrow it down to the stylesheet effect.

This is the code I'm talking about:

<STYLE type=text/css>
<!-
form {
margin-top: 5px;
background-color : #ffffff;
}

.DesktopPortalFooterPanel {
background-color : #FFFFFF;
} ->
</STYLE>

Other things I've noticed...

Things are skewed in edit mode - meaning the content boxes seem to fall outside of the stylesheet, but in view mode, it's fine.
You will probably see the logo falling way outside the stylesheet margins in edit mode, but it's fine in view mode.

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Images Disappearing in Point2 Agent Websites

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:27:56 -0500

If you're new to Point2 and just generated your website, you'll want to know that some of the images that are old stock images have been removed from Point2's servers, so if you go to your home page or the Home Styling page, for example, and just click on edit content, the minute you get into the content boxes, the images disappear.

Wanted to let you all know and be aware. I can only imagine what's going through new members' minds when they get into the site and images just disappear! Don't fret...they're old images anyway and you can choose from the Point2 image gallery or insert your own.

If you're a Standard member, you may not notice this after the home page. Professional/Premium members will notice this more since there's more pages in the site.

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Check Your Selling and Featured Listings Pages in Point2 Agent Websites...

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:26:37 -0500

Just wanted to make you aware that these 2 pages, Selling and Featured Listings, are showing up Woodstock Georgia. This is for all new agents who've initiated their website within the last couple of months.

Just wanted to make you aware - you'll definitely want to change it to your city/state!

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Point2 Agent Pro / Premium Membership Tips & Tricks!

Nancy Golliday (First Coast Designs) — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:27:23 -0500

Professional / Premium Level Membership Start-Up Guide!

Hit the ground running with this step-by-step guide to setting up your Point2 Agent "Website" and catering it be a lead generating "machine"!

The minute you upgrade from Standard to Professional level membership in Point2, you'll see some new pages populated in your website. These pages reference all those "hidden" pages you'll see in edit mode. When you login and do your Website Jump To "Edit", over to the left you'll see "Page Names" with a drop down menu. Click on the drop down menu and you'll see "all" the pages that are created in your site. You "don't" need half to ¾ of these pages! Your focus needs to be on towns and neighborhoods. So we're going to clean up the menu:

There are 4 pages that reference all those hidden pages in your site.

They are:

For Buyers - Delete this page - just use "Buying" instead - it holds all the articles/reports and can be added to.

For Sellers - Delete this page - just use "Selling" instead - it holds all the articles/reports and can be added to as well.

House & Home - Delete this page.

Resources - I just change the Page Name on this one to "Relocation" and delete everything except the Relocation Checklist. Now you have the beginning of a Relocation page.

Now you can delete "every" single hidden page in your site and be comfortable that they're not referenced somewhere. The worst thing you can do to yourself is have an overabundance of pages making it difficult to really know what you're using and what you're not using. Start fresh and build from here!

The "Home Search" page is really comparable to a New Listing Alerts page, so rename it this. Then create a new page called Home Search - click Add Content, then click "Advanced Home Search" - it's the last choice in the Search section of choices. You now have an Home Search and a New Listing Alerts page.

You can sort your pages as to where they appear in the menu under your Website Editing Tools

Now you get to create Town pages and Neighborhood pages. If you're not able to save searches in your IDX (if you use an IDX solution), Point2 Agent offers a feature for showing listings all the way down to a neighborhood!

On your page in edit mode, simply choose "Add content" right in the middle section. Choose "Listings" and follow the prompts. When you get down to the last section of "Neighbourhoods," it will start with counties that you've chosen as your Selling Area, then Cities, then Neighorhoods.

There's a trick to this!!!

If you click on the wording link, it will open up the towns in that county without actually "selecting" them all. If you click the square next to the county, it will automatically choose all the towns in that county. So click on the county "wording", then click on the city "wording" and you'll see neighborhoods in that city of your choice...just click the square box next to the neighborhood. This makes it so easy for you to create any town/neighborhood pages you'd like and automatically start with "fresh" content. Those listings automatically update. Then you can add wording and helpful links, school info, etc. as you get time.

Listings have two options available for how they appear on the page:

Detailed: Lets you choose more amenities that show up next to the listing, but it is a long list.

Short: Lets you choose 5, 10, 15 listings in the listings, but it's a fixed width, so you may have to play with the # of amenities that show or it may be too wide to be visually appealing to the viewers.

Do one of each and you'll see the difference.

If you can do this for your site in the beginning, you'll be at a great advantage over the competition for fresh content, area listings, and search engine results!

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