Home > Blogs > Bartley Wilson > Practical uses for VR in Real Estate

Want Google Visibility? Get a Better Domain Name.

By Bartley Wilson

Services for Real Estate Pros with Virtual Pictures Corp. (VPiX)

May 16, 2010 04:16 PM

It's baaaaaack. The discussion of how we get our Real Estate Website to rank better. Domain names seem to be the hot discussion on ActiveRain again.

Since a lot of you are new, I will ask that you sit at the front of the class room. The rest of you who subscribe to my blog, you can either go out to recess now or sit at the back and take notes again if you like. Cuz this is the same class you got from me last year. Some of you have done well with my advice. As for the rest of you.. What the Hell are you waiting for? A SIGN?

Rule of Thumb for Google Visibility: Never pick a website name that sucks. Or one that you cannot remember or spell.

A lot of the problems get solved when you stop trying to get the Internet convinced that JonathanJablonskiSellsHomes.com

John whaaat......? Who the Hell but John's mother and 7th grade English teacher knows how to spell John's last name.

GreatDomains.com is a good place to get good domains really cheap. Because 99% of all the good ones are gone. Locked up and reserved. So if you are stuck with a really bad domain name, it's never too late to change.

Here's the Bartman's easy steps to valuing a domain name as there's a lot of sharks out there.

Any 3-digit (letter) domain name is worth $5,000 to $10,000 right now. Examples:

- ABC.com (or .net)

- WOW.com (or .net)

etc. you get the idea.

Any 4-digit (letter) domain name is worth $3,000 - $5,000. Examples:

- Home.com (or .net)

- Casa.com (or .net)

- Door.com (or .net)

etc. you get the idea.

Domain names like: DallasRealEstate.com, DallasHomeFinders.com, DallasPreferred.com, DallasLuxury.com, DallasMoves.com, etc. These are the formulas to look for when shopping for a good domain name.

Good short term domains are: DallasForeclosures.com, DallasREOs.com or DallasShortSales.com are good -- but when inventory gets thin at the end of this year -- you better have another domain name out there when the fire sales on real estate are gone.

What's a really good domain worth?

Some are worth a lot of money.

Smoke.net is one that I own. It's being sold for $90,000 to $150,000. Why? A few Indian pueblos that sell cheap smokes want it. Rather than deal with a lot of puffed up egos, and marketing BS -- I posted it for sale on BuyDomains.com who partners with AfterNIC.com. Maureen says it's worth $150,000 pretty easily.

We'll see. When it sells, I'll post a copy of my check here for you to see and get some inspiration.

........................................................................................

Re-Blog

Comments(14)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Bryan Watkins

LRA Real Estate Group - Mesa, AZ

very good advice for domain names. I have also heard that a .info works with a blog to send visitors to the real domain name.

May 16, 2010 04:20 PM

Bartley Wilson

Virtual Pictures Corp. (VPiX) - Monument, CO

VR Software and 360° Solutions

Hi Bryan,

Yes it has been written. But this is more myth I'm afraid, than fact.

The jerk who crated the idea of adding .INFO is just about as lame as .MLS. Another TD doomed to failure. Why? Because nothing replaces .COM or .NET in the mind.

Everything else -- is a poor carbon copy and can never be as good as .COM.

EXERCISE: Show me one (1) website blog, with a page one rank on Google with a .INFO TLD that is a top search phrase. I haven't found any. Not a single one.

Rule of thumb: You ADD Word Press to your website like Dan and Traci does. They are page one on Google for several search terms, including: arlington VA short sales

Their blog is: www.GreetingsVirginia.com/blog/

THIS is the way Google likes to see your blogs. You do not have to go the .INFO route. It's just unnecessary.

-- bart

May 16, 2010 04:28 PM

C. Lloyd McKenzie

Living Albuquerque - Albuquerque, NM

Living Albuquerque

Bart,

Very good info. So those of us doing business in ALBUQUERQUE, we are doomed. I I have tried www.LloydsOfAlbuquerque.com and www.LloydsOfABQ.com and have been told that they are both bad. I decided to use LloydMcKenzie.com and stick with it.

The problem I have with those in this arena is that they are like economists, can't make up their mind.

May 16, 2010 04:51 PM

Rich Cederberg

eXp Realty - Albuquerque, NM

eXp Realty Agent Albuquerque

Bart, Finding a good domain is challenging. I am considering a new domain for my outside blog, The one I have now sucks-NWABQ,com. I'll go check out great domains for help.

My question is how big an impact will a domain name change have on my Google results for my previously publushed posts?

May 16, 2010 04:59 PM

Bartley Wilson

Virtual Pictures Corp. (VPiX) - Monument, CO

VR Software and 360° Solutions

Hey Lloyd,

Godo to hear from you. Albuquerque can be a hard one to spell, but look at what GOOGLE does when you do a half-ass job at trying.

You type in anything remotely close to ALBUQUERQUE and Google assists you:

Did you mean: ALBUQUERQUE Real Estate?

I have AlbuquerqueMoves.com. We rented that to ParginRealty.com for over a year and look where they rank now. Page one.

Call me if you want to rent that one. It will help improve your ranking.

-- bart

May 16, 2010 05:00 PM

Bartley Wilson

Virtual Pictures Corp. (VPiX) - Monument, CO

VR Software and 360° Solutions

Hey Rich,

There are a few good ones for ABQ and I bought them thinking I was going to open up a brokerage there. As it turns out, our CEO is Keller Williams and I'm hanging my license there after I pass the Colorado Exam.

I have:

AlbuquerqueMoves.com

AlbuquerqueLuxury.com

AlbuquerqueSelect.com

and a few others. For rent or sale. Let me know if any of these are of interest to you. AlbuquerqueMoves.com was rented to Pargin for a while and it helped them get to a page one rank when I did their SEO for them a few years ago. Today, I work for no one in the ABQ market.

BuyDomains and Sedo.com have a few other good names from time to time.

Right now, might be a good time to chat to any of the agents bailing out of Vaughan company. It's a sinking ship (reputation wise) and there might be some agents with some choice domains they might want to sell.

It's worth a try...

- bart

May 16, 2010 05:03 PM

John Pusa

Glendale, CA

Bart - Thanks for sharing a very good information about domain names.

May 16, 2010 05:13 PM

Gary Swanson

Century 21 Harris & Taylor - Grants Pass, OR

Great advice Bart. It's pretty difficult finding a good domain name, but I guess I'll keep trying.

May 16, 2010 05:21 PM

FN LN

Toronto, ON

Bart - Great ideas on selecting useful domain names in the real estate business.

May 16, 2010 05:44 PM

Lenn Harley

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate - Leesburg, VA

Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland

Or, an agent who buys a domain name of their name. "joeblow.com" and then

uses "joe blow" as the meta title, and

"joe blow" as the meta description and finally "joe blow" as the meta keywords.

You gotta love it.

May 16, 2010 11:59 PM

Troy Erickson AZ Realtor (602) 295-6807

HomeSmart - Chandler, AZ

Your Chandler, Ahwatukee, and East Valley Realtor

Bart - I have found it very difficult to come up with a good domain name. I have been thinking for quite some time, but can't really find one that fits. It is not easy.

May 19, 2010 01:43 PM

Troy Funk

Allison James Estates & Homes, Sarasota 941-957-3737 - Sarasota, FL

Broker / Associate

I appreciate this wisdom and changed my Domain as a result of it - Thanks,

May 21, 2010 01:47 AM

Lydia Puller, Realtor

Vanguard Properties - San Francisco, CA

Homes for Sale in San Francisco, Marin & East Bay

I have quite a few domains that are good...I use them all to forward to my "name" domain. Not sure if that is the right thing to do especially re branding and seo. Ie one of my domains is RealEstateOfMarinCounty.com and its pointing to LydiaPuller.com do I have things ass backwards?

Jul 26, 2010 03:32 PM

Bartley Wilson

Virtual Pictures Corp. (VPiX) - Monument, CO

VR Software and 360° Solutions

Hi Lydia,

It *COULD* be a problem. How many other domain REDIRECTS do you have? Google is not taking kindly with too many redirects these days. Do you rank on any natural Google search now for any major term?

-- Bart

Jul 26, 2010 03:39 PM