Is Your Domain Safe?
Real Estate marketing is tough; it's a challenge finding qualified buyers, and sensible sellers. 
Facebook Pages, blogging, meetings, and family makes for a busy life. Clearly, real estate is still your passion; so may I ask, why did you let your domain lapse?
Last week, a friend handed me his business card, and I visited the domain of his popular Seattle restaurant. Some blond girl was occupying his front page. I knew what that meant.
His established business domain was about to be lost. Thirty days after expiration, it could be sold to anyone. I called my friend immediately. A family "friend" manages their web pages, and he hadn't renewed the site - yet.
What if Your Domain is "Kidnapped"?
Don't let this happen. I've found hundreds of expired business sites. After years of work, and countless links, they let their domain lapse for the lack of $10 dollars or so. Did you know it may cost $300 - $3,000 to get it back? The more links it had, the more it may cost you.
If your page is now occupied by a link farm, all of your information will be replaced; you should take action right away.
What Can I Do?
Call your registrar immediately, and find out how you may get your site back. (Find your Registrar at WHOIS.) Now, post your current information. It's better to post a simple, plain HTML page, than to let your site go, just because you don't like the old design, or you think a Facebook Page is enough. Odds are, your old domain won't disappear; it will be used to make money for someone else. It may even turn into an R-rated site, or worse.
New is Silver, But Old is Gold
Fact; older, established domains are given added weight by Google. This can't be earned by a new-fangled, template site. (Thank you, Google!) But, you ask, you're active on your Facebook Page, so does it matter? All social media leads to a domain; yours, or somebody else's. Where is your blog published? Think; if you owned a boat, would you let another boat take away your anchor? Your domain name anchors your social media success.
Be Found with One Good Page
Allow the web's search engines to easily index your information. The home page, or index page, on your "golden" domain is 
where your name, phone numbers, real estate license number, (if required), should always be found. Add a photo of your favorite neighborhood, or a nice head shot. You may leave the fancy web site for later, but don't sacrifice your business until then.
Your information should be added to sites long considered the backbone of the web. Sites such as; Ask, Alta Vista, Excite, Lycos, Yahoo; many more good, old friends. Every link, or web mention you earned two years, or five years ago, is now working for you again. Talk about a bargain.
Make it Easy
When your information can be found without signing-in to a site first, and your new client's cell phone search for you pops your phone number up right away, you'll appreciate how your simple page is treated by the search engines.
Please, toss that smiling blond from your home page, and let your newly invigorated domain bring today's real estate buyers and sellers to your doorstep, once again.
You've already worked hard for them.
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