This is a tutorial on how to build your profile on Zillow, a site that attracts over 7.5 million visitors each month.  There are many free marketing resources and tools on Zillow, and accessing them starts with the creation of a free profile.

1) To begin, click Register in the upper right hand corner.

2) If listings are being feed to us from your Company or a syndication service, be sure to register with the same email address they are supplying us.  We match listings to profiles using this email address so it is important that they are the same. 

3) Select a screen name.  This name will appear next to anything you do on the site, so chose something professional.  It is recommended to simply use your name.  This will not only help with name recognition, but also with search engine optimization.

4) Upload your photo.  This photo will not only appear on your Profile, but also on all of your listings along with a link back to this profile.

5) Enter all contact information you would like to be publicly displayed.

6) There is an opportunity to add the geographic areas you work, along with the career areas you specialize in.  These will help in categorizing you within the Professional Directory, in which you will be included for free.

7) Finally, add marketing text or information about you that will be helpful to the person visiting your profile.  You can add text, links and video in this area! All links are "followed" on this page, meaning they will help you in search engine optimization efforts.

Search engine tip - The words which you actually link from are called "anchor text" and are the words Google sees when indexing your profile.  For example, if you wrote "for more information on Wicker Park, click here" and you linked "click here", these are the words Google would index.  A better use of linking would be to say "visit my website for more information on Wicker Park real estate", linking Wicker Park real estate and forcing Google to see these words instead. 

You are done creating your profile, be sure to save your work!  Now that you have a profile:

• Your listings will include your photo with a link to your profile
• Your profile will show up in the Professional Directory
• You can participate in Zillow Advice, an interactive Q&A forum

As you participate more and more on Zillow, your activity will be recorded on your profile, thus building an online reputation.  For those who contribute regularly, All Star and Local Expert badges will be awarded. 

Finally, you can always see how many views your profile has received by looking at the top of your profile information on the right.

See everything you can do on Zillow by visiting www.ZillowPros.com.