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We Built This City...

By
Education & Training with Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp Non-Licensed

You're probably thinking of the 1985 classic by Jefferson Starship aren't you?  This post is about AR Cities!

As I was searching for the "missing Blog link" the other day, I discovered an exciting change that you may not have seen yet.  It's the City pages on ActiveRain.  I was so excited, I actually forgot what I was originally looking for (the Web has that effect on me at times...LOL).  Click on States, Select your State or Province, Select Your County, and then Your City.  It's that Easy!

The changes made to the City Pages on AR look very different now.  In the past, the only thing on these pages were Agent Profiles in that city, and they were all sorted based on members with the most points.

 

Now there's an opportunity to "Build This City" and bring "More Value" to these pages:


Here's a feature similar to what Twitter Members are using:

Just post what's happening in your City, remember, it's just like a Blog Post and will get SEO & Google juice.  According to a conversation I had with Jon and Bob this morning, we are already seeing an increase in hits to the ActiveRain City Pages.  I'm anxious to see how and when these will start showing up on Google.


  
 ~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~ 

 

Now you've got to love this, I do.  I was the one that had to clean out the Q&A everyday that used to be up on the menu bar. This is a change I have been asking for since July. 

Now consumers can contact "Local" experts and get "Local" answers to their questions.  I hope members won't use this area to ask silly questions like, "How Do I Make My Font Bold?"  (but I guess you could)

This could really change some things with our direct consumer contact provided we use this feature appropriately.  I suggest  taking 5 minutes a day to see if you can answer any local questions from visitors or readers who find this and use it. 

My thought is this; if SEO will come from your short 140 character updates and community announcements, then inevitably, this City Level Q&A will get more exposure and in time, become another value added tool. Come see my City, I left a message there for ALL of you.


BTW - Everyone was so busy looking for the missing Blog link,
that no one mentioned the "Referrals Link" or the "Q&A" links that were gone also.  Well, just like the Blog link, they were never really missing, just moved.  The Referrals and Q&A links are now under the Channels Section in the "More Information" box located on the Main page of ActiveRain.com.  Hope you will enjoy and use these features. :-)

Comments(152)

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Rancho Bernardo, CA

haha yeah im lost!

Oct 17, 2008 06:04 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Ian - I'll send over one of our guide dogs right away! LOL~ 

Not to worry my friend, in time, much of this will make more sense.  :-)

Oct 17, 2008 06:10 AM
Cathy Tishhouse
RE/MAX Showcase Homes - Royal Oak, MI
Royal Oak Real Estate

WOW - I don't read for a day or two and the AR world seems to explode even more.  I had to have two screens open just to get a sense of the new feature.  I like it and have a couple of questions.  I still go to localism.com to check things out but it seems nothing local is happening there - all the channels, city pages etc. show up only here - is that going to change?  Also, when you put something in the what's happening in Royal Oak Real Estate (for example) - should that be events about the local community or "real estate" related?  Thanks for all the hard work you do (and everyong at AR)LOL

Oct 17, 2008 09:20 AM
Pat Whitehouse
RE/MAX 1st Olympic Lynchburg Va - Lynchburg, VA
Broker/Owner

Hello Brad-That was such a nice compliment. I really appreciate that because I wonder sometimes about my long winded comments but I love doing it. I worked backwards cause I commented on the newer one first.(The one with the 3 doors) Funny you should mention that banner. Something took me over there the other day and I put that in with Bubby and me. I didn't know that's where it would end up so I haven't gone back to take that out. I love my fur baby, but I don't want it there. You are very right. I'm not here just for the points. Funny thing about that because when I started out. It was for the points for a few reasons. I was told I was a competitive WILDCAT by a good friend, but a funny and wonderful thing happened the longer I was here. I've never been a part of anyone thing like this before and never thought in a million years I ever would. So the longer I was here the more I learned this place called AR was so much more than points. Is is the people and everything that you can learn and people are willing to help and that is so awesome because other than the folks I work with who blog, I haven't never met any of the folks that I regularly comment on but I hope to one day. I learn so much from reading a lot of blogs.  A lot of different types of blogs appeal to me and I comment on a lot of them. Some people are good about commenting back others aren't so I may keep a subscription to those who don't comment back and will bookmark something that catches my eye. I just don't always make the effort to comment on theirs. I have some regulars that as soon as I do blog something they are right there to comment on them and encourage me and that means a lot. One person told me that my comments were my blogs. I have learned so much here but know there is so much more than I need and want to learn. In the beginning I bookmarked a lot of posts from anything that caught my eye. I think that is probably how I came across yours for the first time. It's from something I read on one of those posts that taught me how to bookmark.  Of course I think you need to have a lesson on how to go back and read what you've bookmarked (lol) I haven't read any of them and I know that is not smart. All this stuff is still so new to me and I'm just having a hard time keeping up with everything. My plate was full before, but now with AR. I'm all over the place. It seems so easy for so many here but I'm still very much finding my way and only hope that I'm doing some things right. OK, I know this is long but you made the mistake of giving me the green light so I took off and forgot how to put my foot on the brake~lol~So as to the reason I started this comment. The "BANNER" I know how to take it off but where do I go to put a different one on. I very much appreciate your input on that as I have seen some I like. But if you haven't figured it out by now. I definitely march to a different beat of a different drum. I'm a deep thinker and I do whatever I do with passion but I do need to focus more and am very willing to listen and learn and I don't think I could learn from anyone better qualified than you and I mean that very sincerely. I love your sense of humor but I also know you are a caring and very smart and knowledgeable fellow. Thank you for caring so much about AR and the people that are a part of it. Talk to you again, Aren't you lucky ;-))))

Oct 17, 2008 10:11 AM
Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089
Hawai'i Life Real Estate Brokers - Haiku, HI
Maui Real Estate sales and lifestyle info

This is so cool - AR tweets!  I'm so glad I think I know what I'm doing... haha.

Oct 17, 2008 01:14 PM
Debbie Summers
Charles Rutenberg Realty - New Smyrna Beach, FL

Brad - Very Cool...  I need more time to spend on AR - more coffee, less sleep....  I love twitter - now I'm going to be hooked on City Tweets!

Oct 18, 2008 07:36 AM
Michael Mullin
Advantage Mortgage Inc NMLS 1770599 , Originating loans in CA, OR and WA. - Bend, OR
NMLS 11911 - Loan Originator, FHA, VA, USDA, Conv

Cool new feature Brad - how can I get a city moved from an incorrect county to the correct one?

Oct 20, 2008 05:50 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Michael, you can out in a ticket with your request and someone can take a look at it for you. Just click on the Contact ActiveRain at the bottom right corner of any ActiveRain page. Thanks.

Oct 20, 2008 07:53 AM
Joan Whitebook
BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH
Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

I accidently stubled upon the ask a question the other day and I posted an answer about the Southern New Hampshire Real estate market -- I did see it indexed on google -- now how cool is that!

Oct 20, 2008 02:13 PM
Debbie DiFonzo
Debbie DiFonzo - United Country VIP Realty, SW Missouri - Lebanon, MO
Lebanon MO and Buffalo Missouri Real Estate

Okay, Brad... It's getting late and I do live in Missouri so bare with me. . . When I go to Missouri - Laclede County - Lebanon the page looks the same as it always has. The only way I found the "new improved" page was to follow your link above, change "CA" to "MO" and insert my town. From there the new page popped up and I added my 140 character "Rainer" message.

Why am I still seeing the old page?

Oct 20, 2008 03:05 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Joan - that's awesome! You Rock!  :-)

Oct 20, 2008 04:07 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Debbie - either you're not logged in, or you are not getting down to the City Level.  Click on your state, your county, your city and it should be there, if not, please report it to the techs by clicking on the "Contact ActiveRain" link at the bottom corner of any AR page.  I just checked your city and it looked fine. You only have 2 cities listed in your County and they both looked ok. 

Laclede County Info:
Laclede County, Missouri Information


By City:
Lebanon (19)
Nebo (1)

Oct 20, 2008 04:11 PM
Tina Maraj
RE/MAX One - Fullerton, CA
Celebrating 30 Years of Real Estate Sales

Hi Brad, Thanks for explaining. I have been out  recovering from surgery the past 3 weeks. I purchased 5 communities for my city. How does that all tie in?

Oct 21, 2008 03:08 AM
Kevin Teeters
Kevin Teeters Realty LLC - Hickory, NC
Hickory NC Realtors

Brad - I love the new features!  I just sponsored the Lenoir, NC site on Localism and see that those changes were just made to the Lenoir pages in AR.  I like that anyone can ask a question and that you can post a quick post on what is happening in your city for anyone to view.  Great enhancements!!

Oct 21, 2008 10:41 AM
Gail MacMillan
Titusville, FL

Hi Brad- Totally missed this, must of have been too busy politicizing, last week was that kind of week.  This looks good, reminiscent of the old Localism.  Look forward to seeing what you're up to tomorrow with the teaser you did on another post :-)

Gail MacMillan Titusville Fl Real Estate

Oct 26, 2008 08:58 AM
Christine Donovan
Donovan Blatt Realty - Costa Mesa, CA
Broker/Attorney 714-319-9751 DRE01267479 - Costa M

I like the change in the Q&A which will make it more targeted for the client.

Oct 29, 2008 04:16 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Tina - glad you're back. These are city pages on AR not the Localism site.  Hopefully you'll get a chance to play with them a bit in your city.  Been kinda quiet about these the past few days, time will tell, it always does.

Nov 03, 2008 11:07 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Kevin - it is very cool, when folks figure that out, it could get really popular and a lot of traffic.

Nov 03, 2008 11:08 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Gail - hard to catch every post that flys by here on AR, shoot, I have trouble catching everyone and I'm on here all day.  LOL~  The jig is up, no teaser anymore.  I'm sure you've seen the new listing router by now. :-)

Nov 03, 2008 11:11 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Christine - exactly!  :-)

Nov 03, 2008 11:11 AM