All too often in real estate, agents rush out to purchase some new software, technology, web services or a website believing it will be a quick solution to take their business to a new level of earnings, and closed production. We all look for the “Magic Bullet of success!” But does it exist? Success is something that cannot be earned just by throwing away your next commission dollar on, and not asking any questions. Our reality to achieve is sometimes so clouded by our enthusiasm that we blind ourselves to the real outcome, and effects. For example, one would assume that a very expensive website would bring a greater return that a template site that costs only a few hundred dollars, but does it? It depends how much knowledge you possess, and what questions you ask before you purchased it. It is often too late to make changes once a product is purchased without adding on additional costs.

Each week I receive many inquires from agents and brokers asking questions and advice about technology and webs. For some questions, I can give a quick reply or send a link to my www.RealEstateTechCoach.com site where they can find a solution. Those are the easy ones. Other responses are more complicated with many possible solutions or alternatives that may be a matter of choice and/or preference.

Some of the queries deal with pros and cons of website design, web content, FLASH, auto-responses, or web positioning, Meta-tagging, and the answers I give may conflict with the advice given by a hosting company, web designer, or Webmaster. Remember, my online columns, advice, and articles are free! I'm a self taught real estate webmaster that actually designs my own sites, but I still actively buy and sell real estate. I am successful, because I understand how the Internet works. My advice is not a profit center. So the advice you choose, may boil down to whom do you believe?

Let's not be naïve. We are all in sales, and we should look at Websites, technology, and Web design as businesses also. They exist to make a profit. A custom-designed Website, Web graphics or logos can have great appeal, but may not bring you anymore business or may cost you business if it isn't functional. So let's look at a few examples of items that should be a concern when purchasing and hosting a web.

FLASH

A Website that is totally designed in FLASH may not be viewable by the person with a dial-up connection. Viewers do not have several hours to view your glitzy content. It looks fantastic, but FLASH intros are also the number one exit page on just about any website. To the consumer wanting quick answers, they are annoying. Another drawback to FLASH is more obscure in the sense most agents do not realize is that FLASH pages are not able to be tagged with Meta tags (META descriptions, keywords etc…). So Flash actually serves no purpose for being indexed into the search engines and found by consumers. You may be told by the Webmaster this doesn't matter, but it does.

Keyword Phrases, Pay-per-click

Buying keyword phrases, pay per click sound great but think about it for a moment. If 300 agents sign up with one particular Web provider and they all receive similar packages for Web placement, with similar keywords, and placed into the same portals or search engines… then basically they will all be found together on the same pages. Will you have a chance of being number one? Chances are slim to none. This is a topic that is most avoided by Webmasters, and Web hosting companies.

Web placement and positioning is a no-win situation for the Web providers. How could they explain to each of the agents in an office… how one agent has better web placement than another? If they provide web positioning that is not customizable, they would to offer 24/7 tech support line for web placement just to answer all the complaints. It is easier to tell you that all of this really isn't important, and offer other solutions that may be very costly and still ineffective. (A note of warning, there are many scams that will take a lot of your money to buy exclusive keywords phrases! They are nothing more than browser enhancers that are downloaded and viewed on a viewer's computer. This is a total waste of money!)

Webmasters or some real estate Internet gurus may advise you to buy a pay per click package as a way of staying on the top of the search engines, but you can run up some hefty monthly bills and still not close any business as a result! Why? Because many of these search engines are really secondary sites, As opposed to a primary search engines. Yes they may feed the larger search engines, but with what keywords, what subject headings? Will you cover all the terms you need to cover to get the exposure? Or will you just buy all the terms that everyone else has? Are those the same phrases or keywords you purchase that ones the consumers will use to search? Will those keywords be found on the search engines that consumers are more likely to use? If not, you've just learned a very costly lesson.

Web Graphics

Another item that can be addressed is Web graphics. Rollover graphic buttons, java buttons, FLASH buttons, and java navigation look great! They are futuristic; they add sizzle to a website, and panache! However, unlike text links they do not index well or at all into a search engine, and some may not be viewable at all on certain browsers.

Page load times are also important to keep in mind. A graphic intense or java page may also take too long to view for the average web viewer. It is wise to time all your web pages within your site to load quickly. This is an easy thing to do if you use similar graphics, text, and fast loading backgrounds. I would also recommend that animated gifs and sound files be used sparingly.

Domain name(s) selection

When you purchase a site, which domain name should you use? Chances are you will be told to use your-own-name.com if it is available. What a compliment! I bet you even like the idea! The Webmaster only has to see has someone purchased it already. How odd - it's available! They will probably say let's get it now! Whew! You probably saved the Webmaster hours of research. A hint… whatever domain name you choose, the webmaster will tell you its great! In real estate we call this an “easy sell!” You were just sold what you wanted to buy.

I would not recommend using your own name to identify yourself to a particular geographic area or marketplace. Not for a primary site. That is not how the search engines work. An example would be that Jim-Crawford.com does not identify my intended marketplace. To explain this in simple terms… if you were looking for the term “Roswell luxury homes,” how would Jim Crawford enhance the search? It doesn't! It identifies Jim Crawford only, and does not provide indexability into the search engines. Because even the domain name you choose is part of the complicated process of tagging a site so it can be found easily on the web.

Keep in mind a domain name and your web page file names offer some stickiness for the web spiders that try to index the content of your website. If you brand your name, or website with a domain that does not identify your target market, you'll have to spend a lot of money promoting it through traditional marketing, and branding. That is financially counterproductive, and defeats the purpose of Internet marketing. Don't believe me? Think of all the dotcom-dot-gone companies that took out the million ads a few years ago for the super bowl games. How many have survived by spending most of their revenue to promote themselves on the Internet, by spending most of their money in traditional marketing?

So here are some questions to ask before you buy a Website:

• Can your keywords, Meta tags, and site title be customized by you?
• Does your site look different than other sites the company sells?
• Do all agents that buy the site get the same content?
• Can your site content be customized by you?
• Can you add your own links to your Realty Times Newsletter?
• Can I link to my on-line listings and broker reciprocity site?
• Do framed sites work well? Advantages, disadvantages?
• What is the page load time?
• What types of servers are hosting your site?
• What is the uptime reliability of those servers?
• Will you own the domain name you are purchasing?
• What are the total initial costs involved? Monthly costs?
• What is included in your site? What is not? What are those costs?
• Does it have an auto-response system available?
• How are consumer inquiries and forms handled?

Remember, it is important to do your research, and ask questions before you make any purchase.

Published: January 10, 2003

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Jim Crawford, ABR, e-PRO 500 is currently licensed as a Broker Associate with RE/MAX Greater Atlanta in Atlanta Georgia, and as Broker Associate with Distinctive Realty Inc. in McLean Virginia. Jim and his wife Ellen work as a husband and wife team in the northern Atlanta suburbs. As the team's rainmaker, Jim is a self-taught webmaster and designer, and he relies exclusively on the Internet for marketing. He is considered an expert on marketing, nationwide relocation, cutting edge technology, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for real estate, and Internet marketing. Jim's seminars, online contributions, and technology ideas assist real estate agents to maximize their business results, and raise the industry's professional service level skills. His common sense marketing ideas have been published and quoted regularly in trade publications. He has also consulted and advised NAR offices regarding Internet issues, and Internet ethics for Realtors. In between sales, Jim is a popular speaker at national and regional real estate seminars, and retreats. He is also an online real estate coach, with a self-tutorial coaching site for real estate professionals. Jim was a featured speaker at the November 2004 National Association of REALTORS® convention in Orlando, and has spoken at the several REALTORS® conventions both in the United States and Canada. Visit his website at RealEstateTechCoach.com, or e-mail him at .