Real Estate Agent site: everything done correctly but two years and I'm still waiting

nearly two years ago, and only once, i submitted a real estate agent's site to the proper category: Regional: North America: United States: State: Localities: *: Anytown: Business and Economy: Real Estate

The agent's office is in Anytown, and the agent has lived in Anytown for over 10 years. He is one of the top producing agents in Anytown, one of the most expensive zip codes in the country. Agent has 21 (between available and recently sold) exclusive listings on the site, and all but one of them is IN Anytown. Agent has only one site.

While there is no content/meat in the site that came from templates, i must admit the content, although informative and using proper grammar, isnt exactly groundbreaking research on Anytown, its schools or its features. Still, it does contain an original "about the agent" page. The people that come to this site are looking to buy or sell real estate in Anytown and most likely are not looking to read about Anytown. Anytown is a lifestyle icon in our society, where its inhabitants are constantly in the news and its beauty on can be seen regularly on movies and TV. The people that come to this site are looking for results, and this agent delivers. They can find out all about Anytown itself somewhere else.

With the above in mind, my question is: i'm afraid of resubmitting, even though its been two years, but i firmly believe (after reading every single thread in this forum containing the keyword "real estate agent") that this site deserves inclusion. Could someone please help me?

thank you

If you haven't suggested the site since January 2007, I'd suggest it one more time as most of the pool of suggestions were lost during the crash of late 2006.

just now I re-submitted the entry (domain name begins with M)

thanks motsa!

I can not find the article

However somwhere I have read that real estate is one of the hardest catagories to get listed. Its very competitive everyone wants in and very few have anything unique to offer.


Ask your self is your site a cookie cutter site you pay a flat fee that simply intergrates your mls. The typical city information nothing more than a web based business card.

I have created a couple websites for realtors and going in I tell them they need to do something special. A simple way is write good articles about the process. Something that educates the public not just tells them you sell real estate. When ever I bring this up no one ever wants to put that much time into it. HMM I wonder where our children get it from?

I have seen one realtor that his son does his web stuff and this kid goes nuts you can find things out about Tucson, Az that have nothing to do with real estate.

You say what good does that do? Basically he comes up on almost every search for tucson. His site has become the expert about Tucson and because of that he gets a ton of traffic.

It is not just about a link from dmoz. It is about giving something back that is unique and worthy to be included.

Dang it my grandmother was right there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Great post Jay .

We've noticed that quite a few US realtors have identical photos on their websites so somewhere, there's a realtor clone making laboratory. Aarrgghh.

hi jay

for the most part i agree with you, but having read EVERY single thread containing the keyword "real estate agent" none of the information in your thread is new to me.

i say "for the most part" because in my situation (and probably very few other RE agents out there, since the majority *are* exactly as you describe), none of the content came from a template, it was written from scratch. But the site is NOT an amazing guide to the city and its schools. Saying that a real estate agent's site needs to contain great amount of information about its area to give something back is not fair. A real estate agent gives something back by performing his/her services and making customers happy - not by trying to be a mini citysearch.com. This idea is akin to saying that a doctor's site should have information on how to check the oil in your car because you drive to see him.

the RE agent's profile is completely custom and well written - that is something important - if the guy can't even write something up to sell himself he can't sell a home. It has featured listings for homes upwards of 10 million, which goes to show he is successful. It has constantly updated news about the RE market, national and local. This agent is a real player in a tight market, he doesnt have time or resources to create a guide for those who want to discover Anytown.

For his main keyword, this agent fluctuates between #7 and #11 on google, and every single site above him is on DMOZ. Not because DMOZ is everything, but it does have a lot of influence overall ranking.

one of the results above him, which IS currently listed in dmoz in the same node as my client is trying to get in, uses the following FRAMED links (obviously the city/state was changed in the URL for this example)

for school information: http://schools.advancedaccess.com/Default.aspx?st=NV&co=Clark
for community information: http://communityinfo.advancedaccess.com/Default.aspx?st=NV&co=Clark
MOST of the other links lead to pages with a bunch of other links.

Can someone tell me if they believe my client does not deserve inclusion in DMOZ? I'm really interested in getting to the bottom of this discussion: is including a unique, amazing guide to anytown a MUST in the book of (informal) rules for a RE agent to be listed in DMOZ? (i don't need to hear that the answer is "of course you have to look at the entire site" - i'm posing a very specific question)

respectfully,

terra

We don't discuss individual websites here and so we won't give any opinion as to your website's listability.

ODP is a volunteer organisation and editors edit where they wish, when they wish and as much as they wish within the constraints of their permissions. ODP is not a free listing service for website owners and it does not attempt to process their listing suggestions within the time scales desired by them.

Somebody will evaluate your listing suggestion in time but we can't predict who or when that will be. Time scales range from a few days to a few years. From your extensive reading of this forum, you'll have gathered that few editors find RE categories fun to edit so don't expect a rapid response.

There's no need to suggest the website again and to do so could be counter-productive.

As with any site a RE site must have unique content about the company/person and what the company/person does.
What is that a RE does? Selling or renting houses and other properties.
For me all the other content would only be of secondary matter. It doesn't matter how beautiful all this other content is and how much time has been spend to collect/write it. If there is no unique content about the company and the properties being sold I would not list it under RE.

As a visitor I would certainly enjoy a RE site with a lot of information about the environment of the house I am buying, it could well influence my decission to contact that company.

jimnoble said:

We don't discuss individual websites here and so we won't give any opinion as to your website's listability.

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my question was not specific to my individual situation, but to any site that finds itself in a similar situation.

jimnoble said:

ODP is a volunteer organisation and editors edit where they wish, when they wish and as much as they wish within the constraints of their permissions.

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in principle that is true, but, *keeping in mind that this is not complaint with regards to my situation*, some loose their editorship because they weren't active enough. volunteerism might be a relaxed commitment, but is still a commitment.

jimnoble said:

ODP is not a free listing service for website owners and it does not attempt to process their listing suggestions within the time scales desired by them.

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jimnoble said:

There's no need to suggest the website again and to do so could be counter-productive.

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please keep in mind that i waited two years to even talk about, and i only submitted it for a 2nd time because doing was recommended to me right here... i'm aware of the dmoz's rules and how it works.

thanks

terra

The World Does not Revolve Around DMOZ

Here is my experience and what seems to be the current trends.

1) You register your domain name your site gets spidered even with out being in DMOZ at that time your voting process begans and everything about your site is tracked.

2) Your site is begining to be indexed even without being in dmoz

3) Yes Google uses DMOZ to continue indexing and when you are entered your likely to be spidered more often. However this does not mean you will not be spidered by any of the search engines.

I currently have a site that has been my bread and butter that has fallen a few spots recently. For some reason the site is removed from the directory after being there for several years http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/North_...ness_and_Economy/Home_and_Garden/Landscaping/.

There are 2 in the category both competition only one is showing up in the search engines. The other does not if you look at the site you will see why the SEO is not correct.

Yes my clients site did fall unfortunatley not enough to say the world will end if I am not in DMOZ. Although I have been going over the site trying to see a reason I would be removed afraid I must have done something wrong.

Here is a search to prove my point. I am trying not to mention site names and still prove a point.

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS292&q=landscaping+tucson

My client is number 4 on this search number 1 and 2 (the same site) is the site in the directory. Number 3 IS NOT IN THE DIRECTORY and number 4 is my client. I am trying to understand why number 3 is beating our site kinda confused on that one.

My point is I can show you proof that everyone thinking the world revolves around DMOZ is just plain BS.

As you should I have turned this into a chance to make more money we will be adding informative articles and maybe even a forum. The problem is we do not educate our clients enough so they make good decisions. Once they have a grasp of what is needed then we as webmasters can help them achieve there goals.

If they realize what is necessary and choose not to follow then you should walk away as you will not be able to change a thing.

The problem I see is everyone is with word perfect is a webmaster when they do not understand what the word means. Webmaster means you understand the bigger picture and believe me in the big picture DMOZ is just a part of it.

It is easy to create a website making it perform is that part that makes you a webmaster. I am sorry to say that to depend on DMOZ is just foolish.

World Does NOT Revolve Around DMOZ

I hope I did not over step the boundries of the forum. Beat me with a noodle it will not happen again. I just see this complaint a lot and wanted to vent.

Also I have a Realtor that has been recently included in

http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/North_.../Business_and_Economy/Real_Estate/Commercial/

I have seen absolutley no improvment in page rank or position.

terra said:

my question was not specific to my individual situation, but to any site that finds itself in a similar situation.

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Your request that someone "tell me if they believe my client does not deserve inclusion in DMOZ?" is a question specific to your individual situation, not a general question.

terra said:

in principle that is true, but, *keeping in mind that this is not complaint with regards to my situation*, some loose their editorship because they weren't active enough. volunteerism might be a relaxed commitment, but is still a commitment.

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Anyone who "loses" their editorship because they weren't active enough (presumably you mean their account times out) can apply for reinstatement. It happens all the time and isn't a permanent situation.

Regarding commitment, the only commitment that editors make is to not abuse their privileges and to contribute to the improvement and growth of the directory. How they choose to do that and how much of their time they choose to give to it is up to them.

and i only submitted it for a 2nd time because doing was recommended to me right here

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Sheesh. You've suggested the site three times so far in 2008 actually, and you slid right by the If part of motsa's recommendation.

jimnoble said:

Sheesh. You've suggested the site three times so far in 2008 actually, and you slid right by the If part of motsa's recommendation.

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that is not true. i am positive i did not submit the site 3 times in 2008. could it be that a competitor is trying to ruin my chances of getting in? should we go private on this so that we can clear this up? or could you at least give me the IPs of where the suggestions came from?

thanks

motsa said:

Your request that someone "tell me if they believe my client does not deserve inclusion in DMOZ?" is a question specific to your individual situation, not a general question.

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motsa, my question actually was "is including a unique, amazing guide to anytown a MUST in the book of (informal) rules for a RE agent to be listed in DMOZ?" and the prior question could be read as "tell me if they believe (someone in a situation similar to) my client does not deserve inclusion in DMOZ?" if you take it in the context of the 2nd question, which was my intention.

is including a unique, amazing guide to anytown a MUST in the book of (informal) rules for a RE agent to be listed in DMOZ?

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No, it isn't.

nea said:

No, it isn't.

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thanks. i didnt think it was, but it is good to see it spelled out in clear terms.

i can understand the frustration it must be to deal with the avalanche of bogus sites and ghost agents with multiple sites. has the idea of requiring the agents real estate license number upon submission been discussed? IMHO this would entail a little bit of extra work up front (verifying the license on the respective state's commission website if that license is not already listed), but overall should decrease the amount of work the editors of RE categories have to deal with, since it would reduce the amount of bogus attempts.

it is good to see it spelled out in clear terms.

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All our guidelines are already available to everyone. Perhaps you have not yet read the following:

• Specific inclusion criteria for Real Estate sites.
• General inclusion criteria for all sites.

Those resources will provide you with all you need to know about whether any real estate site is suitable for listing or not.

motsa, my question actually was "is including a unique, amazing guide to anytown a MUST in the book of (informal) rules for a RE agent to be listed in DMOZ?" and the prior question could me read as "tell me if they believe (someone in a situation similar to) my client does not deserve inclusion in DMOZ?" if you take it in the context of the 2nd question, which was my intention.

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I was trying to explain to you why jimnoble answered the way he did, since you seemed confused by it. Whatever your intention, you did indeed ask at least one question relating specifically to your client's site.

has the idea of requiring the agents real estate license number upon submission been discussed? IMHO this would entail a little bit of extra work up front (verifying the license on the respective state's commission website if that license is not already listed), but overall should decrease the amount of work the editors of RE categories have to deal with, since it would reduce the amount of bogus attempts.

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In practice, it would actually significantly increase the amount of time it currently takes for suggested sites to be reviewed, partly because of the not-insignificant extra work involved and partly because fewer editors would be willing to undertake that extra work for those types of sites.

We do not police the Web, which is what requiring license numbers or business numbers for listing would be.

makrhod said:

All our guidelines are already available to everyone. Perhaps you have not yet read the following:

• Specific inclusion criteria for Real Estate sites.
• General inclusion criteria for all sites.

Those resources will provide you with all you need to know about whether any real estate site is suitable for listing or not.

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i have read those. my question was regarding the (constantly discussed here) INFORMAL rules "... a MUST in the book of (informal) rules for..."

thanks