DMOZ Submission Spamming

It is my understanding of the Dmoz guidelines that they want to corp address of the company you are an agent with. The way I understand this is it is to prevent those from acquiring sections within a category that offers more benefits such as PR and fewer listings. Is this correct?

If the agent/agents names have to be shown that is not an issue. We have an about us page but it does not show the names of the agents. The primary reason for this is because real estate agents come and go. Once again though if needed it can be addressed easy.

But you did say something about the site which reflected on me, You said that this was meant to manipulate consumers, that statement was very offensive to me as my site and all the hard work put in to it was for my customers.

I understand their are guidelines to follow for a listing in Dmoz, as I have stated before I have no problem complying with those guidelines as long as it doesnt affect my consumers. With the recommendations you made in your opinion if those are addressed is the site listable in the agent category?

Also if I am understanding you and I will let you verify, instead of the corp address for Century 21 Aadvantage Gold, I need to address of the office I am located out of?

 

I don't think that was meant to be negative but as insight.

You are the Agent - the website should be about you, your experience in reality, your ability to attract buyers for the estate you handle.

I'm not is reality, nor have any direct insights for being listed in the area but from a consumers' vantagepoint I see a "form"... kinda - fill it out and see what happens.

I [a personal note] think you have spent too much time on trying to develop something for "ranks" thus you totally ignored the greatest asset of 'corporate organization' - YOU!

In so many ways the 'general guidelines' are common business sense - if I was in the market for buying or selling a home - I want an agent that know what they are doing [not just a database].

Additionally, [these are merely a personal preference but they could be preferences of customers as well - and a reviewer]

1. Spin The Wheel To Win - how many of your customers come to spin? You're not a casino website - you are a real estate agent website.

2. AdSense on a website [particularly the mainpage] is bad business sense.

If you are a 'publisher' looking for money from click - fine - but you are a reality agent. I appreciate these are "off topic" but are you not robbing yourself of "customers" for publisher revenue... if you send them away - chances are they ain't coming back.

Both of these "denote credibility"... not to just my own 'my opinion', your customers, and likely to DMOZ as any website that has casino and AdSense on the mainpage likely doesn't have their customers interests at heart - but their own 'revenue' at heart.

IMHO they detract from your professionalism - as such I would truly scruntinize your potential for a listing - much more than normal.

I could indeed be wrong - maybe home buyers to your website - don't really wish to be at your site - and click out to gamble or buy elsewhere.

 

Just follow this link http://search.dmoz.org/cgi-bin/sear.../H/Henderson/Business_and_Economy/Real_Estate a search for ´Advantage Gold´ on DMOZ and look at how your own colleges have build a site.

That it is an Agency. Agent means YOU.

As I as a customer find a site that is unclear about where it is located and is unclear about who owns it (not only on the site but also on the whois) I will never trust such a site.
And what do you think will happen when I´m able to find 9 sites belonging to the same person about the same subject. Not including two former sites of this person also about the same subject. This might be normal within Real Estate in the USA but to me that makes the company not trustworthy.

Personaly I check whois information for a site when I think about buying something from them. If they hide the information or if the owner information is not the same as on the website I won´t buy from them.

 

This is not what attracts consumers. Honestly, the only thing a real estate consumer wants to see when they go to a real estate website is Pictures of homes, a search tool for the MLS and information about Neighborhoods. Most other stuff about how sellers, buyers, builders and so on they could care less about.

Most consumers as well, dont read a agents bio page, they dont care. These customers base their opinions as to whether or not to use these agents based on what they are able to find on these agents sites and who responds fastest to them when they either call or send an email. After the first contact happens then the consumer will base whether they use these agents on personality.

This is the unfortunate catch 22 of doing business on the internet. Yes consumers come first, but if you dont rank you will not develope consumers to offer them your greatest asset, yourself.

This is a fun tool and we use this to offer our clients something in return for choosing us as their real estate agent/agents. When you write a press release about you or your company, what is the reason you write this to publish. To market you and your product or company. I can promise you our consumers remember this slot machine and it fits in with the Vegas theme.

Revenue is hardly worth what is made off of this type of adsense. I know you are smarter than that. You know why most sites that are not looking for a primary source of revenue have adsense I hope. If I made $1000 a month off of adsense that is small in camparision to the income generated by my profession.

As for customers interest, well I have to disagree again. Those adsense results offer them more choices for visiting other sites related to real estate in Las Vegas.

I have not seen a gambling link from our adsense results every, but I wont doubt you. Most of what I have seen from adsense results has been other real estate sites in Las Vegas.

I appreciate you comments but as you can see there are some issues we disagree on. I make a very good living selling real estate, I get a lot of repeat business from my clients and so far we have heard nothing but very positive comments from consumers who visited the site.

I take our visitors comments very serious, because without consumers we dont have a business. So I will consider some of what you have said. Thanks

 

Are you sure about this? I've owned my home for almost 30 years. I've considered selling and buying a new home several times, but I find the real estate agents so annoying that I give up almost before getting started.

If I could find an agent who would listen to what I want in a home, and would only call me when he has what I want to see, I'd go with him in a heartbeat. The only ones I've come across are only interested in showing what they want to sell you. Buying a home is a very personal thing. I'd think an agents bio would be the most important thing on the site, as a consumer. But I'm only one consumer and maybe I'm odd.

 

Yes Annie I am positive. If most agents were honest about their web logs, you would find the most used page on an agents website is their MLS search.

Agents can be annoying as well. That is one of the major problems in this industry, the agents want to talk more about themselves than listen to what the consumer wants, this reflects on my last statement about consumers choose an agent at first contact on their personality.

This is funny cause I was just talking to a few of my agents about this very issue. The problem stems from real estate agents when they are going to take you out to show you homes, they pick properties for you to preview that they like, most dont listen to what you want, which is their first mistake and can be their last. Most of the time it is not to up sale you because the difference in the commission is small. An agent who can seperate their personal feelings about a property and listen to what the consumer wants is an agent that will do very well.

No you are not odd, but it is not common. To offer an example. I can fill a bio up with all kinds of fluff. This fluff doesnt show you what type of person I am face to face. Also ask yourself this question, if my bio sounds great but we just dont mesh personality wise when we meet, will you do business with me.

My own personal opinion to this question is no, I do business with people I like, if I find I just dont click with a person, I do not do business with them. We are creature of habit, we socialize and do business with those we feel a sense of easy with, which usually means we have to like that person. Bios IMHO do not truly tell of a persons true nature.

Heres something funny, I dont know if you are married but if you are then you can relate to this. When you first met your husband, is he everything he was when you first met?

 

I'm not saying you don't... what I am saying is "what is the difference" without those distraction?

If you gain "lots from them" - well... But you suggest you don't and if you don't - I don't see how they "improve anything". They do not help your customers.

A client once in offshore had a specific design and didn't wish to change because: "very positive response". Course that was "only based on those that chose to communicate - on better understanding that was a sample of 1500:1+

The website design was fixed at 800X600

40% of the market at 1024X768

28% of the market was at 1280X1024 and above - guess who they were talking to?

Their "least profitable potential customers".

A fluid design - without an ounce of SEO increased sales 18%

Knowing - is far better than guessing.

Not suggesting you are not serious. Small sampling rates can skew things badly in the wrong direction.

The Internet [even back in the dot.boom] changed marketing, perceptions of marketing, and who terms themselves as doing marketing [which includes advertising, promotions, and sales strategies].

Often we [all of us] "have a idea" - that idea often becomes the plan - and then plan is what we base all subsequent decisions and most often this is all based on minscule evidence that the 'idea' was sound reasoning.

Not attempting to insult your intelligence - in fact, I am appealing to it... you are most likely wrong in your assumption - the right people to ask - are the ones that 'leave and never say a word'.

You will most likely find "what your most profitable potential customers wants" is identical to what DMOZ wants.

 

Very well put and nice post, it does give me food for thought.

I will offer this as an example. I know of a website and I wont give the domain cause me and the owner dont see eye to eye, but this is a VERY nasty looking website, very loud, bright and some or the worst design I have ever seen, but this guy does more business and converts from that website than anyone I have known.

Consumers are a strange group of birds, what appeals to one will not appeal to the other. I can only speak from experience but I have had the soft type site, not a lot of bells and whistles and I have had the loud obnoxious website and the ones that seem to be right in the middle have done the best.

We have one site that consumers who visit it rave about it, but IMHO it is nasty, goes to show what we think is appealing others deem undesirable. I will give your comments some serious thought though. Thanks for the imput and advice, it is much appreciated.

 

Market share is "most often" [not all the time but most often] based on experience - word-of-mouth.

$1 million dollar websites can be 1995 technology all because of "family & friends have a good experience"... and they each tell 2 friends, and so on, and so on.

Humans want human contact - while many people are web savvy, the vast majority buy "something for dummies" and rarely read it, and don't consider it bad, foolish, or dumb.

pagode provided some "invaluable information" that works for both DMOZ and your customers - but you shouldn't limit it to [one example] plop an address down - and believe "that works".

I'm pretty positive that "the most successful agents" promote themselves "first" and use technology as a valuable tool - not the techology first and the agent as the tool.

 

BTW my EX was a "B.I.T.C.H" when I met her and she still is!

 

No. it is good depiction.