Yahoo as a web host?

[BaltimoreAgent]

Hello all!

I would like to build a website but I am not that web building savvy. I've read through tons of posts here and understand a little bit. What I know definitely is that REW is the way to get a website built that really generates leads. However, being a newer agent, I currently don't have the $$ to put into it right now.

I do have a website from my company (Keller Williams) but I don't think it is search engine friendly or maybe I just don't know how to do it. Plus, it's very limited in what it can do. I"d like to customize more and I'd love to add some lead generation forms on there. Plus, maybe have extra webpages that is dedicated to my each and individual listings solely.

Anyway, I'm looking into Yahoo as a business web host. I have a personal web through them already but I need a real estate one. Does anyone know if yahoo as a web host is any good? iWhat if I made a yahoo web and then got REW to market it - does it work that way? If not, is there another web host where I could build a web for myself?

I'm trying hard to understand all the SEO's and RSS stuff by reading but a lot of times everything everyone talks about starts to go over my head. Is there a forum where I can learn and understand the basics of web building and marketing?

Thanks!

[drewnick]

Stay away from Yahoo web hosting. Disclaimer, I own a Web hosting company. Not touting MY company, but telling you to stay away. If you get decent amounts of traffic, Yahoo is not for you.

[judyo]

I didn't even know Yahoo offered web hosting. When I first came here I didn't know what anyone was talking about, either. Then one day (after reading month's worth of posts & keeping up with the new ones for a very long time), I was able to actually answer a question.

I'm not sure about the KW websites but there are a few KW agents here that might know more. The problem with trying to create your own website is the lack of a platform to make adding listings smooth.

My Orland Park site in my sig is a Wordpress blog and it's difficult to add listings because I have to change the table on the main listings page and make the photos fit and take many more steps than adding a listing to my REW sites where everything is automatically formatted.

Point2Agent has affordable websites & they seem to be allowing more & more that the agent can control. My only problem with them is the heavy code but they have some great features.

I know you can rank with AA sites but I'm not fond of their looks (although if you learn you can get very creative with them). I believe they're more expensive than Point2.

I've been hit over the years with many other real estate website providers only to check their sample sites & finding out that a search engine spider can't even read the pages. So you have to do your homework.

I know there are some seo sites for beginners out there but the only thing that comes to mind is seobook.com. I don't know if this is the one that gets recommended here a lot or if there's another one.

[REW Reed]

Now, with Yahoo hosting, do you get to register your own domain, like www.baltimorerealtyatitsbest.com? Or do you have to get one like yahoo.baltimoreistheplacetomove.com? The reason I ask is for when you eventually want to move. When that happens, you won't be able to keep the name (if it has 'yahoo' in it) and will likely lose some if not all of your search engine ranking.

[ChiliPepperWeb]

Yahoo does allow you to host your own domain name, but I wouldn't recommend buying the domain from them. I've never liked their domain controls, it's a maze to find both the control you're looking for and help on how to use it the last time I had to work on one. Their hosting control panel didn't have a very impressive array of options either. If you're going to have a brochure site with a couple of forms it's probably OK, but for a decent business website I would recommend finding a host that gives you more control and more personal support. Try finding a phone number for Yahoo tech support, see how long it takes you.

Another option for building your website that hasn't been mentioned yet is Open-Realty. It's free, it's open source and there are a lot of plugins and templates available for it.

If you're going to do your own SEO, here's another good source of information from a trusted colleague of mine:

http://www.seopt.com/articles/index.html

The SEO Guide in particular is worth checking out.

[TrimarkProperties]

I heard similarly that they make it hard for you to switch hosts, later.

[thehomedirectory]

I would recommend Go Daddy. I run a company that has a lot of websites and I have spent thousands with them and they have been very very helpful with anything I need from the second I spent $1 with them to now over 8k with them. There prices are the lowest and my pages have NEVER been down at any point. I highly recommend Go Daddy, their website overnight i think it is called is a very basic web editor just like many other free sites such as freewebs, geocities, etc. But I would go with GoDaddy, as said above Yahoo is very expensive for what you get.

[drewnick]

I would agree that Godaddy is a decent host. I will say that at times their servers are a bit slow for PHP/MySQL related pages.

[BuyHawkeye]

I'm also fond of godaddy (my current host). However, I find their website generator overly simplistic. My current site is an example. It was cheap to get started and I have beat my application to death. So if you are just beginning, it is a great place to start. I've done all I can with it and I am moving on (to REW).

[thehomedirectory]

Yes I agree with you MySQL has been a little slow at times.

As far as their website editor I feel that is a waste of money. You can't make a reputable website from it, so there is no point in it definitely for real estate professionals who are trying to attract clients over the web it just doesn't look real great.