Proctor's Success Website Solutions- Are They BENEFICIAL or A PROBLEM for Realtors?

[Real Estate Ron]

Hello all.
I have been a real estate broker for quite a few years and I just opened up a small Independent real estate office. Right now, I am looking to purchase a website for my real estate business thru Success Website Solutions. These particular real estate websites that are offered thru them have been built behind the tailoring of the Quantum Leap System that Craig Proctor offers and uses. I have done some research and I have found out that Craig Proctor does NOT OWN Success Website Solutions. They are a separate company that has nothing to do with Craig Proctor other than designing, building, hosting and selling real estate websites that are "custome tailored" to Craig Proctor's Quantum Leap System. This particular company also builds, designs and hosts Mortgage websites for mortgage brokers.

Success Website Solutions currently offers a very large "custom tailored" website that any real estate broker can use to generate buyer and seller leads. I have seen the different website variations that they offer and the content of their websites and I like all of the contents and the features that they have built into them in which buyers and sellers can use in order to give information to realtors which realtors can then turn into leads. The way that realtors are able to get these buyer and seller leads into these particular websites is thru newspaper and real estate magazine ads and by also advertising in the various search engines and PPC's (Pay Per Click).

If I decide to purchase a website thru Success Website Solutions, I will purchase "my own" domain name thru www.godaddy.com. I do NOT want Success Website Solutions to "sell" me any domain name for the fear that they will not give it back to me if I decide that I don't like their service and that I have to hire someone to custom build me a new real estate website anytime in the future. I want to be able to "own" and to "take with me" my domain name that I purchase for my own real estate website if I decide to spring myself free from Success Website Solutions anytime in the future. Plus, it's cheaper for me to buy my own domain names from GoDaddy.com than it is to buy it from Success Website Solutions.

I would like to know something here:

Can realtors who own Craig Proctor's website ALSO list their website in search engines without any problems? Do these particular websites that Craig Proctor offers thru his Quantum Leap System have SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and can they be used with PPC (Pay Per Click)? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the websites which Website Success Solutions offers? I would like to know what types of complaints and problems there have been, if there are any, from realtors who have and who own a website like the one which Craig Proctor offers thru Success Website Solutions? I like the fact that buyers and sellers can fill out contact information when they go into every area of the website. This is a BIG PLUS for me.

I have done research and I know about all the costs that are associated with purchasing one of Craig Proctor's websites. All that I need to know is what you can tell me about the good and the bad things about Craig Proctor's Website and about the Webmaster company, SUCCESS WEBSITE SOLUTIONS which builds and offers the website and the hosting service to realtors like me?

Please tell me the good and the bad things about their service(s) and what types of problems that realtors are encountering from Success Website Solutions? Please take into consideration that I do NOT have the thousands of dollars which are required to spend to hire a real estate webmaster to build me a custom real estate website. I find that the hosting fees which Success Website Solutions has are expensive ($149.95 per month) and they do NOT allow me to use any other website hosting company with this particular website other than themselves because of a copyright agreement that Craig Proctor has with them with the way that the website is designed. In other words, Craig Proctor "owns" the design, style and format of the website which Success Website Solutions sells and NOBODY else can "duplicate" it thru another website hosting company. That's the reason why Success Website Solutions will NOT allow me or anyone else who wants to use or who uses Craig Proctor's website to use another website hosting company. This is the only thing which I don't like about buying their website because the MONTHLY HOSTING COSTS are high ($149.95 per month). Other than that, I have no other issues about their website. I like its content and the way that it's structured to get buyer and seller leads. But what I do NOT know and what I am NOT sure about is whether or not other realtors who have purchased this particular style website thru Success Website Solutions are having any problems with putting their website on Search Engines and with using their website with Pay Per Click?

If I decide to purchase the Success Website Solution website, I will save a lot of money and I will not have to spend thousands of dollars "UP FRONT" that I do NOT have for a custom built real estate website. I don't want to have to go into debt and spend a few thousand dollars right away for a real estate website if I don't have to. If I do ever build a website, I want it to be tailored to be similar to and to do the same things as the one which Craig Proctor offers thru Success Website Solutions. I suppose that it will probably cost me a lot of money to build a website like this and I do NOT have the money to do something like this right now. That's the reason why I am looking into the option of purchasing a Craig Proctor website to use for my real estate business.

I would like to know from all of the "experienced" realtors and webmasters in here if the particluar website that Success Website Solutions offers thru Craig Proctor will be tailored to meet all of my needs to get me buyer and seller leads without me having to spend thousands of dollars to have a website built for me? I want to know what current problems exist with the Craig Proctor websites that this particular company offers to realtors?

I would like your detailed responses.


Thank You,
Ron

[judyo]

I used the search function on this forum to find some posts relating to these sites:
http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/thread8007.html
and
http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/thread1813.html

[Real Estate Ron]

Yes, I found the posts that you are referring to above in your post and that's the reason why I need to find out more about Success Website Solutions. I am not computer saavy and I don't know anything about building a website or about computer code. I like Success Website Solution's website content a lot for getting buyer and seller leads. That's the ONLY thing that I want to use my website for if I decide to get one.

All I want is to be able to have the ability to advertise my own website on the various search engines and to be able to have my website capable of PPC (Pay per Click). I read in one of the older posts thatsaid something about how the CODE which Success Website Solutions uses for their websites is no good. I don't know what this means. I also read something about their CMS backend being BAD. I don't know what this means. There is also something that's mentioned about how:

"Success websites also come chalk full of duplicated content (You get the same as everyone else out of the box) which search engines dont like, also if you really want to get involved in the look and feel of your website, success websites content management system is way to clumsy and limiting."

I need to know what you mean about this? I always though that what is said above about the "duplicated content" problem of a real estate website just like the one which is offered thru Success Website Solutions always has the same problems with "duplicated content" just like ALL or for MOST of the other real estate websites that currently exist out there on the internet. Most real estate websites that are out there say the same exact thing. I don't see any differences one from the other. So, in order to get many hits on it, I would think that one must know where and how to advertise their website. Am I right about this?

[kensmith]

They are very expensive and from everyone that I have seen they would be pretty hard to get natural rankings in the SERP's so plan on PPC.

[Real Estate Ron]

They are very expensive and from everyone that I have seen they would be pretty hard to get natural rankings in the SERP's so plan on PPC.

WHY would it be hard to get natural rankings on the Search Engines? How can all the other real estate websites get rankings on the search engines and why would it be hard for a website like Craig Proctor's website to get good Search engine rankings. I don't see how this can happen. When I do a search on Yahoo or on Google for real estate offices, I get a whole bunch of them that pop up. That doesn't mean that everyone's real estate website will pop up first in line. There are always hundreds and even thousands of pages of real estate offices that come up during a Yahoo or Google search. What makes you think that Craig Proctor's types of real estate websites are any different than the thousands of others which are listed on the search engines? Please explain why you are saying what you are saying?

Also, when you say "Plan on PPC", do you mean that I have to place my Craig Proctor website on a PPC (Pay Per CLick) system? Please explain. I am not clear what you are trying to say here. Please explain to me what you are trying to say in simple terms? I don't know anything about computers or about computer language or about computer code. I only know how to surf the internet. That's about it. I am not a computer programmer type who knows any of the computer lingo that's out there. I am lucky that I know how to do searches and to use the internet.

Also, HOW MUCH MONEY would it cost to be able to custome build a website with all of the exact "SAME FEATURES AND CONTENT" like the website which Craig Proctor offers thru Success Website Solutions? If it costs $5,000 to $10,000+ it would not be worth it for me. I don't have the funds and resources to spend that much money for a website. If it's between $1,000 to $1,500 then it's a different story. I am able to spend $1,000 to $1,500 for a website like that. Please understand that I am just starting off as a brand new business and that my funds and resources are very limited due to the fact that I also have other bills. I need to get my own real estate website, but one which has the EXACT SAME benefits and features as the one which Craig Proctor offers. I have yet to see a website like that. That doesn't mean that I am leaning towards purchasing his website, but SHOW ME a similar website to his which is offered for the same money or for between $1,000 to $1,500 with cheaper hosting fees. Is there anything like that out there? If there is, I would be interested in getting it. If not, then what is my BEST alternative?

I thought that a good majority of the realtors who own a website like the one that Craig Proctor offers works very well for them to generate BUYER AND SELLER LEADS if they do the right advertising and if the use the right search engines and PPC's for their websites. Maybe I'm being unrealistic about this whole thing, but I would like to know about real estate brokers that are out there who have been SUCCESSFUL with owning a Craig Proctor type of website thru Success Website Solutions. There "HAS" to be a large amount of them who are successful who KNOW how to use their Craig Proctor websites correctly to their advantage. Is there anyone who is a member in here who falls into this category?

[VRI]

If you factor in the hosting costs for a couple of years you could afford alot more than the 1-1.5k that you're mentioning. In fact, if you were willing to pay 150/mo for hosting indefinitely I'm sure that you'd get a couple of designers to build ya something decent with a long term contract.

In the end you'll be spending more and you won't have the flexibility you would with your own site. (you indicated that he owns the designs and they have to be hosted on their servers)

[Real Estate Ron]

If you factor in the hosting costs for a couple of years you could afford alot more than the 1-1.5k that you're mentioning. In fact, if you were willing to pay 150/mo for hosting indefinitely I'm sure that you'd get a couple of designers to build ya something decent with a long term contract.

In the end you'll be spending more and you won't have the flexibility you would with your own site. (you indicated that he owns the designs and they have to be hosted on their servers)

Yes, I agree with you on that, but I am ONLY able to afford to pay up to $1,000 to $1,500 up front to start off in order to have the same size website as the one which Craig Proctor offers thru Success Website Solutions. I don't think that there is any website designer/webmaster out there that is able to build me such a website for this type of money. This is the problem that I am facing right now. I have limited funds. If I get a website built, I want it to have everything that the Craig Proctor website offers which Success Website Solutions sells. I figure that the hosting costs will be high ($150 per month), but at least I will have a super large real estate website which has a lot more to offer to buyers and to sellers than most other existing realtor websites that are out there right now. I have yet to see a website that is structured and designed the same exact way as the one which Craig Proctor has thru Success Website Solutions. The ONLY good that I like right now about everything is that the cost of the website is ONLY $199.95. THAT's ULTRA CHEAP! Where can you actually get a HUGE real estate website like the one which Craig Proctor offers with all the content that it has for only $199.95? I don't think that you can.

I figure that if Craig Proctor's website costs $5,000 to $10,000 to $20,000+ or more to build, then I do NOT have to spend even close to that type of money over the next 3 years, even with the $150 per month hosting fee that Success Website Solutions will be charging me. It will take over 34 months for my total hosting fee to reach $5,100 ($150 x 34 months=$5,100).

I did a simple calculation which I would like to share with you. I would like you to give me your feedback about the calculation which I just made that I will share with you. I figured out that it will take OVER 11 YEARS for me to spend an entire $20,000 with Success Website Solutions by paying them $150 per month for 11 years for hosting my Craig Proctor style website. By this time or within the first 3 to 5 years of me doing business as a realtor, if I use my advertising resources the right way and if I'm able to generate a really good income from my real estate business, I should be able to have more than enough money to be able to have an experienced webmaster build me a similar website like the one that Craig Proctor offers thru Success Website Solutions. What I am trying to say here is that for the first 5 to 10 years, I can save a lot of UP FRONT out of pocket money by not having to fork out $10,000 to $20,000 for a website which is the size of the one that Craig Proctor offers thru Success Website Solutions. I would rather pay $150 per month to have them host my website than have to spend $5,000, $10,000, $15,000 or even $20,000 "UP FRONT" for a website the size of the one which Success Website Solutions offers. I am trying to go within my budget here of what I can really afford.

If I start making some serious money in the long run, then I will have the luxury and option to be able to spend a few thousand dollars and to get someone to build me a similar website like the one that Craig Proctor uses which Success Website Solutions offers. I think that this makes sense. What do you think about this alternative? I believe it's the CHEAPEST way for me to be able to have a HUGE website that can generate both buyer and seller leads without having to spend thousands of dollars up front.

What do you think?

[VRI]

To tell you the truth, I don't know anything about craig proctor or craig procter's web sites. I did google the name and checked out what appears to be the site you reference and I didn't see it as any big deal. (In fact the 36 features listed seem to be pretty meaningless... your own domain, your own email, 3 additional email accounts, ad scripts, visitor stats, etc.)

The "sample sites" all looked pretty tacky to me.

When you talk about web site "size"... what do you mean by that? You will be generating your own content in a cms site.

sample url's:
http://alpharealty.net/
http://tphss.com/
http://www.omegalending.net/
http://denverfreeinfo.com/

[Real Estate Ron]

To tell you the truth, I don't know anything about craig proctor or craig procter's web sites. I did google the name and checked out what appears to be the site you reference and I didn't see it as any big deal. (In fact the 36 features listed seem to be pretty meaningless... your own domain, your own email, 3 additional email accounts, ad scripts, visitor stats, etc.)

The "sample sites" all looked pretty tacky to me.

When you talk about web site "size"... what do you mean by that? You will be generating your own content in a cms site.

What I mean by this is that I want my personal real estate website to have the same exact contents and the dozens of links that Craig Proctor's website has. His website is really huge with a ton of information and with many places for a buyer or a seller to link to. If you surf his website, you will see that you can go into many different areas on his website where a buyer or a seller can fill out their information which you get as a lead. No matter where you go in his website, there's a place for a buyer or a seller to fill out information so they can instantly become your leads.

Look at: www.yorkregionhomesales.com

This is Craig's "generic personal" website that he uses for himself. It has a LOT of good information in it. It also has DOZENS OF LINKS on it. And it is "user friendly" for the buyers and sellers that go into this website. All the "generic" websites which Success Website Solutions sells can be tailored to look like the one which Craig Proctor uses for himself. There are a few different generic web style variations to choose from.

Also, go to: www.craigproctor.com

This is Craig Proctor's "personal" REMAX website. Again, this website has DOZENS OF LINKS on it and it is a very BIG website. It's ALSO user friendly for prospective buyers and sellers. Anyone who works as a realtor for a REMAX or for a C-21 or for a KELLER WILLIAMS and who owns a Craig Proctor website thru Success Website Solutions with their real estate name on it can make their website to look like Craig's website. Again, there are also a few web style variations that you can choose from. And many of these real estate brokers are having very good luck with their websites.

I have yet to see any real estate broker able to own such a large real estate website like the one which Craig Proctor offers thru Success Website Solutions for such cheap money ($199.95) without having to spend many thousands of dollars "up front" to build it. Like I said before, the only thing that is expensive ($149.95 per month) is the hosting fee. Other than that, you get a LOT for only $199.00 and you can advertise on all of the Search engines and on the PPC's and in the newspapers and real estate magazines in order to obtain a good number of buyer and seller leads.
What I want to know is what do you find wrong about this? Is there anything which Success Website Solutions is doing wrong that causes its real estate brokers who own Craig Proctor styled websites to be unable to get good Buyer and Seller Leads to go to their websites? This is what I am trying to find out here.
I would like to know about this. It seems that some of the webmasters in here are adament and very negative about Craig Proctor's website and its functionality and user friendliness over the internet for buyers and sellers. I want to know why. Please explain everything to me in simple language without using complicated computer lingo.

Thank You,
Ron

[langard]

Well, if you're already convinced that the Proctor "Success" cookie-cutter web sites are the best avenue to represent your business to a global audience, the criticism I have for them probably won't matter much anyway. Personally, I think their one-size-fits-all template layout looks more like a cheap tabloid than a web site design. But even if you don't mind the fact that a thousand other web sites already look exactly like the one they would crank out for you, there are a whole raft of problems with these types of real estate sites.

First, they were never built for SE optimization. They all feature the same bloated code inside the same little capsules and were never intended to accomodate any kind of personalization or flexibility to promote them. If you want to find out how successful "Success" sites really are, sit down and do some searches for a variety of important keywords you wish to target in real estate and see where they come up in the major engines. They don't, regardless of their own hype.

If you are new to the Web and your marketing budget is low to the extreme, you'd do better just to have someone (qualified) create an extremely attractive, glorified business card with all your contact information on a single-page. At least you'd have a starting-point Web presence - that you'd own outright - for next to nothing instead of an expensive, throw-away clone controlled by a self-serving mob of digital racketeers. You don't need all the info-drivel they plaster all over their sites. It's freely available in better format elsewhere and does nothing to enhance your site content.

Don't start registering domains and lining out Primary NameServers for the same until you are positive about what you really need and want a site to do for you. I've seen so many real estate agents fail taking the road you're on that I can't do much but encourage you not to go down it. It's a waste of your time and money. Perhaps if you are uncertain about the Web and cannot afford even a modest, well designed site right now you should just wait until you can investigate other options and build up the cash to pay for it in the cookie jar a little more.

Just my $.02.