Real Estate Forums

Real Estate and Google By far the leader of the Search Engine Pack, a real estate site ranking at the top of Google, is an amazingly powerful lead generation tool. Discuss how to rank your real estate site in Google HERE!

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-26-2006, 12:52 AM
roiannecox roiannecox is offline
New real estate webmaster
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 20
roiannecox is on a distinguished road
Default Advice on changing hosting

I have a Point2agent website and I have done very well with it. I have built unique content and my site has been in the top 5 on Google for the last year.

So this last update of Google I went from #1 to # 17. A similar thing happened during Jagger last fall. I added content, tweaked my site and climbed back up until I was #1 on Google. This lasted from October till March 6th.

Right now every site above me is an advanced access site. I think the AA code is just cleaner. My page size is huge no matter what I do. I do not want to hire anyone to do my site for me, I need a template site so I can do it myself.

So my question is, what is the best way to make the switch to AA? How can I move my site and not lose what ranking I have in the search engines?
I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks,

Roianne Cox
www.clarkcounty4sale.net
Reply With Quote
Old 03-26-2006, 11:02 AM
mattonline mattonline is offline
banned
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1
mattonline is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Advice on changing hosting

spam removed

Last edited by webmaster : 03-27-2006 at 04:56 PM.
Reply With Quote
Old 03-26-2006, 11:18 AM
judyo's Avatar
judyo judyo is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oak Lawn, IL
Posts: 3,103
judyo will become famous soon enough
Default Re: Advice on changing hosting

Roianne,

The first site I changed over from REW was easy as it was not a P2 site & had simple html extensions. I made sure REW recreated all of my urls exactly as they were on my other host (REW's normal extensions are PHP but they can make a quick change to make it html). So with that site (my Cook County site), it was seamless. I was able to copy & paste my stuff from my prior site to the REW template.

However, with my lost Oak Lawn site from P2, I am still recreating everything because of those long urls P2 uses. IOW, I wouldn't want to have to use those urls again anyway. So I am starting my Oak Lawn site over from scratch with brand new content.

I don't know how John Sabia or Bob Crain did it as I would think it would be another dupe content issue or even somewhat of a mirror site (of course, you'd be losing any handshake listings you used, if you do). You're just not going to be able to cut & paste your P2 pages into AA.

Also, if you've read through the forum lately it seems AA sites are being dropped by Yahoo just like what happened last year with P2. I'd wait a bit before making a switch to AA.
__________________
Southwest Chicago Suburbs Real Estate is an affordable area with close access to downtown Chicago. Money Magazine says that Orland Park real estate is one of the best places to live in the U.S. Next door you can find Tinley Park homes for sale and get Orland Park amenities at a more affordable price.
Reply With Quote
Old 03-26-2006, 04:40 PM
Oppenheimer Group's Avatar
Oppenheimer Group Oppenheimer Group is offline
Uber Real Estate Webmaster
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 507
Oppenheimer Group is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Advice on changing hosting

You can always make the change and wait out the rise in SERPS if your current content is good and the new template is better and resides on the original domain it should risw back even after the change. You can also do 301 redirects from the old page names to the new ones in your .htaccess file.

Goog luck!
__________________
Reply With Quote
Old 03-26-2006, 09:45 PM
kensmith's Avatar
kensmith kensmith is offline
Uber Real Estate Webmaster
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,735
kensmith is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Advice on changing hosting

Jundy it's not an AA thing, it's a Yahoo thing. While some AA sites have dropped others have moved to the top. Their just happen to be WAY more AA clients than any other provider out there so you hear more about it. With that said if I was going to change from P2 I would look at all options and not just AA. It all depends on how much you are looking to spend, what options you need, and how much canned content you want.
Reply With Quote
Old 03-27-2006, 09:12 AM
judyo's Avatar
judyo judyo is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oak Lawn, IL
Posts: 3,103
judyo will become famous soon enough
Default Re: Advice on changing hosting

I agree, Ken. As I mentioned to Roianne, it seems like it's the same thing that happened to P2 last year. Now it's AA. I, too, suggest she shop around. Also keep in mind that you have done more with your site than most people at AA ever come close to doing. I'm not sure if you felt the wrath of Y with your site or not. I did with my P2 site even with my customizations.

Just like AA, some people were not hurt with their P2 sites but the majority were. I've heard other P2 agents say their sites are inching back up in the Y serps. So I still suggest patience & heed what is happening to other template providers.
__________________
Southwest Chicago Suburbs Real Estate is an affordable area with close access to downtown Chicago. Money Magazine says that Orland Park real estate is one of the best places to live in the U.S. Next door you can find Tinley Park homes for sale and get Orland Park amenities at a more affordable price.
Reply With Quote
Old 03-27-2006, 05:06 PM
webmaster's Avatar
webmaster webmaster is online now
Administrator
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 13,725
webmaster will become famous soon enough
Default Re: Advice on changing hosting

Roianne - AA's site code is not any cleaner than point2, in fact I would argue the default CMS output is less clean. However on either program (Point2 or AA) you can create your own custom pages and reduce the filesize considerably.

One of the many problems you are having (Filesize wise) is that you are using image buttons for your navigation (And you have a TON of them) - that element could easily look as good if not better done in CSS and would be a million times cleaner, faster and the code size would be 1/100th what it is now.

I hate self promoting my stuff, but if you are looking for a solution that you can do everything yourself and have it super clean from a coding and SEO perspective AND have it looking great, you may want to consdier an REW template. (Cheaper than AA to)

However like Judy said, we are different providers point2, AA and REW - we dont have handshake listings etc, but we have a lot of functionality and backend integration that was made not to look cool as an upsell, but to make sense from a real estate web development perspective. We also dont produce canned content etc, so no dup content issues, and yes we can mod_rewrite any old pages to new pages so no loss of internal links etc.

Would I switch from Point2 to AA to save rankings? Nope if you are going to do anything redo your point2 pages to cleaner code, or switch to a provider that knows what they are doing in terms of SEO as well as dev.
My 2 cents
__________________
Want to save up to 50% off Real estate webmasters product websites & common upgrades? Check out my latest blog post regarding our end of the year sale.
Reply With Quote
Old 03-27-2006, 06:45 PM
thataway61's Avatar
thataway61 thataway61 is offline
Uber Real Estate Webmaster
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Orange Beach, AL
Posts: 1,354
thataway61 is on a distinguished road
Send a message via MSN to thataway61
Default Re: Advice on changing hosting

Quote:
Would I switch from Point2 to AA to save rankings? Nope if you are going to do anything redo your point2 pages to cleaner code
Through all of the point2 problems or Jagger problems, I fought the urge to change anything on our point2 site. The reason was that the results after Jagger looked just like they did when we were in the sandbox and any changes I made, I could see no result or changes on Google. If I could see no result for changes I made, then it made no sense to make changes willy nilly out of frustartion.

We came out of the first sandbox and had outstanding serps and outstanding results. I have seen posts that said you can't be sandboxed twice, but I believe that is what happened to us. In the mean time we have come back out of the second sandbox (?) and are kicking butt. Whether it was duplicate content, or a new aging algo, or something else, I do not know.

In hind sight I am glad I did nothing, but could have just as easily been wrong on that. You all will recognize what happened on the chart in September. What is about to kill me is what has happened since March. Obviously whatever was broke is fixed.
Attached Images
 
__________________
Cal
Orange Beach Condos | Gulf Shores Condos | Keller Williams Gulf States

The Gulfshoreslife.com Team serves the Baldwin County Alabama Real Estate market from The Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay to the Southern Shores of the Alabama Gulf Coast: Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Fort Morgan, Point Clear, Fairhope, Montrose, Daphne, Spanish Fort, AL. Referals are welcomed. For more information on AL Gulf Coast Real Estate, please contact me or visit our website.

Sarasota Association of Realtors
Reply With Quote
Old 03-27-2006, 10:07 PM
Fort Lauderdale's Avatar
Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale is offline
Uber Real Estate Webmaster
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Florida
Posts: 878
Fort Lauderdale is on a distinguished road
Send a message via MSN to Fort Lauderdale
Default Re: Advice on changing hosting

Quote:

I don't know how John Sabia or Bob Crain did it as I would think it would be another dupe content issue
When I switched over to REW, I changed all content and only kept the main url. I did keep some of the ideas and just reworked the page layout and content.(My Condo Directory and New construction pages)
Since I had issues with being banned, I decided it was best to start fresh. Hope this helps.
john
Reply With Quote
Old 03-27-2006, 11:03 PM
roiannecox roiannecox is offline
New real estate webmaster
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 20
roiannecox is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Advice on changing hosting

How can I create custom pages on P2A without the template menus?

CSS, if it is possible with a P2A site would be great, but I am not a programmer and don't want to be. And I don't want to hire one.

I contacted REW about a site several months ago, but after one conversation someone was going to get back to me and I never heard from them again. I wanted to see the backend for a REW site.

I think that REW has some great sites but unlike many of the Realtors who dabble with their websites, 90% of my business comes from my site. I have concerns with hosting with a small company. I have worked for too many internet companies who have gone bust. I have been concerned about P2A's financial model also. The best thing about AA is that it is going to be around for a while.

As far as the code for AA, as I said, I am not a programmer. But if you look at the page size for the AA sites that come up for my keywords, vancouver washington real estate, for the most part they are all under 50k. I appreciate the comments about the image buttons. I have been thinking that was probably one of the problems, but I am not sure how else to do it.

With a P2A site, how can I get rid of the template menu? And does anyone have a link to a demo site for REW?

I don't see everyone's P2A site falling as mine has from #1 to #20 (today). I keep reading how everyones site is coming back up and mine is going down. I would appreciate any thoughts on why this is happening.

Thanks,

Roianne

www.clarkcounty4sale.com
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



For our members

Main Sections

IDX Coverage Areas

Spiders Welcome

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 09:55 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.