www.top-agents.info

Solution · 07-15-2006, 11:52 AM

Hi Folks,
I just signed up today. I have much to explore here.

I have been wearing out my fingers for the last 39 days on my new site -
http://www.top-agents.info/

I would really appreciate some honest feedback for this site. I am a old webmaster trying something new - a real estate site.
What do you think? (no cms - all done by hand, can't you tell? ha-ha)

Colors weird? Graphics hokey? Flawed concept? Too opinionated?
Please say what you think.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Solution

Solution · #**2 No Feedback For Me!** 07-21-2006, 03:09 PM

Anybody? Anything?
Zilch feedback for me I guess.

Am I trying to do too many things (unfocused)?
Am I too scattered?
Is the concept flawed?
Are the ads too big?

Will someone please beat me down? (Or up, as the saying goes.)
Thank you very much.

vaughn-in-a-vacuum - Hah!
Maybe I am just too looney for words.

jessiesc · 07-22-2006, 08:43 AM

Ok,

Didn't get a chance to get out to your site and then I lost your post.

So...

The front page has no content. Is this by design? Why would I want to stay on this site? It is very unclear to me what the site is offering, other than agents in western u.s. cities. Personally, I would see the site and leave because there's nothing to draw me in further.

Personally, I'm not crazy about the pages after the home page. The peach color rubs me the wrong way going from the dark (what is it green?) to the peach. Don't take this the wrong way but it made me want to gag (well if that can be taken in a different way, I meant no offense). I just hate the color peach.

Again no content.

It appears you are going for a directory of sorts, yes? Perhaps adding some content as to the purpose of the site, what the visitor can find etc..

Ok, sorry about the gag reference, but i really hate peach

Homesurfer · 07-22-2006, 03:06 PM

Nothing personal, but I am biased against anonymous sites.

Solution · 03:53 PM

Hi Jessie,

“The front page has no content. Is this by design?”
Yes, totally. My new test concept is NO scrolling.
The front page is actually more of a site map, than anything else – by design.

“It is very unclear to me what the site is offering, other than agents in western u.s. cities.”
You got it. That’s it. Just another find-a-realtor guide. Plus a few other goodies.

“Personally, I'm not crazy about the pages after the home page. The peach color rubs me the wrong way going from the dark (what is it green?) to the peach. Don't take this the wrong way but it made me want to gag (well if that can be taken in a different way, I meant no offense).”
Yes. You say peach. I say flesh. I experimented with this color for psychological reasons – you have confirmed my theory - “gagging”, and whatnot.

“I just hate the color peach.”
Gone! Yet I hate the morbid dark green, as opposed to the light and airy peach.

My sense of color is terrible. I must rely upon the advice of others. I have never really found a color combination that I was happy with. For any site.

"It appears you are going for a directory of sorts, yes?"
Funny how I never really thought of it that way, but yes. That's what it is. For sure. I don't want to get stigmatized though, and I purposely avoided the word "directory" (subconsciously?) on my site.

Thank you for your comments.

Hi Homesurfer,

Anonymous?
My name is Vaughn Aubuchon.
I offer an email contact, on a dedicated Contact Page.
Yes, you must type it in, due to spam email harvesters.
Do you want my home address?
Just email me.
Phone number?
Just email me.

I think that you might find me far less anonymous than you might think! I am simply weary of SPAM – both telemarketers and email.
Thank you for your comment. I guess that I need to get the site to look more personal.

Vaughn Aubuchon, Retired Semiconductor Engineer

jessiesc · 07-23-2006, 10:20 AM

How about a nice maroon color or blue or grey/gray for the back ground.

Here are a few example sites from REW's portfolio which I really like:

Maroons:
Desert - www jakemarsh com
Desert but on the high tech side with the grey - www rexre com

Blue
Nice calm blue - www rexre com

Grey/Gray

Nice no scrolling grey - www kristafracke com

Solution · 07-23-2006, 11:37 AM

Hi,

Thanks a ton for the suggestions.
I don't care for the grey on white for two reasons -
1. You see it everywhere
2. Poor contrast - many times I see light grey text on a light grey background - there is no way to make text harder to read - sometimes I have to pick out the words, word-by-word, just to read it. This is an personal peeve of mine. The highest contrast, black on white, is most commonly used, I think. I seek high contrast, for readability.

I like the other two sites you suggested. I think I just have to look at more sites, and try more colors. I do want to avoid black (death, hopelessness) and red (blood, rage). Also, I want to avoid pink and/or flesh colors, for the obvious implications. Maybe pastoral pastels is the way to go. I've seen pastel sites that I have found to be very pleasant. Time for me to get better at this.

dcsmith · 07-23-2006, 12:21 PM

My only feedback has to do with the concept itself, once I viewed your site last week and saw that you had top 20 for a market.

I checked out the Tucson Homes market where we are located, and wondered how in the world you came up with the list. Then since there were already 20 on the list, why bother, it was filled. And if all the other markets were chosen with as bad a list of picks as the Tucson market.

So for me it wasn't as much the design and format as the concept itself being completely unclear, and information based on anybodies guess.

Maybe some clarification on the homepage on how you came up with who is on the list for each location, might help.

Dave

Solution · 03:45 PM

Hi DC,

Yes, of course.
These are all realtors and real estate agents, who have prominent websites. I need to make clear that these are all INTERNET agents. My criteria is based upon internet searches, conducted using Google, MSN and Yahoo search engines.

By saying "Top", I simply mean that they appear high in the SERPs - Search Engine Results Pages. I took the top performers, and listed them. That's all, and that's it. Obviously, there are more than 20. My selection criteria involves other factors, including those discussed on my "Real Estate Web Design" page. My "Top 20" will be dynamic, changing whenever warranted (read frequently).

And, I'm not going to lie to you (sounds like Cops, right?). Those realtors who link to my site will retain their listing status, others may not - just plain good business practice. There you have it - my ulterior motive. I don't mind working hard, but I don't do it for free. I seek high SERP position for "my" agents, I'm not new to SEO, and I seek a little ad revenue as compensation, and only on the local pages. The site is new, the SERPs will come.

That's about all I can do. I have no barometer as to individual agent integrity, agent claims, or agent performance. I do however link to Realtor Associations where individual Realtor good standing CAN be ascertained. And, of course, I link to EVERY site, to make it easy for a visitor to get a "feeling" about the individuals. I place judgment in the user's hands.

If you now want to claim that the "Top" is BS, well, . . . . . . I guess I agree with you. A marketing gimmick, that's all. But at least it is top something.

<edit> One more thing. I was careful not to say "Top 20 Agents", but only "20 Top Agents". I am not claiming the 20 best, only TWENTY OF the best - out of hundreds. They can't be really bad, if Google, MSN and Yahoo don't think so. Multiple search engine votes are a positive, that's ALL I AM SAYING. And essentially, all I have done. YOU ARE CORRECT - I AM UNABLE TO PERSONALLY VOUCH FOR ANY AND EVERY REALTOR AND REAL ESTATE AGENT ON THE SITE. But I try to do my best, to separate the wheat from the chaff.</edit> Just noticed - those are some pretty soft colors in your avatar, DC. One might even say, "pastel"? I like 'em. I'm a heterosezual, not that there's anything wrong with that, but pastels can look kinda soothing.

More edit - You may ask why my Realtor® lists are better than, say, Google, MSN or Yahoo directories. Have you visited them recently? They are chuck full of dead, expired, transferred, and pron-redirected links. I GUARANTEE you that I have done a better job than those guys are doing. In the short term, anyway. We'll see. Their "fix-it" time is months - mine is hours - or minutes, if I've just checked my email.

More edit - Homesurfer - I just added my name to my contact page. You are absolutely right. Why so frickin impersonal? I'm not hiding anything. I'm an open kimono kind of guy. It's the hoddamn web mentality - "don't let them get to you". If they ain't got to me by now, I probably have a few years left. If you really want to, you can read my autobiography at www.vaughns-1-pagers.com
and learn 500 times more about me than you will ever want to know.

dcsmith · 07-23-2006, 07:14 PM

that makes some sense, I guess the huge ommission that I see is www .brendaobrien. com

This site is one that I watch as the master of all tucson real estate sites.

It is difficult to do a google search and not have this site in the top four organic results. tucson homes, tucson real estate, tucson condos, tucson townhomes, tucson relocation package, tucson retirement communities, etc, on and on and on, this site is at the top.

It is the site that everyone in tucson smiles when they actually come up above them in a search. She was the top agent in tucson selling over 51 millon in real estate last year.

So can you see why it is brings the list into question when this site isn't in the top 20 for tucson homes.

Our site is getting there, it is relatively new, but we are ranking on the first page for a lot of keywords. But it appears that we would never have an opportunity to be on your top 20 since it is filled. Just curious to why limit it to just 20? It is your site, and you can limit it anyway you want, but the clarification I mentioned and you provided here helps.

But if you want people to actually come to your site and come back again you might want to add more content, as to what is there, I think it looks good, I wouldn't worry about colors, the navigation is easy, and the home page as the sitemap certainly works.

Thanks for the clarification.

Dave

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