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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:16 pm Post subject: Q about agent sites for real estate companies, others
A site was submitted and is being reviewed, mostly positively - http://www.hedir.com/real-estate/about17988.html - in fact, it has reached the required number and percentage of Yes votes to be accepted.
However, a question has not been dealt with yet, and I'd like to see it answered before a moderator approves the site.
- This is an agent site. There is a main company site that lists this agent and her web site. There is some duplicate content - in fact, very little of the agent site is not already on the main company site.
What value is there to add this sort of "affiliate" site that has little new content?
There have been a few discussions but no conclusions that I remember, about whether it is OK to accept a site that is closely related in content and topic to a "parent" site. My opinion is that it does not help the directory user to find a parent site plus 10 related sites that duplicate that content.
I don't want to keep voting No on this kind of site if they are, in fact, acceptable to the directory. But that has not been made clear, as far as I know.
Can we get a determination on this concept please?
Writergrrl, I do agree that such sites should not be included which are just copied and pasted and have parent site above. And I do sometimes fail to spot such sites! I think the same happens with our members as well. May be there are some ways to find out such sites. And I am expecting you to share them, if possible. So that the members (like me) of Hedir can spot those sites and put them aside.
Btw Writegrrrl, suppose the content is informative, strong and useful for the users other than their parent sites, then do you still think that we should not include such sites?
suppose the content is informative, strong and useful for the users other than their parent sites, then do you still think that we should not include such sites?
That's the best point, I think - is there sufficient unique content on the site that does not appear elsewhere? If the answer is Yes, then the site has value to the directory user and should be included.
However, if the site contains much information that is also available on the parent site, with maybe a small amount of unique content, then I do not think both sites should be listed - only the parent site. They don't always copy and paste the entire parent site - but much of the information is copied. This site was noted for having content duplicated from the parent site, and that has not been addressed yet by the submitter. Yet the site is in the Approval list due to the number/percentage of votes.
Agent sites are not that different from affiliate sites, in a sense - they are selling the products of the parent company, but under their own names. So if we don't allow every Tupperware or Avon reseller to list their own websites because the content is mostly from the parent site, then I think the same thinking applies to other types of business, like real estate. _________________ my new company site - AlphaWeb Design & Promotion - for website design, web marketing, web conferences
There are a few discrepancies in what you are saying about my site:
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in fact, very little of the agent site is not already on the main company site.
Very little of the information on my site is on Merit's site, we share listings and rentals. Realtors feature listings from their Brokerage, and their own active listings on their websites. In fact, some realtor sites (like mine) provide access directly to the local MLS for consumers to perform home searches on a centralized database for homes in the region of that realtor that are for sale.
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This site was noted for having content duplicated from the parent site, and that has not been addressed yet by the submitter. Yet the site is in the Approval list due to the number/percentage of votes.
Brokerages are not parent companies of realtors. Realtors are required to be with a brokerage for the first 2 years by law, and most chose to stay with certain brokerages after that.
The site that Edmond had found the mirrored text was from http://www.theadvantagerealtygroup.com/ (not Merit), I had an intro on my site that was a typical realtor greeting on my homepage originally, since then I removed and rewrote that section as well, Edmond re-checked and said it was good.
I agree with you writergrrl in that a lot of realtor sites just reuse information and have no unique content, however there are others that have great resources for people buying and selling their homes, as I want mine to be. I don't believe you can compare Avon with realtors as the two are very different, typically affiliate sites control what their people put up and many if not most allow their people to only build subdomain sites, with the same content only different layouts.
I have worked hard to gather my own information for local resources, and buyer/seller information. I have worked hard to compile a list of schools, their websites, and contact information for each school district in and around Colorado Springs. I have researched other businesses in the Colorado Springs area from both personal and professional experience to list those that would possibly benefit a home buyer or seller (http://www.patricia-beck.com/local-resources.html). I have added a Journal section that is there to help home owners control spending on utilities, and listed community resources unknown to the general public, from my recent job as a family worker. I am about to add another journal entry (after this) for the benefits of finishing basements since my husband and I are remodeling ours completely ourselves right now. Heck, I even hand edited all the html on my site. This is not something you typically find on a brokerage site. _________________ Please review my site and give your valuable feedback,
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:09 pm Post subject: I would vote yes, and why!
There is enough extra content on this site that is not on Merit's website. This agent has put a lot of information for buyers and sellers, as well as other information too. This does not constitute duplicating her broker's website, even though there may be some duplicate information like listings and etc.
This agent is an independent contractor, so therefore she is representing herself and her work, rather than company and the other agents in her company. If she were to leave change brokers, she would still have her hard work in her website, and only simple changes would be needed to change affiliations with brokers, so she deserves the credit for her own website and dilligent work. Merit didn't create her website.
Realtors and Brokers have different working arrangements than retailers and need to be recognized as such. I think you should give her the approval.
Well, this is a tough issue. First of all I'm not a native speaker so I can't comprehend all the differences between brokers, realtors, agents etc. so please correct me If I'm wrong.
I think there's a difference between a realtor agent site and an affiliate site. An affiliate just provides a website to send off visitors to the actual site that sells the products.
A realtor agent provides an actual service to the customer. The agent helps the customer with finding a house, helping with negotiations, lead the customer through the whole process of buying a house which can be quite complex (been there ). Off course the same applies to sellers (not been there yet ). The fact that the realtor uses someone else's database for property search doesn't necessarily make it affiliated marketing.
Soooo, I think these kind of sites should be reviewed on per site basis. Normal rules apply: is there enough original content? Is it HEDIR worthy?
Again: correct me if I'm wrong. Realtor business over here is totally different so it's hard for me to make any founded comments. _________________ Please review some sites.
Contributing members of the month
The fact that the realtor uses someone else's database for property search doesn't necessarily make it affiliated marketing.
The reason I brought this up as a general question is that often agent sites get lots of their content from the parent company anyway, like school and community information, buyer and seller tips and such. So if you get 5 sites from agents that all work for the same company, it's a good bet that most, if not all, of them will have the same information posted with very little original content other than "who I am". And I don't think that benefits either the end user or the directory to have several almost-identical sites listed.
Agent sites really are simply subsites of larger agencies and brokers.. To the point where they could almost be considered categories under a broker.. And the vast majority of them should be treated that way here..
But there are exceptions to every rule and this particular site I think qualifies.. Yes, thre is some data pulled from other sources, but I don't think that should be a disqualifier..
I guess what I am trying to say is that I'm on the fence and think that each site should be treated individually and rated based on it's own merits.. Let them post them here and we can review them as they come up.. And excessive amount of duplicate content from their broker site would keep them out..
Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:04 am Post subject: Independent Real Estate Sites in question
Writergirrl,
I have submitted my site for review and it looks like you aren't going to approve it even after all the suggested changes have been made and more, but I need to make a point about Patricia-Beck.com.
My site is GalvestonBayHomes.com and my broker's site is Bridgecrestproperties.com.
We have absolutely nothing in common between our sites other than the required logo which I have posted showing which company that I am affiliated with. We both have public access to HAR (Houston) MLS property listings, which all agent's real estate sites should have, but I also have a public access to Galveston MLS which my broker doesn't have. I have a simple link to our company's listings on one page, but the rest of my site is entirely directed towards my services I provide to my customers and information that I provide about our market area.
I am an independent contractor with my own fully equipped office with very good equipment and rely on the internet for my leads, except for an occasional referral. I only go into the Broker's office to drop off their check after a closing. This is the difference than an agent in a cubicle in the west wing of the company office with his or her own spin-off or company generated and copied website from the parent company and an independent agent who has his or her own office with their own unique website and content.
One state law may not work in another state, so there shouldn't be a rule that puts them all in one basket with the same rules, which of course, would be easy to moderate. Each site should be viewed and given merits to its own unique content.
We have companies in Houston with hundreds of agents. Pete Merit the golf professional owns Realty Associates and he has 1800 independent agents. Would it be fair to deny these hard working agents the priviledge of being listed with HEDIR just because we are required by Texas law to post which company we work for. The only fair and correct answer would of course be no, if they didn't just copy their parent company's site.
I think you should go on and add her site as she has worked hard creating and updating her site per HEDIR's suggestions and she has made many posts about other sites here. You have a team player and she has followed all the rules and deserves credit for her very hard work.
I strongly reccommend her inclusion. Anything less would be unfair to her.
Each site should be viewed and given merits to its own unique content.
I agree. But too many times (the large bulk of what I have seen here and in other directories) "unique content" is the part that is missing. That's why I initiated this discussion, because truly patricia-beck.com has been the exception, not the standard, for real estate sellers' sites. It appears I was wrong when I thought her site was more than 50% content copied from what appears to be the parent or main company site.
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updating her site per HEDIR's suggestions and she has made many posts about other sites here.
While participation is wonderful, posting reviews on other sites does not make one's site more or less "approvable". I just wanted to correct that logic ...
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I have submitted my site for review and it looks like you aren't going to approve it
Be patient, grasshopper - sites with issues don't get approved in a week. It appears you have been making some updates based on feedback. If you spend some time in the forums doing some reviews and getting other people to review your site, you can easily get enough Yes's to get your site approved. If enough people think your site has improved enough, that is. Those of us who have already voted can not change our votes. But all others can vote. And they are more likely to reciprocate if they see you have reviewed their sites ...
Your site's voting is about half-and-half. So it would only take a few Yes votes to turn the tide. Since you are making an effort to improve your site, please don't give up now. In fact, if you plan to make other significant changes soon, you can ask to have your site put in a LOCKED status temporarily so no one will review it until you've put in your changes.
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i understand Your problem
). Off course the same applies to sellers (not been there yet 
). The fact that the realtor uses someone else's database for property search doesn't necessarily make it affiliated marketing.
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