13 Mar 08 rentBits dot com

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Some of our website visitors may be searching for a new home and in some cases, for whatever reason, they end up deciding to wait on purchasing and decide that renting better fits their needs. If this is you, you might find the recently launched rentBits.com useful. Yesterday I discovered this search engine, which allows you to search the databases of several rental property sites in the same way you use Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

rentBits.com does much of the road work for you and allows you to quickly visit several websites from the comfort of one. I like the site because it provides users with a simple and non-intrusive surf experience and as the websites exposure grows, it will become a better resource. I would like to see if they could allow users to include items like “tile flooring” or “stainless steel appliances” as search options.

Tags: google, home buying resource, home finder, homes for rent, rental properties, rentbits dot com, rentbits.com

19 Feb 08 The Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World

• The Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World

Who is the greatest real estate agent in the world? Right now it’s a title up for grabs, but on May 1^st, 2008, we will find out which agent, according to Google’s search engine, is worthy of the title “The Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World”! Thanks to Eric Bramlett, the Austin Real Estate Agent who came up with the idea for a contest and title, and Morgan Carey of Real Estate Webmasters, we will soon be able to recognize real estate agents for their constant drive to learn effective ways to market real estate properties online.

Among other things, a great real estate agent is an expert in communicating, listening, understanding and real estate. They meet the needs and exceed the expectations of their client’s throughout the entire process of listing, selling or buying a home. The winner of this contest won’t necessarily be the greatest real estate agent known to man, but they’ll prove that they’re educated in search engine optimization, a crucial part of marketing your real estate listings online.

The goal and how to win the title:

The winner of this contest only has to meet one requirement, get to the top of Google’s search results for the phrase – greatest real estate agent in the world – and still be there when the contest ends May 1^st, 2008. Of course, there is a lot that goes into reaching and maintaining good Google rankings, and with some of the best search engine optimization experts from around the world competing for the title, all contestants will have their work cut out for them.

On May 1^st, 2008, the person holding the top position after a keyword search for: greatest real estate agent in the world; will win the title and prize (mentioned below). Google operates multiple data centers around the world and results for searches can differ from one data center to the next, so determining the winner may be a little difficult. I’m not sure if the contest includes Google domains in other countries.

The Rules:

No cheap shots below the belt or in the back of the head, no biting, no head butts and no kicking when your opponent is on the ground (Yeah Right!).

Contestants can use any domain in their control. This means anything from a MySpace page to a blog-site and everything in between. In addition, they need to follow Google’s Guidelines for Webmasters. I believe contestants are also encouraged to share things that they’ve learned from others during the experience but it’s unclear if this is expected before or after the contest.

Other than that, unless I’ve missed something, it’s going to be a contest full of traditional search engine tactics, creative practices and hopefully new experiments yet to make it into the mainstream field of search engine optimization. I doubt any webmaster will participate in shady schemes as most of their techniques will be under the watchful eye of their competitors.

The Prize:

The prize is a free Real Estate Webmasters (REW) template website, free hosting for a year on the new V 2.0 REW platform and the company’s $2500 CORE IDX accompanied with the $360 yearly fee on top of it; total value of the price is well over $4000. The prize is fully transferable – if you’re a real estate broker and you win, it could be a nice incentive package for a top performing real estate agent.

The announcement of the contest and its prize were offered by a well know Real Estate company, Real Estate Webmasters, the company specializes in custom web design, IDX/MLS solutions, search engine marketing and website templates.

The contest will likely help many webmasters better understand what’s needed to compete in today’s real estate industry and more importantly educate them on the best techniques and practices to use when engaging in search engine optimization. The contest will be both fun, and entertaining as we watch some of the best Internet real estate experts compete for a new title and worthwhile prize. In addition to the many contestants and sideline enthusiasts, there will be a few critics of the contest voicing their disapproval of the possible spam associated with such an event.

Who do you think is going to be the first winner of The Greatest Real Estate in the World contest? Can they find you a kitchen like the one below?

Tags: google, my space, real estate agent, search engine optimizing, seo contest