Nov. 12, 2007:  Another Realtor.com update just occurred that affects previous Realtor.com related posts … click here. 

———- 

June 19, 2007:

Here’s an update to my previous post related to the benefits associated with having a virtual tour linked to a Realtor.com listing.

Recently, Realtor.com has updated the way their property search results are displayed. Previously, when a person entered search criteria, before displaying the search results, Realtor.com funnelled the visitor through a gateway page that allowed the visitor to indicate whether they’d like to see listings with virtual tours or multiple images first. Most visitors chose one of these options and as a result, those listings would display first in the search results. For example, say the visitor entered a criteria of Hilo, Hawaii; $250,000 – $350,000. If your listing was $325,000, unless it had a virtual tour or multiple images, a visitor would most likely never see it because it would be numerous pages behind the first $250,000 listing. However, if it did have a virtual tour, and the visitor indicated they wanted to see listings with tours first, that same $325,000 listing would jump ahead of any plain listings, even at lower dollar amounts. In effect, this was the way to “Search Optimize” your listing.

 So, what’s recently changed?

Realtor.com has removed this gateway page. Now, by default, Showcase Enhanced listings with multiple images and those with virtual tours, display first. So, ALL the listings with those features meeting the search criteria display first, followed by the plain listings.

What does this mean?  It’s now even more important to either:

• Have a virtual tour linked to your Realtor.com listing.
• Have an Enhanced Showcase Listings account — and ensure you at least upload multiple images. Some MLS feeds upload multiple images by default (i.e., Hawaii Information Service), but most do not. You have to manually login to your account and upload the images yourself (or have your Virtual Assistant do it for you!).

There are numerous Real Estate Virtual Assistants who can take care of this for you to ensure your listings get top ranking on Realtor.com. Let me know if you need a referral.