Comments on: (Don’t) Get On the Net: Point2.com http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com Internet, Web 2.0 and Real Estate Marketing Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:01:07 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: william http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/comment-page-1/#comment-11498 william Wed, 06 Jun 2007 13:51:58 +0000 http://futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/#comment-11498 We also have thought about putting our homes on there, but we could not find a link on the listings to refer to the site where the original listing was. If we could link back to our site, we might put our homes on there too. We also have thought about putting our homes on there, but we could not find a link on the listings to refer to the site where the original listing was. If we could link back to our site, we might put our homes on there too.

]]> By: Suzanne Stephens http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/comment-page-1/#comment-11247 Suzanne Stephens Tue, 22 May 2007 17:13:53 +0000 http://futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/#comment-11247 I agree with you that Point2Agent's use of ASP technology and the subsequent necessity for using an IE browser or FF with IE extension is a pain. Now that I can run Windows on my Mac, I'm a little happier, but I would still prefer to use a better browser. However, I strongly disagree with the idea that Point2Agent sites all look the same. To the contrary, they are amazingly customizable. I have worked on the development of competing systems, so when Point2 asked me to consider designing for their members and I began exploring the system, I was stunned by the degree to which their sites can be customized. Point2Agent's system is really quite amazing. Point2 sites can be strong lead generators and can also rank well in the SE's, but like any web site, they require lots of hard work. Suzanne Suzanne Hathcock Stephens Point2Agent Design Partner I agree with you that Point2Agent’s use of ASP technology and the subsequent necessity for using an IE browser or FF with IE extension is a pain. Now that I can run Windows on my Mac, I’m a little happier, but I would still prefer to use a better browser.

However, I strongly disagree with the idea that Point2Agent sites all look the same. To the contrary, they are amazingly customizable. I have worked on the development of competing systems, so when Point2 asked me to consider designing for their members and I began exploring the system, I was stunned by the degree to which their sites can be customized. Point2Agent’s system is really quite amazing. Point2 sites can be strong lead generators and can also rank well in the SE’s, but like any web site, they require lots of hard work.

Suzanne

Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Design Partner

]]> By: Don’t Get On the Net: Point2.com » Netscape.com http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/comment-page-1/#comment-2066 Don’t Get On the Net: Point2.com » Netscape.com Tue, 21 Nov 2006 17:53:53 +0000 http://futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/#comment-2066 <!--%kramer-ref-pre%-->[...] (via futureofrealestatemarketing.com) – Point2.com's real estate software for Realtors fails miserably. (88 days ago) [...]<!--%kramer-ref-post%--> [...] (via futureofrealestatemarketing.com) – Point2.com’s real estate software for Realtors fails miserably. (88 days ago) [...]

]]> By: Ginger Fawcett http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/comment-page-1/#comment-625 Ginger Fawcett Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:55:39 +0000 http://futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/#comment-625 I beg to differ. Point 2 Sites do NOT all look the same and they do rank well. I launched my site: http://websterkirkwood.com just this past month. It is not even complete but I had to go public because it was mentioned in another site. IN any event, I spent months customizing it myself and decided to use Point2 because I didn't want to have to reinvent the backend stuff that they offer. I also am currently ranked #1 for Kirkwood Listings and #2 for WEbster Groves Listings in Google. I also rank for several other terms. All this in less than 30 days and I haven't even worked on my SEO and linking strategy. Most of the agents using POint2 don't customize it or use all it's features. If you do you'll rank well. It's all up to the user. I beg to differ. Point 2 Sites do NOT all look the same and they do rank well. I launched my site:

http://websterkirkwood.com

just this past month. It is not even complete but I had to go public because it was mentioned in another site. IN any event, I spent months customizing it myself and decided to use Point2 because I didn’t want to have to reinvent the backend stuff that they offer.

I also am currently ranked #1 for Kirkwood Listings and #2 for WEbster Groves Listings in Google. I also rank for several other terms. All this in less than 30 days and I haven’t even worked on my SEO and linking strategy.

Most of the agents using POint2 don’t customize it or use all it’s features. If you do you’ll rank well. It’s all up to the user.

]]> By: Blogger: Post a Comment http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/comment-page-1/#comment-559 Blogger: Post a Comment Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:01:11 +0000 http://futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/#comment-559 <!--%kramer-ref-pre%-->[...] No comments yet. - I'm back from the black. Ok, this time I'll really commit to staying current :-(I came across a review of Point2 Agent this morning posted by Joel Burslem. It immediately put me on the defensive. I was going to post a comment on his blog, then I was going to slam him here, but I grabbed a coffee, chilled and took some time to think about it. He tried our software, it told him to use a specific type of browser, he didn't use the browser choices and thus didn't recommend us. Really, our software should have just worked.Here are the high/low points on the review:He says some nice things about Point2 Homes. It's a work in progress and I hope people continue to track our success there.Joel doesn't care for our claim to be "The Most Popular Real Estate Software in the World". As of this morning, we have just under 93,000 users. While adding 100-200/day, I'm not sure who beats us here, but if someone shows us we've overstepped our bounds, I'm sure we'd gladly adjust our slogin to "93,000 Realtors are using us, why aren't you?"The real kicker however is that he tried to create an account and he received an error on login indicating he needs IE version 5.5 or higher to use Point2 Agent. Since we received zero points from him, I gather he didn't try to login with a version IE. IE 5.5 is very old now, updates are free and we are several versions past it now. Google Analytics tells us that 99.5% of all IE users are using version 5.5 or higher with 96.78 using version 6. Jay Thompson (one of our favorite members!) commented on the blog that he can successfully use Firefox with Point2 Agent. Indeed you can with the IE plugin. These 2 browsers cover 95.31% of all users visiting Point2. Ok, so there's part of the justification behind our IE selection. We can make our system universally accessible, but it falls lower on massive list of projects, maintenance issues and feature requests that we receive. We conducted an informal poll of many of our users several months ago and found that while some prefer to use a browser like Firefox, almost everyone also had IE. Moreover, all were willing to use IE 5.5, 6.0 (and now 7) OR get the IE plugin for Firefox when they login to manage their Point2 account. So that's the other part of our justification.I logged an issue to update that error warning this morning to give more details, be more friendly and provide work arounds links for other browsers.As I stated above, our software should have just worked. So we will be working on compatibility. In my humble opinion, to recommend another product [until Point2 makes its software more accessible] is a little short sighted. We are nearly universal and while Joel was not tempted to dig deeper, our support team almost never hears accessibility issues from our 93,000 members.I also have a couple of notes from comments that were made. I was concerned that a couple criticisms that came out, are actually some of our strengths. Bill Nadraszky commented that all Point2 sites look the same. There is a key distinction here. Point2 provides a tool set but we do not offer custom design services. If you look at most Blogger blogs, you would see a lot of common themes. It's because the average users will only go so far and there tends to be common preferences. At this stage in our product lifecycle, Point2 Agent is becoming more of a platform and from a template based solution, is the most flexible in the industry. I've assembled some links and I think you would agree that these members all look like they are using custom websites. They are in fact using Point2, many with the help of professional designers. The limitation is not in the software, but in the desire of the member.http://www.tararosen.com/http://www.websterkirkwood.com/Home/page_1682688.htmlhttp://www.teamtotrust.com/http://www.prescottlandagent.com/http://www.newportlandhome.com/http://www.vreas.com/http://www.elizabethmcqueen.net/http://www.charlestoncommunities.com/http://www.joannesizemore.com/http://www.yourmidislandrealtor.com/http://www.call-pam.com/http://www.bakersfieldfineliving.com/Lastly to the comments on search engine indexing. It's important to know that Point2 Agent is the best solution in the industry for gaining exposure in natural and vertical search. We are currently syndicating listings to 9 partners which means that when our members add a listing, they gain instant exposure.While our sites index well for broad search terms, the ultimate rank our members achieve will depend on their own marketing. Broad search terms drive the majority of traffic, but nearly 40% of the traffic we track comes from the long tail of search. We generate a unique URL for each listing and optimize the page for natural search. Search or "lakeview Saskatoon homes for sale" and you will probably find 5-6 unique listings in that local neighborhood. [...]<!--%kramer-ref-post%--> [...] No comments yet. – I’m back from the black. Ok, this time I’ll really commit to staying current :-( I came across a review of Point2 Agent this morning posted by Joel Burslem. It immediately put me on the defensive. I was going to post a comment on his blog, then I was going to slam him here, but I grabbed a coffee, chilled and took some time to think about it. He tried our software, it told him to use a specific type of browser, he didn’t use the browser choices and thus didn’t recommend us. Really, our software should have just worked.Here are the high/low points on the review:He says some nice things about Point2 Homes. It’s a work in progress and I hope people continue to track our success there.Joel doesn’t care for our claim to be “The Most Popular Real Estate Software in the World”. As of this morning, we have just under 93,000 users. While adding 100-200/day, I’m not sure who beats us here, but if someone shows us we’ve overstepped our bounds, I’m sure we’d gladly adjust our slogin to “93,000 Realtors are using us, why aren’t you?”The real kicker however is that he tried to create an account and he received an error on login indicating he needs IE version 5.5 or higher to use Point2 Agent. Since we received zero points from him, I gather he didn’t try to login with a version IE. IE 5.5 is very old now, updates are free and we are several versions past it now. Google Analytics tells us that 99.5% of all IE users are using version 5.5 or higher with 96.78 using version 6. Jay Thompson (one of our favorite members!) commented on the blog that he can successfully use Firefox with Point2 Agent. Indeed you can with the IE plugin. These 2 browsers cover 95.31% of all users visiting Point2. Ok, so there’s part of the justification behind our IE selection. We can make our system universally accessible, but it falls lower on massive list of projects, maintenance issues and feature requests that we receive. We conducted an informal poll of many of our users several months ago and found that while some prefer to use a browser like Firefox, almost everyone also had IE. Moreover, all were willing to use IE 5.5, 6.0 (and now 7) OR get the IE plugin for Firefox when they login to manage their Point2 account. So that’s the other part of our justification.I logged an issue to update that error warning this morning to give more details, be more friendly and provide work arounds links for other browsers.As I stated above, our software should have just worked. So we will be working on compatibility. In my humble opinion, to recommend another product [until Point2 makes its software more accessible] is a little short sighted. We are nearly universal and while Joel was not tempted to dig deeper, our support team almost never hears accessibility issues from our 93,000 members.I also have a couple of notes from comments that were made. I was concerned that a couple criticisms that came out, are actually some of our strengths. Bill Nadraszky commented that all Point2 sites look the same. There is a key distinction here. Point2 provides a tool set but we do not offer custom design services. If you look at most Blogger blogs, you would see a lot of common themes. It’s because the average users will only go so far and there tends to be common preferences. At this stage in our product lifecycle, Point2 Agent is becoming more of a platform and from a template based solution, is the most flexible in the industry. I’ve assembled some links and I think you would agree that these members all look like they are using custom websites. They are in fact using Point2, many with the help of professional designers. The limitation is not in the software, but in the desire of the member.http://www.tararosen.com/http://www.websterkirkwood.com/Home/page_1682688.htmlhttp://www.teamtotrust.com/http://www.prescottlandagent.com/http://www.newportlandhome.com/http://www.vreas.com/http://www.elizabethmcqueen.net/http://www.charlestoncommunities.com/http://www.joannesizemore.com/http://www.yourmidislandrealtor.com/http://www.call-pam.com/http://www.bakersfieldfineliving.com/Lastly to the comments on search engine indexing. It’s important to know that Point2 Agent is the best solution in the industry for gaining exposure in natural and vertical search. We are currently syndicating listings to 9 partners which means that when our members add a listing, they gain instant exposure.While our sites index well for broad search terms, the ultimate rank our members achieve will depend on their own marketing. Broad search terms drive the majority of traffic, but nearly 40% of the traffic we track comes from the long tail of search. We generate a unique URL for each listing and optimize the page for natural search. Search or “lakeview Saskatoon homes for sale” and you will probably find 5-6 unique listings in that local neighborhood. [...]

]]> By: Real Estate Alchemy: Software Product Strengths Not Always Apparent http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/comment-page-1/#comment-558 Real Estate Alchemy: Software Product Strengths Not Always Apparent Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:43:55 +0000 http://futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/#comment-558 <!--%kramer-ref-pre%-->[...] I'm back from the black. Ok, this time I'll really commit to staying current :-(I came across a review of Point2 Agent this morning posted by Joel Burslem. It immediately put me on the defensive. I was going to post a comment on his blog, then I was going to slam him here, but I grabbed a coffee, chilled and took some time to think about it. He tried our software, it told him to use a specific type of browser, he didn't use the browser choices and thus didn't recommend us. Really, our software should have just worked.Here are the high/low points on the review:He says some nice things about Point2 Homes. It's a work in progress and I hope people continue to track our success there.Joel doesn't care for our claim to be "The Most Popular Real Estate Software in the World". As of this morning, we have just under 93,000 users. While adding 100-200/day, I'm not sure who beats us here, but if someone shows us we've overstepped our bounds, I'm sure we'd gladly adjust our slogin to "93,000 Realtors are using us, why aren't you?"The real kicker however is that he tried to create an account and he received an error on login indicating he needs IE version 5.5 or higher to use Point2 Agent. Since we received zero points from him, I gather he didn't try to login with a version IE. IE 5.5 is very old now, updates are free and we are several versions past it now. Google Analytics tells us that 99.5% of all IE users are using version 5.5 or higher with 96.78 using version 6. Jay Thompson (one of our favorite members!) commented on the blog that he can successfully use Firefox with Point2 Agent. Indeed you can with the IE plugin. These 2 browsers cover 95.31% of all users visiting Point2. Ok, so there's part of the justification behind our IE selection. We can make our system universally accessible, but it falls lower on massive list of projects, maintenance issues and feature requests that we receive. We conducted an informal poll of many of our users several months ago and found that while some prefer to use a browser like Firefox, almost everyone also had IE. Moreover, all were willing to use IE 5.5, 6.0 (and now 7) OR get the IE plugin for Firefox when they login to manage their Point2 account. So that's the other part of our justification.I logged an issue to update that error warning this morning to give more details, be more friendly and provide work arounds links for other browsers.As I stated above, our software should have just worked. So we will be working on compatibility. In my humble opinion, to recommend another product [until Point2 makes its software more accessible] is a little short sighted. We are nearly universal and while Joel was not tempted to dig deeper, our support team almost never hears accessibility issues from our 93,000 members.I also have a couple of notes from comments that were made. I was concerned that a couple criticisms that came out, are actually some of our strengths. Bill Nadraszky commented that all Point2 sites look the same. There is a key distinction here. Point2 provides a tool set but we do not offer custom design services. If you look at most Blogger blogs, you would see a lot of common themes. It's because the average users will only go so far and there tends to be common preferences. At this stage in our product lifecycle, Point2 Agent is becoming more of a platform and from a template based solution, is the most flexible in the industry. I've assembled some links and I think you would agree that these members all look like they are using custom websites. They are in fact using Point2, many with the help of professional designers. The limitation is not in the software, but in the desire of the member.http://www.tararosen.com/http://www.websterkirkwood.com/Home/page_1682688.htmlhttp://www.teamtotrust.com/http://www.prescottlandagent.com/http://www.newportlandhome.com/http://www.vreas.com/http://www.elizabethmcqueen.net/http://www.charlestoncommunities.com/http://www.joannesizemore.com/http://www.yourmidislandrealtor.com/http://www.call-pam.com/http://www.bakersfieldfineliving.com/Lastly to the comments on search engine indexing. It's important to know that Point2 Agent is the best solution in the industry for gaining exposure in natural and vertical search. We are currently syndicating listings to 9 partners which means that when our members add a listing, they gain instant exposure.While our sites index well for broad search terms, the ultimate rank our members achieve will depend on their own marketing. Broad search terms drive the majority of traffic, but nearly 40% of the traffic we track comes from the long tail of search. We generate a unique URL for each listing and optimize the page for natural search. Search or "lakeview Saskatoon homes for sale" and you will probably find 5-6 unique listings in that local neighborhood. [...]<!--%kramer-ref-post%--> [...] I’m back from the black. Ok, this time I’ll really commit to staying current :-( I came across a review of Point2 Agent this morning posted by Joel Burslem. It immediately put me on the defensive. I was going to post a comment on his blog, then I was going to slam him here, but I grabbed a coffee, chilled and took some time to think about it. He tried our software, it told him to use a specific type of browser, he didn’t use the browser choices and thus didn’t recommend us. Really, our software should have just worked.Here are the high/low points on the review:He says some nice things about Point2 Homes. It’s a work in progress and I hope people continue to track our success there.Joel doesn’t care for our claim to be “The Most Popular Real Estate Software in the World”. As of this morning, we have just under 93,000 users. While adding 100-200/day, I’m not sure who beats us here, but if someone shows us we’ve overstepped our bounds, I’m sure we’d gladly adjust our slogin to “93,000 Realtors are using us, why aren’t you?”The real kicker however is that he tried to create an account and he received an error on login indicating he needs IE version 5.5 or higher to use Point2 Agent. Since we received zero points from him, I gather he didn’t try to login with a version IE. IE 5.5 is very old now, updates are free and we are several versions past it now. Google Analytics tells us that 99.5% of all IE users are using version 5.5 or higher with 96.78 using version 6. Jay Thompson (one of our favorite members!) commented on the blog that he can successfully use Firefox with Point2 Agent. Indeed you can with the IE plugin. These 2 browsers cover 95.31% of all users visiting Point2. Ok, so there’s part of the justification behind our IE selection. We can make our system universally accessible, but it falls lower on massive list of projects, maintenance issues and feature requests that we receive. We conducted an informal poll of many of our users several months ago and found that while some prefer to use a browser like Firefox, almost everyone also had IE. Moreover, all were willing to use IE 5.5, 6.0 (and now 7) OR get the IE plugin for Firefox when they login to manage their Point2 account. So that’s the other part of our justification.I logged an issue to update that error warning this morning to give more details, be more friendly and provide work arounds links for other browsers.As I stated above, our software should have just worked. So we will be working on compatibility. In my humble opinion, to recommend another product [until Point2 makes its software more accessible] is a little short sighted. We are nearly universal and while Joel was not tempted to dig deeper, our support team almost never hears accessibility issues from our 93,000 members.I also have a couple of notes from comments that were made. I was concerned that a couple criticisms that came out, are actually some of our strengths. Bill Nadraszky commented that all Point2 sites look the same. There is a key distinction here. Point2 provides a tool set but we do not offer custom design services. If you look at most Blogger blogs, you would see a lot of common themes. It’s because the average users will only go so far and there tends to be common preferences. At this stage in our product lifecycle, Point2 Agent is becoming more of a platform and from a template based solution, is the most flexible in the industry. I’ve assembled some links and I think you would agree that these members all look like they are using custom websites. They are in fact using Point2, many with the help of professional designers. The limitation is not in the software, but in the desire of the member.http://www.tararosen.com/http://www.websterkirkwood.com/Home/page_1682688.htmlhttp://www.teamtotrust.com/http://www.prescottlandagent.com/http://www.newportlandhome.com/http://www.vreas.com/http://www.elizabethmcqueen.net/http://www.charlestoncommunities.com/http://www.joannesizemore.com/http://www.yourmidislandrealtor.com/http://www.call-pam.com/http://www.bakersfieldfineliving.com/Lastly to the comments on search engine indexing. It’s important to know that Point2 Agent is the best solution in the industry for gaining exposure in natural and vertical search. We are currently syndicating listings to 9 partners which means that when our members add a listing, they gain instant exposure.While our sites index well for broad search terms, the ultimate rank our members achieve will depend on their own marketing. Broad search terms drive the majority of traffic, but nearly 40% of the traffic we track comes from the long tail of search. We generate a unique URL for each listing and optimize the page for natural search. Search or “lakeview Saskatoon homes for sale” and you will probably find 5-6 unique listings in that local neighborhood. [...]

]]> By: Kalpa http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/comment-page-1/#comment-380 Kalpa Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:19:01 +0000 http://futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/#comment-380 Hi again. Just got here from your old site. This new design you have here looks clean & sharp (read smart!) Congratulations. :) About Point2Agent, I was kind of impressed by all their capabilities initially but then, like Bill Nadraszky says, they tend to all look alike. Haven't actually tried them though. Talking of new website designing, I'm anxiously waiting for ours to be revamped for look and feel. Well, thank you for all the information your site provides. Hi again. Just got here from your old site. This new design you have here looks clean & sharp (read smart!) Congratulations. :)
About Point2Agent, I was kind of impressed by all their capabilities initially but then, like Bill Nadraszky says, they tend to all look alike. Haven’t actually tried them though. Talking of new website designing, I’m anxiously waiting for ours to be revamped for look and feel. Well, thank you for all the information your site provides.

]]> By: Jay T. http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/comment-page-1/#comment-367 Jay T. Mon, 28 Aug 2006 08:19:30 +0000 http://futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/#comment-367 Bill N. wrote: "I am not sure if these sites are any good for most Realtors as they seem to rank poorly in the search engines because of the template driven design that they have." My Point2 site ranks very well in Google. But I've spent a LOT of time on it. Joel wrote: "especially since there are much better alternatives on the market." Such as... (other than Ubertor. Not that there is anything wrong with Ubertor) P2A sites display fine in all browsers. Personally, I'd rather have them focus their efforts on adding features for the end user rather than working on the back end. I despise IE, but with the FF IETab extension, I can edit my P2 site just fine with Firefox. Bill N. wrote: “I am not sure if these sites are any good for most Realtors as they seem to rank poorly in the search engines because of the template driven design that they have.”

My Point2 site ranks very well in Google. But I’ve spent a LOT of time on it.

Joel wrote: “especially since there are much better alternatives on the market.”

Such as… (other than Ubertor. Not that there is anything wrong with Ubertor)

P2A sites display fine in all browsers. Personally, I’d rather have them focus their efforts on adding features for the end user rather than working on the back end. I despise IE, but with the FF IETab extension, I can edit my P2 site just fine with Firefox.

]]> By: Joel Burslem http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/comment-page-1/#comment-353 Joel Burslem Fri, 25 Aug 2006 20:20:08 +0000 http://futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/#comment-353 I have the IE plugin for Firefox, but my point is I shouldn't have to. As Jason points out it's Point2 that should update its code. I would argue it's sloppy not to and that it turns off any power users from using their product, especially since there are much better alternatives on the market. I have the IE plugin for Firefox, but my point is I shouldn’t have to. As Jason points out it’s Point2 that should update its code. I would argue it’s sloppy not to and that it turns off any power users from using their product, especially since there are much better alternatives on the market.

]]> By: Justin http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/comment-page-1/#comment-346 Justin Fri, 25 Aug 2006 15:57:04 +0000 http://futureofrealestatemarketing.com/dont-get-on-the-net-point2com/#comment-346 Dude, you need to get the ie plugin for firefox. Dude, you need to get the ie plugin for firefox.

]]>