There are 3 major sections of the Listing Entry page.
You access it from the Listings section of the menu at your top left.
First Section: Listing Description Entry
This is the first section you encounter after you select “Add New” from the Listings sub menu.
Let’s act as if we’re entering a new property listing in this tutorial so we’ll know what we need to enter in order for the page to appear how we want when it’s published.
Section 1 is where the page title appears. This is the headline that people see when they arrive on the page in a web browser. The headline should tell visitors what this page is about so they’ll know they’re in the right place.
Here’s how your page title should be written:
114th Rd Single Family House For Sale in Cambria Heights DLR4037
The page title tells visitors:
- the location (114th Road)
- property type (single family house)
- its availability (for sale)
- neighborhood (Cambria Heights)
- company reference number (DLR4037)
Section 2 is where your listing information gets formatted to display details visitors to the web page want to know first. It’s here that we use regular text, short codes and image galleries to make the web page look like this.
Here is the standard short code formatting you’ll use.
Text you see enclosed around <h3> tags are the sub titles appearing above listing information. The text you see enclosed in [ ] brackets are the short codes that are programmed to find the information from the website’s database for this page and show it here.
Information you’ll enter in another section, such as listing details, maps, photos and appointment request form, in this listing entry will render where you tell it to using short codes.
The only way to enter this information is to click on the “Text” tab at the top right of section 2. Once you’ve done that, it will format that how the content will appear on the “Visual” tab. And you’ll continue to work in the visual tab afterwards.
Once you’ve enter the short codes in “Text” view, click back over to the “Visual” tab view and click to put the cursor after the “Here’s what it offers you” sub title. It’s here where you’ll type in the listing’s description. Make sure you break it up into 2-3 sentence paragraphs so it’s easy for visitors to read.
special note: the sections where you create a photo gallery and select a form for people to use to request an appointment will be covered separately from this tutorial.
Second Section: Listing details
This section of the Listing Entry page is pretty straight forward, as you’ll see when you view the screen shot below:
Section 1 is used for descriptive text that appears on a ribbon in the top right corner of the featured image on the home page. The kind of text you’ll enter here can be “Open House 3/21” or “New To Market” or “Just Listed”. Your only limitation is length of message. Try to keep it to a maximum 3 words.
Section 2 is your list price. Always place the $ in front of your price and make sure you use commas to separate hundreds where necessary. However, never use a decimal point or enter cents in the list price field.
Section 3 is where you’ll enter the street address of the listing
Section 4 is where you’ll enter the Neighborhood the listing is in
Section 5 is where you’ll enter the state abbreviated (i.e., NY) instead of the full name
Section 6 is where you’ll enter the zip code that the property is located in
Section 7 is where you’ll enter either the MLS listing reference number of the DLR reference number issued
Section 8 is where you’ll enter the square footage contained inside the property offered
Section 9 is where you’ll enter the total number of bedrooms inside the property offered
Section 10 is where you’ll enter the total number of bathrooms inside the property offered
Section 11 can either remain blank or indicate what condition the basement is in (i.e., finished, unfinished, etc…)
Section 12 is where you’ll enter the embed code from google maps
special note: the section where you’ll need to enter the embed code for a map to appear on the page will be done in a separate tutorial with step by step instructions.
Third Section: Listing Page SEO
This section is extremely important because the information you enter here affects how the page is indexed by search engines (i.e., Google, Bing, Yahoo).
People who use search engines to find real estate will use words that are associated with
- accommodations (i.e., bedrooms)
- neighborhood (i.e., Laurelton)
- property type (i.e., single family, tudor, condo, apartment, etc…)
- and sometimes geographic markers (address, landmark, venue, etc…)
Your goal is to use words that people use when searching online that tell search engines you have what they’re looking for. And you put that text in this section of the Listing Entry page:
Section 1 is where you’ll enter the title of the page that search engines show people using the same words.
Here’s the outline you’ll follow: 114th Road Tudor House For Sale in Cambria Heights DLR4037
The above SEO title tells visitors who see the link in the results returned by a search engine …
- location (114th road)
- property style (tudor)
- whats being offered (house for sale)
- neighborhood (Cambria Heights)
- listing reference (DLR4037) * (its suggested that a special reference number be used in the title in order for search engines to make a distinction from other listings that will use the same words in their title)
You’ll have instances where their isn’t a property style you could use in the title (this happens more with apartments than property) in which case you should insert the property type in place of its style.
Section 2 is where you’ll enter a brief description about the property being offered and a call to action. The typical search engine result will only show 165 characters, so it’s here that we choose our words wisely. We don’t want to use unnecessary words that don’t help encourage the searcher to click on the link and visit the page.
Here’s the outline you’ll follow: Live in Cambria Heights: Single Family Tudor Style House for Sale at 112-43 114th Road Web ID DLR4037 – click link for appt or call (718) 264-3018
Following the above outline guarantees the full text will be seen (since its under 165 characters long) and gives a call to action at the beginning and end …
- Live in Cambria Heights
- click here for appt or call (718) 264-3018
Section 3 is where a keyword would usually be entered. Keywords were how search engines knew what a page was about. Today, search engines don’t use them to learn about a page. However, it’s always smart to use this section to enter the address of the property listing. The reason why is because the address is a searchable phrase and it confirms to search engines that this page is about a property.
Here’s what you would enter using the property listing example: 112-43 114th road cambria heights ny 11413
Always enter keywords in lower case letters because capitalization will get ignored by search engines and we want every signal we can give it so it can be found at the top of anyone’s search results that are interested in what the page is about.
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This concludes this section of the tutorial on the Listing Entry Page.
We’re 90% done with what you’ll need to enter on this page when adding a new listing to the website. Here are the remainder of the details we’ll need to go over to complete this process:
- what is the right size images to use in a listing
- how should I format the permalink for a listing page
- how to create a listing photo gallery
- how to select an appointment request form
- how do you select a featured image
- how do you embed a map inside a listing page
We’ll cover these subjects next so you can get up and running. Remember to refer back to this page as often as necessary. It is the most current and best guide needed to walk you through the listing entry process inside dlucasrealty.com.
