Real Estate Optimization Template User Manual
Login Page
The first thing you will see when you load up the Real Estate Optimization Template Software (REO) is a prompt asking you to enter your User Login and Password. This will only ever prompt you the first time you run the software as it will automatically save this information for the next time the software it started. This Login Information is provided to you by the REO Administrator and can not be changed. As this application is solely Internet based, you will need to be connected to the Internet in order to continue.
Security Issues
This software uses both FTP and MySQL TCP/IP protocols to communicate over the Internet. If you have any firewalls or security software installed on your system you may need to open up ports 21 and 3306 to allow for server communication.
Pages
Once you have successfully logged into the system you will be defaulted to the Pages menu, this is what you will use to manage your websites pages.
Step 1 – Add or Edit?
To create a new page click on the button to go to Step 2 and you will be prompted to start entering the detailed page information. To edit and existing page you may select it from the drop down menu provided. If you want to remove a page you may do it from this menu as well, but keep in mind that once you remove a page there is no undoing that action.
Step 2 – Meta Content
HTML Title
This is very important for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of your individual pages. Try to include a meaningful title that embeds your targeted keywords for that page.
Meta Description
This can also be used for SEO purposes for the smaller search engines, although does not carry nearly as much weight as the title. Place a unique description for each page for optimum results.
Meta Keywords
Similar to Meta description, but used to store keywords that are relevant to this page. Typically you write them like: keyword1, keyword2, keyword3, keyword4, etc.
Step 3 – Page Info
Link Name
This box is where you would enter the name of the link displayed on the navigation menu of your website. If you do not wish to display a link on the navigation menu then you can check the “Don’t Show Link” checkbox. Typically you would use this option if you are creating a page that is to be linked to internally. Do not confuse this option with a sub page as a sub page link is still displayed in the navigation menu.
Page File Name
Setting the page file name is used for SEO purposes. Since the search engines give some weight to the filename of the page you may wish to name the file according to a keyword you are targeting. For example, if you are targeting “Arizona Pools” for the page you are creating, it would help to name the file “Arizona-Pools”. Note that you do not need to include a file extension unless you are creating and external link (explained next).
Internal / Eternal Link Name & Target
There are two types of links you can create on the navigation menu, Internal and External. An internal link is referred to as any link that is pointing inside the website whereas an external link is a link pointing outside the website. If you are creating an internal link you need not fill out the <a> Name and <a> Target section of this page, as they are automatically defaulted by the software. If you are creating an external link these options must be entered and the External Link checkbox must be checked. Also, external links must have the full website URL entered in the Page File Name box. An example of this would be creating a link to Microsoft. In the case you would put the file name as “http://www.microsoft.com” and select the External Link checkbox. You will notice the <a> Name and <a> Target are pre-populated and you do not need to change these unless you need to further modify the link parameters.
Section Title
At the top left hand corner of every page there is a title displayed. This box is where you would enter that title.
Step 4 – Page Content
This is where you would enter the main content of your page. You will notice a HTML editor is provided for you convenience and while we will not go through every option of the editor, it functions very similar to Microsoft Word so it is pretty straightforward. You would also insert your pictures into the editor using the Insert Image option provided within. It is important to note that we do not recommend creating the document in a program like Microsoft Word and then copying it over to the editor and there could be a lot of HTML problems associated with that method, especially when it comes to images.
Step 5 – Page Footer
This page is where you would enter all your footer text and functions identically to the Page Content page. The only difference between the Page Content and Page Footer page is two additional options that are provided.
Set as Global Footer
This option allows you to create one footer and have every page use it as the default. You can only have one global footer per site and if you set Page A to global footer than later set Page B to global footer, Page A will be reset to normal.
Exempt from Global Footer
The option will exclude the page from the Global Footer rule, meaning that the footer defined for this page will be displayed regardless of whether global footer is enabled.
Step 6 – Page Options
This is the final step of creating a page and will allow you to set page specific options for the navigation menu.
Exempt from Global Footer
If you want a page to be displayed as a sub-page then you must first create the parent page and then select that parent from the drop down menu.
Page Position
This option will allow you to specify the navigation menu position in ascending order. For example, if you set the position for your page to be “1” and all other page positions are greater than “1” then your page will be first in the list (typically used for Home pages). You can use any value from 0 to 9999.
Listings
This portion of the software will help you create specific house listings for your potential clients to see. Consider it similar to a MLS where you can upload pictures of your property and give your clients all the necessary information to prompt them to call you for a quote.
Step 1 – Add or Edit?
Similar to the pages menu, this listing menu has a Step by Step procedure to create your house listings. The first step is to decide whether you are creating a new listing or editing and existing one, and this can be done from this menu.
Step 2 – Listing Info
This is where you enter all the relevant listing information.
House Type
The House Type is a category for the type of houses used in your area. An example could be a Loft, Condo, Townhouse, etc. If there is a category that you would like to add then you can do so by typing it in and clicking the “Add” button.
Address, City
This is the address of the house you are looking to advertise.
Headline
This is the headline used to promote the house in the online listings and will be one of the first things a user sees.
Meta Keywords
If you are wanting to set certain HTML Meta Keywords on the listing details page then you would enter them in a comma separated list here.
Bedrooms, Baths, Square Feet, Price
More information about the house will be listed here. Although these are not mandatory, they are highly recommended.
MLS ID
This is a unique numeral ID you assign to the house and can be used to search for the listings on the website.
Featured Item, Sold
These checkmarks are used to dictate the status of the house in the listings online.
Step 3 – Listing Content
Similar to entering page content, you would enter your listing content here. This content will be displayed on the listing portion of the website.
Step 4 – Listing Pictures
This is where you will have the chance to upload any pictures you may have of the property. The main picture is the image displayed when the user first sees the house and the next six pictures are the ones viewed when a user drills down into the listing details. Please note that these images are uploaded as-is to the website so they should already be optimized before you use them in order to increase download rates for the user.
Styles
The styles portion of the software allows you to dynamically set the font settings throughout the website.
Page Banner
If you want to customize your own banner for the top of the page then ensure you make the dimensions of the image as Width=749xHeight=208.
Section Title Configuration
In this configuration menu you would specify the font color, family, and size of the text displayed in the Section Title at the top left hand corner of your pages.
Left Hand Menu Configuration
In this configuration menu you would specify the font color, family, and size of the text displayed in the Navigation Menu on your pages.
Tag Configuration
In this configuration menu you would specify the font color, family, and size of the HTML tags used in the text displayed on your website. These tags would be specified by yourself using HTML code when you write your content.
Footer Configuration
In this configuration menu you would specify the font color, family, and size of the footer text displayed on your website.
The email tab on this software allows you to specify which email addresses you would like to use to receive email at when a user contacts you either through the quick contact form or through any form submitted on the website. You may add as many email addresses as you like.
Stats
The stats tabs of the website provide you with up to date (every 24 hours) stats on your website using the latest AWSTATS software. You can view everything from traffic patterns to how visitors are arriving at your website, what search terms they are using, etc.