IRED.COM, Inc
Corporate Office
1018 Riverside Dr
Grapevine, TX 76051


817/481-4677 Bus
817/488-3693 Fax
817/481-4677 Sales


Attitude & News Home

Directories
  Int'l Realty
  US Realty

1A.Getting listed in IRED is as simple as completing the appropriate form and paying a nominal fee for maintenance.

In the Subject line type just the State, Country, or Category.
In the body of the post include your URL in the format

http://domain.com/directory/file.name

2Q.How much does it cost to be listed in the IRED Directory?

2A.A Basic Link has a processing fee of $25 (maintenance for 1 year). Link information includes the URL, Agent Name, Company, and location. [If you have a link on your web-site to IRED.COM and send an email to jim@ired.com with instruction on how that link is found, then the new Basic Link duration will be extended for a second year.]

Enhanced links are available starting at $150 per year.

3Q.What if I want a graphic and a description of my pages on the IRED Directory?

3A.IRED is now accepting graphic ads. Contact for advertising rates.

4Q.I want IRED to add a line describing my services.

4A.Additional lines of text can be provided for Boldface Enhanced Links. Contact for enhancement pricing and details.

5Q.How can I establish links to other real estate sites in my state?

5A.I suggest that you look up each of the sites listed on the page for your state:
/dir/usa/XX.htm(where XX is the two letter abbreviation for your state) and write to the Webmasters asking for reciprocal links. You have a much better chance if you send your link in a form that can be cut and pasted without any effort; for example:

<a href="/">The International Real Estate Digest^tm; The Single Source for Independent Real Estate Information.</a><br>

6Q.How can I balance interesting graphics with efficient speed?

6A.It doesn't matter that you have great pictures, or what the finished effect will be, if no one sticks around to view them Most potential customers simply will not wait for a long download! The stop button is made just for that purpose.
Once you have hooked the viewer to browse your site, you might get by with a larger download if you first warn them (e.g., file size=50K), and let them decide whether or not to wait (photo-stamp preview links are great for this) and if it is genuinely worth it for them. There are thousands of competitors who are accessible without long waits.
Empathy is a better salesman than glitz and glitter. We recommend graphic files of under 20K unless you offer an option to viewers not to load the file, and information about what to expect.

7Q.What can I do to make graphics load faster?

7A.First, be sure your graphic is no larger than it needs to be. Don't use full screen graphics or 3x4 photos of the agent. Reduce the photo to a reasonable size first. This usually means reduce the number of colors, but there are other techniques also.

Second, convert the file to a format that maximizes compression. For color photos this is usually JPEG, but for most files GIF is smaller and newer compression methods are being developed. Gif Wizard will optimize your gifs online, even the animated gifs. Try it!

Third, ALWAYS use height and width tags on all image files.

E.g., <IMG width=16 height=16 SRC="/pix/i/home.gif" alt="House Icon">

8Q.My page looks great on my computer, but on my friend's screen the colors are different and some of the text runs off the screen.

8A.Always assume your viewer will have a screen resolution of 640 by 480 so that information does not get lost off the screen to the right. (Automatic wrapping will take screen size into consideration). Remember you can't control the appearance of your sites on other browsers, so don't offend large portions of the market by making your site incompatible with their equipment. Different browsers sometimes display colors differently, too.We don't like the browser wars, but for now we have to deal with their limitations.

9Q.All my friends say my Web Page looks great, but IRED gave it a low rating. Why?

9A.Lots of pages may look good at first glance, but they have no content. IRED rates pages from the perspective of someone who is seriously seeking real estate information. Usually these seekers are potential customers for you. We know that with thousands of pages available at the click of a mouse you have only a few seconds to make a good impression. Wouldn't you rather know what your customers are seeing and thinking than being insincerely flattered? If you feel we really made a mistake, or you have made improvements, we will re-evaluate on request.

10Q.I made changes to my page. How can I get a better rating?

10A.Email to is all it takes to get a review, but the rating will depend on what we find when we get there.

11Q.My sites all have listings, and are all searchable databases, and have a consistent look to make it easy for users to navigate. You complain that they are templates. Of course they are! Why can't I get better ratings from IRED?

11A. Our IRED reviewers agree that your sites are pleasant individually, but boring in total. Every company and agent look alike, and the search mechanism is one of the more annoying one-step-at-a-time types which few consumers will actually use. Then to top it off, once you have managed to annoy your customer, the potential buyer (or reviewer) such vital information as taxes and schools are deemed not important and if I need to know I must contact the agent. Not on your life. Either provide the information or make no refererence to it, but don't make decisions on behalf of a consumer.

The basis of real estate is informed consent not conformed assent. The same might be said of web site development.

12Q.My site has more listings than other sites you rate as excellent or hot. How does IRED rate sites?

12A. The purpose of IRED is to aid consumers in finding what they are looking for, quickly and efficiently, without their having to spend time they do not have, or cannot afford, viewing the thousands of real estate (or non-real estate) sites while they only want to find a 3-2-2 in Oceanside, Ca, for a price they can afford and with the amenities and size necessary to house their family.

IRED does not rate sites according to purpose, or future plans, but according to what we perceive to be usefulness to the average user.

We look for usability and content first. If what one is looking for is an agent in Minot, ND he won't care that IRED declared this site to be not ready for business, you just want him to know how to find it. If, however, one is seeking information about lifestyles and educational opportunities in ND, or tax rates, or the relative cost of living, he may not want to be distracted by a mere billboard which provides none of that information.

13Q.I have pages for other states. Would you please list my site under each one of those states?

13A.We had to remove the separate state by state/ country by country references to sites with national and international information simply because there are too many.

There is an exception for paid expanded listings, simply because my financial manager insists that if we work 18 hours a day we ought to be able to pay our bills. We grudgingly accept that infringement on our personal sense of integrity, and paid (bold-faced) links are not restricted.

14Q.I used your search engine to find my link and it was not there. Why not?

14A.We use the Glimpse search engine. Perhaps we have misspelled your site name. Try searching by your URL or a portion of your site name.

15Q.Are you, or someone on your staff available to speak to our local group about Web marketing?

15A.Yes. Call for rates and scheduling. 817/481-4677 or

16Q.I have added frames and animation to my page. How do you like it now?

16A.Rarely do frames or animation add anything useful to a real estate site. Consider your audience. Do your frames make your site more informative? Are they worth sacrificing customers who may not be able to view them, or who do not know how to navigate frames? Do your animations distract from your message? Do you have more than one animation?

17Q.Is IRED a licensed broker?

17A No, IRED is not a broker and does not broker real estate. However, Becky Swann, a principal in IRED.Com, Inc., publisher of IRED, is a licensee in the state of Texas #TX 0385770. Jim Swann is licensed in the state of Texas #TX- 0428048 Their broker is Marion Zygadlo, #TX-0380278

18Q.Does IRED accept referral fees?

18A IRED is a publication, and as such sells advertising. Some advertisers are licensed brokers who broker referrals. Such brokers identify themselves by their license information in their respective states and on their own web sites. IRED does not accept referral fees and does not participate in transactions. Jim and Becky Swann, within their local venue, unassociated with the publication of IRED do accept personal referral fees where they personally are involved in a transaction. This is rare as neither is currently in active practice, and has no connection with IRED or the Internet.

19Q.Who and where is IRED?

19A Principals in IRED.Com, Inc. are Becky Swann, Grapevine, TX; and Jim Swann, Grapevine, TX . IRED.Com, Inc. is a TX corporation, but in fact it is a virtual corporation with employees and contractors from Vermont to California, Washington to Texas and points in between.