Expanded InterNACHI Integration

If you haven’t done so yet, make sure you go to “Settings” and log in with your InterNACHI account:

Logging in will get you access to a ton of InterNACHI members-only features.  These include an expanded selection of pre-built content, such as InterNACHI’s web seals:

And InterNACHI content:

And speaking of InterNACHI content, we’ve expanded the selection immensely (and will continue adding more!):

Now, each time you add InterNACHI content, you’ll see a place holder that looks like this:

When you publish your page and view it on your site, the place holder will automatically be replaced with the latest version of that article.  That way you never have to worry about keeping an article up to date.  As we revise articles and add new content, your site will automatically get those updates!

A New Logo

You might also have noticed that InspectorPages is getting a new logo.  We haven’t updated the main site yet, but you’ll start to see it around:

 Better Image Uploads

With version 3.3 we’re introducing much better image upload capabilities.  You just click the “Add Picture” button above the editor, and you’re shown a simpler uploader:

And as you can see, the new uploader supports drag and drop (if your browser supports it), so you can just drop the images you want to upload right on to the uploader.

Updated Admin Interface

We’ve upgraded the admin interface with a bunch of new features:

• A responsive design that better adjusts to screen size.  This means that you can now edit your site from an iPad or other tablet with much more ease.
• New menus that make it easier to navigate the site.  Just hover over a menu and it shows you all the options without having to click on it.
• New toolbar with quick links to important features.
• “Pointers” that will explain features to you the first time you use them (this is a brand-new tool, and we’ve only added them in a few places—expect a bunch more in the near future).
• Better co-editing, so if you work with other people on your site, you’ll run into less conflicts (if you’re both trying to edit the same page).

Faster Code

We’ve also upgraded the underlying code to make it leaner and faster.  You’ll notice that pages load a little faster, and editing them is quicker, too.  These upgrades are just the start, though.  We’re constantly improving InspectorPages, and expect even more improvements soon!

We hope you enjoy the updates.  We tested them thoroughly before releasing them, but with big updates like this it’s always hard to catch every tiny bug, so please contact support if you notice anything that seems wrong to you.

We already had a few shortcodes, but we’ve added more and integrated them better.  This update also opens the door for a lot more shortcodes in the future.

Enjoy!

QR codes (short for Quick Response codes) are those weird square bar codes you’ve been seeing more and more of.  They look something like this:

They’re great for print advertising, because they make it really simple for your potential clients with smartphones to get to your site.  All they have to do is scan the code with their phone, and it’ll automatically load (without them having to type anything).

Now InspectorPages automatically generates a QR code for each page and post on your site, as well as one for your home page.  Here’s what that looks like on your dashboard:

This is what you'll see on your InspectorPages dashboard.

And here’s what it looks like on your posts and pages:

This is what you'll see when you're editing a post or a page.

This new feature is available immediately to all InspectorPages customers. Just log in and you’ll see it on your dashboard and on the page editor.  Enjoy!

Once the update is done we will be focusing on a new batch of ‘how-to’ videos and other help documentation such as FAQs, a support site, etc.

Update: Video Overview

With our new dual-caching technology plus our CDN service, InspectorPages is the fastest web site host available for home inspectors.  And don’t forget: Google is now using page speed as a ranking factor, so the faster your site is, the higher it will rank in Google.

1. You no longer have to sign up for free accounts.  All InterNACHI members automatically have free InspectorPages.com accounts.  All you have to do is go to http://inspectorpages.com/yourusername (replace “yourusername” with your InterNACHI members-only username) and you’re good to go.
2. If you have an existing website, your InspectorPages URL will automatically redirect to your current website.  To understand the reasoning behind this decision, take a look at the InterNACHI blog post SEO and the Inspection Industry and check out a recent discussion about our Choosing a Domain Name blog post.

These changes should help ensure that those InterNACHI members without websites have them, and those with websites don’t dilute their existing site’s ranking by having multiple websites fighting for the same search placement.

And remember, if you have a DIY account, we just upgraded your storage limit from 50 MB to 1 GB.

A lot of the time, finding new links is about getting creative about where to look.  SEER interactive recently posted a great article focusing on a bunch of places to find local links that you probably haven’t though of.  A lot of these involve sponsoring local organizations/events, so you get the added benefit of knowing you’re benefiting your local community at the same time (and your company will get major karma/goodwill).

Check out the full list at 35 Local Link Opportunities You Missed.

1. Should I pick a domain name based on the keywords I’m optimizing for (SEO)?  Or should I pick a domain name based on my company name (branding)?
2. How should I format my domain?  Short or long?  Hyphens or no? .COM or .INFO?

Both are really good questions, and there are lots of opinions about all the issues they touch on.  So I’m going to preface the rest of this article with a little warning: This article is based on our experience and opinion.  Other experts may disagree, and heck, they may be right.  Search engines change every day, so what’s right today may not be right tomorrow.

OK, now that that’s out of the way, let’s start answering questions.  Let’s start with question #1—what to focus on when choosing a domain name.  Well, we say: Why not have your cake and eat it too?  For most home inspection businesses, we recommend buying at least two domains.  The first should be a short, easy-to-remember domain that jives with your branding.  It can be as simple as your company name, or can by more playful/unique if that’s part of your marketing.  What’s most important is that it’s straightforward, and not too hard to communicate over the phone.  For example, if your company name were “Superior Inspection Professionals” you might opt for ChooseSIP.com as your domain name.  If your company name were “Luau Inspections,” you could choose something fun, like DancingInspector.com.  Both names are easy to communicate, memorable, and match the company’s branding.

Once you’ve picked your branded domain name, you should pick an SEO-oriented domain name.  The best bet here is to use some variation of the city that you perform the most inspections in, and then “home inspector” or “home inspection,” or whatever term is used most in your area.  Selecting the right keywords is a whole topic on its own, but a quick tip is to use the Google Adwords Keyword Tool to do some keyword research.  Once you’ve decided on the keywords, search for a domain that matches best.  You probably will have to get a little creative here, because a lot of the best domains are taken.  Ideally, you’d pick something like philadelphiahomeinspector.com, but you just have to work with what’s available.

That brings us to question #2—formatting the domain name.  As a rule of thumb, shorter is better, but that’s less important for the SEO-oriented domain (I’ll explain why later).  Hyphenating the domain doesn’t help or hurt (Google knows that pennsylvaniahomeinspector.org is “Pennsylvania home inspector”).  But it’s generally a bad idea to buy a hyphenated name when the un-hyphenated name is taken (so, with the same example, you probably wouldn’t want to buy pennsylvania-home-inspector.org when pennsylvaniahomeinspector.org is already taken).  Usually, you want to keep hyphens out of your branded domain because it’s hard to explain them over the phone, but they’re fine for your SEO domain.

As for .COM vs .INFO—again, it depends on the context.  .COM is generally the best top-level domain (TLD) for business.  You should try to get the .COM domain for your branded domain.  Again, it’s easier to communicate over the phone, and it’s generally more trusted (unless you’re outside of the U.S., in which case .CA or .CO.UK/etc might be more appropriate).  When you’re choosing your SEO domain, the TLD is less important (I’ll explain why in a minute).

OK, got both your domain names picked?  Before we continue, go buy them (you can use our discount at Go Daddy, if you’d like).

Now, here’s what you want to do.  In all printed material, and when talking about your website in person or on the phone, use your branded domain.  Print it on your business cards and brochures, and anywhere else that’s NOT electronic.  You want to set this domain up as a secondary domain that redirects to your primary domain (which we’ll discuss next) using a 301 redirect (302 is OK, but 301 is better).  Don’t understand that?  That’s OK—if you’re an InspectorPages client, you don’t have to worry about it.  Just set up the domain using the “Domain Mapping” option under “Tools,” and you’re all set.

Now, add your SEO-optimized domain and set it as your primary domain name.  This is what should show up in the URL bar when someone comes to your site.  You want to use this domain everywhere online: in your email signature, in link exchanges, on message boards, etc.

By setting your domains up like this, you get the best of both worlds.  You get a great, easy-to-communicate domain name to use when promoting yourself offline, and an optimized domain to use when promoting yourself online.  Offline, people have to re-type URLs (and ChooseSIP.com is easier to remember and to type than philadelphia-home-inspections.net), but online, people only click links, so it doesn’t matter how long or complicated the domain is.  And because search engines only see your SEO-optimized domain (because it’s the only one you use online) you get all the benefits of having keywords in your URL (which, at the end of 2010, at least, is an important factor in search ranking).

Hope that clears things up a little.  Again, feel free to take advantage of the domain discounts we get from Go Daddy.  And feel free to contact us if you have any other questions about picking a domain name.