What I do is after installing the Diverse Solutions plugin called dsIDXpress, I then add the IDX+ plugin (only now being released publicly).  You would be AMAZED at what’s possible.  It adds a ton of functionality and SEO.  Yeah you need to still build a great theme conducive to real estate, default 2011 won’t exactly cut it lol.

If you want to build a real estate website with Forced Registration (or even suggested), set the number of views before registering, display RELATED PROPERTIES after a home search, give users the ability to SAVE searches, listings, give the agent valuable user data, have a GALLERY view of search results instead of just a list, customize the login screens and LITERALLY over a hundred seo options and customizations and turn a WordPress real estate site into a true competitor – then get IDX+. I swear by it, and the big real estate SEO’s out there trust me, you can too lol. (Check their opinions if you don’t .

Normally you would have to pay the big vendors MANY thousands of dollars and host it with them at huge costs. Normally you would need to pay for every little thing that WordPress users can already do themselves but NO MORE.  Just a plug-in will give you everything you need to build a winning real estate website, for a fraction the cost and with total freedom in the future.

Yeah – my real estate website company will build you a killer site, but without IDX+ it would still look fantastic, but that’s it.  It would get all the traffic in the world but my clients need leads.  Check them out if you want to build your own or let me know and I’ll certainly help out.  You can sample one at GreaterBethesdaOnline.com – do some searches and see how the Forced Registration will pop up.  Even better, register and see how we build around the extra functionality to create a control panel for users with saved searches and listing.

Below are some shots of the user side of the the above site, but check out the plugin site to learn more about the user data collection (that helps with leads guys:) and details of all the features you can finally build into the site.  I’ll build you a killer site, but thought I’d let you know WHY it’s killer.

This enhancement has been added to the iKnox products.  It’s seamless and there’s not one thing you need to do to configure it.

When your project is viewed within Safari on the iPhone, a bubble drops in to tell the user how to add the web app to their home screen.  Once it’s added the teaser doesn’t come back.   This is good, becasue some people don’t know how to do it or don’t realize that some mobile sites are app enabled on iPhones. (It’s also a good nag so people actually do it, hence use your site more often).

The icon is pulled from the exact same image you use as your main icon too., see?  No configuration needed.  iKnox is the quickest method to build fluid mobile sites easily!  If you can use WordPress, you can create a great mobile project.

All past buyers of iKnox 2 will be sent an email with a secure link to download the update for free.  The update also includes a bug fix where menu gloss was not always being applied.

You can keep updated when there are upgrades by following the FaceBook page.

The great thing about it is that they look fantastic on all modern smartphones, not just iPhones.  “Never shun a customer” is what we say, and what we’re providing.

Anyone who has used WordPress to create a website already knows how to build an iphone app enabled site.  Install our theme and plugin and it’s all ready.  The “how to” menu has a couple movie tutorials to show you how to structure your menus and content, even including widgets.

Branding is easy by either uploading images or selecting colors for the toolbars and backgrounds, and there are even several pre-set color schemes to start from.

Knoxing is always an email away if you need a little help or have some questions.  Let us know what you create, we’d love to see your mobile presence!

Have you ever wanted an App enabled mobile site but don’t know how to build one? The truth is that if you can use WordPress, you’re already an expert.

Do you want it to FEEL native and fluid?

Do you want to manage not just the content but all the menu items as well?

Do you want to style and brand it yourself without ever needing a webmaster?

Do you want to be able to make deep menu systems with fluid horizontal scrolling?

Do you want to manage media without worrying about sizes and mobile capability?

Do you want the ability to interlink it with other mobile apps natively with easy buttons within the editor?

Would you like your mobile site to be App enabled for iPhones but also offer the same site to Android users?

Let’s face it. You COULD just use a plugin to re-render a WordPress blog to fit on the mobile screen. OR you could use the iKnox 2.0 Theme that takes you into the native fluid realm that iPhone and android users expect while giving you complete control over style and content.

Some systems offer a “brandable” solution with limited capability. iKnox isn’t branded TO you, it IS you. And as your desire for the content to go through some changes, you can update it at anytime.

iKnox isn’t simply a theme or iPhone template, it’s a framework that joins Ajax, WordPress and awesomeness into a user experience your visitors want while making you look like a genius.

1. You will be able to design your menu systems as deep as you’d like, build content and even use widgets.

2. You can style the way you want as well, using either a color-picker for the background and toolbars (gloss and highlights will be added automatically) or upload your own image.

3. You can upload your own banner that will be presented under the toolbar.

4. There are now over a dozen pre-set styles to start from if you have a lack of creativity.

5. We’ve added shortcode buttons to the WordPress editor so you can add mobile specific links like tap-to-call, email, Twitter and to the Google Maps App.

You can do ALL OF THIS without ever writing a line of code – it’s all within WordPress.

You can use any icon and splash screen you choose and when the app enables site is launched from the home screen, it’s full screen without any browser bars to get in the way or ruin the mobile experience.

It looks like about the middle of the month before it’s released in full. We still have a few videos to make (re-make) and add voice over and, oh yeah, finish writing the new copy for this website:)

Please come back soon to check out the NEW iKnox iPhone template for WordPress!

This is a brand new framework.  iKnox allows anyone who knows WordPress to quickly create and manage mobile sites.  It’s App enabled on iPhones but also works perfectly on Android systems as well.

The example in the video uses the Beatles song lyrics as a demonstration, but the sky’s the limit for your projects.  If you have an idea, you can build in within minutes.

If you’ve ever used WordPress then you already know how.  All you need is the right framework to make it all happen with an end product that’s smooth and fluid – just like your users expect.

Build your pages and subpages and the menu is dynamically created. Fluid, native horizontal scrolling, splash screens when launched from icon and everything you would expect from a mobile solution.

Let’s face it.  Other systems and plugins simply re-render your current theme to FAKE the interface.

iKnox is the real deal integrated into the theme itself. Images are automatically resized to fit perfectly within “pages” to make it even more simple for clients.

Though I’ll still take clients referred to me I am not actively competing with other seo professionals in Denver. (Truth be known, I never was – I was national).

My business has strayed for a year playing with ideas and dealing with posers and criminals, but things have settled to a point now that I may announce the future.

But first, the past.

Early in my SEO life I was like many today, absorbing everything I could from known experts while discounting the pollution. It was hard for a while before I could trust my own testing and I referred to some true experts while I refined my techniques. One such person was the original SEO GUY who later found his niche and is now CEO at Real Estate Webmasters.

So, obviously I followed their forum, met members, attended various conventions and naturally made friends virtually as well as in the real world and for years have followed, led and learned together with many of the community.

I’ve promised myself that I would never compete with a mentor. Though I’ve built supplemental blogs for friends and family and built a couple real estate websites I’ve never competed with what I honestly (and publicly) said was something I never really could compete with anyway (that’s a compliment). Real Estate Webmasters has always been ahead of the game, creates the most beautiful websites on the web and deservingly receive the kudos given from around the world.

But – I have this thing, I love SEO, I love mobile solutions, and as a side effect of “hanging out” with the real estate community I’ve decided to help REALTORS® without building real estate websites.

Today I announce IDXpressions.com. Users benefit from a native feeling, fluid mobile real estate search portal that renders on both iPhones and Androids. The SEO built in is thought out and very powerful, building literally thousands of links to real estate websites while also providing a slick and useful tool for customers. I can still help friends and assist in their SEO by providing a killer solution to boost their websites.

Please visit my new site designated for Mobile Real Estate and let your friends know about it. As for Denver SEO – count me out, I’m now a dedicated (aside from referral work) real estate seo.

Thanks to everyone I’ve met, worked with, learned from and even sparred with over the years, all of it has narrowed my focus and honed my skills.

So, now for the referrals:)

If you need an seo who understands technology (and keeps up with it) who can creatively solve your internet woes as well as one who I go to for some programming issues, please see Denver SEO Zack Katz. He’s a good guy, honest and I personally and confidently recommend him.

Real Estate Agents and Brokers who need a professional, beautiful and VERY affective web presence, please go to Real Estate Webmasters.

SEO Coaching. If you’d like to learn and grow your web presence with some top notch coaching, check out EricOnSearch.com. I’ve met Eric, know his work, know his techniques and is probably one the most honorable guys on the web today.

Web Copy! This one is huge, and very important. Without the right copy, your site will be invisible. If you need some help writing or need a collection of sites or pages that need tweaking or created, check out Lou Lynch at Quick Fire Internet.

If you need hosting or want to set up some dedicated blogs, etc – Talk to Kevin Kinkade at Denver Business Blogs. Again, I’ve met him and know you will be treated well.

Okay, now that that’s done, everyone please have a GREAT year and I hope you all do well with your ventures.

Some Denver SEO’s steal entire websites built by others, credit themselves with the work and even resell the code as theirs.  Some spread rumors, some get sued, some are convicted felons, some have injunctions and restraining orders and it goes on and on.  Hey guys, try selling yourself on your abilities instead of  just against others while trying to blacken their reputation with innuendo and cowardly spam or lies about them.  It’s time for a reality check – stay tuned.

These are my staple apps that allow me to use the iPad on a daily “work” basis. Click the thumbnails to see a bigger

image.

Web Stuff

Markup: Markup is a great app that let’s you code and preview your works. You build a list of websites with your FTP logins and you can then browse them on the iPad and select the thumbnail of the desired website needing work. After selecting it you can browse the directories,s select file, edit, create new files and so on. It even has a quick key to special characters needed by coders. This app is great for a webmaster or SEO.

Source Viewer: this is a great app for seo’s for it let’s you peak at the source code of any URL you wish. It let’s you browse the code source, all links within and even allows you to snoop on the script code with a tap. Every SEO needs to peek in on source code, this is perfect.

Photogene: not exactly Photoshop but pretty dang close for what’s needed if you want to manipulate, crop and edit photos and pictures. It allows you to layer elements, add text, borders, resize and it has a pretty powerful color control tool set. Save it to you gallery for easy uploading anywhere you want. I used this for photos in this post.

Sketch Book Pro: This app is actually above me for it’s incredibly powerful and I’m a horrible artist. It does allow me to make some quick sketches on the fly for notes but it’s intended for more detail. It has a rich palette of various brushes and tools and also allows layering of elements. With a stylus, this app has great usefulness.

WordPress: All web masters, most likely, are familiar with WordPress and use it as a standard. The WordPress for iPad app is not very useful in some ways, but something about it nice. Granted, you can always log in directly to the WordPress site and use the standard interface for the screen size is plenty large. But the standard interface has a couple problems. You can’t upload photos from your gallery and you must write you posts in code view only. Not the most streamlined way for adding images and links. So, this is why I like the app. Images are handled through the the iPad photo gallery and links code is automatically detected. Categories are simple and it parses the current categories within the site and let’s you pick them with a tap.

Cpanel/Web Host Manager: Both these consoles render and work like a charm in Safari. Personally, I use them daily for basic webmastery be it from suspending websites when owners decide they no don’t feel it necessary to pay for their hosting (cough) to code based SEO or creating new accounts, tweaking server allocation space, hunting email etc. You can do all of this from your car or at Starbucks after a client call and provide incredibly fast customer service.

SERPS: This a free and simple little native App that quickly lists your interested domains and desired keywords and lists your rank along side the competition. Basically, a quick way to google everything at once.

Fun Stuff

Weatherbug: nice fee app – lots of features and smooth animations, much more than other apps and less clunky as the Weather Channel app – much faster too. Each right column widget can be brought to center with a touch (there are more widgets as you scroll down the column too) and you can set many locations or have it bring up your own location via gps.

ReelDirector: This is a great app for video editing! iMovie for iPad is not yet available, this is a great app to use ’til then. Perform basically all the functions you would expect from a video editing application. Sharing your projects is simple via the iTunes interface on your desktop, save to your gallery and use as you would for FaceBook, YouTube etc. or just shoot it out as email.

Solitaire: A staple on any computer:) Touch controls are perfect, a great time-suck.

Videos: BEAUTIFUL HD quality and bright screen makes this a wonderful device to watch my favorite TV shows.

Camera A/B: This is a combo app to be used in concert with an iPhone. Basically it pairs your devices and let’s you view the screen camera on an iPhone on the screen of the iPad. Seems silly to some, but the clever will grin at the possibilities.

Better Browsing

Safari: I know, Flash isn’t supported still.. groan…. BUT this version of safari is amazing. The renderings are perfect, haven’t found any problems with JavaScript and even embedded video from many services show within the page! (much different than iPhone that opened the video browser to watch a movie). I was really surprised to see apple handle that without making a big deal about it.

Basic “Work”

Pages/Keynote/Numbers – Yeah, they all work really well and there’s a lot out there to learn about the apps. I’m a web guy:)

The Bottom Line

Instant on computing on a large and intelligent interface that goes way beyond the simple apps of a smartphone. My job/livelihood is on the line to be able to access the web, manipulate it and use standard tools and this device surely does that. Not only am I sold on the iPad for it’s practical and business worthy aptitude but also it’s flare, it’s simplicity and fun.