1. Expiry Date – This should be set as far in the future as you think you are likely to want it to be. If a property is then taken of the market the advert can be expired using an UPDATE statement setting a new expiry date or using an EXPIRED statement. Please note that if a expiry date is not supplied then the advert will go live for the default 6 months.
2. Correct Address Formatting – Be careful how you input address data. Invalid entries in the <NoFrom>, <NoTo>, <Street>, etc. nodes can cause the system to fail to correctly geo-code the property, which will mean that it doesn’t show up in some searches as it should. For buildings with a name, use the <BuildingName> node, for specific units within a building, use the <FloorOrUnitNo> node – failure to put information in the correct node can lead to all sorts of problems, all of which result in reduced visibility for your adverts.
3. Always use a postcode – If no postcode is supplied, the chances of the advert getting a correct latitude/longitude – and thus being searchable by location – are much lower.
4. Supply a unique reference for each property – If possible, assign a reference to each property that is unique within your organisation. This makes it much easier for any problems with your feed to be diagnosed quickly.
5. HTML is NOT supported (except <br />) – Don’t try and use HTML tags to format descriptions or anything else, this is not supported and can cause problems with the way your advert is displayed.
6. Complete the <Binary> node when supplying images or documents – This must be completed with the Base64 of the image or document – if the node is not completed, then the document or image will not be uploaded.