Examples of Realtor Websites

Cynthia Sellers - MLS Website Development (Cedar Grove Design) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:00:21 -0600

With MLS

We have recently completed a website upgrade for East Tennessee Realtor David Wyrick, owner of Single Tree Realty Company, based in Blaine, Tennessee. [see David's East TN Real Estate Blog]

David's been a loyal client and this is the second website we've done for him so we really enjoyed doing it. The first one, he took advantage of an introductory special for basically, an online business card type of site (see example "Without MLS" below).

We've expanded the Single Tree web site to include MLS database searches of multiple IDX feeds for East TN property for sale, Google maps, interlinking to area information, etc. Of course, his new CMS covers more as well. The CMS allows a site owner to maintain the website content themselves with no html knowledge. But, we do offer website maintenance and marketing services to those who prefer to concentrate their energies on other aspects of the business.

Without MLS

This basic website design uses Knoxville Area Association of Realtors' MLS listings in an iframe. It's similar in layout to the original version of David's site: Tammy Hurley - Homestead Realty - Rutledge, TN. That sort also contains a basic (CMS) Content Management System to update the photos, contact info, and news page. Perfect for an affiliate Realtor or startup business.

As it turned out, Single Tree soon took on a number of affiliate Realtors and quickly outgrew that site version. He was recently polled Grainger County's Favorite Realtor by the local paper so it was a treat when he contacted us to improve his website and also hired us to market it.

As website developers, we are able to design to suit our clients' particular needs and budget. Please give us a call to discuss your website needs.

Middle East TN - MLS Integration for the TVA Lakes Region

Cynthia Sellers - MLS Website Development (Cedar Grove Design) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:58:18 -0600

Admit it: MLS searches are useful

Jefferson and Grainger County REALTOR®s share an odd little niche between Knoxville, Morristown, and Gatlinburg. Each REALTOR® Association (KAAR, LAAR, and GSMAR) has its own MLS and the listings data (IDX) is not shared among them, which can make some available properties harder to find. REALTOR®s understand this but potential buyers may not. Frustrated in their effort to find local real estate agents in their chosen area with a wide variety of properties listed on their site, they may give up and go for the larger sites like Realtor.com, Homes and Land of the Tennessee Valley, or the Real Estate Book... That's fine, I'm not knocking those sites, but you have to admit, that's a lot of agents sharing the same table.

Q: How do you get potential clients to look at your property listings?

A: The best way is to convince them to come to you because whether they're buying or selling, YOU will take care of them.

If you're motivated and able, chances are, you've spent a good deal of time and money attempting to create this impression on hundreds, perhaps thousands of faceless unknown potential clients through a variety of media. Perhaps you've succeeded. But that's only the introductory handshake. If they're typing your website URL directly into their address bar and have even bookmarked it... WOO-HOO! Pat on the back. You're doing something right. But once they're there...are you really prepared for that? Well, You may be but is your website?

Content matters

Does your website say "professional" without simultaneously inspiring boredom or seeming intimidating?

Does it have the info they're looking for but not so much they can't find it easily within a few clicks?

Even the most unskilled computer user knows how to use the back button. If your website's not making a valuable impression, they could leave it as quickly as they came. This is called "bouncing". Bounce rates can be tracked. A well-designed and marketed website usually has a low bounce-rate. If yours doesn't, don't worry, it can be improved. We can help.

Is your website earning its keep?

Allowing potential buyers to browse multiple MLSs via your website will keep them IN your site longer instead of bouncing off and looking elsewhere.

If they're at your website, they may already have picked you as their REALTOR® (consciously or not). BUT, if they take the time to check out your website yet once they get there, can't find a good enough selection of properties, you've already limited your usefulness to them. You may not get an opportunity to change that impression. If they've moved on to another website with a greater selection, they may have moved on to another agent as well and how will you know? Can you tell how often your website is losing them at "Hello"? The answer to that is YES. We can track and then analyze your site traffic. But if your website is not performing, you probably have some indication of this already:

Your contact form/email just gathers spam
The site information is out-of-date or has a dated appearance
You're not receiving calls referred by your website (conversions)
You have a traffic ticker and your traffic seems low

If you know your traffic is low, the next question is, are your visitors coming and going quickly without looking at many pages? Ideally, they'll stick around for a good while, looking at hundreds of property listings and return to the site on numerous occasions. If they're not, something's definitely lacking. Do you know how well your site is performing? Do you know how to find out? We do. Fortunately, website performance problems can be both diagnosed and remedied.

Cedar Grove Design has the tools and expertise to maximize the user-experience and effectiveness of your website, not just for your potential clients, but for the search engines as well.

Here on ActiveRain, there is a lot of information available to those who have the time and inclination to research and want to learn. But for those who would rather put that time and energy elsewhere, our services may be just the thing to make their life easier.

Features we offer

We offer MLS upgrades for REALTOR® websites in order to receive IDX feeds from single or multiple affiliated REALTOR® association(s). In fact, we specialize in databases and (CMS) Content Management Systems for just about any purpose. Extra features may add interest value to your site, especially if you're willing to add new content on a regular basis, this may improve customer loyalty. For instance, if you've accumulated scenic area photos, you may benefit from a photo gallery or two.
How about these features or services:

Website performance tracking and statistics analysis
Blog and news pages
Newsletters and mailing lists
Rss feeds for property listings
e-commerce
Flash animations
Ads management

Do you want your website to look and read more like your marketing materials? Would you like a form or two added to help qualify your potential client's needs? We also offer (SEO) Search Engine Optimization and website marketing* to help your website be found via the internet. Whatever you come up with, we'll work with you to make your website work for you at your comfort-level, not the other way around.

Contact us to find out how your website can be improved to fit your skill-level and budget.

*Website marketing is available on a first-come-first-serve basis per service area.

Cedar Grove Design -- East Tennessee Website Development

Grainger County Tennessee Realtors on Active Rain