Special offer

Websites=confusion!

By
Real Estate Agent with Hometown Realty

Have you ever been on a website where you get lost?? Where everything is so confusing that you feel like you are going around in circles. I have recently hired a professional to create a website for me. Or a "cover page" to the current website that I had. I like what he created and it seems easy to use and not complicated. Feedback would be appreciated. Some businesses and organizations add so many links and information that it takes you three hours to get through reading the 2nd page and then you get tired and give up on the website. Well here is my new website www.ShawnShurm.complease let me know what you think and USE IT for all your real estate needs!! It is unique because even though I work out of Richmond, Va you can search basically everywhere in the United States to find a home. My company is part of the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World" (stupid title). That just basically means that my company is part of a network that can refer people looking to buy or sell real estate all over the world to professional Real Estate agents. It is actually a very nice service. Remember referrals are the life of any business. Hope you enjoy the site and find it useful. www.ShawnShurm.com

Daniel Lowery
1st Choice Real Estate - Jefferson City, MO
e-PRO, Broker - Owner
Shawn I took a look at your site and I like it, it is easy to use and you do not get lost, some of the pages loaded a little slow but maybe it was my computer
Jun 26, 2007 01:07 PM
Suzanne Stephens
Stephens Design - Battle Ground, WA
Real Estate Website Design

Shawn, personally I find your new site relatively confusing, though I've certainly seen worse. A LOT worse! There are so many graphics that there's no clear focal point or starting point. Most important, it's difficult to find your search link. Visitors most often use MLS search and featured homes links; these should be easy to find and should be one of the first thing the eye lands on when the page comes up; it shouldn't be difficult to find them but they are not even in your main menu at the top left side of the page.

Suzanne

Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Design Partner
http://www.SuzStephens.com

Jun 26, 2007 01:09 PM
Highland Beach Condos David Serle
RE/MAX Services - Highland Beach, FL
Boca Raton Agent David Serle
I agree with Suzanne.  There seems to be too much going on. It is a little confusing and it is somewhat hard to navigate.  I love the look.  It looks great, but ease of use is most important.  I also think you need to change your title tag to a more specific keyword. 
Jun 26, 2007 01:15 PM
Ruth Ann Mertens-Oklahoma City Real Estate
Paradigm AdvantEdge Realty - Oklahoma City, OK

Shawn,

I thought your website had a very nice, professional appearance, though I agree with Suzanne that it does have a lot of graphics on the initial page. However, I did not have any problem using it.  Just clicking on the Buyer or Seller links seemed to easily lead where one needed to go.  It did load just a little bit slow for me, too, but again, maybe that is just me.  All in all, I think it is a nice site.

Jun 26, 2007 01:18 PM
MAUREEN STACCATO
Springfield, MA

Shawn-

User friendly sites will always win my vote- I can get lost in a paper bag some days so imagine a site that's not user friendly? Forget about it!!

Good post!

Jun 26, 2007 01:25 PM
Suzanne Stephens
Stephens Design - Battle Ground, WA
Real Estate Website Design

Shawn, I agree with David's comment about your title tag. It is definitely not optimized well. I posted an article recently about optimizing title tags that you might find helpful. However, I failed to emphasize in my article that putting your own name or brokerage name in a title tag is a waste of valuable space. People rarely search for agents by name and even if they do, your name within your page text should be sufficient for them to find your site.

Suzanne

Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Design Partner
http://www.SuzStephens.com

 

Jun 26, 2007 01:32 PM
Shawn Shurm
Hometown Realty - Mechanicsville, VA
Hey Guys, help me out. What is a title tag and how do I change it? Thanks for the feedback. I will work on the title tag and making by search button easier to find. Thanks for the posts.
Jun 28, 2007 11:52 PM
Shawn Shurm
Hometown Realty - Mechanicsville, VA
Suzanne, thanks! Your post helped me with everything!
Jun 28, 2007 11:56 PM
Suzanne Stephens
Stephens Design - Battle Ground, WA
Real Estate Website Design
Shawn, the title tag is the text that appears in the very top edge of your browser window. In HTML, it's almost at the very top of the HTML page and looks like
<title>Realtor Shawn Shurm with Hometown Realty : Richmond, Hanover, Henrico, King William, Chesterfield</title>

I don't know anything about how your site was set up so I can't tell you how to change the title tag; check with your developer.

Suzanne

Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Design Partner
http://www.SuzStephens.com

 

Jun 29, 2007 03:41 AM