Beautifully designed web pages stand out miles above the sea of "my website looks like every other template website." You too can have a website in about an hour with pre-populated stock real estate articles and hard to use navigation, and absolutely way too much information blasting at you when you hit the home page. Getting a website like this is fast, relatively inexpensive, and EASY - but is it effective?
(can you sense my disdain?? ;)

Will consumers (you know, these are the people that you want to hire you) actually LIKE your presentation and decide to call or email you? Or will that whoosh sound be them going back to their google results page to keep on looking?

Well, there are quite a few out there doing this the right way. These are the ones that give us inspiration to take elements about their pages and presentations that we like and do something similar with our own. Talk to your web designer about incorporating some new and fresh ideas into your pages. As you look below, you will also see links to designers pages who you can talk to if you are looking for somebody to help.

When I come across a page that I like, I tag it into my inspiration folder to come back to for ideas later. These 10 sites are ones that I have recently tagged with a "craig's click" and I wanted to share them with you. (I've recently discovered the site pinterest.com and this "board" itself is inspiration of that great idea)

sueadler.com

New Jersey

This website by Sue Adler grabs you from the moment you land! The map graphic shows Sue's area of focus as well as being clickable. You can also search for homes using the tile on the right. Directly below are featured homes for sale and lots of VIDEO tiles. The top navigation bar is very well categorized for target interests. This is a custom design by the virtualresults team, led by Jim Marks (website). Sue's site I give a big thumbs up and keep at the top of my bookmarks list! If you are interested in incorporating well-done video into your marketing plan, take close note of Sue's work in that regard. Everything in a word, Awesome!

findsalemhomes.com

Salem, Oregon

The Salem Real Estate Group has a website that is very welcoming with great information. The visually appealing design is the work of the very talented designer Suzanne Stephens (AR Profile | Website). The header graphics display in slideshow mode and show the local area features stunningly. Suzanne keeps the home search panel high on the left sidebar so it is never far away. The elegant graphics is complimented by the useful information such as on the "New2Salem Blog" page on the top menu that takes you over to the blog posts nicely broken up in to categories to choose from.

msqrealty.com

Washington DC

M Squared Real Estate has a very web 2.0 styled and attractive page. The banner slideshow grabs your eye and the search for homes box is right there to dive in. The tiled category buttons are directly underneath. Not too many things to choose from, just the main thoughts! Neighborhood information is laid out nicely in a panel just below. The footer gives a nice sitemap to further fine tune the question "what are you interested in?" This site design is a product of their IN-HOUSE web team (note: updated designed by info CORRECTED)... excellent job guys!

johnhall.com

Phoenix, Arizona

Clean design, effective action tiles -- that is why I tagged this site. I don't like to be distracted by everything you know on placed on your home page! Give us a chance to pick our topics. The John Hall & Associates site does this effectively. It is a well done design (web designer unknown).

therealestatebakery.com

Northern Virginia

This design shows that getting to the basics works fantastically also. The top of the page is the main topics. Below we can search for homes (one of the main reasons somebody is there!). We are also introduced to the site owner Jonathan Bunn. His latest blog posts are right there for us to see above the fold (we can tell he is an active blogger). The main calls to action are on the left sidebar such as short sale info, market stats, and getting home's worth info. This clean and effective design is the work of Real Estate Tomato (website).

atlhomesearch.com

Atlanta, Georgia

Kerry Lucasse (AR Profile) and team have created a visually attractive place on the web for their visitors to spend some time! The page is very attractive and the information is laid out in very colorful and easy to navigate zones. The neighborhoods landing page, I especially like. The visitor can explore each neighborhood and click on the predefined search links direct into that neighboorhood. The use of colors and graphics throughout the whole site is well done and must help the "time on page" metric to stay high and also capture some leads!

thephoenixrealestateguy.com

Phoenix, Arizona

If you don't recognize the "Phoenix Real Estate Guy" - he is Jay Thompson (AR Profile). You should definitely spend time reading Jay's blog at the website above. This is a great design. Visual appeal resounds in the colors and banner information. The four main categories of topics are big tiles to pick from right at the top of the page. Below is the most current blog posts (a forte of Jay's). Very important - contact information is impossible to miss along with his other main social pages. It is easy to see why Jay is a great choice in the Phoenix area!

thecoralgablesstory.com

Coral Gables, Miami, Florida

What is exiting about modern websites is that they are dynamic and come alive with new content. The blogger in us helps to keep push out new information on things we discover and share. Janie Coffey of Miami shows us how this can be done on her site. Janie and Karyn are active in providing new content via their posts and videos, facebook and twitter. These are a couple of ladies that don't stand still and there's always something new to see. Their accordion slider at the top of the home page is a great way to present the main categories of your blog posts to help your reader get to what they are interested. Their site is wordpress based along with the Thesis theme.

clevelandhomessearch.com

Cleveland, Ohio

A person looking for a home in Cleveland and who comes across Chris Olsen's site will be inclined to stay and spend some time. Chris (AR Profile) had called on the design services of Inna and Jon Hardison at ha Media (AR Profile & website). This design brings all of the essential elements together in a clean and easy to follow layout. The navigation menu at the top takes you to the main categories. However, so you don't miss the most important ones, they are tiled below into six main branches of helpful things for your search. Chris' blog is in a carousel box just below where the most recent posts are shown one after another.

athomescharlotte.com

Charlotte, North Carolina

Finally, we head down to North Carolina to see what Debe Maxwell has been up to on one of her many sites.  Buyers usually know where they want to look, straight from the home page on clear and easy to follow navigation links they can jump right into a huge map and start a visual home search for what's on the market. Debe also keeps us in the know about all local information via her blog posts there and information for buyers to make a very informed home buying or selling decision! Debe has more than one Wordpress (WP) site and if you want to learn strategies from a blogging pro, check out her upcoming webinar on AR University which she tells me is 1/19 (head on over to the calendar and sign up!)

Well there you have it. Ten websites to get you thinking about your own website. Inspiration is a great thing! If you want to nominate other sites for bookmark by Craig, I'm all ears. You can see all of these pages is a big slideshow view also so you can look at the finer details and quickly click through all the slides that way.

(if you are interested in previous craig's clicks gold star posts, that link will take you to a page listing my previous posts)

About the
Author
  is a Technology Manager residing in NYC who specializes in applied technologies in the fields of Architecture and Real Estate. Craig focuses on finding the best uses of tech as can be used to help a business be more successful. He is keen on always seeing the perspective and viewpoint of his audience and he tailors his teaching to be easily understood. He teaches by means of this blog, online courses and webinars, as well as one-on-one remote sessions with persons located throughout the country and beyond.

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60 Comments on Web Design - Inspiration Board - Craig's Clicks

20 Most Recent Comments Displayed Show All

JAN
09
2012
117,880 Points

It is getting harder and harder to stand out it all comes back to quality.  but I think you need to keep the website simple and focus on the message what ever that is.  thank you for the post and keep developing . 
2:03pm • #42
158,970 Points 3 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Hello Craig,

Thanks for sharing. I bookmarked your post for future references... I definitely need to do something with my Wordpress site...

Tatyana

 
9:18pm • #43
JAN
10
2012
222,137 Points 70 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Margaret - yes that was a local reference I see - glad to provide new ideas - I'll have to come back to your site and visit

Kerry - I'm glad you browsed in! I was going to ping you to this if you didn't see it (we should have a tagging feature like FB does, AR suggestion box). Well done on your site! :)

Bob - glad it is worthy of your bookmark and future reference, thx

Gayle - always love when you visit - your enthusiasm is spectacular ;)

Evelyn - it is always good to stand back, look at it from the eyes of a new visitor, and readjust bit by bit - it does take an investment of time!

Jeanne - I'm glad you liked my little commentary added
1:14pm • #44
222,137 Points 70 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Kathryn - it helps to see the hard work of others, we get to see WHY we like a site and implement something similar, thx! 

Gena - I'm glad that helps, success on your web project!

Dave - simple is good, stay focused on key points (at least on the home/landing pages), thx

Tatyana - glad to see you always, hope my ideas inspire to your own :)
1:17pm • #45
871,571 Points 47 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Craig, you and I have the same taste! I love Sue Adler's site and would love to have one like it when that $$$$ is in my budget. Also have been spending lots of time in Kerry's site in the last couple of weeks, and have loved Jay and Debe's sites for awhile and the M Squared I am thinking of taking to my company's tech committee for our agent sites (which I am a member of). Excellent post and sites!!

Sharon
11:34pm • #46
JAN
11
2012
222,137 Points 70 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Sharon - awesome that we are on the same page of "likes" :)  I'm glad I was able to share this to get those creative juices stirred up in us! glad to see you
8:53am • #47
469,762 Points 34 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

I'm back to ask if you know of any word press websites that feature video on the front page - and if so, do you think it's effective? By the way, do you help build websites?
6:42pm • #48
222,137 Points 70 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

hi Debb - I just emailed you some thoughts :)
9:09pm • #49
939,412 Points 94 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp

I always have agents asking me what I think about websites. What is great about your post is that you talk about sites that were all developed by different companies (many of which I have seen before). Interesting that that bulk (maybe all) are blog sites. Thanks for the info.
9:43pm • #50
JAN
13
2012
624,858 Points 11 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Craig you are such a wealth of information my friend.  Oh to be inside that brain for just a day!
2:08pm • #51
JAN
14
2012
185,239 Points

Craig - I bookmarked this to revisit probably several times. Mine is a vanilla looking website. Thanks for the inspirational blog to get working on it to make it pistachio worthy.
1:04pm • #52
222,137 Points 70 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Melissa - glad to see you - the site that combines pages and blog posts is very cool to me. That is always my favorite

Debra - it is always enjoyable to share when appreciated, thanks so much :)

Suzanne - glad for the inspiration, looking forward to have you report on the pistachios ;)
3:23pm • #53
JAN
15
2012
1,096,203 Points 25 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Thanks Craig for this great information .. bookmarked for a reference and hope to get my WP blog up and running even better.
1:48pm • #54
222,137 Points 70 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Rebecca - ideas and inspiriation are a good thing! wait til we dig into this some! :)
7:15pm • #55
JAN
16
2012
774,383 Points 16 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Craig, Rebecca mentioned WP and that got my attention.  I'm starting a WP site and am looking for help...are you for hire???
7:49pm • #56
5 Featured Posts Called Shot Master

Hi Craig, The theme of your blogpage is great!  I bookmarked this post so I can look at it again later.  The websites look amazing!
8:50pm • #57
JAN
18
2012
222,137 Points 70 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

hi Nick - fell a little behind on my comments - I'll have to email you to chat some :)

thanks Linda - very glad that you came by to visit :)
9:23pm • #58
JAN
21
2012
939,412 Points 94 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp

Craig: This is off topic, but I just read that picnik (my photo editor of choice) is closing in April. Any change you can write an insturctional blog about resizing photos in Picasa? I must be missing something because it seems like way too many steps.
10:16am • #59
222,137 Points 70 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

hi Melissa - I just saw the news this morning also about Picnik - My theory on it is that the picnik tools are being ported to google+ and Picasa so we won't really lose the features. They will just be in different places. You can see my picasa series for more ideas and my specific post on Picasa - Exporting Photos (including resizing). I plan to do a Picasa video instruction series (virtual classroom) soon. Perhaps more urgent than ever! ;)
10:35am • #60
FEB
14
2012

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John Watson
2:42am • #61

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