Real Estate Blog - Realtor.com Launches NEW Beta Site

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Realtor.com Launches NEW Beta Site - Take a test drive!

Hey Everyone,

As I wind down the week, I wanted to take a moment to share some very exciting news. As of yesterday, Realtor.com has launched it's new Beta site. It incorporates many new features and an updated look and feel. This site is available to the public through an opt in link at the top of the realtor.com classic home page or directly at http://beta.realtor.com.

Classic:

Beta:

What are some of the key differences?

For Consumers:

Realtor.com Basic listings will now include the first 4 photos from the MLS.
Consumers will be driven from the Home Page to the Search Results with no Interim page
Consumers can search by list view, map view and new gallery view.
Listings are viewable on most PDAs/SmartPhone Devices
Most MLS systems will update every 15 minutes on Realtor.com

For Showcase Members:

Photo gallery will incorporate images that are 119% larger than basic.
Agent and Office branding integrated into listing details as opposed to "floating" on the right
61% increase in Agent name and brand recall (based on March '08 study)
Your listings will now display information on 3 of your similar listings with first photo.
Your listings are 20% larger on the search results page.
More than 60% of searchers now see Showcase homes as "nicer homes" (based on March '08 study)
No more tabs - Neighborhood Info, Lead Capture, Mapping are all integrated into the listing page.

For Featured Home Members:

Featured Homes now appear at the top of every search page.
See Previous Post

Those are just a couple quick highlights. I invite all of you to test drive the new Realtor.com and tell us what you think. If you do not want to comment, feel free to email me directly at brian.horan@realtor.com.

Posted by Brian Horan on 05/09/2008 05:38 PM

Comments (14)

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14 Comments on Realtor.com Launches NEW Beta Site - Take a test drive!

MAY

2008

If the MLS systems can update every 15 minutes, that is the key improvement. The rep on Realtor.com has been that many of the listings are already SOLD or PENDING. That only has to happen once to destroy confidence in the system. The showcase memberships are pretty expensive, but there seems to be a never-ending stream of people willing to try them.
JimG

Anything is better than what they had. I agree with Jim above, more than 1/2 the time the material is already out dated. They are kind of like a dinasour compared to the instant gratification of other sites.

Will check it out.

Thanks for the info.

Have a great weekend.

Thanks for the comments guys. I agree that MLS updates are paramount. This is often times decided, not by realtor.com, but by your MLS. They need to maintain a certain level of technology to send us updates every 15 minutes. This option is available to all MLS systems, but unfortunately not all of them choose to avail themselves of it.

I'll go take a look at my account.. Wondering if these changes occur automatically or if we need to do it. Would be nice if our reps notified us of the changes. Thanks for the info.. How do we get a rep that communicates with us? :-)

Nick, You aren't going to notice any changes to your control panel as all of the features are still the same. The difference is in how the information is arranged and displayed on the site. The idea behind the redesign was to make everything easier and more logical for buyers on the site in order to attain even better results in a tough market while providing consumers, who are looking at more homes and taking longer to make a decision, with all of the information they need. Also, because this is a beta release, we are not automatically redirecting traffic to the site. Instead we are inviting consumers to try our new site out through a link on the homepage of Realtor.com. In the coming weeks we will be directing more and more traffic to the new site until, and once we've eliminated any weaknesses or bugs, we will complete the transition. It is imperative that we have your feedback and support in order to make realtor.com the best site possible for both consumers and Realtors. As far as getting a rep who communicates with you, I'd be happy to fill that position for you. Your typical Realtor.com Account Executive typically balances between 500-1000 agent clients and is a great source of information, but we are also focused on helping and educating those who reach out for that assistance. I am always available to any realtor who needs help, they need only ask. The reason you didn't get notice on the beta site is simply that it is in a test phase at this point. Trust me, as things progress you'll be seeing some emails. Thanks again.

Brian.. Thanks for the response and all of the info! I probably will give you a call some time to discuss some of the changes and to find out ways to better use the service. Have a great weekend!

MAY

2008

Those are great changes. Thanks for bringing them to our attention.

MAY

2008

This is great information Brian, thanks so much for this update. I just listed a home, put it in showcase with virtual tour and multiple photos and had no problems.

I will definitely check it out. They look ike some good changes.

Diane - Keep up the good work. Many agents don't know how important it is to make sure that their realtor.com listings look great. I posted some tips from my top agents in some of my previous posts on enhancing listings. Thanks for being a great example.

Lisa and Linda - Let me know what you think and if you have any questions. Thank you for helping us to do better for you.

Thanks for the info. This was really needed. I wish now that Realtor.com would become more agent-friendly and allow us to choose from a menu of services to manage our account online rather than always having to speak with an account rep.

Tina in Virginia

Tina,

So you wanna put me out of a job, huh? Just kidding. I totally understand where you're coming from, but I also think that I play a vital role in the success of my clients. We do, in fact, have a menu of options that can be found at http://solutioncenter.realtor.com/agents/. Or you can always visit my website at www.briancanhelp.com for even more information.

I also agree that we need to be more agent-friendly. The unfortunate fact is that due to past mistakes (often times many years past) Realtor.com has developed a not so stellar reputation among some Realtors. I am committed to changing minds on this, even if I have to do it one person at a time. I also think the new site will go a long way towards helping.

MAY

Hello Tina,

I have recently upped my online focus to ensure my sellers are getting the best exposure possible. I started with Zillow and Trulia and just yesterday I looked at Realtor.com and was shocked by what they are charging Realtors to do what non-realtor sites do for free, i.e. attaching your name to a listing. Isn't the end user best served if they can actually contact the person who knows the property?

The guys at Realtor.com said that they are not owned by the Board of Realtor's, is this true? How on earth could that be?

What can we do as a Realtor make Realtor.com work for us as agents and increase the service to the consumer at the other end.

Thanks so much, Jana

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