Making A Great Impression With Your Images

When adding images to your site, take the time to make sure the images you post reflect the professional image you want to convey to your visitors. One free web based application that makes this possible, with ease, is Picnik. Picnik will allow you to resize, optimize for quick downloads, add cool effects, drop shadows, frames and so much more. With just a few clicks of your mouse you can have great looking images that won’t take forever to download and frustrate your visitors.

Note: If you do find yourself using this tool often, as we believe you will, please consider paying for their premium service (only $24.95/year) to help support the program and ensure it stays around.

The Value of Writing Market Reports

Offering real estate market updates is one of the best ways to communicate to your audience that your are an “expert in your region” and know the market. It might be boring to you, but it could be valuable information to your buyers and sellers who “want / need” this type of information to make an informed decision. Your ability to serve up this important information could get you new buyers and sellers who are looking for a agent who demonstrates their knowledge online.

Where to Find the Data:
Your multiple listing service is the best place to start. Typically you can run reports from you MLS software and get exactly what you need. If you can’t find what you are looking for, contact your local Association or MLS tech support.

Setting Up the Data:
Start with developing an Excel spread sheet that can be easily updated each month. To really define each area, set up a separate spreadsheet for every zip code or neighborhood that you work. Think about the different categories you will want to set up that and are going to be of most interest to your audience i.e number of “Units Sold,” “Days on Market,” average “Sold Price,” median “Sold Price,” and finally the Sold Price vs. List Price.

Communicating the Data:
If your not savvy with creating graphs and charts then convey the information in simple narrative copy. Take the time to interject your thoughts giving your knowledge and opinions. Again, engaging the visitor and demonstrating your professional expertise on the matter.

If you are looking for graph formats then check out MS Excel’s “the graph wizard.” Other resources for creating graphs is using Microsoft Word or Microsoft Publisher. There will be a learning curve, but the visual rewards could be worth it. I will say it again, offering real estate market updates is one of the best ways to communicate to your audience that your are an “expert in your region.”

To further your knowledge on creating Blog market reports we suggest you read “Why Bore Blog Readers With Statistics?” By Margaret Woda. Be sure to read the comments from other agents and their experiences.

Add Listing Links to Neighborhood Profile Pages

One great way to improve your visitors experience is to provide links that will show listings available in the neighborhood you talk about. If there are more than 50-100 listings in a particular area, you may want to consider creating a few links to listings in predefined price ranges. Not only will this help your visitors find homes in the area quickly and easily, you can add keywords in the link text to help your search engine marketing. For example, if you wrote a neighborhood profile for the Lake Tahoe neighborhood called Montgomery Estates, you could create links such as:

Montgomery Estates Homes for sale up to $750,000
Montgomery Estates Homes for Sale $750,000+

View this example page on our demo site: Montgomery Estates Neighborhood Profile (example)

Better still, create a custom quick search form that will allow your visitors to search the neighborhood they are reading about by price and / or any other criteria you wish to add. This will require you to add some html code to your post. Or, you may hire us to set up something custom for you.

View this example page on our demo site: Heavenly Valley Neighborhood Profile (example)

Don’t Overuse Font Styles, Sizes and Colors

When writing your posts try to keep in mind “less is more” and you want to make your readers experience an enjoyable one. Nothing confuses a reader and turns them off more than an overuse of different fonts syles, sizes and colors. If you have something that truly needs to stand out, then simply bold it or place it in quotes. Try to stick to one or two font families and use only the italic and bold version of the font when needed. Consistency is key! Stick to the same pattern when using your fonts i.e. a bold title, italic the subhead (if you have one) and use regular text for the body. Avoid underlining text, as this may confuse the reader into thinking it is a link to another page. Learn by example. Look at other sites that you feel offer a good user experience and study their pattern of use when it comes to fonts, colors etc. If you don’t like what you started you can always go back and change it, but starting off on the right foot first will save you a lot of headache in the future.

Things to consider:

• Stick to one or two font families.
• Stick to one or two complimentary colors.
• Keep in mind, consistency is key and less is more!
• Avoid underlining text. This may lead the reader into thinking it is a link to another page.

Zillow Allows Agents to Co-brand

Zillow has announced that you can now co-brand their pages with your contact information and photo. Once set up, anytime you link to Zillow’s website your profile can be displayed at the top of every page. This is a great way to keep your name in front of potential buyers and sellers. Simply sign up for your free account on Zillow’s website, then enter your screen name into your IDXCentral.com Account Manager on the Account Setup > Contact Information page. Example: Zillow Co-brand page

For more information be sure to check out Zillow’s Blog post Co-brand your clients’ Zillow experience.