What makes a real estate website great !

**Johngalt** · 05-19-2010, 09:14 AM

There are various factors that make a real estate website great. Before building your website keep the following in mind.

1)Build on open source - The best system available is the one that can take advantage of free and paid plugins. Joomla and Wordpress are two amazing products that allow agents to expand their core system by downloading a simple plug-in or component. For example, Sugar CRM allows Joomla to be turned into an enterprise level CRM system.

2) Do not use iframes or wrappers in your website. Integrating an IDX by use of wrapper or iframe is a huge mistake. If you are going to run Wordpress or Joomla make sure that your idx is being created from the page level

3) Template systems use iframes and wrappers - The biggest problem with template systems is not that they looks the same, which is a huge problem, but many of the sites share code to run the idx. This means custom changes are out of the question. Changes to your system means changes to other clients sites.

4) Build Custom and partner with a development company - By building a custom website you will never be held hostage by IDX companies. No more waiting for promised changes or features. Build what you want when you want.

5) Build for the future - Technology is changing at a rapid pace, and what is popular today will soon be replaced with new features in the future. By building a custom website you have the ability to stay on top of the changing market without having to start over.

**jamaica_realty** · 08-12-2010, 10:28 AM

Putting in a blog can help your SEO go a far way. SEO loves content.

**Bones** · 08-13-2010, 06:47 AM

A web site that is found first in the SERPS, that has great content and a high conversion rate would be awesome.

**jyang** · 09-02-2010, 11:46 AM

The best website is one that provides plenty of useful information to your visitors while being easy for them to find. That usually leads to a higher retention rate, creating higher quality visitors that will probably be likely contact you or to opt-in to whatever you would like them to.

**gotlivechat** · 09-15-2010, 08:38 PM

I agree that the best real estate websites are those that provide the most information regarding their listings. I want to see multiple, clear photos of the properties, tax and school information.
Having a widget that shows where the property is on a map is also a plus. Allowing easy search and the ability to sort based on different criteria.
Most times missing but I'd like to see -- DOM (days on market), and pricing history.

**Johngalt** · 09-15-2010, 09:36 PM

Originally Posted by gotlivechat

I agree that the best real estate websites are those that provide the most information regarding their listings. I want to see multiple, clear photos of the properties, tax and school information.
Having a widget that shows where the property is on a map is also a plus. Allowing easy search and the ability to sort based on different criteria.
Most times missing but I'd like to see -- DOM (days on market), and pricing history.

Is that all you need ? No problem come check us out.

**acobbon22** · 12-15-2010, 03:22 AM

Can you please suggest me which is better open source, Joomla or wordpress ?

**Johngalt** · 12-15-2010, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by acobbon22

Can you please suggest me which is better open source, Joomla or wordpress ?

Joomla and Wordpress are both great options however, Joomla is more of an enterprise level CMS. I have found that there are many more professional plugins and components. Wordpress has its limitations while Drupal and Joomla have the most flexibility. Galtlinedesign builds there turn key Real Estate systems using Joomla and offers a bridged Blog using Wordpress.

Keep in mind if you are looking to drive various users you can always integrate Joomla or Drupal into Sales Force CRM.

**CLTinvestor** · 12-16-2010, 04:06 PM

A site that is easy to navigate and able to find the information you need quickly is definitely important. Its always frustrating getting lost within a site or having issues searching for specific content.

**ada_vang** · 12-29-2010, 08:47 AM

I would vote for content. Of course UI and other aspects are not negligible, but if you do not provide food to the spider and to your readers, your website will not be counted as a successful one.