Here’s a quickie from 37 signals blog. Architects: 1998 Called and it wants it’s sites back
It’s a clever post worth reading.
I agree with the writers POV. Big time. Sites should be easy. Simple. With a clear definition of where to go and what to do. This is imperative today given the freedom designers have with expanded pages, wide screen monitors and rails programming. Just because you have access to all the bells, whistles, mapping, video, flash, and lot’s of design space, no one is forcing you to use all of it.
So who here has a flawlessly designed site? One that incorporates the tenants of good UI, design and clear concise copy? Feel free to post a link. It will give some our critics a chance to voice their expertise.
- Davison
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A mist of difference
Freaking...
This is precisely why I made the decision to keep BlueRoof uncluttered with every new thing that comes along.
In my opinion, simple, well-thought out design trumps bells and whistles.
People come to my site to search for homes, plain and simple. Area info, school info, location of every commercial and retail offering and other graphs, charts and diagrams are good, but not at the expense of design and usability.
The Mortgage Reports — Widget-free since 2005.
You've done well in this area Greg. Your site rocks!
I think in the real estate space the issue would be between the custom sites (like Greg's, i'm guessing, which looks fantastic) and the templates.
As a designer (web and print) now working in the real estate tech industry I can't believe how much some Realtors are paying for their awful websites.
I think the barrier of entry for a good custom site (price) is too high for most Realtors and the quality of the template sites is too low. So Realtors are stuck between the old rock and a hard place.
I absolutely agree that for the most part the decision comes down to custom vs. template.
The template companies have IMO failed their customers. They succumbed to the pricing pressures from bottom of the barrel agents and as a result ended up with products that have no UI, hideous designs and dead features. (If there are any great template products out there, please use this post to showcase them!)
Now the custom sites, frankly, I can't say too many positive things about most of them either. Not just the ones created for agents, but throughout the broker world.
There is an epidemic of suck and redundancy across the spectrum (much of it based upon the design mistakes listed in the 37 signals blog). We are in fact, 3 months deep into researching broker sites across the US for a media client and will be producing a white paper analysis and presentation in Sept in Denver at Real Trends. (More on this after Labor Day)
As for the barrier of entry for a good custom site for an agent – I don't buy it. I don't believe prices are too high, I think the problem is 3-fold:
1- Agents simply make poor financial decisions regarding how they invest in their business. Having owned a software firm that built custom and template websites (2001-2005) I was shocked at how many off the shelf template site we sold that agents opted to forgo the $10 a month IDX feed even in 2004.
2- Agents simply do not know where to go to get a custom site and or do not believe they can trust the companies that market to them. Considering how much bullshit has been thrown at agents over the years from vendors that promise one thing and deliver another, I don't blame them for not spending money.
3- Most agents, brokers and even vendors in real estate do not know what a great website really is. They are not schooled on design and programming standards, UI, etc., nor have they performed the type of market research on their own business and clientèle to determine what kind of great site they ought to build.
As a result, there really is somewhat of a real estate freak show going on. Honestly and the reality is real estate has been lazy, took the too easy road and has placed too much expectation on their customer with regard to the web.
So if you have to spend a few bucks to get something great – do it. Remember what it is you are selling and how much those products cost. Zappos selling $50 items using million technology – real estate has been selling million dollar items using $50 technology.
Change that!
So again, here is an open invitation to designers, developers, vendors to blatantly self promote. If you have the goods, post a link to a sample product, a contact name for your firm and a SIMPLE positioning statement about your company in the comment section below.
I am not endorsing anyone. I figure the tribe here can do this quite effectively.
Go!
We developed BlueRoof360 to fill the gap between custom and template sites for agents.
BlueRoof360 offers a custom website, including map-based search with cool features like new listing notifications. It easy to add video, RSS, podcasting, chat, etc.
It also includes the best and easiest-to-use lead management system available. And the site works seamless with the management system- when a new lead comes in, the agent is notified by email and text message, and that lead info is automatically placed into the lead management system for you.
The system schedules your showings for you, gets feedback on showings, and gives your clients their own login member area to track the whole transaction as it happens.
Everything is included for $200/month. I'm amazed how some peopel say they can't believe how cheap that is and some say they can't believe how expensive that is.
We closed 114 homes last year from my website.
Look at the return on investment- if your website is no good it doesn't matter if it's free- it isn't worth the cost.
Blueroof360.com
Greg Tracy
Greg@blueroof.com
I created my site with one simple idea. The inventory is what brings the people there. Why make it hard to find? The site structure is simple and clean.
Any thoughts?
http://www.sethparker.net
Seth,
I actually like this website. It's simple. Clean. And positions the content that matters right there in front of my face.
The only pet peeve I have is the "Featured Listing". I know this means something to real estate people but the word featured can be confusing to the user. In other words, what does featured mean exactly?
Is it on sale? Is it a brand new listing? Has it been on the market too long? Why is it featured?
What I would prefer to see in that center spot is a simple, "Search" box.
If you want "Feature" properties, position them below the fold running left to right or create space along the right hand side of the site. And post a selection of homes that do not require refreshing to view.
Next – your logo seems a bit cut and pasted on. I think you ought to clear that image up.
Next – You have a login. Why? There's no real sense of what's that for.
Missing – Email Listing Alert. That would be a nice addition to the home. After all, it's one of real estate's real killer applications.
Few more things, nit picky as we seek perfection here but honestly, you've done a great job. I respect the fact you posted it. Hopefully others will chime in here and comment.
Hey Marc,
Couldn't agree with you more. I'm a big believer in the 37s way and strive for simple & elegant solutions.
Here are a couple sites of sites we've built on the PremSites ( http://premsites.com ) platform that we're proud of.
* http://prudentialsteamboatrealty.com
* http://mysteamboatconnection.com
We just opened our system to outside designers and developers, letting them easily create their own custom site leveraging our backend system. Hopefully, this will help break the template rut we see today.
I'll be wrapping up a public demo site in the next week that I'd love your feedback on as well.
Marc,
Thanks for the comments! To answer/talk about points:
1. Login is solely for people that want to "add their favorite listings". When they choose to add, it brings up the option to register.
2. Great point about the featured listing. A search box could fit in nicely there. I will really think about that.
3. I forgot about the logo.
Several days ago, I had put in the new logo picture, didn't like the size, so I expanded it in Dreamweaver, then resampled. Doing other things, I forgot to go resize it and replace in AI.
4. Email listing alert: To preface, our MLS data dump is terrible. The way the data is given in the nightly feed is absolutely horrendous, which makes the email alert nearly impossible. Although, our MLS has JUST set up a RETS feed, so that may change very soon.
Thank you again!
Good stuff Seth. For the Login, create some simple language on the page making it crystal clear what the login is for.
As for your MLS, shame on them. It's 2008, MLS data dumps should be exquisite.
Keep up the great work!
Peter,
The PremSites platforms are robust as is indicated here. There is no doubt considerable customizations are possible and the results are only as great as the broker/agent makes them.
The few things I would recommend to your clients to really take this site over the top are:
1) Remove the rotating pictures top left. This is arguably the most important piece of real estate on the page currently wasted with stock photo that the user cannot engage. Far more effective would be a video component/s. Showcase neighborhoods. Showcase the brokerage.
2 – I would also address the "Featured Property" component for the same reasons I offered Seth above. I also wonder, based on the description of the one property being featured if Steamboat is predominantly a farm town. If not, that featured property is creating an image for the city that is not being balanced in any way anywhere else on the home page.
3 – Quick Search. Why quick? Does the site perceive its visitors to be in a hurry? How about Search Every Listing for Sale In Steamboat, instead.
4 – The search itself is very good and a great indication of how robust the platform is. I really like the listing pages themselves. But I am not a fan of seeing the map as the first element on the first search results page. The map view I have offers a bunch of green markers that don't seems to do anything when I click on them.
And with all the advanced components, etc., I think some copy on the page that helps the user understand what to do would be appropriate.
5- I love the New Listings Notifications! But I have to ask – why is this killer piece of real estate technology and wonderful web service buried in a drop down window! I'd pull that out today and get it on the home page.
This site is a wonderful improvement over the stale template sites that have been around since the 90's! My best advice for your clients is to take full advantage of this powerful software and don't let yourself fall into the typical trappings.
- Refrain from using bad stock photos or any stock photos. Go snap a few nice photos and use them.
- Be creative in your site copy. Remember, agents aren't using the site. Real people are who may not get the lingo.
- Think hard about your navigation and what it says.
- Be very clear on every page, what to do and how the user can get the most out of it.
- Do everything you can to keep faces off the homepage. I know agents have been taught to brand themselves by placing their picture everywhere but this idea contradicts the accepted tenets of good branding and web design.
- Make Search very accessible. And stay about from over used meaningless terms like Quick Search. Users aren't looking for quick. They want content rich search. And all the listings on one site.
Peter, please list your contact info so readers can reach out to you.
I have mediocre template site that I have been tweaking for a few years. It does the job fairly well and brings me lots of business, but I love constructive criticism and am happy to have it poked and prodded at.
http://www.geordieromer.com
Geordie,
Here goes.
I like the simple home page design. But… I would remove the people photos because I do not subscribe to the typical real estate coach school of branding. I believe you build personal brand by delivering good on your promise whatever that might be. You build brand by going one step further each and every time. You build brand by sitting down and making a list of what you would offer a customer if they paid you 10% commission and then delivering that service for 6%.
That's brand building.
I like that the Property Search takes me right to Property Search. No gimmicks. No maps. I wish the search result rendered some more local info beside just data on the home. I know that's what you're there for but I believe the site and you and one and the same. If your site offers little, it might make a user believe you do too.
Nav links. I don't agree that a link to you or Allyson should be in the #1,2, position. I don't there should be another link to Testimonials. And then another link to your community service. 1 link. ABOUT US. Fold all the stuff into that. The goal is reduce the amount of navigation links. Less is more.
I don't think Featured Properties should be #1. This is you telling the user what you find important. I'd rather see you creating a navigation that tells the user how important you think they are. That's why I would get rid of The Realtor Difference pronto. Unless you are marketing to space aliens, this is meaningless content on your site. While it might distinguish you from the 1 million non Realtor agents, it does to distinguish you from the 1.2 million Realtor agents who right now rate at the bottom of the Harris Poll most trusted professional. Use your site to distinguish yourself. Not bury you in stereotype.
I'd make Search the first link. I'd make Realty Watcher #2. I would do something about that Virtual Tour page because it's just really ugly and difficult to use due to the way it frames into the website.
Lose the the school link. It links off your site!!! Here's my spiel on that. This site is your virtual office. It's where you and I deal with each other. Why would you send me someplace else to get info you have? Would you do that offline? Besides, after clicking around on that school link – look at where I arrived – http://www.leavenworth.com/Washington/directory_realestate.htm
You navigated me right to Prudential!!!
I'll stop here. 'Tween you and me this site does you an injustice. I've read your comments on 1000watt and you have come across as smart, conscientious guy. This site diminished that impression.
That's my opinion.
Marc-
Thanks so much for the criticism. I'm a lifelong student, so I'm going to take a look at your suggestions and see what I can do. Obviously, the nav links is easy stuff, search functions are more tricky. Being in a small MLS my IDX options are pretty limited though I haven't spent a lot of time shopping around.
Sorry to miss you at the upcoming Windermere Summit, but Windermere bombed last year. A complete waste of my time and worthy of a refund. If you were coming to Seattle instead, I might sneak over for the day.
Thanks for the feedback Marc! You make some very valid points that I'm sure our clients will find helpful. It's great to get some unbiased feedback.
If anybody would like to get in touch with us regarding building a fresh real estate site or anything else:
* http://premsites.com
* 970.879.8810
I'll be making some exciting announcements about our software in the next few weeks, so be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/premsites
I think the site has great usability. I often go to my own site to find properties than mls.
Yes it's lacking on graphic appeal. I'm open to ideas and criticisms. Let's hear it!
http://www.ColoradoHomeFinder.com
Mike,
Nice design. Clean. Love the market info and stats. All great stuff.
Not liking the registration to view listings. As a consumer, why would I register to view the same info I can find for free on several hundred websites in your area?
Perhaps some copy on that sign in page that clearly defined the benefits of signing in.
Any thoughts about that?
You've done well in this area Greg. Your site rocks!