I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (Full Version)

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Peppergal -> I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/22/2007 18:23:46)

Hi All! I'm not only a REALTOR now but one at an office that will allow me to have my own website (imagine that).

I have a couple of pages up (it's not done yet) and would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Right now it's just bare bones. Will be adding a few pictures to the home page but I kind of like it as it is.

http://www.karenricesells.com

Edited to fix domain.



treetopsranch -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/22/2007 21:11:34)

Looks good. I do get one inch of horizontal scrolling on 800x600 resolution.



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/22/2007 22:23:14)

Thanks, I was afraid of that. I made the image to be 800 px, without taking into consideration the padding in the table would blow it out.

I wonder exactly how many people are actually surfing with 800 px these days though...?



treetopsranch -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/22/2007 23:26:57)

A lot of us 'old' guys. Harder to see the little fonts on those super large resolution screens.



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/22/2007 23:42:45)

Sorry about the font. I made them a little bigger. Is the scroll gone?



treetopsranch -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/23/2007 19:53:55)

Much better. Scroll is down to 1/4 inch (horizontal) which is probably OK as all of the data is visible.



Tailslide -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/24/2007 3:20:07)

You'd be surprised how many people still use 800px - if you're looking at high tech type customers then possibly no, but your "average" types... of my last 4 clients, 3 of them were using 800px resolution. I'd try to ensure it's working with no scrollbar at around 760px to be sure.

I'd change the way you've got your link styles to ensure keyboard navigation like this:

Where you've got: 
a.yellow:link
{
color: yellow;
font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: none;
}


a.yellow:visited
{
color: yellow;
font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: none;
}

a.yellow:hover
{
color: white;
font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: underline;
}


Change to: 

a.yellow:link, a.yellow:visited
{
color: yellow;
font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: none;
}

a.yellow:focus, a.yellow:hover, a.yellow:active
{
color: white;
font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: underline;
}


I'd change the normal links in the same way - adding focus and active rules either side of the hover rule (the order matters).



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/24/2007 6:51:53)

Thanks Tailslide...what does "focus" mean?




Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/24/2007 7:03:44)

Oy, and all this 800px talk...makes me think of when I first started designing, one of the big tests was "How does it look in Netscape 4?" LOL

Hopefully, that issue is gone now right?[:-]

[8|]



Tailslide -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/24/2007 7:26:35)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Peppergal

Thanks Tailslide...what does "focus" mean?





Focus is to give people who use the keyboard to navigate a site instead of a mouse - it basically gives them the same effect as when you mouse over something - helps them know where they are on a page.



d a v e -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/24/2007 9:58:03)

this image is too difficult to read http://www.karenricesells.com/images/graphics/realtormls.gif have you got a bigger and better version?

your photo - and indeed the whole site could do with a touch more colour and warmth - not loads but a little



futurewebboss -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/24/2007 15:17:44)

Technically speaking, I didn't have any problems with it. I'd like to see a clearer message about the typs of homes that maybe you're specializing in as well as property. So as a potential buyer of property I'd like to know quickly if we are talking about low income homes, luxury property etc. The real estate market is broad and so the more you can define for me the exact types of homes and properties that are found in the area, or are what your are focused on would be better. The other thing I don't like about all real estae sites is the MLS. It takes youi off site and though I recognize that it is necessary, I think a marketing approach that blends in a 'featured' home or property and that uses video would be better at distinguishing you and seperating you from the other agents.
I recommend video to all my clients because in this day and age we all are time compressed. I can help you more on this if you like. Hope this helps.



treetopsranch -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/24/2007 16:48:21)

Yes, I agree that a video would be good. But have some good photos also for the dial-up users and maybe a optional video for the ones that have broadband.



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/27/2007 20:14:15)

Thanks Futurewebboss.

Actually I have quite a bit of experience in real estate websites - I designed many of the ones in my area and now I've become their competition. ha ha. Shortly after I left my former office I got calls from others wanting me to do for them what I did for my former broker! I managed to get that website in the top 5 organic results in Google and they maintained their position for nearly every search term available. That site receives over 500 unique visitors every day in the summer.

I do not have any listings of my own right now to feature - but rest assured as soon as I do, or as soon as I can get someone in the office to allow me to feature theirs, I will be adding that. This is why I am not going to go with typical real estate template sites - I want the google juice that comes from having listings, images, and descriptions right in the text of the page rather than being called up from some database that doesn't get crawled or indexed.

Mostly residential real estate and vacation homes - no low income or luxury for me, strictly middle of the road...which is a big chunk of the market except for lakefront homes. Since the market and my area is very broad, I do not want to limit myself to a certain type of home buyer. I will sell a trailer or a piece of land just as quickly as I will sell a million dollar lakefront.

I do not know that I will add video to the site at this point though my future listings will have linked video tours. I do not like flashy websites and I think the majority of the folks I'm going to be targeting will be baby-boomers and aging Gen x ers, not the hip youngsters who need to be entertained to keep them there. LOL. That's why I appreciated treetops ranch pointing out about the text size.

Unfortunately, I screwed up and lost my files and now am redesigning them all from scratch (yes, I'm ExPERIENCED! LOL).

The new domain:

http://www.wallenpaupacklakeproperty.com

Looks like crap now. I thought I had back up files, but I didn't. Fortunately, I remembered most of my design.

Dave - sorry you don't like my color choices....I'm partial to greens and grays and I thought they would be soothing, especially after surfing all the red white and blue typical realtor sites in the area. lol



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/27/2007 20:17:26)

Re: "focus" in the style sheet...

do I only add that to my css file, or do I need to add that to the html doc somewhere too?



caz -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/27/2007 20:22:21)

Hi Karen, use the focus attribute in the css sheet only - that way you keep your mark up lean ( and green [;)] ).

I take it that you are not doing site design as a business any more? Good luck with the real estate venture.
Cheers,
Carol



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/27/2007 20:27:31)

Thanks Caz!

No, I'm not doing design as a business though my new broker has asked me to beef up their site for them, and one of my old colleagues asked me to make him a site too. Oy! My fans won't let me move on in my career! LOL



Larry M. -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/28/2007 13:28:23)

quote:

your photo - and indeed the whole site could do with a touch more colour and warmth - not loads but a little


Agree. You're still not coming across as a real person strangers (internet Impowered Consumers) would want to do business with. Your PA real estate license may be with Weichert, but you are a self-employed independent contractor, and, as such, need to promote yourself and the area first. Your site may offer access to information such as IDX, but there is litte "call-to-action" as it concerns Karen Rice.

A couple of tips: (1) REALTOR must always be followed by the registered symbol - this straight from NAR and (2), ditch the Gmail address: Karen@KarenRiceSells.com looks and sounds much more professional. If your host does not offer Squirrel Mail change hosts.



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/28/2007 14:08:29)

thanks Larry.

The trademark was an oversight. I had it initially on my other pages but accidentally deleted them and had to start from scratch.

I've added content to the front page - does it sound too sappy or does it sound friendly and inviting?

I'm not sure I want to ditch my gmail address. The new domain name is wallenpaupacklakeproperty.com and that's just too long an email address. Most of the agents around here have hotmail, yahoo, and local ISP email addresses.



Tailslide -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/28/2007 14:27:40)

Just a suggestion about the email thing - might not appeal to you but you could always hunt down a shorter domain name and just use it for emails - for instance www.wplp.biz is available. You could forward the domain name itself straight to the normal domain.



caz -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/28/2007 15:01:11)

I agree with Tailslide about the email Karen, it was something that jumped out at me originally - I normally view sites displaying Hotmail/Gmail addresses with suspicion if they are business sites. It doesn't give a professional image somehow.

In Firefox there are some broken images too ie.

quote:

1. http://www.karenricesells.com/images/graphics/banner6.jpg
2. http://www.karenricesells.com/images/graphics/bannercollage.jpg


As these provide the much needed touch of colour to the site they are very much missed, although they are present in IE7.



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/28/2007 15:15:24)

I've been looking at it in firefox and the images come up - perhaps you need to refresh your browser as the domain name changed since I originally posted the site? I don't know. I checked the images and the paths are all correct but they say www.wallenpaupacklakeproperty.com not www.karenricesells.com

re: the email - I can see that as a possible problem if you are going to purchase something from someone online. This is not the same as an ecommerce site.



Larry M. -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/28/2007 15:38:56)

quote:

I've added content to the front page - does it sound too sappy or does it sound friendly and inviting?


Yes, considerable improvement [&:]

I've used much your same wording but changed the order and closed with a "call to action". See what you think:

The Pike / Wayne County region of Pennsylvania is rich with outdoor activities like water skiing, boating, sailing, fishing, hiking, tubing, snowmobiling, skiing, hunting, or just hanging out on the front porch. Antique and other specialty shops dot the landscape, and most everything you need is nearby, including hospitals, shopping, and entertainment.

There are homes to fit nearly every budget here in Wayne County and Pike County, whether you are first time homebuyers just starting out, or if you are looking for a vacation home or an economical place to retire.

(this needs word smithing) It would be my pleasure to show you homes and property for sale - around Lake Wallenpaupack and beyond! I've spent the last twenty years working with people, loved every minute of it and I would happy to help you make your housing dreams come true!



d a v e -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/28/2007 15:45:20)

try this for your MLS logo (it's on a transparent background, anti-aliased against the teal of your site)
:)

[image]local://upfiles/5827/9398D8C646F5453FAAF8CC1B20AA823B.gif[/image]



caz -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/28/2007 19:30:20)

Aaaah, it was Adblocked for some reason - I didn't do it, but when I whitelisted the site in Adblock the banner image appeared. magic [;)]



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/29/2007 0:34:23)


quote:

ORIGINAL: d a v e

try this for your MLS logo (it's on a transparent background, anti-aliased against the teal of your site)
:)



Thanks but it didn't work?? when I right click and copied, and opened it up again, the bg was black??!!



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/29/2007 0:37:31)

Everyone: thanks so much for the input!!

I have fixed the CSS to add the focus element, just as directed. ;)

Larry - thanks for the wording re-arrangement. I did what you did only altered it a bit, and added a bulleted list instead of another paragraph.

I also added a personal profile page, and made a new graphic for that. It's bigger than I would like but I also know that your average web viewer (particularly the audience I'm likely to be targeting) doesn't like tiny stuff.

I also do not want to end up being a carbon copy of all the other real estate websites I've done - at least for layout. Sometimes I feel like I used my best ideas for everyone else!



d a v e -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/29/2007 1:43:39)

"Thanks but it didn't work?? when I right click and copied, and opened it up again, the bg was black??!! "

if you try it in your site and then preview in a browser it should look find?!



Peppergal -> RE: I'm A Realtor Now...How's My Site? (7/29/2007 19:47:03)

Okay, Dave, I got it now. Thanks!!!



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