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Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Safari 3 Beta - Now on Windows, Goodbye IE
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Sunday, June 3, 2007
You're Ugly, and Your Mama Dresses You Funny!
I've been promising you, my loyal readers, that I would post this soon, and today is the day!
My job choosing the best-dressed real estate sites on the web gives me a chance to see more real estate sites than I'd normally ever view. After about two weeks of receiving submissions, and reviewing them, I'm reminded of a nursery rhyme my grandmother used to tell me. I don't remember the whole thing, but the part I remember is, "When she was good, she was very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid." Man how fitting that rhyme is when reviewing sites. It also makes me think of the American Idol auditions. You see people singing, and they truly believe they are good singers, but clearly they're terrible. I decided it is my blogging duty to not only share the "Posh'd" real estate sites, but also do the dirty work of sharing the worst the web has to offer. Sadly, choosing the worst isn't nearly as difficult as choosing the best - there are TONS of them.
This is a five-part series showcasing the 50 worst real estate sites I've seen. This post is likely to bring out some serious haters! But that's just the way it goes. Namaste!
This Brentwood, CA website's slogan is, "Excellence To a Higher Degree." Sadly, this isn't shown in their web design. Maybe if the team's portrait was done in a more Charlie's Angel's style, I'd have not included it, but alas, they went for the all-white staircase pose.
Pros: You know it's a real estate site as soon as you enter. Blog has a recent last post - although I only see three posts total. Header menu is easy to navigate. Featured listings section is decent, although your clients would appreciate a more personal look to them. Nice CAPTCHA alternative on your submit form.
Cons: This is a personal opinion, but red screams "STOP!" Now, I understand the color choice, as the team works for Keller Williams, but I still think red is better left to traffic lights and signs. Aside from the pictures in the header, the only picture on the homepage is the staircase shot of the team. Try to remember, you're selling homes. The animated GIF links near the top of the page are annoying, and very late 90s. If you want your clients to provide you with their information, make it a more natural fit. If you must have those tacky badges, try adding them to your sidebar. Clients don't care that you're trying to earn points by advertising for another site. It's pretty clear that the sidebar links are for SEO purposes only, and a client that clicks any of your "Community" links might be upset at what they find - or don't find.
Mitchell's site is out of Manhattan, NY - one of my favorite places ever! The city is very cutting-edge, but unfortunately, you'd never know that by looking at this site. Mitchell should call Giuliani for tips on dressing a place up. Let me stress, even with the blemishes this site has now, with a little work, I think this site has a TON of potential.
Pros: Makes an attempt at using a map mashup, which, if done right, is very effective. Stays focused on Manhattan information. Although a little short on content, the featured listings section is excellent. Thorough VIP program contact form.
Cons: I don't think I'm alone in saying the use of your name as your RE website domain is a poor choice. Way too many links on the page, making it extremelly confusing for someone looking for a simple way to find a home or condo for sale. Even though the map is a nice attempt, it fails miserably! Search for ways to add a clickable map to this page at the very least. The sentence under "Manhattan Buyers" has a strange break in it. Your pages are labeled, "Page 1, Page 2, etc" which doesn't help the search engines understand your pages when being crawled. Try to label the pages with keywords, etc.
Another Keller Williams agent site making the list is JudyLuna.com out of Fayetteville, AR (that's Arkansas, not Arizona) with her not-so-personal attempt to reach her clients over the web.
Pros: Six nice quick-link buttons midway down page. Contact info easy to find. A link to her blog which seems update fairly regularly.
Cons: I now know the weather in Fayetteville thanks to the widget-thing at the very top of the content - Clients won't give a damn. If you're marketing to the correct people, they'll already know their local weather. Again with the agent's name as the domain? If you need help finding a better domain name, try . The blog is not integrated into the site, and feels like a completely separate page (which technically it is) - this won't help with searches. Some of the links have no content, which wastes clients' time. The page layout is very "stock" looking, and the use of badges would be better suited in the sidebar. Too many links on the page - they are inline with the main column, in the header, in the sidebar, and in the footer. Site feels very impersonal.
Are we starting to see a trend here with personal names as domains? This Point2 site from Fort Smith, AR has a lot of potential and a very personal touch to it, but may confuse people at first glance.
Pros: Very warm, personal feeling, and a special salute to our troops in the header. Good attempt at simplifying the user interface (although it misses the mark a bit). Cool Digg-like blog views feature at bottom of page to help keep fresh content on homepage at all times. Nice rating system in blog. Open house details in sidebar is a nice touch.
Cons: Aside from the header, this site isn't pleasant to look at. Because it's a template site, it has a very "template" feel to it. The domain name is the agent's name. We've covered this, right? I know there's some unwritten law somewhere that says every Realtor needs to paste their face on everything, and that will help them stand out, and it will definitely assure they sell that house - paaaaa-lease. A client comes to a real estate site to find real estate - not a photo album of you with pictures from 10 years ago. Let's make a new law that says NO MORE agent pictures. The blog has decent integration into this site, but I think this is a case where the blog would be better served as the homepage - although, there seem to be a few hiccups in the posting dates. I went to the "About Fort Smith" page to see if the "Support our troops" in the header was relevant to the area, but sadly, the "About" page said very little about the area except the slogan.
U.....G.....L.....Y....You ain't got no aliby! Straight out of Hot-lanta comes this not-so-hot real estate site that is long overdue for a facelift.
Pros: The best part of this site is the slight use of Flash in the header. Very thorough "Home Evaluation" form.
Cons: Where do I start? It was so close to having a good domain name, but using dashes in a domain is never a good idea. Uses frames for everything, which is common in template sites, but not acceptable. Almost every link, links to another site - for example, clicking on "Community Info," brings you to DMOZ. WTF? DMOZ is nice if it links to you, but throwing your clients to DMOZ is essentially throwing them away as a prospect. As a matter of fact, DMOZ led me to 94 other residential Realtors in Atlanta! The "Seller Info" link sent me to "8 Big Time Mistakes that cost you money when selling your home." That's it? That's all a seller needs to know? Even the mortgage calculator (also from someone else's site) only allowed calculations for up to 30 years, which excludes the new, popular, 40+ year loans. Design is terrible, and the site lacks any useful agent-provided content.
Oh, the templates they are a plenty. This site is from a planet named alldfw, or maybe just dfw, judging from the clever domain name. Actually, DFW is Texan for Dallas/Fort Worth, and as you know, everything's bigger in Texas - except the appeal for this site.
Pros: Has a slideshow of something near the top of the page. Good color scheme! Offers a Home Tracker service for registered users, which is actally a great concept. I didn't register, so I don't know if it's effective, but kudos for having the option - it's a step in the right direction.
Cons: It's yet another template site. The images have a bright blue box around (obviously because they are links). I'm pretty sure there are better domain names available for the location. The content included with template sites is so stock, that it just turns people off, although it was nice to be able to find Orlando, FL school information on the site. Has a weather thing at the top of the page that is pointless. The "articles & links" box at the footer has one word per line, and they're all underlined, making it difficult to distinguish the separate topics. I gave up after the first three words...how soon will the client give up? The "My Listings" link only returned one result, which isn't a bad thing. If you only have one listing, it needs to be showcased better, which is nearly impossible in a template site.
The Golden State's own, Scott Harrison offers his clients a dose of bay area love, but the site lacks the colorful and laidback feel of the community.
Pros: Throws in a dash of web 2.0 fun with his "Instant Callback" feature. Contact info very easy to find.
Cons: You can be certain the people competing for search placement in this area would report this site to Google in a second for its link and keyword stuffing throughout the page. The page has no flow to it, and doesn't give prospects an easy view of the choices available. The weather plugin on this page is smaller than those found on other previously mentioned sites, but it's still ugly, and it's still pointless. The Grammar needs work. The resource center footer links remind me of sites from the early days of web design. If you MUST have a picture of yourself - only do it once.
A blog out of Naples, FL that claims to "help find information on all new and re-sale Naples Flordia real estate." Yes, that's how he spelled Florida. The reason this site makes the list (aside from being butt-ugly) is that it hasn't been updated since January!
Pros: None
Cons: Mispelled Florida in header - HUGE mistake! Has not been updated in 5 months (would normally think it's just a dead site, but the guy's ActiveRain profile links to this). No pictures. No original posts - all from other sources. PATHETIC!!!
Nebraska's state motto is Equality before the law. If you simplify equality to equal, you'll understand this site. It's just equal - just like the thousands of other Z57 template sites. What does it equal? A site worth passing on.
Pros: Easy to navigate homepage. Flash menu with a curly thing on the homepage.
Cons: Same boring content as every other template site. Nothing new for clients to get excited about or want to bookmark the page for. Z57, like most templates, use frames - bad decision if you're interested in decent search results. Boring color and theme choice. No customization.
Like most Advanced Access sites, the Touchstone Team's page starts off looking nice, but it's what lays a slight roll down of the scroll wheel that makes this site join the list. Instead of "Touching Dallas Area Homes," try touching your Delete button in a few places, and get this mess cleaned up.
Pros: Clean looking above the fold. Phone number nicely displayed. A hintsmidgen of web 2.0 thrown in with a "Translate" dropdown list.
Cons: It's a freaking template site! Spend a few minutes on Realtor.com and click on other agents' websites. Notice anything? Yep, almost all of them are the exact same - which is the inherent problem with template sites for real estate. Your use of badges on the homepage is horrid! 30 badges - not including your designation icons. And not all of the badges link anywhere. Google doesn't see template sites the same way it sees custom sites, and I'll explain the problem with that in another post. Your big yield sign at the bottom of the page has a great statement, but the sign looks very out-of-place. Once you make it past the homepage, you are stuck in iFrame world. You have far too many links on the left side of the frame, and your clients will become frustrated - especially after clicking a few and seeing it's the same content, word for word, as 10 other sites they've already looked at. Do yourself, and the internet a favor, and rethink this entire site.
That wraps it up for this week. Make sure and subscribe so you don't miss the rest of the sites. If you're upset because you made the list, relax. If nothing else, I've given you a link to your homepage, and a few tips to dress your site up a little.
If your site looks like any of the of the above, consider this fair warning that you could be next!!!
My job choosing the best-dressed real estate sites on the web gives me a chance to see more real estate sites than I'd normally ever view. After about two weeks of receiving submissions, and reviewing them, I'm reminded of a nursery rhyme my grandmother used to tell me. I don't remember the whole thing, but the part I remember is, "When she was good, she was very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid." Man how fitting that rhyme is when reviewing sites. It also makes me think of the American Idol auditions. You see people singing, and they truly believe they are good singers, but clearly they're terrible. I decided it is my blogging duty to not only share the "Posh'd" real estate sites, but also do the dirty work of sharing the worst the web has to offer. Sadly, choosing the worst isn't nearly as difficult as choosing the best - there are TONS of them.
This is a five-part series showcasing the 50 worst real estate sites I've seen. This post is likely to bring out some serious haters! But that's just the way it goes. Namaste!
Let's Get it On!
#50
Pros: You know it's a real estate site as soon as you enter. Blog has a recent last post - although I only see three posts total. Header menu is easy to navigate. Featured listings section is decent, although your clients would appreciate a more personal look to them. Nice CAPTCHA alternative on your submit form.
Cons: This is a personal opinion, but red screams "STOP!" Now, I understand the color choice, as the team works for Keller Williams, but I still think red is better left to traffic lights and signs. Aside from the pictures in the header, the only picture on the homepage is the staircase shot of the team. Try to remember, you're selling homes. The animated GIF links near the top of the page are annoying, and very late 90s. If you want your clients to provide you with their information, make it a more natural fit. If you must have those tacky badges, try adding them to your sidebar. Clients don't care that you're trying to earn points by advertising for another site. It's pretty clear that the sidebar links are for SEO purposes only, and a client that clicks any of your "Community" links might be upset at what they find - or don't find.
#49
Pros: Makes an attempt at using a map mashup, which, if done right, is very effective. Stays focused on Manhattan information. Although a little short on content, the featured listings section is excellent. Thorough VIP program contact form.
Cons: I don't think I'm alone in saying the use of your name as your RE website domain is a poor choice. Way too many links on the page, making it extremelly confusing for someone looking for a simple way to find a home or condo for sale. Even though the map is a nice attempt, it fails miserably! Search for ways to add a clickable map to this page at the very least. The sentence under "Manhattan Buyers" has a strange break in it. Your pages are labeled, "Page 1, Page 2, etc" which doesn't help the search engines understand your pages when being crawled. Try to label the pages with keywords, etc.
#48
Pros: Six nice quick-link buttons midway down page. Contact info easy to find. A link to her blog which seems update fairly regularly.
Cons: I now know the weather in Fayetteville thanks to the widget-thing at the very top of the content - Clients won't give a damn. If you're marketing to the correct people, they'll already know their local weather. Again with the agent's name as the domain? If you need help finding a better domain name, try . The blog is not integrated into the site, and feels like a completely separate page (which technically it is) - this won't help with searches. Some of the links have no content, which wastes clients' time. The page layout is very "stock" looking, and the use of badges would be better suited in the sidebar. Too many links on the page - they are inline with the main column, in the header, in the sidebar, and in the footer. Site feels very impersonal.
#47
Pros: Very warm, personal feeling, and a special salute to our troops in the header. Good attempt at simplifying the user interface (although it misses the mark a bit). Cool Digg-like blog views feature at bottom of page to help keep fresh content on homepage at all times. Nice rating system in blog. Open house details in sidebar is a nice touch.
Cons: Aside from the header, this site isn't pleasant to look at. Because it's a template site, it has a very "template" feel to it. The domain name is the agent's name. We've covered this, right? I know there's some unwritten law somewhere that says every Realtor needs to paste their face on everything, and that will help them stand out, and it will definitely assure they sell that house - paaaaa-lease. A client comes to a real estate site to find real estate - not a photo album of you with pictures from 10 years ago. Let's make a new law that says NO MORE agent pictures. The blog has decent integration into this site, but I think this is a case where the blog would be better served as the homepage - although, there seem to be a few hiccups in the posting dates. I went to the "About Fort Smith" page to see if the "Support our troops" in the header was relevant to the area, but sadly, the "About" page said very little about the area except the slogan.
#46
Pros: The best part of this site is the slight use of Flash in the header. Very thorough "Home Evaluation" form.
Cons: Where do I start? It was so close to having a good domain name, but using dashes in a domain is never a good idea. Uses frames for everything, which is common in template sites, but not acceptable. Almost every link, links to another site - for example, clicking on "Community Info," brings you to DMOZ. WTF? DMOZ is nice if it links to you, but throwing your clients to DMOZ is essentially throwing them away as a prospect. As a matter of fact, DMOZ led me to 94 other residential Realtors in Atlanta! The "Seller Info" link sent me to "8 Big Time Mistakes that cost you money when selling your home." That's it? That's all a seller needs to know? Even the mortgage calculator (also from someone else's site) only allowed calculations for up to 30 years, which excludes the new, popular, 40+ year loans. Design is terrible, and the site lacks any useful agent-provided content.
#45
Pros: Has a slideshow of something near the top of the page. Good color scheme! Offers a Home Tracker service for registered users, which is actally a great concept. I didn't register, so I don't know if it's effective, but kudos for having the option - it's a step in the right direction.
Cons: It's yet another template site. The images have a bright blue box around (obviously because they are links). I'm pretty sure there are better domain names available for the location. The content included with template sites is so stock, that it just turns people off, although it was nice to be able to find Orlando, FL school information on the site. Has a weather thing at the top of the page that is pointless. The "articles & links" box at the footer has one word per line, and they're all underlined, making it difficult to distinguish the separate topics. I gave up after the first three words...how soon will the client give up? The "My Listings" link only returned one result, which isn't a bad thing. If you only have one listing, it needs to be showcased better, which is nearly impossible in a template site.
#44
Pros: Throws in a dash of web 2.0 fun with his "Instant Callback" feature. Contact info very easy to find.
Cons: You can be certain the people competing for search placement in this area would report this site to Google in a second for its link and keyword stuffing throughout the page. The page has no flow to it, and doesn't give prospects an easy view of the choices available. The weather plugin on this page is smaller than those found on other previously mentioned sites, but it's still ugly, and it's still pointless. The Grammar needs work. The resource center footer links remind me of sites from the early days of web design. If you MUST have a picture of yourself - only do it once.
#43
Pros: None
Cons: Mispelled Florida in header - HUGE mistake! Has not been updated in 5 months (would normally think it's just a dead site, but the guy's ActiveRain profile links to this). No pictures. No original posts - all from other sources. PATHETIC!!!
#42
Pros: Easy to navigate homepage. Flash menu with a curly thing on the homepage.
Cons: Same boring content as every other template site. Nothing new for clients to get excited about or want to bookmark the page for. Z57, like most templates, use frames - bad decision if you're interested in decent search results. Boring color and theme choice. No customization.
#41
Pros: Clean looking above the fold. Phone number nicely displayed. A hintsmidgen of web 2.0 thrown in with a "Translate" dropdown list.
Cons: It's a freaking template site! Spend a few minutes on Realtor.com and click on other agents' websites. Notice anything? Yep, almost all of them are the exact same - which is the inherent problem with template sites for real estate. Your use of badges on the homepage is horrid! 30 badges - not including your designation icons. And not all of the badges link anywhere. Google doesn't see template sites the same way it sees custom sites, and I'll explain the problem with that in another post. Your big yield sign at the bottom of the page has a great statement, but the sign looks very out-of-place. Once you make it past the homepage, you are stuck in iFrame world. You have far too many links on the left side of the frame, and your clients will become frustrated - especially after clicking a few and seeing it's the same content, word for word, as 10 other sites they've already looked at. Do yourself, and the internet a favor, and rethink this entire site.
That wraps it up for this week. Make sure and subscribe so you don't miss the rest of the sites. If you're upset because you made the list, relax. If nothing else, I've given you a link to your homepage, and a few tips to dress your site up a little.
If your site looks like any of the of the above, consider this fair warning that you could be next!!!
If you know of sites that belong here, feel free to email them to Posh'd, or leave them in the comments section - if you dare.
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