Community Page - what do you think?

[AgentSteph]

I'm redesigning my site. I'd love some feedback. What do you think of this layout for a community page?
http://www.nestinginnashville.com/neighborhoods/urban/12-south/

I've tried others with embedded dsSeachAgent maps, but I'm concerned about load times and I think having a sidebar gives me more options for aesthetics above the fold. What say you? Any plugins you recommend?

[heni1022]

very nice! user friendly & great blogs.
the only thing that bothers me from a designers perspective is the white space on top.

i also looked at your FB page. have you seen https://www.facebook.com/dreamtown - i think they do some of the best FB marketing for real estate!

[AgentSteph]

Thanks. I'm working on my header now. It won't stay white. I haven't heard of Dreamtown. Thanks for the tip!

[heni1022]

OOOOH! i REALLY like the changes!
I was picturing some kind of cursive writing on top but i LOVE the brick!
The Logo is fantastic!

[Ricardo Bueno]

Hi Stephanie,

I like the subtle text that you include just above the IDX map search here:
http://www.nestinginnashville.com/se...s/by-zip-code/

Been poking around the site... Look forward to seeing how things progress!

[Mike McGee]

Hey Steph,

I've always liked your old theme, and didn't really see any reason to change, so I was a bit nervous for you when I saw you were changing things up. However, I think the finished product turned out very well! The autocomplete quick search form is great, smartly placed on top of most pages, well above the fold in a prominently visible location.

I also like how much you have customized the AgentPress theme. One reason why I steered away from AgentPress is because I thought so many agents' sites using it look the same. But you've done a great job of making yours look very original, not just "out-of-the-box." Bravo!

I like the videos on the home page ... I need to do something like that. Which lightbox plugin are you using for your YouTube videos? There are so many out there, and yours seems to work well.

Looking at the 12 South community page, I have a couple of suggestions. On the left sidebar, you have 3 dsIDXpress widgets, all of which show the same 25 listings. Then, the shortcode listings at the bottom show the first 10 of the same 25 listings. I think that's a bit redundant, both from a user and an SEO perspective. You're loading the same listings 4 times, which adds to your page load time, but doesn't really add any value, IMHO. You might look to reduce some of that redundancy. Not to mention that you have 3 other dsIDXpress widgets in the footer, so in total, that's a LOT of listings to load. (Try tools.pingdom.com to test your page load time.)

Also, while the local information is helpful, I think most people come to a real estate site primarily to look for homes. And since IDX is the way you capture leads, I'd put the listings first, then the local info / stats below that. (Also, you have Yelp info twice, once by itself then again under the "Nearby Businesses" tab.)

I am also of the opinion that dsSearchAgent captures leads better than dsIDXpress, so you might consider placing dsSearchAgent on your community pages. Keep a dsIDXpress widget somewhere on the page for indexable listings for that community, then use the dsSearchAgent for its better user interface and lead capture. Looks like you've already created the custom links, so you've got the hard part done already.


Anyway, that's my 2 cents. Overall, I think it looks great, and best of luck with it!

[AgentSteph]

Well, apparently I wasn't subscribed to this and totally missed your comments.

Mike, I'm using the VideoGall plugin for the home page videos. I took me DAYS to find one I like. This one isn't as flexible as I wanted (wish I could resize and center) but it's the best I could find.

When I first made the switch to AgentPress I was really concerned about the aesthetics too. I still don't find this site to be nearly as beautiful as my old one. But that Cubit theme was O-L-D. I stated having compatibility issues with plugins. And the home page offered very little in the way of SEO. Almost everything was pulled in from another source. I HAD to update to something else. That being said, I'm getting lots of positive comments from consumers. This site seems to be a lot more user-friendly.

That home page search box was created by Loren Nason. It has made a huge impact on my registrations. They've increased about two-fold. I couldn't be happier.

Thanks for your community page comments. I spent so much time setting them up a few months ago that the prospect of changing them is a bit daunting. But I'm not really happy with the way they are set up now. I will likely tackle is soon. I sure wish DS search agent could fit on a page that included a sidebar.

Would LOVE if you guys could post a few links to other's community pages that you really like. I'm totally infatuated with http://msqrealty.com/ - but so much of their stuff is hand coded and I don't have the skills or resources for that...

[Mike McGee]

I'm totally infatuated with http://msqrealty.com/ - but so much of their stuff is hand coded and I don't have the skills or resources for that...

While I do like the M2 Real Estate site, I really don't get all the hype they're getting. They're supposed to be hyper-local experts, but their neighborhood pages have ZERO original copy. All they have is a Qwiki show framed in and some modules from the SREP plugin. Anybody could do this, it requires no local knowledge whatsoever.

[AgentSteph]

I see your point. I heard that they have a ton more info coming. Walking video tours, neighborhood photos and the like. I think they're also building out a Facebook page for each area. I love how their quick search sidebars auto populate for each community.
http://msqrealty.com/explore/petworth/
I also LOVE how their featured properties sidebar plugin allows for images of each listing - not just the address.
http://idx.msqrealty.com/idx/8727/re...&hp=%24&bd=%23
Hopefully we'll see some functionality like that in future IDXpress releases.

[Mike McGee]

I also LOVE how their featured properties sidebar plugin allows for images of each listing - not just the address.
http://idx.msqrealty.com/idx/8727/re...&hp=%24&bd=%23
Hopefully we'll see some functionality like that in future IDXpress releases.

You can kind of do that by using dsIDXpress shortcodes along with a plugin that allows you to use shortcodes in the sidebar text widgets.