5 Cool Things Real Estate Pros Are Doing on Web Sites

1. Going mobile.

With its extraordinarily sharp screen and innovative user interface, Apple Inc.’s iPhone has marked the advent of serious Web browsing using mobile devices. Some real estate pros have taken notice of this by making sure their site will look good on any size screen. Mobile-compatible sites sense when a mobile device is viewing them and serve up an optimized version. For example, Sapphire, N.C., brokerage WhiteWater Realty’s site dynamically adjusts the way it delivers its content whether you are using a desktop computer or mobile device like the iPhone or its competitors.

2. Offering dynamic calls to action.

Most real estate Web sites don’t use calls to action, which makes you stand out even more when yours does. Calls to action or irresistible offers are the main ways your site can powerfully engage visitors so that casual inquiries are more likely to turn into closed transactions. The key to maximizing effectiveness is to make your calls and offers relevant to the context of what your visitors are viewing. For example, go to www.manausa.com,the site for Century 21 First Realty in Tallahassee, Fla., and check out the information for buyers. You’ll find different calls to action from the ones in the sellers’ section. This takes targeting to a new level.

3. Providing real-time, accurate CMA services.

Scott Williams, with Prudential California Realty in Santa Barbara, Calif., has a unique Web site called Prime Voyage.Among its other features, this site enables home owners to interactively create a real-time CMA of their property that takes into account differences in square footage, condition, time since sale, and other factors from comparables found in their neighborhood using a Google Map interface. Scott says his Web-based CMA tool is so accurate he uses it for his own listing presentations.

4. Encouraging custom Google Map property searches.

It seems as if everyone these days is using some sort of Google Map–based property search tool. However, many are uninspired. A good example of how Google Map property searches can be fun and unique can be found at www.lindacraft.com, the site for brokerage Linda Craft & Team in Raleigh, N.C. In addition to the usual home icons, this interactive map also features entire neighborhoods, great for relocating buyers, and distinguishes condos from single-family residences.

5. Serving RSS feeds for listings.

Instead of the traditional approach for e-mailing listings to a visitor, some sites are now providing new listing feeds via RSS. This will especially appeal to the highly tech-savvy Generation Y buyers who seek especially efficient ways to receive information that is important to them. Visitors who use Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Vista operating system can now grab a feed of the newest listings and have them automatically appear in a widget or in their sidebar, home page, or desktop.