Free Blog Review #2: Miamism
Jul 19, 2008 Technology & Productivity
Today in continuing our series of free real estate blog reviews, we’re going to take a look at a blog featuring Miami real estate at Miamism.com. Again we’ll be reviewing the site based on design/usability, content, and the SEO/Promotion/Competition factor.
Design
The unique design of Miamism.com is the first thing that caught my attention. The bright bold colors of orange and the header make me think that Miami would be a pretty neat place to live. I like the very big “Search for Properties” box and the site is easy to navigate. The sidebar is mostly uncluttered and well organized.
I like at the bottom how they have the “Recent Readers” section powered by mybloglog. The footer however looks a little jumbled in Firefox 3 - it may be okay in other browsers. But I noticed the Majestic Property Logo is floating on top of the text. They also have a Google translate button, which is definitely a plus, though I might consider putting that in the sidebar instead of in the footer.
Content
The content of Miamism.com is very well put together and thought out. The use of images, video, and unique posts such as the one on Cuban Tile Flooring make it an enjoyable read, even if you’re not in Miami.
Promotion/Competition
Searching for Miami Real Estate and Miami Luxury Homes did not come up with their site in the top 10, though they did make it to the top 4 for the search term “Miami Luxury Real Estate”. I would consider making sure the site has been submitted to all the major blog directories and would also work on improving the search for other miami real estate phrases to help beat out the competition.
Special Thanks to Ines for volunteering her Miami luxury home blog to be reviewed by Upstart Agent. Have any other suggestions for Miamism.com? Feel free to share them in the comments below.
| 2.5 |
Free Website Review #1: VIPRealtyInfo
Jul 12, 2008 Blog Reviews
Something new I’m going to start on Upstart Agent is a free blog/website review for real estate blogs that will be published each and every Saturday. The point of this is for all of us to take a look at what other real estate agents are doing with their blogs and websites and share a few pointers with each other for increasing our search engine traffic and lead conversion. In each review I will be going over 3 things: Design/Usability, Content, and SEO/promotion.
Our first review is for VIP Realty Blog, a company representing the Dallas Real Estate Market.
Design/Usability
The main site has a very nice and clean, easy to navigate design. I like the HUGE search for homes feature in the top right header and the featured listings are nice as they offer homes in different areas and price ranges. The top left part of the site is what got most of my attention - where they promote “Sell Your Home in 60 Days Guarantee” and “Flat Fee Listing Service” - if I were a seller, I’d be happy to see both of these options.
As for the VIP Realty Blog I would make a few minor tweaks to the sidebars - I would list pages and categories on the top of the left sidebar (where the current calendar is) and move the recent posts over to the top of the right sidebar and limit it to only 5-7 recent posts instead of that huge long list! I also noticed from the main site, the link to the blog is very hidden (way at the bottom corner) so would considering making “Blog” one of the main pages at the top site in the navigation menu.
Content
The content for this blog is very good, with everything from home selling tips to local real estate news. I would only suggest perhaps including a photo in each post and to either allign it within the post or center it.
SEO/Promotion/Competition
I typed in “Dallas Real Estate” in Google and their site is the first of the results, so that is very good news for them! After looking at the other sites available, I would probably choose theirs over the other designs as the others were very cluttered, not as easy to navigate, and aren’t offering the flat fee listing service or a 60 day home sale guarantee (or if they are, it’s not noticeable!)
All in all, this is a very well planned real estate website, and with a few minor changes to the blog’s sidebars can be an authorative site on the Dallas real estate market.
Thank you Richard for introducing me to your site and being the first to have a free real estate website review on Upstart Agent. Have any ideas for VIP Realty to improve their site? Have a real estate blog you would like featured in our free website review series? Feel free to share it in the comments below.
| 2.5 |
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