For the last couple years, blogging has been the answer of choice for most people. You can create blog content that is relevant to specific neighborhoods, specific businesses, events, etc. You’re accomplishing a couple things by blogging. You’re going to be doing the research needed to write a good solid blog post, which means you might actually learn a thing or two AND you’re creating content online for people to search in the future, find your website, browse your IDX listings, and potentially become a client. Blogging is a great way to TELL people that you’re familiar with the fun and interesting things that go on in the neighborhoods, but back to the question of how to SHOW them…

With HomeQuest, you CAN show that you’re the true neighborhood expert!

One of the functions of the HomeQuest WordPress IDX platform allows you to geocode (which is fancy talk for “place on the map”) your blog posts which then display on the map as special icons. As an example, in the image above, you can see the various blog posts that have been geocoded to show up in the neighborhood right alongside the current listings. By displaying your content this way, you’re visually showing potential clients that you’re actually out in the community alongside them, doing fun things, trying new restaurants, keeping track of the market stats, or whatever it is that you choose to blog about. Oh and don’t worry, the content is still showing up as a normal WordPress blog post as well.

So now, when someone is searching for homes in this neighborhood on your website, there should be no question that you are the TRUE neighborhood expert.

Click for a quick video of how to geocode your blog posts using the Homequest WordPress platform.

Supported Browsers:

• Internet Explorer 7 or higher
• Mozilla Firefox 2 or higher
• Safari 2 or higher
• Google Chrome 1 or higher

Browsers all work differently, even though they all surf the same internet.  This means that some browsers will work better than others.   With our speed tests we have found Google Chrome to be the fastest, followed by Safari and Firefox.  Internet Explorer 7 is old and has poorer performance, so Internet Explorer 8 is preferred.

Save as many searches as you like. Come back to the site to view them anytime, or let the email updates come to you.

Saved Search from HQ on Vimeo.

This can be used for you to send listings to others, or your clients can use this to send listings to their friends.  It’s the easiest way for your clients to refer you to others.

Click to see the video below.

Get Link from HQ on Vimeo.

The HomeQuest Hosted IDX sites are websites that are entirely hosted by HomeQuest in our closed system.  You get ALL of the same features that you would get with the plugin, but you do not have to worry about web hosting, installation, or setup.  All of this is taken care of by HomeQuest.  You get the standard set of themes, widgets, and plugins that are available on our system.  Any customization must be done by HomeQuest designers.

The WordPress IDX Plugin gives you ALL of the same features as the HomeQuest Hosted IDX sites, but the website is hosted on your web host of choice and the plugin is installed into your existing WordPress based website.  This gives you the ability to have the HomeQuest IDX features and the integration with your contact list, but on your own system.  That means that you can change the theme, look and feel, and anything else about your website without affecting the HomeQuest features.  You can even use your own web design and graphic design team to build you a great WordPress website and then use the HomeQuest IDX Plugin to bring the best home search tool right to you.

Sub pages appear when a visitor hovers their mouse over a link in your navigation bar. A menu will drop down listing each sub-page that you placed underneath that link. For example you could have a “Community Information” page that has several sub-pages underneath it like: Attractions, Economy, Schools, Transit, and anything else you can think of. Each page would have your descriptive information on it providing a great online resource to your potential clients. Not only will your clients be impressed, but having more content filled pages provides enormous SEO benefit.

Step 1. Create all of the pages that you will later organize as sub-pages

Click here to see how to create pages in your hosted IDX site

Step 2. From the “Manage” menu, select “Site Navigation”.

Step 3. Click and drag to move pages. To make a page a sub-page of another, drag it on top of the parent page.

You know you have the sub-page setup corectly when it is indented underneath the parent page. Click here to see more about organizing the pages in your main navigation links bar.

Step 4. Your sub-pages are now setup. To test this, go to your site and hover your mouse over the parent link, and the sub pages will appear.

Why would I have more than one website?

Generally, having a single unified website with all of your information is best.  Having one good website will get you more leads than having many small websites with no content that never get updated.  Google likes to refer internet users to sites with continuously updating fresh content, not a static website that has not changed since the 1990′s.  However, if you have a specialty or a very specific marketing niche, another website might be just what you need to get some internet attention.  For example: Hillary C. Agent could have her main website focus on herself, where her second website could be designed to specifically target buyers who are looking for farmland.  Since each website has a specific focus, and they both get updated periodically, Hillary has a good reason for two websites.

What is the advantage of having a single website?

By having a single website, there is only one place to update, one web address to give to clients, and a unified brand for you as an agent.  Each website in HomeQuest stands on its own, and is independent from the others in content, theme changes, widgets and other options.  No content is shared between sites, and there is no method of posting the same content automatically across all sites.  This is done because Google only gives credit to unique content on the internet, if it sees blog posts that have been copied from somewhere else, no credit is given in the overall search rankings.

Note: The exception to this is contact information, and featured listings.  Contact Information for all websites is located on the “Preferences” tab in your HomeQuest account.

Some people use the blog heavily, others use the search listings map more, and others still just use it as a nice place for their contact information and a Daily Email signup map.  Click the “Agent Spotlight” category link located in the right hand side bar to review all of our past Agent Spotlights.

Also, be sure to catch the “Tip of the Week” at the bottom of each email.  The Tip of the Week can keep you informed with HomeQuest news and tricks of the trade.