With the new theme you are able to upload your own header image, modify (or remove) header text, add a background image or color,  switch between a light and dark format for the content, choose which side the page sidebars appear on, and the theme also provides a widgetized footer area so you can place content at the bottom of your pages.

The theme is based on the Twenty Eleven theme released by WordPress.  You can visit their twenty eleven page regarding theme options to get more info.  Some features they list may not be available within our system.

Then, go to your Homequest email, and click the icon add an image.  You can resize the image if need be.  Once you have done that, simply save the template.

If you missed the release party and would like to know what new options are available, click here.

Issues reported vary from incomplete printing of the graphs to print jobs not reaching the printer.     We found that the issue is related to recent releases of the flash player software that is required to display the graphs and data.

We found that the issue does not exist with older versions of the flash player.  Here are steps to downgrade your flash player if necessary.

1.  Uninstall your current version by following these directions from adobe.

2.   If you are using Firefox on  Windows you can CLICK HERE to download a slightly older version of the flash player software that will work.

If you are using Internet Explorer  CLICK HERE to download the correct older version for IE.

Follow the prompts to install the player.    You may have to restart your web browser after installation.

The issue appears to be affecting other products as well. At this time we do not have a solution other than to downgrade the flash player version.

Google is rolling out a new feature of their search called “Google Instant Previews” which gives web searchers a quick way to visually preview the search results being presented to them.

This is a pretty big deal, for those of us who have nice looking websites.  It’s probably a bigger deal for those of us who don’t though.

Think about it this way…  someone who is performing a search for “Portland Real Estate” gets results presented to them based on the content of the site, may now choose which site they actually visit based on a visual bias. If they think your site looks old, and outdated, they’re probably WAY less likely to click through, even though you may have better content than the result around you.  But, because that site below you looks nicer, they choose to visit that site instead.

How’s that for a compelling argument to have us design you a better looking, 100% custom, WordPress Agent website?

Combine that great looking website design with good content, and you’re likely to have a winner!

HomeQuest 101 Recorded Training

This training covers the contact manager and how to manage your clients in the HomeQuest backend as well as how to setup and use automated listing searches and monitor what your clients are looking at and adding to their favorites.

WordPress 101 Recorded Training

This training covers WordPress websites and everything you would need to know to feel comfortable with the basics of entering and changing content in your site including adding pages and writing blog posts.

Also be sure to check out the IDX Quick Tour for a quick tutorial on what it looks like for a client using the property search on your website.

Setting up a Website

With a new HomeQuest account you still will need to setup a website as the system will not prompt you to do this automatically.  There are several options for websites all available from the “Websites” tab of your HomeQuest account.

Option 1: Free HomeQuest “Revo” template or our own modified version of the twenty eleven theme hosted on our servers

The fastest and easiest option for getting started on a WordPress IDX website and comes free with your subscription.

Option 2: WordPress IDX Plugin brings the HomeQuest property search features to a WordPress website that is out of our system and hosted by you.  This would allow you to use any WordPress template designed by anyone including the free templates available online.

Contact HomeQuest Support if you need help creating a website

Now with WordPress websites and the new IDX home search tool that we have developed lets visitors to your website look at listings with just one click on the map.  No waiting for emails, no signing up right away, clients can start their search more quickly.  Clients can also setup their own saved searches now and receive emailed updates when new homes enter the market.  The agent still has the option to create more advanced searches for the client if they need.

WordPress Training

Before you jump into trying a new WordPress IDX site, check out one of our regularly scheduled web trainings of WordPress 101 (You can also check out a pre-recorded video here).  The training will familiarize you with how to work with one of the new sites and eliminate the “What do I do now?” learning curve.

Upgrading your Site to WordPress

Upgrading a website to the WordPress platform is easy if you already have an older HomeQuest site.  Just click the “Change to IDX” button available in your HomeQuest account on the “Websites” tab and the system will give you one of our basic template sites available in red, blue, or green.  Site Customization is also available if you would like to break away from the template.

WARNING: Once you have upgraded a site to WordPress there is no option to return to the old sites.

Basic Setup

There are 4 things at the very least that you should check out to get going with your site. 1) Take a Training Class, 2) Change your Home page text, 3) Edit your Agent Profile, 4) Edit your blog posts.  Of course that is only the beginning, WordPress is a tool that if wielded correctly can have a lot more benefit than a site that stops at these steps.  For a more successful website try Going Beyond the Basics.

Frequently at the support desk I get the question “What do I do to get the most out of HomeQuest?”

1. Website: The first and biggest answer to that is a website.  Over 2 years ago we started offering WordPress based websites which are far more capable than the older websites we used to offer.

Our old websites were basically just a simple web page with some contact information and a way for clients to sign up for HomeQuest listing emails from you.  This was essentially just a lead capture to try to get listings into a clients hands.

The new websites are fully fledged WordPress websites.  You can blog on them, create pages with information and live listings from the MLS, add media including pictures and video and much more with it.  Because of the changes in search engines and web technology over time, upgrading to a WordPress site is imperative for your web presence.  Having an old website with the HomeQuest lead capture just doesn’t cut it for a website any longer.

The biggest and most noticeable difference between our old sites and our new is the way the listings are presented to the client.  With the old websites, clients had to signup and wait for the listings to come by email.

With the new websites, any visitor to your site can instantly see the listings by clicking on your Search Listings map.  No waiting for an email required, the search is available 24/7 for your existing clients and anyone who visits your site. See a quick tour vide of our new home search tool.

2. Unique Content on your site: The text and images of your website need to be something unique, not left as it was when you first setup the site.

A site without unique content is pretty much worthless.  If you setup a WordPress website and it still looks like the example image below, you are missing the point and missing out on an opportunity.  Default text is murder on a search engine ranking.  Not only does it look unprofessional to any real user, but when Google indexes a website that says “This is your default home page welcome text”, it knows that this is a crap website that has just been tossed together from a template and has no real value.

You need to change the wording on your pages, blog posts, and Agent Profile at the very least to get rid of that default text.

To take full advantage of your capabilities in WordPress:

Have useful pages up top with real information on them.  Your website needs to be a resource for the people who are going to be using it.  If your website is not a compelling resource of information, there is no reason for someone to return to it.  Likewise with the Google search engine, if your website is not full of information for it to read and index, how are you supposed to show up when someone searches?

Blogging is important too. If you add something to your blog regularly, there is more information for Google and the other search engines to crawl and look, more keywords that it will find and match you to.  One of the very best ways to move your site gradually up in the search ranking is to give Google exactly what it wants to find: new, fresh, relevant and unique content.  Being unique in your content is a big deal, Google will see copied content if it came from another site, and you will not receive credit for it.

3. Have a plan:  A website with a focus and a plan will make your web life easier.

Are you a neighborhood expert?  A short sale/REO specialist?  Your website needs to clearly reflect what you do.  If you are a selling agent you should write a great blog post about the home, and place the link to that blog post out there on the internet for people to find.  Click here to see how to write a good blog post about your listing. If you are a neighborhood expert your site should be full of listings, text, information and images from the neighborhoods that you serve.  Check out Jewel of the Pearl for an example of a good neighborhood expert site that is informational and unique.  Know what information you want to present to your audience before trying to decide what you need from your website.

4. Customization and SEO: Yes, it’s important; Yes, it costs more.

Another aspect of a good website is the customization.  Customization is completely optional, you don’t have to do it. A site that is customized is far more visually appealing to the visitors, and even the search engines can tell the difference between a template and a custom site which arguably would give it more weight in the search engine ranking.  Custom sites bring out a unique design based on what you and the designer came up with, and are built to match your needs rather than being bound by the limits of a template.  Click here to learn more about our custom sites.

The other important aspect to a truly effective site is your SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  For those who would like help with their SEO, HomeQuest recommends contacting Though Faucet.  Gahlord Dewald at Thought Faucet can help you with planning and executing the right SEO tools and techniques to improve your ranking with the search engines, and improve the website experience overall for both you and your clients.

Both customization and SEO are an additional investment into your website, but they also might just be the most important one you could make.