2 WordPress Plug-Ins That Will Transform Your Website
September 9, 2009
By: Joshua Ferris
Author's Website: http://www.housemeetsowner.com
WordPress is full of great plug-ins, as many owners of full WordPress sites can attest, but some are definitely more valuable than others. At any given time my real estate website is running 10-15 plug-ins but my two newest additions really stand out.
Sidebar Countdown Plug-in – There are a lot of opportunities to use a countdown plug-in on your site. First, you can use it to create urgency as home buyers visit your website and see the $8,000 home buying tax credit slipping away second-by-second (See an example here, right sidebar).
Another great option would be to use it as a countdown to your upcoming home buying seminar or to track how much time is left for a once-in-a-lifetime builder sale.
Next up, this breadcrumb navigation plug-in saved my website theme’s butt by adding a breadcrumb trail to the top of every page and post on my website. A breadcrumb navigation is basically a virtual trail listed at the top of every page showing you the hierarchy of the page you’re currently on.
So, for example, if a user is browsing my Brighton Green community profile they will see a trail showing how far in that page is from the homepage and what that page’s parents are.
Here’s a visual example of what a breadcrumb navigation element looks like:
Based on the above example my homepage leads to an Orange County, NY page which houses a town page for Newburgh. The Newburgh town page serves as the parent of my Brighton Green community profile. Now a user can click back to any one of those pages without having to use the ‘Back’ button every time. This greatly improves your website’s usability as shown in the community profile page above.
Here’s how to get that effect with one plug-in:
Breadcrumb NavXT – This plug-in does require some template edits but following the guide on the author’s website makes for a very quick and easy install. This plug-in alone will dramatically improve the usability/navigation of your site.
Do you have any must have WordPress plug-ins you would add to the list? Let me know about them in the comments below or on Twitter!
- Stumble it!
- Categories: Widgets, Wordpress
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to the Geek Estate Blog feed or get updates via e-mail
Comments
View Comments
Brendan Aiello on September 10, 2009 8:31 am
Great finds Joshua! Both are awesome tools. The first plugin is a great tool to get first time home buyers off the fence and the second will help me in my quest to have better website navagation and maybe even some better SEO.
edkohler on September 10, 2009 9:10 am
The breadcrumb plugin is a great tool for taking WordPress in directions other than blogging. Blogging is the primary use, but WP really can be used to do just about anything.
Top 5 real estate posts of the day for 9/10/2009 on September 10, 2009 7:10 am
[...] 2 WordPress plug-ins that will transform your website – These plug-ins could help your real estate [...]
Mesothelioma on September 10, 2009 1:15 pm
Sounds like some useful tools for just about any website. Thanks for the info.
Mortgage Man on September 16, 2009 8:08 pm
I can't believe someone made a countdown until the first-time homebuyer tax credit expires…that's different…anyways, it probably won't expire mid-crisis, so the timer may need to be adjusted…
wisconsin motorcycle accident on September 22, 2009 9:00 am
Thanks for the advice, I'm always looking for new ways to update the site and keep it more efficient for everyone.
peppermint tea on January 8, 2010 9:42 pm
Hi,
I believe a breadcrumb plugin makes life a little easier on your visitors and may even help keep your visitor a little longer as they click on category link to check other posts. This is one plugin which will not hurt your blog at all, it may actually help.
video search optimization on March 18, 2010 2:32 am
i like this site and i think many are flow this site!
website builder on May 24, 2010 1:37 am
Thank you for this advice. This will give me a lot of benefit to my site.
website builder on May 24, 2010 8:37 am
Thank you for this advice. This will give me a lot of benefit to my site.