austin condos

I use WordPress in my web development work with real estate agents and am always interested in finding out how others use WordPress in their work.

Thanks for the post.

I think we sometimes over analyze what google does and doesn't do. I try to remind myself that no one really knows what Google does, its all speculation.

Bottom line is if you have a web site that is structured well, if it has a keyword rich domain or subdomain, and it is loaded with relevant content and not spam, and as long as we dont try to trick Google or build crazy link farms, the sites will rank well.

In our MU network I encourage all our agents to buy their own keyword rich domain so they build up domain name value over time for themselves all on their own.

Think of a blog for real estate investors and a savvy agent publishing information dedicated to only that topic.

Think of a blog for river front properties run by an agent that has been living on the river for 30 years.

It allows agents to speak up and be heard. There are plugins for the blogs that encourages interactivity. BuddyPress is one of them which turns the network into a full blown social network. And countless plugins that encourage users from Facebook, Twitter etc to participate in conversation.

1) Run an unlimited number of web sites with their own domain names (I dont use subdomains, I use a plugin from wpmudev that does domain name mapping).

2) Be able to administer, upgrade, add new plugins and features to all these sites from a single location (saving an enormous amount of time).

3) Be able to properly configure the base install of WordPress for all the sites at once, amplifying the agents efforts to get found online (using simple plugins like sitemap generators, SEO plugins, search engine notifiers, etc.).

4) Be able to monitor the statistics of all the sites in the network, and allow the agents to monitor their own stats.

5) Be able to offer customizations on the sites so each agent feels they are an individual and not stuck in template land (setup one theme and tweak them with a different background color and header image and we have unlimited possibilities with little time spent to make the design changes).

6) Do all of these and so much more for the price of a good web host.

There are drawbacks, but I have been able to find solutions to almost every problem by searching online, and by joining communities like wpmudev.org. People mentioned spam and video embedding. Both of those can be fixed in less then 15 minutes by adding a couple of plugins and locking down registration to a single domain (your company provided email address).

IDX is an issue still. But iframed solutions from vendors like Diverse Solutions and Cevado work well. If you create keyword rich landing pages for neighborhoods for example, and then iframe in that specific neighborhood search, that is still very effective. I have been watching the ListingPress development for awhile now, looking forward to seeing them pick up momentum for a fully native IDX search.

And I hanvt even mentioned how well wordpress integrates with countless 3rd party applications. This is what makes WordPress REALLY shine.

WordPressMU is amazing and is the foundation for our online efforts for the foreseeable future. Brokerages that are serious about helping their agents in their online efforts should invest in learning wordpress and in educating their agents how to use the sites. The alternative is to push agents out to 3rd party vendors. We all know how many vendors there are that take advantage and do little to nothing to actually help an agent in their business.

I am building a sleek vehicle with wordpressMU for our company, now I am working on teaching our agents to jump in and drive.

I already have a friend invite plugin but the way it was mentioned here in the article is that it was an “additional feature” of WordPress MU, making it sound like an out of the box feature. That's why I inquired.

Thank you though for offering.