Yesterday evening we rolled out a pretty substantial new release to our public websites, www.homerealestate.com and www.woodsbros.com.  We’re really excited about the changes here at HSN, so I’m going to get right into it!

Property Details page

The details page for each of your individual listings has been completely revamped. Here is the new one you’ll see today (click for a larger version):

Why was this page redesigned?  Simply put, we want to make it easier for the consumer of today to get to the information that matters to them as well as accommodate for the future.  Across you’ll see very large buttons for the consumer to Request Information (from you), Schedule a Showing, Save that property, or view their saved properties.

Previously the consumer had to scroll down to begin viewing details about the property, no longer is that the case – the pictures and the content share the area immediately to the left, while your information is all easily accessible to the right.  The picture gallery has been completely redesigned, and it’s MUCH easier to use than before.  Right on the main property details page you’ll see the map of the particular property, as well as the links we added last year to share it on social networking sites.

We’ve “widgetized” a portion of the property details page, and part of that area contains a really nice new feature – the Walk  Score.  This is a fantastic service that maps nearby businesses to your property, and one that has been found in other markets to be very beneficial.  With the rise in gas prices and the green movement, our consumers are getting more interested in this as well – and it’s something we’re happy to provide for them.

This is by far the largest new piece of today’s release, but there are some other smaller releases that are really helpful:

• rDesk lead enhancement: the sync between our website and rDesk is now more robust, automatically adding any clients you have in fnistools as contacts on rDesk, and routing leads from your mobile website to rDesk
• Google Analytics integration: Want to do robust tracking of your agent website using Google Analytics?  Let me know and I’ll help you get it setup on your agent website.  This is more of a “stats geek” feature, for those who are interested in visits and bounce rates and all that jazz.
• Featured Listings widget/Carousel: Want a little rotating widget on your website with selected featured listings?  Let me know – I’ll help you add it:
• Website customization – Pure HTML agent homepage: Want to do a website design completely “out of the box” for your HOME or Woods agent homepage?  We now have that ability – but it will be up to you to provide the page.  Contact me for more info if this interests you.

As always, let me know of any input you have.  In the coming year we’re going to be doing quite a bit to make the site more robust and easier to use for our consumers in Lincoln, along with gaining the flexibility to move the design in the direction that our agents (not some developer in California!) and our consumers see fit!