by Laurie McConnell

Just like you or I can make biscuits that fail to rise, or attempt to use quinoa flour instead of regular to universal disgust, so too can we catastrophically screw up the design and functionality of a specialized web site.

I’m talking today specifically about designing web sites for the Real Estate market, which mostly means for realtors, who follow a broad stereotype of being driven, detail-oriented, competitive, and exacting in their expectations. A good realtor is always looking to stay ahead of the pack, to utilize technology first (even if it means leaping off a cliff to demonstrate that the cliff is there), and to be effective and efficient in everything they do. Duplicative efforts, redundancy, or misuse of technology or people resources is a thorn in the side to any realtor worth their salt.

This is where the template vs. designed proponents start duking it out. Designers – of which I am one – argue that they can make something for the realtor that is customized, tweaked for search engine optimization, and otherwise tooled up to give the most powerful and branded solution to a realtor. Typically these sites cost from $1000 – $10000 depending on what the market will bear – which in itself should cause some consternation to those in bigger centres paying whacking big design fees when their semi-rural counterpart is getting the same deal for a fraction of the cost (though rural designers are often grossly underpaid for their work, which explains the lack of longevity in rural web design companies. Eventually we have to go out and get another ‘real’ job to sustain our pricing for design).

On the other side of the ring is the templated, out-of-a-box solution. In the old days, these templates were both expensive and buggy, thereby negating any value inherent in using them. However, times have changed, and a quick search on Google for ‘wordpress real estate mls templates’ brings up a plethora of links for templates, WITH installation and service and an hour of search engine optimization (SEO) thrown in for good measure. The price? Usually under $300, complete for a one time setup, with maybe an extra $90/year for hosting. Or, you can hire an expert, who is used to working with the theme and theme supplier, to do everything for you… basically to take the body and fill it out for that extra competitive edge.

These themes integrate MLS listings and search functions and are attractive and professional in appearance.

Pros & Cons Design:

• PROS
• customized
• more unique appearance
• some standalone functionality possible
• customized support, usually fast, for new features
• CONS
• expensive
• usually a long launch time, 1-3 months typically depending on designer’s workload and client readiness with content
• harder to maintain without expert help
• realtor can mess up the design and functionality of the site

Pros & Cons Templates:

• PROS
• inexpensive
• standardized, professional appearance, appropriate to industry
• custom plugins and functionality developed for volume purchase rather than single purchase design functionality; buyer benefits from features developed at request of other users of the template
• highly optimized for SEO
• very functional from the end users perspective, which doesn’t always happen in custom designed sites, where the realtor can have far too much say or impact on the design and functionality without understanding how it affects the end user
• easily maintainable
• CONS
• a sense of ‘sameness’ about the look, or lack of originality
• occasionally creates a dependence on a specific company for the service
• new feature requests must wait for next version release

My recommendation is to go with the templates, unless your business has a very strong and uniquely identifiable brand and innovative ways of interacting with your customers and visitors, in which case the custom route can bring great returns.

Templates mentioned in this article (disclosure: I am an affiliate for some)

• AgentPress from StudioPress.com – requires what’s called the Genesis Framework, which aside from sounding pretty biblical and lofty, actually means it’s a framework vetted by the creator of WordPress.com & .org’s code that takes WordPress to the next level.  <a href=”https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?cl=10214&c=ib&aff=49541” target=”ejejcsingle”>Pick up the template here.</a>;
• Real Estate Themes – more generic wordpress themes, but also one for the ipad/iphone;
• WPRealEstate – PLUGIN for wordpress for integrating MLS, which means you can use ANY wordpress template and then just use the plugin for the listings side of things