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REALTOR® ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE
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|  Third Annual Outstanding REALTOR® Association Web Site Contest Winners Today’s Best Sites Put Visitors in Charge Functionality is the new ambition for REALTOR® association Web sites today. Moving beyond the simple display of information, top sites are interactive. They can be searched, customized, and programmed by the user to perform tasks. They allow members to maintain their own membership profile, build their own Web sites, and enter their open-house data. They can be personalized to recognize each member and display the information most relevant to their needs. Many of these characteristics are seen in the 2004 REALTOR® Association Executive magazine’s Outstanding Association Web Site winners. The winning sites were selected from 80 entries for their design, organization, functionality, usefulness, and freshness. These sites below represent the best of the Web. WINNERS: BEST MEMBER/CONSUMER SITES (Sites aimed at both members and homebuyers) Three winners (in alphabetical order) in the members/consumer site category. Aspen Board of REALTORS www.aspenrealtors.com Judges said: “This site has everything! The open house feature is fabulous—that alone would keep members coming back. Information about how to use the MLS is right on the site. From the homepage the main links are items that are the most important to members and consumers.” Brynne Kristan of the Aspen Board of Realtors® says the Open House Calendar is indeed the site’s most-used feature. “Presenting a really detailed outline to our webmaster of all the site features we needed made our job and her job easier,” says Kristan. “We had to really commit to spend the time and decide what we wanted on the site and what made sense in organizing it.” Houston Association of REALTORS www.har.com Judges said: “I loved seeing listings of individual members searchable by language and the easy-to-read links for consumers and Realtors®. The Houston association rules for functionality and online service.” The Multilingual Home Search, which offers listings in seven languages, was a new addition to HAR.com in 2003, says Bob Hale, Houston’s CEO. More than 28,513 consumers subscribe to My Home Finder and receive free e-mail notifications when homes matching their search criteria are posted. The Real Estate Education Yellow Pages is a searchable database of seven Houston real estate schools and 121 courses. More than 255,609 leads have been generated and delivered by HAR.com’s Lead Manager. Wisconsin REALTORS Association www.wra.org Judges said: “This site has fantastic organization; not too cluttered and easy to navigate. The information is deep, current, and presented clearly. The site is directed toward members but has prominent consumer information tabs leading to information for homebuyers and information that members can print out and give to their clients.” Rob Uhrina of the Wisconsin Association says the site contains more than 2,500 pages of content and the most popular features are the legal tips and the MyWRA, where members can check their education history, print certificates, update their member info, and even bookmark their favorite pages. BEST MEMBER SITES (sites aimed at serving primarily members only) Three winners (in alphabetical order) in the members’ only site category. Austin Board of REALTORS, Texas www.abor.com Judges said: “Very clear navigation, simple yet effective design. Great ABOR Assistant feature; it really adds a personal touch. “The most popular pages are in MyABOR, which allows members to pay dues, update their profile, and sign up for classes in real time—we received 8,250 education course registrations within the last year,” says Angela Tovar, Austin’s communications director. “In 2003, we created a Broker Management tool that helps Designated Realtors® manage their agents by tracking information like license expiration dates, mandatory ethics course attendance, and dues payments. We offer a content search that’s nightly re-indexed by spider.” East Metro Board of REALTORS, Georgia www.EMBOR.org Judges said: “This site rocks! Very clear, decisive, and not cluttered. At first glance this site represents the goals all associations should be shooting for. You can tell much painstaking effort went into weeding out unnecessary info and focusing on providing useful information. Every link I opened functioned flawlessly and with great speed, which is really important to keep members coming back.” “We are working very hard to provide information that is current and relevant to our members and to reduce the amount of information that needs to be sent out via mail and fax,” says Debbie Junkin, East Metro’s executive officer. Georgia Association of REALTORS www.garealtor.com Judges said: “The site is very easy and clear to read. The graphic in the center is eye catching and inviting. I believe a member should be able to easily find what they’re looking for. Navigation was also enhanced with hover over text that appeared over links.” “Our Web site is popular because we tailor it for our members’ needs,” says Brandie Miner, Georgia’s communications director. “Members can check their grades for continuing education classes and our safety page lists criminal activity against Realtors® that has taken place in or around Georgia. Another popular page is the magazine highlights page; it allows members to search for articles.” BEST PUBLIC SITE (Sites aimed at consumers only) One winner in the consumer-only category New Jersey Multiple Listing Service www.njmls.com Judges said: “Delivers in spades and has everything I ever wanted to know about the real estate transaction right there, even agency disclosure. My, oh, my, what a volume of information. Sharp, professional looking, consumer-friendly site. Well done.” HONORABLE MENTION Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS www.mplsrealtor.com Judges said: “Many tools for agents and brokers including online registration and volunteer sign-up, career center to post resumes and job openings, and a board of directors password-protected section. Deep content and consistent and polished appearance throughout.” REALTORS Association of York & Adams Counties www.rayac.com Judges said: “As a consumer or member, I would return to the site if only to look at its exceptional design. Clear navigation and thoughtful content. Useful disclosure info for consumers, a nice open house feature, and a clear list of member services.” FROM THE JUDGES: Things we loved: Calendars. Prominently placed, well organized calendars that link to more information on each event and a place to register online. Agent Resources. Action oriented tips and business advice columns for members in easy-to-digest bites. Find a REALTOR. A prominently placed quick search for members with a direct contact link and a link to their site. Sales Stats. Clearly displayed sales information that members can access with one click. Clean design. Many site look as though they started out with a design, then layers and layers of promotions and announcements were added over the years to create a home page that resembles a campus billboard. Keep it clean. Things that turned us off: Outdated content. If the text on the site looks like it hasn't been updated in weeks or there's old information posted about events that are past, it really detracts from the legitimacy of the site. Not stating your purpose. So many sites never really identify what business they're in. There's no clear statement of who they are and what they do and they have no mention of how to join. To much information. Some sites have gone overboard with loads of information without evaluating what members really need. No property search. Granted many association sites aren't geared to consumers, but every association site should have at least a link to realtor.com for the consumers who land on the site by chance looking for property listings. Links that don't work. Cluttered home pages. Try a clean, minimal entry page. Frames. The technique of framing content within a site -- with or without its own scroll bars -- has generally been abandoned online because it has been show to confuse visitors and clutter sites. No search function. Not essential on all sites, but as your volume of content grows, you need a search function to keep the site user friendly. Visit Last Year's Winners View Judging Criteria Form Visit the Field Guide to Redesigning Association Web Sites Click here to Send feedback on this article. |
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