We wrote an article in January of 2008 about real estate widgets for your blog and website.  In true fashion the power of blogging has shined via this post – today (more than two years later!) it still resonates on page one of Google for the search term “free real estate widgets” and “real estate widgets free”.  As it happens this is a popular search phrase and we get a fair amount of traffic from the one article.  Confused about real estate widgets?  Take a look at the original article for a general definition.

Although I recently updated the old post I thought it deserved some new attention based on demand.  Following please find an updated 2010 version of the 2008 list!  Hopefully these tools will add some fresh new ideas to your real estate marketing arsenal.  Enjoy.

Real Estate Widgets Revisited:

1. Diverse Solutions dsIDXPress for WordPress (www.dsidxpress.com) – This nifty tool is actually a WordPress plugin, but if you can figure out how to get it installed (or have your blog provider install it) it provides some great real estate widgets – an MLS quick search,  a property search by coverage area, and a property listings widget by MLS data type (for instance foreclosures in a certain area).   This one is not free, but it’s easy to install and well worth the listings exposure.  Check it out!
2. Feedblitz RSS to Email (www.feedblitz.com) – if you have a blog, this is an incredible tool. It allows people to sign up to receive your blog posts by email instead of through RSS.  It allows you to use your blog as a direct marketing email news system to keep in touch with your existing sphere of influence.  Unfortunately this service is no longer free.
3. Feedburner is an alternative to FeedBlitz (www.feedburner.com) –  It not only offers you a blog to email subscription tool, but also measures how many subscribers you have via your RSS feed.  This Google tool is not nearly as robust as FeedBlitz but it is FREE.
4. Altos Research Altos Charts (www.altosresearch.com) – Get live real estate market data on your sites!   Over 150 different market measures for each of the thousands of cities and zip codes across the country that they cover.  They offer a free version or a paid version with more extensive options.
5. Zillow Widgets (www.zillow.com) – Wow, lots of tools here.  Everything from real estate statistics to new homes for sale to home value estimates.  If you are a fan of Zillow, they offer some great functionality.  These are FREE.
6. Trulia Map Widget – (www.trulia.com) – Pin point your real estate listings on a Trulia map.  When users click on your listings on the TruliaMap widget, they go directly to the property on your own web site. Users can also watch a “slide show” of your properties on the map.  Nifty and FREE.
7. Real Estate Technology Text Widget (www.realestatetechnologyonline.com) – This widget allows you to be contacted from your website or blog directly by text message.  Super Cool, FREE.
8. Mortgage and Loan Calculator (www.mlcalc.com) – Nice UNBRANDED mortgage and loan calculator.  FREE.
9. YouTube Video Gallery (www.youtube.com) – you may or may not be hip to the Youtube craze, but if you have videos on Youtube you also have the ability to create a video gallery widget.  The importance of online video is growing quickly so if you’re curious, go take a look.
10. Custom widgets “borrowed” from your real estate website for placement on your real estate blog.  That’s right, you can make your own widgets.  One of my favorite things to do is to take an MLS “Quick Search” and add it directly to the navigation within your blog.  A blog helps you gain visibility, turning that visibility into leads is up to you – this is a great way to do that.  (not all of you have a quick search, but often times your IDX provider can make one for you!  Ask them.)
11. RSS Feed widgets for your website – Have you ever wanted to offer your real estate blog news from your website?  You can easily do so with an RSS feed widget.  Take your blog’s RSS feed and plug it into a widget, customize and then place the code on your website.  There are quite a few of these out there but not all totally reliable.

Here are a few for you to check out:

• http://www.widgetbox.com (sometimes unreliable)
• http://www.newsgatorwidgets.com/widgets (large Adwords interface)
• http://www.feedflash.net (discrete company link, not bad)
• http://widgets.cc/rss/scrollbox/ (adwords subtle, but interspersed in your content)
• http://feed.mikle.com/en/ (no adwords, no links as far as I can tell, this one is good!)

That’s a wrap!  Clean blog interfaces retain more traffic – make sure you don’t add too many real estate widgets to your sites or you might scare visitors away.  Determine what to use based on your business goals – if the widget will help you generate leads and sales then by all means go for it!

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