Step #1: Choosing a Photo
Choosing a photo might be the easiest step for some, or one of the hardest for others. The header graphic is one of the first things that a visitor will see when they arrive at your site, so take your time. Also note that the picture will be cropped into a panoramic shape, so try to find an image that will look great even when it gets modified in this way.

For the sake of the tutorial, I’m going to pretend I’m an agent from Las Vegas. I want my header graphic to display my city, but, again, you can choose whatever image you want that suits your style, location and/or niche. Here’s my choice:

It’s also worth mentioning, that you should own the rights to your photo, or have permission to use it on your website. Once you have selected the photo you wish to use, open it in Photoshop (File> Open> Select the Photo).

Step #2 – Cropping the Photo
The Wave header graphic is designed to be exactly 1010×250 pixels large, so you’re going to need to edit your photo accordingly. Select the cropping tool, and enter the dimensions listed above:

Remember to add “px” after the number to denote pixels – you don’t want to crop your photo 1010 inches wide! Next, click and drag the cropping tool over the desired area of the photo:

When you’re happy with the crop, hit “Enter” (or Return) to activate the cropping.

Step #3 – Adjust Levels
For the Wave theme, the website title and slogan are layered in front of the header graphic. You’ll want this text to be easily readable, so light colored text on a dark background or vice versa is best.  I’m going to choose a darker text on a lightened header, so I’m going to adjust the levels first.  Select - Image> Adjustments> Levels:

All you need to do is lower the black output levels so the your photo appears substantially lighter. I pushed it to “96″ but you’ll need to adjust it in accordance with your original photo. Keep in mind that the header for this theme is meant to be subtle and soft, so it’s fine if it looks washed out.

Step #4 – Adding a Gradient
To add an extra dimension to the header, let’s add a white gradient over the photo to enhance the soft, dreamy look. Select your Gradient tool (click and hold on the Paint Bucket tool if it’s not visible), and set your foreground color to white.  Make sure you have your gradient type set to “linear,” and choose the “foreground to transparent” preset (click the drop down arrow highlighted with a red circle to change presets):

Next, click and drag the gradient tool up your photo starting from near the bottom. Hold the “Shift” key at the same time to maintain a perfectly vertical line.  Release when you get about 2/3 up the photo :

The result will be a soft fade to white towards the bottom  of your photo which will seamlessly transition into the main content area of your website.

Step #5 – Save for the Web
Keeping the file size low allows your website to load faster.  To save a graphic for the web, select File > Save for Web & Devices.  Next, choose “JPEG” as your file type, and adjust the “Quality” to about 70-80.  It won’t affect the overall look of your header too much.  Click “Save,” name your file and select where you want to save it to, then click “Save” again.

You’re all finished!  If you need help uploading it to your website, see the Graphics and Buttons section of the user manual.

Here’s my final result: Las Vegas Header – Feel free to use it if you like

I happened across the Premier Real Estate website (www.reidrealtyteam.com) the other day. 

I took some time to talk with the website owner, Robert Reid, as well as the website designer, Nancy Golliday, to get some further insight into their motivation and vision for redesigning this website.

Robert Reid has had his Point2 Agent account since 2007 and only recently decided to hire the professional design services of Nancy Golliday of First Coast Designs to give his website a sharper look, make the switch to a Brokerage site, and integrate a complete IDX solution.  The redesign of the Reid Realty Team website was completed in November 2008.

Robert’s original goals for customizing their Point2 Agent website were to build a user-friendly destination real estate site packed with useful tools online shoppers are demanding in today’s market.  A big emphasis was placed on creating a sticky website for the local Portland and SW Washington markets.

Using the www.reidrealtyteam.com website as a Broker site also meant that an Agent template website was created and customized with a custom header and made user-friendly for new agents.  The template website consists of 10-12 pages and a foundation of on-page SEO and lead capture pages, which individual agents can then further personalize. 

In order to fulfill Robert’s vision, Nancy worked on making custom design changes such as adding a custom drop-down menu, graphics, and specialized forms.  In fact, Nancy explains that she spent the majority of the time working on changing the website over to a Brokerage website and implementing a full-featured IDX solution.  The www.reidrealtyteam.com blog was also customized to match the look of the website.  We can see her hard work in action here.

In addition to the custom design work, focus was made on updating the content throughout Robert’s website to ensure that it would not only benefit consumers who already knew about the site, but also attract search engine traffic and send new visitors to the site.  Part of this included working on area specifics and adding lots of listings.

The results speak for themselves.  According to Robert, his website traffic has increased dramatically.  Page views have doubled, average time on the site has tripled, and the increase of return visitors is substantial compared to before his site was customized.  No doubt, this success can be attributed to the improvements with website customization.  The original goals Robert had of creating a destination real estate site are being realized. 

The great part about the design that Nancy has given the site is that it is not only custom, but also user-friendly for the brokerage to manage.  They’ve been able to add to the site and ‘play’ since the customization.  Nancy encourages this by saying, “Dig into your sites!”, and we couldn’t agree more.

After the customization of Robert’s site was completed, he personally likes the IDX home search features that provide online users the ability to build their own listing manager account.  Also, the masterful job Nancy did with the graphics carries the corporate color theme throughout the entire website. 

Nancy agrees, that the overall feel of the site turned out amazingly.  It is light, airy, welcoming for the viewer with lots of ‘sticky’ – and Nancy loves ‘sticky’!

Personally when I visited this website one of the first things that caught my eye was the use of different types of media, including videos on this site.  In addition to rich content, the ability to provide information in various formats – like video - provides website visitors the option to choose how they best want to receive that information.  Variety is a great thing.

The website contains tons of awesome design elements but what I appreciated the most was the original content that was used throughout the site.  The content was relevant to what visitors would want, informative, and well-presented.  This is a great plus for both consumers and for search engines.

Your site looks great Robert.  Great work Nancy!

Robert Reid is Designated Principal Broker of Premier Real Estate in Lake Oswego, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. 

Nancy Golliday, of First Coast Designs, is a Point2 Agent Alliance Member Program approved Website Designer.  For more information about Nancy and our other AMP members please visit our website here.

There’s no point disputing it.  If you have a hook or something memorable about you, your personality, your business, or anything its likely people will remember you.  They may even remember you enough to think of you when someone asks ‘Do you know of a good…’ anything.

Aside from dyeing your hair crazy colors, piercing and tattooing yourself, and possibly wearing outrageous clothing, how can you make sure you are truly unforgettable?

In today’s real estate game, a majority of first impressions are made online.  A large percentage of home buyers (87% to be precise, according to the NAR 2008 Home Buyer and Seller Survey) turn to the internet first to find a Realtor.

If you already have an incredible web presence and are unforgettable, congratulations.  For the rest of us, likely the majority of us, here are a few tips you can put to good use in increasing the “unforgettable factor” of your website.

Be Found

The first part of the battle is making sure that you are found when these potential buyers do a search in your market area.  You’ll find endless sources of advice telling you how to optimize your website to be found.  A common thread among all advice is to ensure that you have rich content on your website.  This is definitely necessary.

What is ‘rich content’ anyways?

Words, pictures, and videos all work together to contribute to an overall ‘rich’ website.

Make sure that what you say is clear but also descriptive in such a way to catch the attention of the search engines.  Your content should reflect the keywords that you want to be found with by search engines.  For example, if you want the search engines to find you for searches with the keywords ‘Homes for Sale in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan’ then you better make sure that you talk about the fact that you have homes for sale in Saskatoon SK within the content on your website.

Additionally, all your images should use descriptive keywords in the ALT tags for the search engines to reference.

Most importantly, make sure your website is appealing and the information easy to find.  If your website is jammed full of keywords but the content is simply not appealing or readable, it doesn’t matter if a search engine finds you if the visitors it brings you don’t stay.

Spring Cleaning

Once you’ve got your site set up the way you want, don’t think that’s the end of the journey.  In fact, it’s only just the beginning.

Keep your website fresh and exciting.  Don’t let it become stale.  Search engines love fresh content, but your website visitors will love it even more so.

You can start with tweaking your site once every few months, and then try to revisit your site more often, like once a month.  You can start now.  It’s spring.  What better time to dust off your website and give it a spot shine, than with a little bit of spring cleaning?

I am sending out a challenge to all our Point2 Agent members - of all membership levels – to step up and strip off the old tired site you’ve been keeping such a tight grip on for the past few years.  If you’re new to Point2 then here’s the perfect jump start on getting your site customized.

We want to see some fresh looking sites for spring.  Take before and after screen shots and send them to us.  We just might use your new fresh site as one of our Featured Sites in our monthly issue of The Point Online.

Get to work – start being unforgettable now!