But it’s no fun letting the video do all the talking, so I’ll just come out and say it.

We have new themes.

6 of them to be exact – each complete with a new graphics library…and they are available to all membership levels.

As always you can find answers to your questions on the FAQ page right here.  And if you want to know the specifics on each theme, you can have a look at the details for each theme by clicking any of the links below:

Revolution
Wave
Expedition
Socialite
Radium
Victoria

Now I know you might be asking this:

“What about drop down menus?” “What about custom forms?”

We know you want more, and so do we.

You’ve been asking for fresher, more modern themes for a long time, and you’ve probably wondered if we’ve been listening.  We have.  Consider this just one of the first steps of many to come.

Now enough of my talking, check out the video:

Enjoy!

It seems like just yesterday everyone in the marketing department was gathered around our designer Shaynne’s desk, ‘ooh-ing’ and ‘ah-ing’ over the latest mock ups before the site went live for everyone to see.

Since that time we have been feverishly monitoring the site to see what was working, what wasn’t, and what could be improved upon in future iterations – all to provide our users with the best possible experience.

Also – and let’s not kid ourselves here – we are looking to improve our conversion rate.  That is, the percentage of users that are ultimately moved to click the “sign up” button and start a three month free trial to check out what Point2′s swell real estate software can do for their business.

So what changed since the original launch?  I’d like to think the changes fall into two categories: fun changes & call-to-action changes.

In the category of “fun changes” we have additions like the animated syndication graphic (truth be told, this has been there for a little while now) which is just begging to be spun around and played with, or the addition of the Real Estate Confidence Index widget in the footer.

Where as in the category of “call-to-action” changes we have done things like increased the prominence of the “create your account” button or changed our sign-up process so registration takes just one page to complete.

As always, we would love to hear what you think of the changes.  Great?  Awful?  Some where in between?  Leave us a comment, or drop us a tweet @Point2Agent.

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!