News

Map Searching
We've created an enhanced map search that you and your clients will love. For those who are more visual, we've incorporated a map in the search that will allow your users to define the area radius and price range to enhance their search. Properties that meet their criteria are plotted on a map, and mousing over the points will reveal more information about the property. For those of you who have used map searches before and noticed how most can become cumbersome once you know the are you want to search, we feel we've married standard search and map search well, so your experience will remain good.

To add Map Search to your site log into your site at secure.realcove.com using your email and password. Launch the website builder and go to the page where your search currently resides and delete the standard search app by choosing [options] > [delete]. Then click on the 'Add Map Search' app in the app zone near the top of the page. It will add the new map search app to the bottom of the page, you can move it up or down by selecting the appropriate movement from the [options] tag on the app.

Image Gallery
Do you have a number of photos you want to share on your site? Now you can add an image gallery that integrates with your various photo hosting sites, like Flickr and PhotoBucket. You can add your full photostream, or specific users photostreams, or even specific sets.

To do this, you must first upload photos to your Flickr or Photobucket account. Then add the 'Image Gallery' app and go to Options > Edit Settings. From here you can paste in the RSS feed, the user ID or the set ID. Chose a background color and click save. Your photos are then imported into a great presentation tool.

Add your Tweets to your Site
You can now add your tweets to your site. Every time you tweet, it will update automatically on your site, and allow people to click over to Twitter and sign up to follow you.

To do this, add the Twitter Feed app, and chose Options > Edit Settings. Type or paste in your Twitter ID, and click save and then refresh the page, your tweets should appear immediately.

Even More SEO Optimization
RealCove has always been built around Search Engine Optimization and we've improved a few things to help you further. Now you can customize page titles, keywords and descriptions page by page.

For existing pages, simply mouse over the menu link in your navigation and chose 'edit metatags.' From there you can customize as you wish. These options pop up automatically now when you add a page. If you don't do anything, it will just go to your default settings you created in your administrative backend.

Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe
Sometimes you may have a site or a page on your site that you want to keep from prying eyes. Now you can password protect a page or an entire site for a user or specific users. This is meant keep unwanted eyes out, so please note, this isn't government grade security, it is just meant to keep nosy people out, so don't post your SSN there. .

To do this, you can either secure an entire site, or individual pages. To password protect an entire site, from the administrative backend, simply click on the 'click to add' button on protected site. Enter in an email address and password, and check the box to protect the site and click save. You can add more users by repeating this step.

To protect a single page, add the 'Password Protect Page' app, choose Options > Edit Settings and enter in your users email address and password. Now when someone visits that page, they won't see anything until they enter in their email and password. We also expect to release some cool features related to this in the future related to lead generation and contact management.

Coming Soon! Enhanced blogging features...
You can always incorporate your existing blog into your site by adding its RSS feed to our 'Add RSS Feed' app. Soon you will be able to create your own blog by adding the "Add A Blog" app on a page. Then you can easily add entries that show the most recent entry on top, and allow you to categorize them and provide an RSS feed for folks who want to keep up with your latest and greatest blogging masterpieces.

Coming Sooner! Improved Website Builder Interface...
Soon you'll be able to click on text to edit it, change templates and drag and drop navigation and Apps, making your site even easier and intuitive to build.

RealCove Support Blog
We've added a support blog that offers quick tutorials based on popular questions we get asked. You can search here for various subjects, and more posts are being added regularly. Ever wanted to know how to add video to your site? Ever wanted to link to another site without letting your clients leave your site but were to afraid to ask? Ever wondered if we recorded a 30 minute webinar where we go step by step (by glorious step) on setting up a site? Go to realcove.com/support-blog and you'll find your answers there.

Certified RealCove Specialists At Your Service
For those of you who want to make changes to your sites, or want to create property specific microsites but aren't interested in doing this yourself, we are now offering you access to Certified RealCove Specialists (CRS's). These are talented and qualified independent contractors, screened and trained by us, who will build out your sites for you and work with you to make changes to your sites in a highly affordable way. At $20 per standard microsite, and $20/hour for other types of work, for many people it is well worth it. For now contact us at support@realcove.com and request CRS help and they will contact you. Coming soon, you'll be able to make that request directly from the site you are working on, or as you sign up a new microsite.

Don't Forget About Microsites
Now is the perfect time to get your marketing in place to start out the new year.

When marketing your property to the right people is more important than ever, reach them in a powerful way and how people actually search today. As we consult with our clients we like to remind them that if at least 89% of people are starting their real estate search online, then 89% of your marketing efforts should be focused on the web. As you know, traditional marketing including brochures, postcards, ads and magazines, while they have their place are expensive and are becoming increasingly ineffective.

Microsites allow you to distribute complete information about your listings to your network of real estate professionals as well as your SOI in a powerful and affordable way (remember it costs nothing to send your sites to thousands of people, which isn't true of postcards or brochures). Microsites are also the killer listing tool, your clients will be extremely excited to know that you are giving them premium service. Best of all, microsites are only $9/mo or $90/year (plus domain registration) making it the best deal around. Don't forget, if you don't want to build these sites yourself, enlist the help of our CRS's for only $20/site.

To sign up for a property specific microsite sign into your account at secure.realcove.com and click the 'Add Microsite' button at the top of your page, you can also request help from a CRS when you create your new site.

Using Your Site To Spread The Word
Is it the right time to buy real estate? Someone shared a succinct way to frame this question for your clients, "Do you think real estate is going to gain value over the next few years? Do you believe interest rates at historic lows are going to go up? If the answer is yes to both of these questions, this might be the right time to buy." It is time to get that sort of message out and your website is the perfect place to do that.

As you know, you can update any of the information on your site yourself by using the website builder tool. You can also easily incorporate your existing blog into your site, instructions on how to do this is found here. Including your blog on your site keeps your content fresh and offers an interest point to your site that will keep your clients coming back.

Thanks for your support, there are a lot of great new things coming down the pipeline that are going to enhance your sites and our services that we'll let you know about shortly.

Your friends at RealCove.