Hello everyone, I have had my REW site live for a couple months now and I did post a review page when it was first live and got great feedback, actually I think I made about every change that was suggested and then some so after some revamping I was seeking another moment of your time to see what the thoughts today might be.

It can be found here and we have some drop down sub navs under some cities as well as the "meet the team" button, some pages have voice for those who may like that etc, let me hear some opinions, thanks

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Derrick Monroe
Realtor - Owner - 612-282-7653
The Derrick Monroe Group
Minneapolis Real Estate
Minnesota Real Estate
Rockford MN Real Estate

"True leaders are not those who strive to be first but those who are first to strive"

I think it looks great. One change I'd like to see is to have a more prominent link to your blog. Maybe in the top navigation?

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John Allen
Realtor®/Broker
Allen Real Estate Services, Inc.
Sarasota, Florida
Representing buyers and sellers of fine Sarasota real estate.

Map search is messed up on my widescreen monitor. The vertical homes on the left side of the map require a horizontal scroll to see all of the information. I would recommend shrinking the width of the map so that all of the information is displayed in the vertical homes section or reducing the width of the information to eliminate the horizoontal scroll.

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Ryan Ward, REALTOR® - Keller Williams Realty Consultants. (404) 630-3187
Atlanta Real Estate - My featured area is Alpharetta Real Estate and it is where I call home. Read my Atlanta Real Estate blog.

very sharp! You've done a great job upgrading your template.

really like navigation structure and map search in top left corner.

you might add search homes to top nav...

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looks pretty slick, I like your voice at the bottom that is a pretty cool touch.

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Bellingham Real Estate
Bellingham Condos
Bellingham MLS

I love that you are implementing calls to action throughout your content (Or if you had us do it not sure) but I am really not a fan of the implementation

On your homepage for instance http://www.derrickmonroe.com that Contact a Realtor Now Box needs some serious help (At least from my firefox) it's the right idea and again, kudo's for the effort - could just be prettied up (Add some padding, better contrast in colors, embolded fonts not consistent with site etc)

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Want to save up to 50% off Real estate webmasters product websites & common upgrades? Check out my latest blog post regarding our end of the year sale.

Btw I think I may have mentioned this before, but using MLS in your title etc is a violation of your boards compliance regulations, and they will likely contact you about it sooner or later

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Want to save up to 50% off Real estate webmasters product websites & common upgrades? Check out my latest blog post regarding our end of the year sale.

Good work - I agree with Morgan on padding etc. to make it look a little slicker. You got the important part - now fine tune.

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Cal
Orange Beach Condos | Gulf Shores Condos | Keller Williams Gulf States

The Gulfshoreslife.com Team serves the Baldwin County Alabama Real Estate market from The Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay to the Southern Shores of the Alabama Gulf Coast: Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Fort Morgan, Point Clear, Fairhope, Montrose, Daphne, Spanish Fort, AL. Referals are welcomed. For more information on AL Gulf Coast Real Estate, please contact me or visit our website.

Sarasota Association of Realtors

what is padding? Can someone share an example already done and or how to etc?

Thanks

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Derrick Monroe
Realtor - Owner - 612-282-7653
The Derrick Monroe Group
Minneapolis Real Estate
Minnesota Real Estate
Rockford MN Real Estate

"True leaders are not those who strive to be first but those who are first to strive"

Some nits and some more serious issues:

1) Currently in footer: "Web site content is prohibited from copy. Minneapolis and Minnesota Properties for sale. Broker Lakes Area Realty - Golden Valley - Information on this site is reliable but not guaranteed. We do not claim too, nor do we own the term "mls" see disclosure tab."

Streamline, correct spelling, and eliminate spammy references, which belong in Title, Description, etc. For example:

a) "Information herein is deemed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. We do not claim to be a "MLS", and we do not own rights to that term."

b) I see no clear brokerage affiliation disclosure. Per the new NAR rules, footer content: "Copyright(c) 2008 <site owner name>, Broker-Associate, Brokerage Lakes Area Realty, Lic: Minnesota". My broker's advertising rules also require that we include our brokerage logo on at least the home page of our websites.

c) On a separate footer line, I would put links to separate pages for:
"Site Map - Copyright Notice - Terms of Use - Disclaimers"
You can consolidate some of that info if you like, but it presents a professional appearance, and some SEs seem to like that you have those pages in your content.

2) When I go to "Search Homes for Sale", to your IDX, the left navigation panel is only a few of the IDX functions, which may be by design. Personally, I prefer to have my entire left nav structure on every page, including IDX pages.

3) You have several statements that could be viewed as violations of NAR and/or state regulations regarding team advertising. In "Meet the Team:
"The Derrick Monroe Group of Lakes Area Realty is a FAST growing Real Estate Company based just west of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis & St. Paul in Rockford Minnesota.". This makes it appear that your team is an independent, separately licensed company. While you may be a LLC or other structure for tax / commission purposes, for licensing purposes, NAR and most states require that you NOT advertise your personal company name (or your personal company title) in a way as to confuse the public regarding the brokerage license, and only use your brokerage's name as it appears in their license. ie: "The Derrick Monroe Group is a team of real estate agents of Lakes Area Realty. Lakes Area Realty is a FAST growing Real Estate Company... ". This clearly separates the two entities. And: "Derrick Monroe, Team Leader", not "President", unless you actually are President of Lakes Area Realty. And your team members are: "... full time agents for Lakes Area Realty and members of The Derrick Monroe Group ...", which properly reflects their license status under Lakes Area Realty.

4) When used, use "REALTOR(r)", always fully capitalized and with the registered trade mark symbol, per NAR rules. Personally, I would minimize its use, and use "real estate agent(s)" instead, whenever possible.

5) Get a proof reader to carefully go through all content. Copy & paste blocks of content to MS Word or other application, and do spelling and grammar checks, and use those tools for your initial content creation before pasting it into the CMS. There are too many spelling, punctuation (or lack thereof) and grammar issues to list here. For example: "Real Estate" and other words are frequently capitalized when they should not be. Proper spelling, grammar and punctuation are signs of a professional. Spelling errors and other grammatical errors are a sign of lack of attention to detail, not good from a potential client's point of view.

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Ron Goodman, GRI, REALTOR®
Prudential Colorado Real Estate
Denver Colorado Real Estate: Highlands Ranch, Parker, Littleton, Castle Rock
Adwords for Real Estate: PPC Setup Services & Consulting