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5 Types of WordPress Plugins for Real Estate Sites

Plugins are best described as “features” you add to your WordPress site that enhance your functionality, content and lead generation. But new WP.org users can easily become overwhelmed by the abundant shiny plugin choices! And just because you can activate a ton of feature-specific plugins doesn’t mean you need to, or should.

Of course it’s a wonderful thing to improve user experience on your site. But it shouldn’t come at price…which is often a bloated blog with a slow load time. Nobody wants that! So, whether you’re new to WordPress or looking to optimize site performance I’ve narrowed my list of favorite plugins down to the must-haves and organized them into 5 categories. Take a look… [Read more...]

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How-To: Write a GOOD Hyperlocal Blog Post

This post is dedicated to those of you with good blogging intentions. You know who you are. You started that community focused blog that everyone told you would be an instant hit, but now the blog is live and you haven’t written much of anything at all.

It’s all good…every blogger (aka “Content Creator”) has glared at the computer monitor trying to recall a post idea only to allow yourself to be distracted by the dog, the kids, the glass of wine. Becoming a content creator is tough (at first), so here are a few tips that may make the process of writing your next community-focused post much easier. [Read more...]

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MTO v.3…I’m “IN”

It’s been a long time in the making, but we’re happy to welcome you to MTO v3! Can I get a “woohoo”?!

And since so much has changed in the blogosphere since Reggie first conceptualized and created MTO back in 2005, I thought it might be nice to look back over the last 5 years. [Read more...]

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How-To: Manage Your Events Using WordPress

In “4 Ways To Add An Event Calendar To Your WordPress Blog“, we looked at options for adding an event calendar to your WordPress website. The solutions were offered with an emphasis on sharing community events.

But, what if you have an event you are producing yourself? Maybe that event requires managing RSVP’s or even selling tickets to the event. You’ll need a more specialized system than a basic calendar. Fortunately, there are several WordPress plugins that will help you pull your event off without a hitch. [Read more...]

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AgentPress: The Ideal Theme for Real Estate Bloggers

If you’ve been reading MTO for awhile you know we’re huge advocates of WordPress as a platform to power your real estate blog.  And we’re not the only ones who think WordPress rocks! Matt Cutts, the head of the Web Spam team at Google, recently declared WordPress as the best blogging platform in terms of search engine optimization. He went on to say that WordPress automatically solves 80-90% of the mechanics behind SEO, making your site easily crawlable by search engines.

Now when it comes to selecting a WordPress theme that delivers a clean design, variety of options, highly optimized code, and customer support….the MTO team chooses StudioPress. Which has been a great theme option for us and our Web design clients. But now theme legend, Brian Gardner, is back and has developed AgentPress, specifically for the real estate industry. In fact, we’ve partnered with Brian to offer customization and consultation for AgentPress theme users. [Read more...]

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Add Cyberhomes To Your Real Estate Website, Blog or Single Property Site

As a real estate agent looking to keep buyers and sellers on your website, blog or single property site, you realize the importance of providing local data that provides transparency to your market. Nevertheless finding the right data can be a daunting task. Not only does the data need to be accurate and updated often, but it needs to be presented in a way that encourages consumers to interact with it.

Today I’ll be sharing the Cyberhomes Smart Frame which will allow you to search by city or zip code then retrieve a unique URL to be framed into your site without cost. Although before I do, let’s review some of Cyberhomes strengths:

+ Over 100 million searchable properties with AVM
+ 575,000 records updated monthly
+ School scores
+ City boundaries
+ Neighborhood charts and graphs
+ Interactive heat maps

Ok, now let’s look at the steps needed to get the Cyberhomes Smart Frame on [Read more...]