Site Building 101: Designing Your Website

29. Jan, 2010 View Comments

This article is part three of a five part series on building a real estate website with WordPress. You can view the rest of the series by visiting the guide at the bottom of this post.

The design process is the most exciting part about building a new website. Whether you go with a free, premium or custom theme (website design), your design options are virtually limitless with WordPress. We’re going to review the pros and cons of all three aforementioned options and how/when they should be used on a real estate website.

Free WordPress Themes: No Cost

The best, most trustworthy place to find free WordPress themes are at WordPress.org’s free theme repository. Another excellent resource can be found at Smashing Magazine where they frequently offer high quality WordPress themes for free.

Pros: The themes are free, some rival premium themes in quality.

Cons: Very limited selection for business users like real estate agents. Little to no support offered if you run into problems with a theme. Many free themes require that you leave the footer links (links at the bottom of the website) intact to promote the company that created the theme for free.

Premium WordPress Themes: $60 – $100

Premium themes strike the perfect balance of being inexpensive while still maintaining the high quality standards of a custom WordPress theme. There are a growing number of niche real estate themes being offered by WordPress developers like AgentPress, Gorilla Themes’ Broker, Open House and Smooth Real Estate and Agent Theme by StudioPress.

Pros: Nominal cost for a high quality WordPress theme (many with options tailored towards real estate agents) that offers web-based support to help you get up and running. Most theme licenses allow you to remove footer links making your website look much more professional. Multiple color schemes in some themes helps keep your website looking unique.

Cons: Minimal cost for a theme could lead to other agents in your marketplace using the same design for their website. Some premium themes still require more customization after purchase to make it match your brand/style.

Custom WordPress Themes: $2,000+

Custom WordPress themes are the crème de la crème of website design. Most agents and independent brokerages would be wise to start off with a premium theme and build out your web presence first before pursuing a custom website. Medium to large brokerages and top producers who insist on one-of-a-kind branding and website styling are better suited to custom design.

Pros: Totally unique website design which is great for brand identity. Custom features can be added to your site like an integrated listing search system and enhanced photo galleries for your listings.

Cons: Significantly more expensive than a do-it yourself premium theme. May come with pricey monthly or yearly maintenance costs.

If a custom website design sounds ideal check out Real Estate Webmasters and Dakno. Both are leading real estate website design firms used by top agents like Jim Olenbush and Kevin Tomlinson.

For brokers and agents who love the cost of premium themes but want a more custom look for their site there is a hybrid option: purchase a premium WordPress theme and then hire a designer to modify it to your specifications.

You really can’t go wrong with a premium WordPress theme or, if your budget allows, a custom website. Once you decide on which path to take there are a couple tips to keep in mind:

1. Use caution with free themes. - Most free themes aren’t really sufficient for use on a business website. This is mostly because free themes tend to be poorly designed or offer little to no support. I would only recommend using a free WordPress theme if it’s of very high quality and is from a trustworthy source (WordPress.org).

2. Know what you’re getting BEFORE you buy. - Find out how the product/service provider will answer your support questions before purchasing their product. Also, don’t be afraid to spend an inordinate amount of time playing with a theme to make sure it’s the right design for you.

If you enjoyed this post be sure to check out the rest of our Site Building 101 series below: