Zillow New Wordpress Plugin for Real Estate

(image lifted from Zillow blog)

Zillow (together with a couple of Diverse Solutions dudes) has created trulia truly a neat Wordpress Real Estate plug-in for displaying city information from:

Zillow.com (natch)
Education.com (school information)
Flickr
Walk Score and
Yelp

— on a single page.

It’s called Local Market Explorer. Download it here.

Zillow clearly sees the trend toward aggregating and organizing real estate information (just like the folks at TheClozing.com ~cheap plug) and the utility of lifestyle/quality of life data.

They also realize that many real estate agents use Wordpress platforms and might very well use this plug-in and help the Zillowians achieve real estate world domination. (They have some sharp pencils in the Zillow draw.) I imagine some competitors with foreign accents are truly green with envy.

MY TAKE

The Flickr page is pure fluff. I would have incorporated a richer Wikipedia or Wikitravel page.

TIP: Incorporate Apture with this plug-in and you’ll be able to create a richer multimedia experience. You can apture link/embed a wikipedia page and much more hyperlocal content, including videos. [Check out Apture and thank me later.])

I don’t like the absence of a disclaimer on the zany zestimate which has somehow morphed into “home value” on the page. Bad kitty. (One day when the zestimate becomes a Kelley Blue Book/FICO score, don’t blame me.)

Also, the comparison of city home values zestimates with National values zestimates has no value I can see. Why not compare it to the state zestimates or, better yet, the nearby cities?

Anyhoot, I give the Z-men credit for progressive thinking and brand penetration.

Here’s an example of how Zillow’s Local Market Explorer displays the information:

The Flickr piece may be a but dicey:

Source: Zillow blog via FoREM

Technorati Tags: zillow, wordpress real estate plug in, local market explorer, sellsius

david

Thanks for the review, Joe! Wordpress is indeed a very important platform in real estate blogging partly because it lends itself well to mash-ups like this as well as the cunning stuff that folks like M Realty and Listingpress are doing with it.

Full credit to @DrewMeyers for coordinating this project on the Zillow end and many thanks to our friends at Diverse Solutions for making it happen.

MaureenMcCabe

I saw Drew tweet it. I want it on my blog. It is neat. I worry about helping Zillow with world domination... I'll get over it.

jfsellsius

Hi Maureen

It is a useful plugin. But beware the creeping zestimate's vaidity in the minds of consumers. If the zestimate is only a "first step" estimate of home value it is misleading, IMO, to call it a de facto home "value"--- anywhere. Look, I know Drew and David and all the Zsters are great people, but the "value" spinning machine they work for is not something I will endorse or support, so long as homeowners are not given the right to opt-out of the zestimate, esp. if they are trying to sell. A first step estimate, of unknown error, should never be attached to a house for sale w/o owner consent. Just the way I see it.

realestatesoftware

Definately worth looking into...but as everything, taken with a grain of salt. Great for general information but don't rely completely on it for full and accurate information

LaurieManny

Widgets contain backlinks. Backlinks from front pages are powerful, they tell Google that you consider it to be valuable and Google gives them authority. When a lot of people add it to their front page Google will place them higher on the engines and they will pass you by. Choose carefully!

Didn't we go through this awhile back with the Trulia widget?

jfsellsius

SEO by widget?

LaurieManny

Would you give Zillow a permanent front page backlink and empower them on the engines? The widget will contain a backlink or multiple backlinks to Zillow. So yes, SEO via widget.

jfsellsius

@mark Very impressive. With N-Play, the site is cutting edge cool. I'm going to tip you off to a new tool I saw at Inman.

markbloomfield2

Thanks, Look forward to it. M

sankat

thanks for the information. i have tried to create a template using wp-zillow . how do i use tag and where to see the listings..

where do i get the data from. do i need to manually type listings information.

how to integrate my listings data which is in the local board into wordpress website.

Sellsius real estate marketing blog

Zillow New Wordpress Plugin for Real Estate