Inman

ActiveRain says website redesign will help agents connect to more buyers and sellers

Screen shot of a revamped virtual business card that show up on ActiveRain users' blog posts.

Real estate network and blog host ActiveRain has launched a website redesign the company says will improve the odds of agents who use the site connecting with potential clients through blogs and articles, thanks to improved search engine optimization, social media sharing tools, and a navigation header that highlights popular content.

ActiveRain said the redesign was informed by input from Market Leader, a provider of marketing solutions for real estate brokers and agents, which acquired a majority interest in ActiveRain in 2010. Market Leader was, in turn, acquired by Trulia last year.

Trulia claims ActiveRain currently has more than 250,000 members who collectively create about 1,000 blog posts per day.

ActiveRain updated user profile pages last summer to include Facebook-like header images and profile photos, customizable call-to-action widgets, and the ability to list up to six secondary markets per user.

The redesigned blog and article formats unveiled this week bring agent contact info to the forefront on individual blog posts and streamline agent blog pages. Trulia spokesman Matt Flegal said virtual business cards and calls to action that reside on the right side of ActiveRain blog posts were redesigned with more space and larger images to make them more attractive to readers.

The Inman News educational content channel, InmanNext, began republishing selected blog posts from ActiveRain in November.