Best 3rd Party Widgets for Your Real Estate Website

You already have an attractive mobile-responsive website with integrated IDX, but how do you make your website stand out from the crowd? Take customization to the next level with the addition of 3rd party widgets. 3rd party widgets can add considerable value to your real estate website if they are carefully chosen and implemented with care. Here are some of the best 3rd party widgets available.

Zillow Reviews

Got great reviews on Zillow? That’s great when someone finds you on Zillow, but what if they find your website first? Add the Zillow Reviews widget, and any visitor to your website will be able to see the reviews you’ve received. It’s a great way to get testimonials in front of your potential leads while they’re still deciding if you’re the agent to contact.

Yelp Reviews

You might have been shocked the first time you received a review on Yelp. Most people think of the website and app as a place to rate and review restaurants and stores, but real estate professionals and their offices aren’t left out on Yelp. If you’re proud of those reviews, embed them within your website so visitors can see what kind of great service you provide. Sign up or log into Yelp in order to gain access to widget embed codes.

Mortgage Calculator

Include a mortgage calculator widget on your website so your potential buyers can calculate their budget without leaving! Most real estate website providers offer a stock mortgage calculator, but there are also plenty of 3rd party options including LendingTree, Bankrate, and WolframAlpha.

Facebook

Promote your Facebook business page on your website, and you will make it easy for people to both find and like your page, growing your Facebook audience organically. Facebook’s page plugin widget is highly customizable, so configure your widget here then copy and paste the code into your website.

Sharing

When you create good content or have an amazing listing, what you really want is for everyone to know about it. One option is to share it yourself, but if your website has a sharing widget installed like Add This, your readers, followers, and leads can share your content as well! This expands your reach and gets more eyes on your website. 

Street View

Consider embedding a Street View option for the listings on your website so that house hunters can see the street, and the neighborhood, without leaving your website. This option from Google is added through the API and gives people the opportunity to explore a property before they view it in person.

Local Schools

Some of the most commons questions buyers ask are, “How are the schools? Which one is best?” With a free widget from Great Schools, you’ll have an easily accessible answer to that question for every visitor to your website. You can add a simple widget that offers information about the area schools or you can use the API to create listing-specific details.

Online Chat

We’ve talked before about the potential power of chatbots for your website. Certain automated functions can be programmed to answer the most common questions. Widgets are already available to provide something similar but much less automated. Live Chat functions allow you or your assistant to use text or email to chat directly with visitors on your website and answer their questions. Syncro and ReadyChat are two options to consider.

In a crowded online world, you need to be able to stand out from your competitors. Help people before they become clients by providing value up front with any of these helpful 3rd party widgets.