This week, Trulia unveils numerous new features from a news feed to GPS integration. Here are the cliff notes of Mashable’s writeup:
Perpetually Updating News Feed
“Trulia has adopted the news feed format for additional localized personalization features on its homepages. Visit Trulia’s main home page and you’ll see tailored news feed updates based on your geographic location. Upon launch, this news feed will be localized on a city level, but as Trulia aggregates more information to be included in this news feed and continues to build out this feature, it will move into specific neighborhood and zip code localization levels as well.”
Trulia + iPhones = Love
“Trulia mobile has also been upgraded to include a new iPhone app, which takes advantage of its map and image-viewing capabilities and offers a new way in which to access the news feed features Trulia is also rolling out in this release.”
Trulia on the Road
“Trulia has also teamed up with Dash Navigation to provide mobile access through its GPS Global Positioning System -enabled navigation device, giving you yet another way to both search for and drive to homes in a particular area.”
What Now?
Trulia has also added blogs for any user to their bevy of new services. Will this help keep their traffic elevated after the public relations hit they’ve recently taken regarding their SEO practices? Will all the bells and whistles prove that they’re in this game to stay or are they just bells and whistles? Will a buyer care if Trulia is on their GPS or that agents have a blog? Will sellers be impressed that the real estate community has a new option to promote their homes that encourages users to subscribe to news feeds and keep buyers coming around? Will the fact that the news feed gets smarter each time a user engages it help Trulia continue to outpace their competitors? What do you think about the Trulia news?
Regardless of the ugly things other blogs have said about Trulia, they deserve a great deal of credit for refusing to remain stagnant and by creating a more vibrant offering.
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There are a lot of folks at Trulia that “get it”.
There are a lot of folks in the REBC (Real Estate Blogging Community) that seem to make a sport of taking Trulia to task.
Here’s the deal….
They aren’t going away. Why not learn from these people and, if I may be so selfish, use them to your advantage?
Great questions. Wow, I am stuck, and I imagine that I will be stuck for a while thinking about these issues. Trulia has made such leaps in such a short time; it’s impressive and daunting. They are a powerhouse, and any thoughtful Realtor on the web has to think about how they became so successful and what sustains their success.
Sidenote: I was on a Google discussion forum the other day and asked for help from SEOs about my Google ranking. One of the helpful responses I got was to take the Trulia graph/link widget off my blog. The SEO explained that I was diminishing my ability to climb up the rankings by enabling a monolith to remain king of the mountain. I hadn’t never thought of it that way. I just thought my Trulia widget looked cool. I still haven’t decided if I am going to take it off.
I would love to hear what others think about the subject.
they do deserve credit Lani, without a doubt but they also need to go back to the basics. I syndicate my listings over there through v-flyer – somehow my listings become “no longer live” and I have to input them manually which is very time consuming (even if they are correct and active on v-flyer’s platform).
Before they go on to bigger and better things, they have to go back to the basic agent relations and make sure they have those listings. (that’s MHO of course). I find it a total waste of time to have to police those listings over there…..there are too many platforms to police.
Hi Lani!
We’ll see how our new functionality and features are embraced by both consumers and agents. Very exciting!
This far, the consumers and regular folks on the street that we have shown the Trulia iPhone app to have been overwhelmingly excited about it. It gives those with the mobile devices the ability to see what homes are for sale within an immediate radius of where they are physically standing – that’s mobile power baby! Or, they can enter criteria for a search on Trulia anywhere in the US just like on their computer.
The iPhone gives the savvy home buyer who is walking the streets or driving in their car the flexibility unlike ever before to find a home or open house on the fly. This flexibility also gives the agent a new tool to showcase to their current home sellers, prospective home seller clients and current home buyers ad prospective home buyers.
I think sellers will be impressed when their agent shows them an additional way they will showcase their home – via mobile. It may even win them some listings. If anyone want’s to talk to their buyers and sellers on this and give us feedback, it would be appreciated.
Trulia community blog platform gives agents and consumers an additional way to connect. Keep in mind, a future enhancement will allow you to send us your blog RSS feed and populate your Trulia blog. Give us a try to see if it works for you.
The personalized RSS home page really gives you a quick glimpse into what happening in the areas you care about. search the most. Great for both consumers and agents. The info and data comes to you rather than you having to search for it.
@Jay – Yeah, we get it
I hope that everyone does use us to their advantage.
@Laura – The real estate space is moving fast and slow at the same time. Test and find what works for you. The only way way to know is first hand experience – you have to see if it adds value and works for you or not. Good luck….
@Ines – Thanks Ines. I will create a ticket for you re: vFlyer and keep you in the loop.
Rudy
Social Media Guru at Trulia
HGTV’s Frontdoor has an iPhone app (using Terabitz ), as does Streeteasy. Trulia is just keeping up with technology. It’s really a no-brainer. I suppose they will adopt QR codes when the software comes built into the new phones.
Still, as the recent Techcrunch post pointed out, Trulia does not have complete LOCAL MLS coverage in all areas (most national sites don’t— except the local brokers have the best coverage). Consumers may not (will not) know they are missing out on properties that a visit to the local broker would cure. I have suggested that nat’l sites like trulia and zillow disclose their local MLS coverage on the website– in the name of transparency and consumer benefit. http://tinyurl.com/5uqvjv (Roost, once they get their marketing eggs in a row, has the best chance of satisfying the customer need to see (at least) all the listings the brokers see)
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008.....ate-sites/
But Ines makes a good point– you can have all the bells and whistles you want but you can’t neglect the basics and customer support. Luckily, Trulia has Rudy to quickly take care of your problems. (hey, buddy)
Joe – I still think Trulia would be nothing without Rudy….but I guess I’m biased
Yes, indeed, Ines. He should ask for a big raise immediately… and get it.
I, the proud user of a Blackberry Curve, am so the red-headed stepchild. I urge Trulia to include me and my ilk!
@ Laura, I would take the widget off. It is good places like trulia do have the resources to move the technology forward. I have quite a few clients with iphones and I know they are using them to search for housing.