Be A Curator

A curator is the person in charge at an art gallery or a museum for maintaining the content at that particular institution. You might call him a content specialist because really, that’s what he does. He’s responsible for managing the type of content that goes on display. He’s constantly editing the content  and selecting only what’s most important for public display.

What This Means for Your Real Estate Blog:

As the chief content creator and content manager of your website, it’s your responsibility to act as the curator. Constantly editing what goes on display to the web surfing public to showcase your best work. This makes all the difference in conversions (from earning new rss subscribers, newsletter subscribers, or leads in general). That being said, let’s look at a couple of examples…

Example 1:

Upon first glance, what’s wrong with this website? (Note: This site has since undergone a redesign).

[nggallery id=3]

There’s too much going on both in the main content column and the sidebars. To a new site visitor, the content is overbearing and overwhelming. Definitely not the first impression that you want to cast upon a first time visitor. A curator at an art gallery focuses on editing content and showcasing the galleries best work. As the content manager of your own website, you should undergo the same editing process and showcase your best work to the web surfing public.

Example 2:

Can you tell a difference looking at this second site?

[nggallery id=4]
Site: http://www.2sheridans.com

By contrast there’s a noticeable difference in the amount of content that’s displayed both in the main content column and on the sidebars on this blogsite. The left sidebar contains only the most necessary content (Call to Action Items, subscription options, and categories). The right sidebar contains contact info and social networking icons. The main content column showcases most recent blog articles. That’s it. No mess and no clutter.

Conclusion:

Less is more. Especially in the case of your site design. Don’t constantly obsess over adding this widget or that widget just because it looks cool. Focus instead on editing your content and trimming things down until you’re left with only the really important stuff (like your “Search for Homes” tab and your subscription options and/or contact form). Once you’ve undergone the editing process, do it again.

In the end, if you feel like you’ve left something out, you can always add it back later. For now, focus on your Call To Actions and showcasing what’s important.

What’s your take?

[Flickr Photo by: Marshall Astor – Food Pornographer]