Client: NAREA — National Association of Real Estate Agencies (Albania). What we did: replaced an unreliable member search with a true faceted directory. Stack: WordPress · FacetWP · custom snippets.
The challenge
NAREA’s member portal lists 229 licensed real-estate professionals across 15 cities. Buyers, partners, journalists and the members themselves need to find a specific agent or agency fast. But the directory offered only a basic keyword box — one so unreliable it had previously been removed. Two issues made the list hard to use:
- No filtering. You couldn’t narrow members by city or by type (Agent, Broker, Master Broker) — the very first thing anyone wants to do.
- Always alphabetical. The same names appeared first on every visit, so members early in the alphabet got outsized exposure while everyone else was buried.
Our approach
We rebuilt the experience as a faceted directory — the instant, filter-as-you-go interaction people expect from a modern marketplace:
- Filter by City (15 locations) and by Role (Agent / Broker / Master Broker / Executive) with simple, tappable chips.
- One search box for name, agency, or licence number — results update as you type.
- Fair, rotating order. The default list is randomised so every member gets front-of-list exposure — not just the “A”s. Visitors can still switch to A–Z or Z–A.
- Live result count, sorting, and one-click “clear filters” — all instant, no page reloads.
The result
- Any of the 229 members is findable in seconds — by location, type, or name.
- Fair visibility for every member through rotation — a meaningful fairness win for a membership organisation.
- A mobile-first experience that filters instantly.
- Cleaner data underneath: we reconciled the member-category records so every member shows correctly under their professional type, and set it to stay consistent automatically as new members register.
The takeaway
Most “search” boxes don’t actually help people find anything — filters do. Whether it’s an association’s member list, a property portal, a supplier directory, or a product catalogue, faceted search turns a long, flat list into something people can navigate in seconds. We offer this as a repeatable solution for associations, marketplaces and directories.
Have a directory or catalogue that should be genuinely searchable? Let’s talk →