Monday 30 November 2009

Heavy hitter Twitter

Back in November, Resource Techniques released an article covering the word 'unfriend' becoming Oxford American Dictionary's word of the year, showing that social networking has taken one of the final steps towards becoming omnipresent within our society and mainstream media. Many estate agents have very different views on their social networking policy and now Twitter fans can rejoice with two pieces of good news.

The first piece of news is by the Global Language Monitor who has announced that Twitter is the most popular word for 2009! This may not come as a surprise for those estate agents that use Twitter, not only is it main stream media but it is a fantastic way to interact and direct traffic to their website online.

The most popular words of 2009 are:

1. Twitter
2. Obama
3. H1N1
4. Stimulus
5. Vampire
6. 2.0
7. Deficit
8. Hadron
9. Healthcare
10. Transparency
11. Outrage
12. Bonus
13. Unemployed
14. Foreclosure
15. Cartel

Many estates may notice that this list may have an American bias but remember that America has roughly 5 times the population of the UK. Unfortunately 'foreclosure' is also on the list, fingers crossed that 'contract exchange' is on next year's list!

The second good news for twitter fans is that Bing has announced their top 10 search terms for 2009 and Twitter is number 2! Unsurprisingly Michael Jackson was at the top of the list after his demise in June. The rest of the list includes 3 other celebrities who have died, a celebrity divorce, Jaycee Dugard (who was kidnapped in 1991), car scrappage scheme, stock market and swine flu.

Retrospectively this is good news for Twitter and Twitter fans, but the other popular words and search terms could be seen as slightly depressing. Just one question remains, will we look back and see 2009 as being a good year this Christmas?

Estate agents, let us know by contacting us via our Facebook or Twitter account.

Web design for estate agents - top 5 ways estate agents need to design their website


Web design for estate agents is the same as any other website, isn't it? Not really. Obviously the basic code and structure used to create any website is in place, but there are fundamental aspects that make estate agent website design stand out from any other type of website.

So the big design question is; what does make an estate agent's website different to other websites? Our years of design experience and knowledge have provided the top 5 ways that estate agents need to design their website.

* Absence of an Online checkout - Houses are not bought online and therefore people do not shop online for houses in the same way that they shop for a DVD or online groceries. Contact details must have a high visibility in grained on to the design of every page.
* Listing property - Estate agents need to ensure that their website is an online brochure that they can be proud of so that their online portfolio will generate enough interest for customers to contact the agent for a viewing. This includes the full range of necessary functionality.
* Online branding - Statistics say that within 3 seconds of accessing your website, property searchers have made their mind up about your business, all from the design. Including the agent's level of service, how professional they are and the types of properties in the portfolio.
* Property search placement - another recent statistic has shown that 95% of users go straight to property search once they have accessed the website. A good property search button is exactly what users are looking for.
* News feature and property search - Google loves up-to-date, relevant and changing content. If Google notices that your homepage is frequently changing, they will visit more often to scan your website which will help your placement within Google's search results page.

Estate agents must insist on a specialist when it comes to their website as only specialists are able to cater for such a niche market. Many of the web designers do not have the knowledge or experience to give estate agents a web design that their business deserves.

Resource Techniques has the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver the web design, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and functionality at an affordable price. Give us a call 0208 457 4777 for a free consultation alternatively estate agents can request a free web review.

Friday 27 November 2009

Interested to find out more about this 'Bing' thing?

There's no denying that Google has the biggest worldwide search engine market share. Back in May of this year Google had a UK search engine market share of just less than 91%, Yahoo had 4.39% whilst Microsoft's Windows Live and MSN search engine of 2.75%.

Google's previous dominance must have unsettled Microsoft because in the same month Bing was launched. Bing was a replacement of Microsoft's Windows Live and MSN search engines which had combined US search engine market share of 7.21%. Since then Bing has had a huge marketing budget with many TV adverts.

In the last 6 months, Bing has grown to be the 3rd largest UK search engine with 2.89%. Although Google still has a majority share of 92.06%, Bing should not be forgotten.

Bing has a variety of fantastic features including; images, videos, shopping, real-time, travel, health and many more.

If you are interested in the various features that Bing has, visit their website discoverbing.com.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'Resource Techniques not only checks every search engine, but also all browser compatibility for each of our websites. Any changes in design that will benefit SEO will be made.'

What do you think about Bing? Contact us via our Twitter profile or Facebook page.

5 Fundamental techniques to design your website for Google


Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is vital for any estate agent that wants to naturally promote their website. Ideally estate agents would want their website to be page one position one as this generates the most traffic, but it is not always possible.

So how do I get as high as possible in Google? A good analogy is to think of your estate agent website and its design like a house.

Firstly, you need to lay the foundations and the foundation of a website is its domain name. The most popular way is for estate agents to use their brand name as the domain name. This means that it is easy for property searchers to remember and also web designers do not need to integrate the brand name into SEO.

The other way is to use Geo-Location domain name. Geo-location domain names use targeted words or 'keywords' within your domain name. This is picked up by Google and can help towards your SEO. The main problem with this is that domain names such as 'propertyforsaleinhendon.co.uk' is not very user friendly and can be difficult to remember.

Next you need to create the structure of your house which means that general design, navigation, Meta tags and a site map needs to be properly completed. Many lazy web designers have failed to fully implement the proper SEO techniques that estate agent websites require. Therefore they have doomed the structure of the website before it has even been finished.

Once the structure of your house has been built, you need to fill it with things or 'content' that people will want to see. Search engines are also looking for website content that is relevant to your audience. Estate agents that simply load up their properties onto their website are filling this criterion.

One major design mistake found by Resource Techniques' own web review is that an estate agent's properties are hosted by another domain name apart from their own or they just have a frame that shows a property portal within their website. This does not give any SEO benefit to the estate agent as search engines will only use the information that is hosted by their own website.

Other ways of filling your website with content is to include staff profiles, local and area information and the services you provide. The more information you put on your estate agent website, the more search engines can learn about your business.

Now your house is built on solid foundation, has a beneficial structure and the stuff inside your house is full of content that people want to see, it is time to regularly change your front garden. A regularly changing front garden entices people and search engines to see if the house has changed inside (estate agents will not want to change the front garden too much or people will not recognise the house!)

Instead estate agents should have two major areas that need to be habitually changed so keep returning; featured properties and a news section. Frequently changing featured properties will give users the impression that the estate agent's portfolio constantly changing. While a changing news feature will be popular for users and something new to scan for search engines.

Lastly estate agents need to become a trusted expert. Once people realise that the owner of the house is an expert in their field, they will return purely for the knowledge that the expert possesses. Once a trusted expert in your field, estate agents will gain credibility and have increased online presence.

Would you go to the house of a madman?

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques remarked, 'Designing an estate agent's website is serious business. Here at Resource Techniques, every single step is taken to ensure that the design will be beneficial. Any advice given will be designed towards putting each estate agent website higher in Google.'

Do you have any feedback? Let us know through our Twitter or Facebook page.

Wednesday 25 November 2009

You've heard of SEO, but what about YTO?


Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is everywhere on the internet. Any agent looking at web design or a new website will have heard of SEO, but have you heard of YTO?

YTO does not stand for 'Your Total Overlord' or even 'You're Too Old', but YTO stands for 'YouTube Optimisation'.

'Why do estate agents need to optimise their YouTube Videos?' It boils down to the same reasons as to why websites are optimised; being found in search engines and within YouTube.

YouTube was established in February 2005 and by April of this year 5 Billion videos had been viewed in the UK alone. Worldwide, YouTube now streams a staggering 1 billion videos every day and an overwhelming 20 hours of video are uploaded every minute.

In recent news, YouTube has upgraded into HD whilst Google will also be adding speech recognition technology to every English speaking video by the end of the week, which is great news for people with hearing disabilities.

By next week every English YouTube video will have subtitles which will be used when indexing content.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'This could mean that a new wave of YTO will be ushered in. Estate agents must plan a deliberate script with intentional keywords so that it shown at the top of Search Engines and by YouTube's own search function.'

This script isn't the only way estate agents can optimise their YouTube videos.

Below Resource Techniques will take estate agents through the process of YTO.

Firstly estate agent agents need to organise the video files that they take. Excellent for personal organisation but also YouTube will automatically add the file name into the video title.

Changing the file as soon as estate agents load it onto their computer means that they will be able to keep track of the videos that they upload and they can evaluate their chosen video title when they upload it to YouTube. Putting themselves in the shoes of a property searcher, estate agents will be able to contemplate keywords such as the address, type of house as well as the word 'video'.

For example, estate agents can use '52 Web-Design Street, London NW4 4DD [Company name] estate agents viewing video'. Although this is full of keywords, it is not very user friendly. Why not try, 'House for sale 24 Design Street, London, Video by [Company name] estate agents/estates.' Estate agents must design the title for both the end user and search engines.

Next, fill in the description section with lots of keywords describing what the video is about such as; estate agent, property, viewing, one/two/three bedrooms, garden and the estate agent name. Widespread advice suggests that a link should be inserted at the start of the description linking to the property. This gives users a chance to view in-depth property details on your website.

Last thing on this page is to fill the tags section. Here estate agents need to insert individual keywords that have been used in the description of the video.

Once finished, estate agents should click on the link 'My Videos'. Estate agents will be able to overview, edit, delete and add captions to their video.

Once there, click on 'edit'. From here estate agents can edit broadcasting options. Ideally estate agents will want to edit the security settings so the video can be commented on, rated, have video responses and embedded as possible. This means that your video will be able to be shared, talked about, reviewed and embedded as much as possible.

The last thing for estate agents to consider is captions and annotations as they can also be used towards their YTO. Agents need to be aware that although they can provide useful links and extra information, many YouTube users find them annoying and in the way of the video. Overusing them will cause users to click away from your video.

Troy Stanley gives a final comment on how estate agents can improve their YTO even further, 'Any estate agent that is serious about uploading property videos to YouTube needs to use YouTube Insights which is available in 'My Videos.'

'This is an analytics feature that gives information that will help estate agents to optimise their videos. Areas such as location, discovery and daily views will help estate agents to become the leading YouTube estate agent in their area.' - Troy Stanley.

Do you use YouTube to market your properties online? Are you considering starting to market your properties through YouTube? Let us know via our Twitter or Facebook page.

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Social network 'Foursquare' now in the UK!


Created in March of this year, Foursquare describe themselves as, '50% friend-finder, 30% social city guide, 20% nightlife game'. It is a social network that allows users to share experiences, hints and places to go whilst having a game that allows users to 'check in' using the GPS on their mobile phone.

Back in August, Resource Techniques talked about a new social network that lets you explore your city and now they have expanded the website onto the UK shores. The cities that they cover are:

* Birmingham
* Bristol
* Brighton
* Edinburgh
* Manchester
* London

Although it is still a relatively new social network, Foursquare is tipped to be the next big social network using social networking, GPS and local knowledge.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'Foursquare is a fantastic idea! The social network will be kick started by people that love to eat out or go to bars and clubs. Estate agents, watch this space.'

Many social networks have come and gone, will Foursquare stand the test of time? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook.

Monday 23 November 2009

Computer taking ages to start-up? Welcome to the future...

Everyone that has used Windows has used Internet Explorer. It is on every single Microsoft Windows PC, but in a recent European court case, users will have to choose to download internet explorer onto their PC or work computer.

On 11th of December 2008, Google publicly released their first version an internet browser called Google Chrome. In just under a year, Chrome has risen to almost 5% of the UK browser market whilst Microsoft's internet explorer has declined just over 10% within the same time period. Google claims that there are now 40 million worldwide Chrome users.

On the 7th of July this year, Google announced that they are to release their own operating system called Google Chrome OS. So what's the difference between the browser Google Chrome and the Google Chrome Operating System? Not much...

Google Chrome OS is essentially an internet browser that operates your whole computer. This has some major implications on the way estate agents access, manage and use their work.

Firstly, estate agents and general users will not install any programs onto their computer, all of it will be held in 'the cloud' (the internet). Meaning that estate agents do not have to install and manage their own programs, saving space and updating time.

Secondly having the minimum amount is held on the computer means that the start-up time for the beta version is currently a miniscule 7 seconds. No longer will estate agents start their computer, make a cup of tea and then sit around waiting their computer to load or wasting energy by leaving their computer on all night.

The last implication is security. Google boasts that Chrome OS distrusts every program that is run on it as well as not trusting itself while checking the code every time it is restarted so that it can repair itself if it senses something is wrong.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'In the not too distant future, estate agents could take their Google Chrome OS on the road and take it from viewing to viewing.'

'Within seconds, their laptop will load up and an internet connection will allow them to access 'the cloud'. Instantly letting estate agents edit any of their work files without having to transfer or re-edit them back at the office.' - Troy Stanley

Estate agents, are you interested in finding out more? Contact us on Twitter or Facebook.

Jumping from viewing to viewing, literally!


Becoming green is a trend that many estate agents have started to adopt. Showing their customers that they no longer have a Bigfoot sized carbon footprint is increasingly attractive, if this is true, why not have a look at Powerbocking.

Named after the German inventor Alexander Böck, Powerbocking is also known as 'Jumping stilts', 'spring stilts', 'power stilts', 'Power skips', 'rocket shoes', and on the southern hemisphere it's also known as 'Kangaroo Shoes'. As it can be seen in the picture above, Powerbocking is a spring loaded boot that puts a spring in your step!

The science behind it is pretty easy: The downward force is created in each step, stride and jump. This gravitational energy is transferred into the springs that let the user bounce back, letting them generally jump between 3 and 5 meters and run up to speeds of 20mph and each stride is around 9 feet!

The Poweriser tread point is fitted directly under the foot which makes it an extension of your own leg. Estate agents can move in the exactly same fashion as they normally walk or run.

Powerisers or Powerbocks have claimed health benefits. They improve cardiovascular circulation, burn calories, tones, and reduces the collision with joints. Estate Agents can not only improve their carbon footprint but also get fit at the same time.

Imagine a property viewers surprise when they see their estate agent striding down the street without breaking a sweat!

Check out this video of the European Poweriser Team in Prague. The video shows a mini-Olympics style events such as sprinting as well as some dazzling stunts.

Also check out this video of an Office Poweriser Challenge. An office worker attempts 4 challenges in his office including walking down the stairs and sitting in a chair!

Remember safety first - wear protective gear such as elbow pads and helmets.

Powerisers or Powerbocks are available from around £180-£200.

Thursday 19 November 2009

Web design jobs to be taken by Google!

Web designers have become slightly nervous over Google's swelling templates for Google Sites. They are very professional, clean and just slightly pretty which can easily be created by users using a simple step-by-step guide. Just have a gander at the screenshots below:





Although very pretty, these websites do not cater for the needs of an estate agent that is serious about their estate agent website. Firstly let's take the design. The designs above may be bright and colourful, but they may not necessarily be the right image for your brand. Matching your website design to your branding is very important as new customers that find you online will instantly judge your company on design of its website.

Have a look at the image below, or for greater detail, visit the Julian Reid website. The website is clean and gives off an image of professionalism with a hint of the types of properties that they cater for.



Secondly these templates do not support the types of functionality that every estate agent should demand to have on their website. Estate agents need the whole range of features that are all bedded into their website design. One clear favourite is enhanced Google maps. The image below shows all the properties from a search on Google Maps alongside various local amenities such as schools, doctors, dentists, transport, restaurants etc.



The next feature has become more than a prerequisite. High resolution pictures are easily accessible these days but the way estate agent websites display them can make it difficult for the user.

One way is to display all the high res photos in a pop-up. This directs the user's attention away from the website while modern pop-up blockers can confuse and block users from viewing the photographs.

Another way is to embed photos directly onto the website, which can make the photos grainy and small. Due to website size restrictions, this can impair the ability for users to fully view available photographs otherwise users will find themselves scrolling endlessly down the page.

Instead Resource Techniques uses the latest viewer technology that is used by large companies such as the BBC and Sony. When users click on a picture, they are presented with a 'viewer' with a high resolution photograph that overlaps the website. From here they can flick between photographs without being directed away from the website. All the user has to do is click away from the viewer or the 'x close' button and they return back to the property that they were originally inspecting.



The viewer can cater for more than just photographs. Estate agents are able to display floorplans, EPCs, HIPS, and print-friendly property particulars that are completely editable by the estate agent.



Resource Techniques is a web design company specialising in property websites for estate agents. Our services include web design, Search Engine Optimisation, software for estate agents and social networking consultations. For more information, call Resource Techniques on 0208 457 4777, visit our Twitter profile, Facebook Fan page or our contact us page.

Visit this page and fill in the form for a free web review.

Tuesday 17 November 2009

Social networking seizes word of the year - Unfriend

Social networking is everywhere. It has been talked about in movies (and is now a movie starring Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake!), it has been quoted in soaps, it is always in the news, and now the Oxford American Dictionary has placed it as word of the year:

Unfriend

"To remove someone as a 'friend' on a social networking site such as Facebook."

Many veterans of Facebook will be fluent in 'unfriending' whereas people who are new to Facebook will find it an alien concept. For those estate agents who are unsure, this phenomenon tends to occur on Facebook when a person has lost contact or no longer speaks to another person. Again this usually happens to people who have a major situational change such as moving to a different area, changing jobs or splitting from a partner.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'In 1998 the Oxford English dictionary included the term 'LOL' which means Laugh Out Loud. This was a sign of language evolving directly from the internet.'

'Eleven years later, the word 'unfriend' has been added to the dictionary, showing exactly how big social networking has become. This should be another sign that estate agents must start embracing social networking and integrating it as part of their online marketing strategy.' - Troy Stanley.

There have been a few other terms added to this year's dictionary. They are:

* Hashtag - a hash (#) sign added to a word or phrase that enables Twitter users to search for tweets that also contain the same hashtag.
* Intexticated - distracted because texting on a mobile while driving a vehicle.
* Netbook - a small, very portable laptop computer with limited memory.
* Paywall - a way of blocking access to a part of a website which is only available to paying subscribers.
* Sexting - the sending of sexually explicit texts and pictures by mobile.

Are there words here that shouldn't be in the dictionary or have they missed out any? Let us know on our Facebook fan page or our Twitter Profile.

Monday 16 November 2009

YouTube gets an upgrade!

YouTube is an internet phenomenon. People upload a range of videos from hilarious accidents, clips of their favourite pet, how-to guides to video blogging. In fact it is so popular that every minute, 20 hours of video are uploaded which means that even if you dedicate your entire life to watching as many YouTube videos as possible, you won't even scratch the surface.

Since December of last year, YouTube lets users start uploading and watching their videos in 720p or 'High Definition'. Users with HD screens only have to look out for the small red 'HD' button between the volume button and the full screen option and with HD monitor prices lower than ever, HD is becoming increasingly popular.

Now YouTube has increased its capacity to hold 'true' HD videos. This means that instead of the 720p format, YouTube can now hold 1080p. For those that do not know the difference between 720p and 1080p, it means that instead of 720 vertical lines on the video, there are 1080 lines meaning that the quality of the picture has increased.

YouTube have also announced that they will automatically upgrade videos that have been already uploaded in the 1080p format. Perfect for users who regularly upload HD video to YouTube!

Many estate agents are now gasping a hold of video and using it as a fantastic way to market properties on their website. Integrating it into their website design, embedded videos enable estate agents to add a personal feel to each and every property.

Robert Oulsnam and Company is an estate agent in Birmingham that has just started using video on their website. Designed to inform, the two videos cover the profile of the estate agent and testimonials of their customers. This gives an extra dimension to the company and shows loyal and potential customers that they are an estate agent that is committed to keeping up with technological advances.

Are you an estate agent interested in integrating video into your web design? Give us a call on 0208 457 4777, visit our Twitter profile, Facebook fan page or our contact us page.

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Dying to be remembered



A morbid subject but everyone has at one time or another pondered what happens to you once you die. Whether you go on to an afterlife, are reborn or just fade away into oblivion, one thing is certain. Your Facebook profile will still be there.

The good news out of this gloomy subject is that Facebook have decided to allow your memory to live on within their social network. They have announced that a profile can be turned into a memorial of its decreased owner. Facebook will remove contact information, status updates, change privacy settings and Facebook will no longer suggest the deceased member to other Facebook members - They will of course require confirmation of the deceased which must include verification from an obituary or a news article!

Sources indicate that the move has been prompted because some Facebook members being suggested to add as a friend, 'reconnect', or be reminded by a status updates automatically by Facebook's news feed of a deceased friend - something that can cause a lot of emotional pain.

The negative side of this is that you have no control over your Facebook profile once you have passed on. Not that Facebook has 'evil' plans for your profile, but estate agents may not want their memory to eternally held by a social networking company.

What isn't clear is what will happen to your profile, when sufficient time has passed and all your Facebook friends have passed on too. Will Facebook delete you or do they have a moral responsibility not to?

The positive side of this is that a Facebook tombstone is accessible from any of your friends and from anywhere on the planet. They can leave tributes on how you touched their lives and use your shared photos as happy memories that will never be forgotten.

Estate agents, would you like your Facebook profile to carry on after your ultimate demise, would you prefer for it to be completely erased, or do you simply not care?

Let us know what you think! Contact us on our Facebook fan page or Twitter profile or call us on 0208 457 4777.

Monday 2 November 2009

Twitter class now enrolling!

Bemused students studying journalism at Griffith University in Brisbane have just been told that Twitter will now be added as part of their compulsory curriculum. The news received mixed reactions, with some students believing it is a waste of time.

Jacqui Ewart, senior lecturer at the university commented, 'Some student's tweets are not as in depth as you might like. But I don't know if getting them to write an essay is any more beneficial.'

Twitter has been playing an increasingly larger role with online news.

Newspapers in the UK have embraced Twitter; such newspapers include bbcbreaking (BBC Breaking News) with 215,200 followers, bbcworld (BBC world news) with 57,202 followers, guardiannews (The Guardian) with 36,615 followers, and financialtimes with 32,362 followers.

Twitter users covered major events such as Iran election and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Users were awash with information. In fact during the Mumbai attacks, there was an estimated 80 tweets every 5 seconds.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'Twitter is the fastest ever growing social network and estate agents need to get in on the action. Tweeting the latest properties, property news and estate agency news can help estate agents drive traffic to their website whilst estate agents create their own self-made pool of information.'

Could this be the start of a migration of journalists from printed to online? Let us know on our Facebook fan page or our Twitter profile.