Bing - that's the ring of a free new iPhone App

Bing, Microsoft's own search engine, has just announced a free iPhone App. Estate Agents may want to trial this App before scepticism rears its ugly head. It does feel as odd as using internet explorer on an Apple Mac, but the features are good, damn good.

Click to Read more.

New web design for Moor2Coast.co.uk

Resource Techniques are delighted to announce the unveiling of a new website: Moor2Coast.

Moor2Coast Estate & Letting Agents in Yelverton, Plymouth covering properties in Tavistock, Devon & Cornwall, throughout the South West and the UK.

Moor2Coast are a professional, dynamic and independent company that can offer you a unique and tailor-made service. Offering services for market appraisals, conveyancing, financial services, lettings and property management as well as investment opportunities in overseas properties.

This fantastic new website has a whole host of new properties that are available to buy or rent in and around the Plymouth area. Troy Stanley, Technical Director at Resource Techniques stated, 'The imagery used on the website is simply stunning. The web design team has worked closley with the Moor2Coast estate agent to create a professional website.

Estate agents of the future type without a keyboard.

Resource Techniques has extensively covered new designs of keyboards. It could be argued that the keyboard is a primitive device and that even the most ergonomic mainstream designs are unhygienic and can lead to...

Click to Read more.

Estate agents don't forget about the Long tail of SEO

Let's be honest, Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is not be a glamorous subject. Estate Agents are constantly reminded by web design and SEO companies that their SEO is bad because of one thing or another so it is understandable why so many Estate Agents switch off.

Click to read more.

Building your shop window to the world

They could arrive at any time.
They could be anywhere.
They are silent critics.
They decide first contact.
They are your online customers.

Click to read more.

Estate agents, it's time to reflect on your achievements

Estate Agents, give yourself a good hard pat on the back. According to research by The Local Data Company, One in six Estate Agents closed down between October 2008 and October 2009. Showing that this year has been long and hard and arguably only the best Estate Agents have survived.

Estate Agents have one more task before relaxing into the holiday spirit. Some see it as a chore, some find it intriguing and some Estate Agents never do it, but now is certainly the time to do it.

'It', in the paragraph before, refers to checking your Google Analytics.

Before you groan, Google Analytics gives Estate Agents an insight into how their customers interact with their website, which as we all know, is the modern tool for displaying your property portfolio. Therefore the end of the New Year is the perfect time to analyse how your Estate Agent website has performed over the year.

In a hurry? The top 5 things Estate Agents need to check on Google Analytics are:

• Map overlay - Map overlay shows Estate Agents the catchment area for their website. If your website is optimised for the right keywords the majority of your customers will come from the surrounding areas. Do not be surprised if you have a random visitor from South Africa or Japan!
• New vs. Returning - This shows Estate Agents what percentage of users accessing the website are new customers or ones that revisit the website.
• Referring Sites - This is to check to see which websites sent you the most traffic. Remember that Google accounts for around 92% of the search engine traffic in the UK. Do you stats reflect this?
• Keywords - What Keywords did people type to get to your website? Check your Google ranking for the most popular and see if your website is targeted towards the right keywords.
• Content by Title - see which properties generated the most interest and then try to figure out why they generated that much interest.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'Estate Agents that regularly check Google Analytics have a greater insight into their customer's online movements than the Estate Agents that never check. We recommend all Estate Agents use this free information at their disposal.'

Tis the season to watch Google tra la la la

Recently Resource Techniques has covered three tantalising Google tweaks, properties on Google maps - a little bit of history repeating, and Google hides a little a gem showing that Google seems to have stepped up its recent releases and updates of its services.

Google even announced today, at the same time as Facebook, that they will be soon providing a URL or website address shortening service to compete against bit.ly. Goo.gl or fb.me have both been released on a limited basis, with goo.gl is only available via the Google Toolbar and FeedBurner and fb.me is reportedly only used via mobile.

Fear not bit.ly fans, the shortening service is still industry leading and has announced a 'Pro version' of the bit.ly service. Features include a custom URL service as well as a 'unique' real-time dashboard with even more information than before. The pro service is still in its beta stage and is available on request via this form.

Not only that but Google have advertised Chrome on the front and back page of the Metro which has a circulation of around 1.3 million. It seems that Google is now pushing Chrome to become the mainstream browser through tradition forms of advertising to reach the less tech savvy users.

Interested to know more about internet browsers? Contact Resource Techniques or send us a message via Facebook or Twitter!

Christmas Carbon Tweets

Since its launch in 2006 Twitter has received more growth than any other social network in the history of the internet. Initially, members of the public only joined because their favourite celebrities such as Steven Fry and Jimmy Carr were not only personally tweeting but also interacting with others.

Now Twitter is more popular than ever and estate agents are becoming apt at promoting their estate agency whilst learning about its B2B capabilities.

Unbelievably Twitter has now been transformed from 140 digital characters to hard and paperback. A perfect Christmas present for friends, family or other Estate Agents that are either obsessed or interested to see how they can use Twitter to promote their estate agency online.

@Estateagents unsure about #Twitter?

'The Twitter Book' by Tim O'Reilly and Sarah Milstein is the ideal book for anyone interested in joining Twitter. It thoroughly explains the basics of Twitter and the associated symbols. After reading this, estate agents will be widely versed in the way of the Tweet and will have knowledge of third party websites such as bit.ly.

Tried Twitter and didn't get it

'The little book of Twitter' by Tim Collins is not only a beginners guide to Twitter, but it is also for Estate Agents that have been using Twitter for 6 months and are looking to improve their basic skills. The 160 pages are written with a humorous touch and will be a pleasant read over Christmas.

I love Twitter, but how can it help me sell houses?

This book is perfect for Estate Agents that have got to grips with Twitter but have not yet utilised it for their Estate Agency. As well as great advice on how to avoid any potentially damaging situations, the book also covers case studies on companies that have harnessed the wild beast that is Twitter.

Love literature? Try Twitterature

'Twitterature' by Alexander Aciman& Emmett Rensin is absolutely hilarious but Estate Agents will need a knowledge of Twitter as well as classic and 20th century literature. Widely reviewed as a very funny book with a few well placed swear words. Definitely an excellent read once the family have fallen asleep in front of a Christmas special.

History in 140 characters - possible?

'The History of Twitter' by John Holmes & Mitch Benn takes 100 significant moments in History and places them in increasingly witty 140 characters. At £6.99 RRP, it is the perfect stocking filler to try and inject some historical knowledge into younger generations.

Estate Agents, have you read any of these books? Have you got any other recommendations? Give us a tweet!

Estate Agent's 5 fundamental questions when building a website

A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. Without strategy, estate agents only have blind tactics that will lead them down the dark alley of failure. Do you want your website to fail its basic goals or do you want it to succeed and become the envy of the competition?

A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. Without strategy, estate agents only have blind tactics that will lead them down the dark alley of failure. Do you want your website to fail its basic goals or do you want it to succeed and become the envy of the competition?

1) Why is the website being built?

This question is designed to make estate agents contemplate the reasons why they have a website in the first place. Answering: just because everyone else has one cannot be an acceptable answer. Think clearly on the reasons how it will benefit your agency directly and indirectly.

2) Who is the website being built for?

A common misconception is that the website is being built for the estate agent. This is excusable because on a lateral sense the website has been commissioned by the director/partner but the website is not for solely the director/partner. The people using the website on a daily basis are not employees or directors, but property searchers.

3) What will property searchers be looking for?

Firstly the WOW factor - something that will not only encourage the user to enter the website but also give a slight hint of the quality of properties within the websites. Next users want to be clearly see either a large property search button or a featured property to click on. Both shows that users are looking for property, putting a hurdle up here will only frustrate users.

Once users have defined exactly the range of properties that they are looking for, users are then looking to build a picture of what the property is like in the mind. Features such as high resolution pictures, a clear text description, Google Maps, Google Street view, Floorplans, EPCs, virtual tours and online property particulars all add different dimensions to the overall mental picture.

Lastly users want to see clear contact details. Many estate agent website designs fail this need to have clear contact details on each individual property.

4) Where will my users come from?

* Loyal customer base
* Print media
* Social Networks
* Search Engines
* Directly typing in the web address
* Email campaign/Property brochures

5) How will I know the website is working?

The best way to identify that your website is a successful one is to quantify it. Google analytics lets estate agents analyse exactly how well their website is performing. Areas such as how many people have visited the estate agent website, where they've entered, exited, how long they stayed on the website, which area they entered the website and much more.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'Do not forget that your customers will actually comment positively on your website! A shocking revelation but a beautifully designed website with a WOW factor and a rich user experience will attract more comments than a UFO sighting.'

Websites for estate agents and the future

We have done it! We have reached, or in some perspectives, survived to the end of the decade! Now the big question on everyone's lips is "What will the next decade hold?' Will the digital golden era continue or will self destruction and self indulgence cause us to live like nomads on a desert landscape? Ignoring the doom and gloom associated with environmental scare mongers, the future is considerably bright for Estate Agents online.

Throughout the last decade, we have seen a rise in internet usage. Increasingly the UK public are using the internet to shop online, read news, communicate and most importantly, search for property. The growth and popularity of property portals, increased online usage and online competition has caused Estate Agents to re-evaluate the value of their website.

A website is no longer an object of prestige to show customers contact details and previous portfolio pictures giving a slight hint of the properties that they possess. It is now a place where property searchers can, at their own leisure, search for properties that is right for them. With fantastic features such as; email alerts, high resolution pictures, enhanced Google mapping, variable search options, printable pdf property particulars, users are now spoilt for choice with the options available to them.

The next decade is going to be an interesting one - what can estate agents expect next?

HD videos - Estate Agents can expect that more features will be available on their website such as HD video. Marketing properties via HD video is going to become increasingly popular for agents and buyers. Recently YouTube has upgraded their HD video capacity, indicating that HD camcorders and HD computer monitors are becoming increasingly affordable and increasingly mainstream. A short video can give users greater insight into the property that they are viewing whereas floorplans and pictures are only a small piece of the property jigsaw.

Properties listed on Google Maps - Our recent article covering Google considering whether to enter the UK property portal market, shows that Estate Agents can expect this feature to be rolled out very soon. With a search engine market share of 92%, this could provide serious competition for property portals.

Website speed - Google have also mentioned that a website's loading speed could affect a website's Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). If implemented, Estate Agents can expect their website and the whole of the internet to start optimising websites for speed. No longer will users be subjected to long introductions and needless flash websites by web design companies looking to impress.

Social networking integration - A topic that is repeatedly covered in the media. Estate Agents can expect to see a greater integration between their website and social networking. With real-time information becoming progressively more desirable, social networking is the perfect medium for up-to-date information. Content such as press releases, new services and property alerts will be distributed through the right social networks and to the people who want it. Websites will become a core of all social networking activity.

Increased website efficiency - Research from eye tracking studies, usability studies and statistics from Google analytics are constantly improving the way users interact with websites. Improving elements such as the organisation of information will lubricate the process of initial website access to the final stage of booking a viewing.

Accepting the cloud - Over the next decade, more users will understand what is 'cloud computing' as well as the advantages and disadvantages. Initial protests over security will be withdrawn after costs are lower and users require increased accessibility.

Mobile internet - Smart phones have allowed a new wave of mobile websites. Users are increasingly using mobiles to do a variety of tasks. Websites that cater for mobile technology and mobile browsers will see the benefit of this increased usage.

Instant computers - No longer will people press the big on button and then wait for the computer to start up or make a cup of tea. This has already been recognised as a factor by the big computer companies and estate agents can expect to see that it will be incorporated into mainstream very soon.

Web 3.0 - Very soon your search engine will start learning as much as it can about you. Every single search you make will give search engines a bigger and bigger picture of what your hobbies, interests, and general web surfing activities are. Google have already announced that the process of personalised search has started across the globe.

Resource Techniques is a website design company specialising in estate agent websites and web design. Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques concludes, 'Estate Agents websites and website design is definitely going to see vast improvements over the next decade, with agents having a greater online presence whilst offering buyers and vendors an increasingly better online service.'

Let us know your thoughts via our Facebook or Twitter account!

Three tantalising Google Tweaks

Well hasn't Google been a busy body - within the space of 24 hours, Google has unveiled 3 projects that are coming to a .co.uk near you. Two of them directly affects Google's main search feature and one affects only Android mobile phone users, but also includes search. Read on to find out more...

Firstly let's cover the new feature affecting Android mobile phone users. Google have released the next step of mobile search, a slight tongue twister; Google Goggles. Google Goggles uses image recognition technology to help the user identify what they are looking at.

All the user has to do is take a picture and upload it to Google Goggle which then uses image recognition technology and gives associated information. Currently Google Goggle can recognise Landmarks, Books, Contact info, Artwork, Places, Wine and logos.

Google Wine

Imagine taking this technology to the extreme. You go to a different country and you can't understand the characters on a menu. Google Goggle then allows you to translate the choice to the associated image or text then users will go back to the old ways of point and nodding. Good times.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'Unfortunately I have an iPhone, but I will be waiting patiently until it is released [on the iPhone]'.

Check back soon to read about the other two search updates directly affecting your search results.

Properties on Google Maps - a little bit of history repeating?

After our recent article Google defies Rightmove throne; Rightmove shares gutted, there has been much interest and feedback regarding the likelihood of Google consuming the property portal market. Luckily Google already hosts properties for two countries - Australia and the U.S.

Google started listing properties on its Google Maps in Australia back in July of this year. With exactly the same affect, the main portal company realestate.com.au (REA group) had an initial 7% drop in shares. Six months later, the REA group has not only regained ground but the shares have increased 53% since the drop.

Therefore on a purely historical sense, Rightmove is likely to rebound from the primary shock and 'the end is nigh' predictions. Estate Agents against property portals need not cry too much over the possible survival of Rightmove, Google maps listing properties can work towards an Estate Agent's advantage.

Estate Agents that have fantastic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and unbeatable web design do not have to fear. Google is not a property portal and it is going to stick at what it is good at - being a search engine. Therefore this has to be viewed as an extra medium for potential traffic. Users will click round the map till they find a property that they have interest. From there, the user will be directed to the agent's website.

Uh-oh - Bad news for Estate Agents that does not live up to today's standards. Without design that has that 'WOW' factor, functionality of property portals, and rich user-experience, you can guarantee that the user will press the 'Back' button. Right now a possible customer has just been lost within a few seconds of accessing your website.

On the other hand, it is fantastic news for Estate Agents that have a website that they are proud of. The extra avenue of traffic means that Estate Agents with stunning web design will retain more users than those that do not have that WOW factor.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'This change is truly exciting for estate agents that taken the positive step towards improving their website from the awkward designs of the 90s. If your website does not have that WOW impact then it is certainly time for a redesign.'

Visit our portfolio page or call Resource Techniques on 0208 457 4777 to achieve the type of web design that will keep old customers and capture new ones.

Google search - how would you change it this Christmas?

Estate agents, imagine the power if Google suddenly appointed you as head of their search function for the Christmas period. Would you change anything or would you finally get that alteration that you've been dreaming of ever since you first pressed that search button?

Matt Cutts is well known in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) circles as being the head of Google's web spam team. From his many videos, he can be seen as a very likable person and when he speaks, the internet listens.

On the 24th of November Google posted up a video of Matt Cutts talking about 'which search feature would you add to Google' on Google's Webmaster channel on YouTube.

His answer was something that may not be noticeable to estate agents. As Matt is the head of Google's web spam team, he stated that he regularly emails links to other people. These links include extra text in the URL from parameters which he considers is not relevant to him.

Estate agents, how would you change Google? Would you change the search function or the design of Google? Let us know via our Facebook or Twitter page.