A quick page focus history lesson for estate agents

Originally there were only 3 pages that customers focused on when accessing property websites. These were; Home Page, Listings Page and a detailed property page. Now technology has moved on and users require that little bit extra from online estate agents.

Firstly the Search Results Page was added. Although this does not seem like a big change now, it has changed the long page of listings to a narrowed property search on the user's preferences. In fact it has been integrated so much into our daily use that we now take it for granted. Shockingly there are still some property websites that still do not have a search feature!

Technology has now moved on. Users are becoming increasingly snobby about property websites that they access and the property websites that only have basic functionality will be looked down upon. This is because users are becoming increasingly experienced with property websites. Estate agents that let their website stagnate could be losing out on a lot potential business.

Users now have the option to either use the traditional method of search design or use a more interactive map that has every house plotted on a map with local amenities. This interactivity seems to be the next step in online property. People are able to see exactly where on the map their potential house and also see what restaurants to go out to or even plot their childs route to school.

This means that as an estate agent, you also need to require more from your website. Do not put up with a second grade website that has terrible SEO and has features that the next generation will look down upon. Contact Resource techniques on 0208 457 4777 for a free web review.

Did you know that Websites can bounce ?

Unfortunately this is not about a website physically bouncing but this is relating to 'bounce rate'. Bounce rate is given as a percentage and is the number internet users that leave your website without clicking onto another page, so they literally 'bounce' off.

Estate agents and website designers do not want people to bounce on their website. Ideally you will want every person to stay and view properties but this is not necessarily possible. Below are the top 5 factors of why your website will have a bounce rate.

* Keyword selection - Choosing keywords that are relevant to your website is paramount and getting this wrong will lead the wrong people onto your website. For example, if an estate agent has keywords targeted towards 'country estates' but they sell flats in London, they will receive traffic only people typing in 'country estates' into search engines.
* Design garish and unorganised will put people off your website. Web users have become increasingly suspicious about websites that have even the slightest mistake or design flaw.
* Content - Write for online, keep it relevant and interesting. The homepage needs to be enticing for the properties that are held within.
* Navigation - Online estate agents need to provide a clear, user-friendly navigational structure. Every single user will need to look at the website and instantly know how to navigate around the website.
* Accidental clicks - These are people who accidentally click onto a property website without realising.

All the checks above will help towards lowering a bounce rate, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to completely get rid of your website's bounce rate. For further information on bounce rates, contact Resource Techniques on 0208 457 4777 for more information.

Writing Online Content

Writing online content? - You may have forgotten these simple techniques

At the present climate, we are all stretched for time and resources. Estate agents are no exception, but not regularly updating your online content will harm your online presence and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), which in turn, will harm your business. A quick self-check will save you the expense of hiring someone and the techniques will vastly improve your online content!

1. Write it, and then leave it!

This is a trick that many forget. Give your mind time to reset itself. This will enable you to take a step back and consider any mistakes in spelling, grammar or content. By planning the content you write in advance, the quality of content will be vastly improved.

2. Ask a friend

You can check, recheck and check again but sometimes you will miss the mistakes that are right under your nose. The best way to finally filter out any final mistakes is to use a colleague. They will be able to view your content completely afresh and will notice mistakes that you have missed out. This can be perfect for proof reading property listings!

3. Consider your keywords

This is the best time to check that you have used the right amount of keywords in your content. Using too many will flag your content as 'spam', too little keywords and your content won't be picked up. Keyword density is an effective way to see that you haven't repeated too many words. Count the how many times the word appears in the content and divide by the number of words, times this number by 100 and you'll get a percentage. The debate on keyword density ranges from 1% to 8%. We suggest your repeated keywords are between 2-3%.

4. Are you selling the benefits?

Sales 101: Write about the benefits of the product or service and not the feature. People are interested in how a particular product/service will benefit them and not the features of it.

5. Stuck for ideas?

Look at other estate agents and their online content. Do not plagiarise but use the topics that they are talking about and write them in your own words.

6. A picture paints a thousand words

A picture can capture the eye and give a lot of information on what the article has in store. Make sure that the picture in with the theme of the content. Putting a picture of an animal when the content talking about the latest problems affecting estate agents in the UK, will not only confuse readers and lower the professionalism of your website.

Shopping around for a new website

Let's be honest here, websites aren't the cheapest investment
for your business but it is an important one. Resource Techniques
has compiled a quick guide on what to consider, look out for and
avoid when choosing a website designer.

Firstly define your Website's needs:

"He who fails to plan, plans to fail."

• Think about what your website needs and why you want a website.
  Estate agents will want users to firstly look at properties then be
  captivated enough by a property to contact them.


• Consider your company background. What is the company's
  underpinning values, beliefs and commitment?


• What is the overall aim of your estate agency? How do you
  differ from your competition?



• Who are you selling for? This is important to remember because
  websites should be for your customers and not just for you.


• What is your overall marketing strategy?

Ask the website designer if they can:

• Work with languages such as CSS.


• Produce a portfolio


• Create meta-tags and perform SEO.


• Perform White Hat SEO


• Create interactive content.



• Manually write HTML.


• Work with websites in a secure server environment.

Research Market Costs

Have a look around. Do NOT go for the first company you come
across. Website designers tend to charge large amounts, so shop
around. You would shop around for any other large purchases, so why
make websites any different?

Create a Short List

Do the website designers suit your estate agency? Creating a
short list enables you to think about the pros and cons of every
web design company and lets you overview all the possibilities
before you.

"72% of customers see you on the internet first"
(Rightmove.co.uk)

Take the plunge! An estate agent with a good online presence
will be able to see the benefits of embracing new technologies
rather than sticking their head in the sand.

You cannot leave it there though. A good website designer won't
take the money and leave; they should encourage relevant current
content so that the long term needs of the SEO are met. Beware of
designers that will charge you a one-off fee. Also they should keep
track of the website's performance through the latest methods such
as Google Analytics.

Resource Techniques are not only able to tick all of these boxes
but also provide a much larger service to estate agents. Give us a
call on 0208 457 4777 to see what you can provide
your customers.

Estate agents, Generation Z are slowly growing up

Generation Z are the children of the youngest baby boomers that are born between the mid 1990s and through to the 2000s. They are the first generation to have had access to the internet the whole of their lives and have been defined by Marc Prensky as being "digital natives".

There have been a few predictions on how this generation will turn out but the general views seem to be:

* They will be highly connected.
* They will be more liberal than previous generations.
* Equality will be commonplace.
* Their English will be sub-standard but will be versed in internet slang such as 'lol' (Laugh Out Loud) which is an expression of finding something humorous.
* They will be altruistic and will have a strong work ethic.
* Their internet usage will be higher than any other generation.

How does this affect estate agents?

Even though these are generalisations, estate agents must realise that this next generation will be growing up within the next 10 to 20 years and will be considering buying their first home. Even though it's not possible to accurately predict the economic climate of the next 10 to 20 years, it is certain that this generation will want a house that is 'green' and may even look towards the use of renewable energy as a daily part of their lives.

They will prefer to do business with companies that also have a strong work ethic. Estate agents that are viewed as being aware of their carbon footprint and are taking proactive steps towards reducing it will be viewed favourably, whereas estate agents that are viewed as having no corporate social responsibility will be avoided like the plague.

Generation Z will be using the internet more than any other generation. This means that it is vital that estate agents have an online presence through search engine optimisation (SEO) and contribute regularly to social networking. Generation Z will also be using the internet for all their informational needs. Instead of opening their yellow pages or walking into an estate agent on their high street, they will more likely search for the contact details and property of their local estate agent online. They will expect a website that not only has the latest technology but will also have a high usability and user experience.

Estate Agents: Search Engine Optimisation or SEO, is it worth it?

Countless searches are performed every day and what they search for is extremely diverse. Internet users search for why their dog keeps barking to local cinema listings. In fact these searches can be defined into three main groups. These are:

Navigational - The user is looking for a particular website and will type in the brand name or web address e.g. 3seconds2impress.co.uk

Informational - The user will be looking particular information. This tends to be varied, from typing in illnesses to finding local estate agents.

Transactional - This is where the user is searching to buy something e.g. 'iPhone'.

Estate agents must consider how they design the structure of the keywords within their website. Think about what the public will be searching for when they want to access your website. Resource Techniques has experienced two areas where estate agents should concentrate.

The first group will be making navigational searches. This will be because they are already aware of your company from reputation. These are the users that you do not need to concentrate on as they will be searching for your company name. Your website will already be designed for this.

The second group will be making informational searches and this is where you need to focus on. These users are either not brand loyal or they do not have a particular estate agent in mind, and these users are the reason why you need to be top of search engines. They will be typing in a variation of search terms to find estate agents. The main one will be 'estate agents in' and then the local area. Designing your website so that you capture these business opportunities will determine the success or downfall of your website.

SEO is essential because people only tend to access the websites that are at the top of the results page. This is known as the "Golden Google Triangle". Designing for position one isn't always achievable but creating a website with the best SEO is a primary goal for modern estate agents.

The latest integration of property media - will this affect estate agents in the UK?

Two property websites in the US have designed their websites to include Facebook. The first website to do this was frontdoor.com and now Hotpads.com has joined the social networking bandwagon. Users can either log into the website or log into their Facebook account without having to leave the website. Users can get alerts straight to their Facebook account and share properties with their friends on Facebook.

Hotpads.com has gone one step further and has even created an application on Facebook that allows users to access the information straight from Facebook. Users are able to look for roommates within their network and even share rentals and sales with their friends. This gives property search a social aspect to it. Users will be able to find properties to rent through friends and friends of friends, possibly making it safer and more reliable.

Hotpads describe housing as being 'inherently social and therefore ideal for social networks. Could this be the next step in social networking? Currently this is only available within the U.S. but it won't be long till the U.K. catches on. Only time will tell.

Are you new to SEO? This is worth reading...

Search engine optimisation or SEO is a crucial factor when working on the design of your website and Google have kindly lent a hand. They have put together a free guide for people who are completely new to SEO. It's ideal for estate agents who are new to SEO!

By providing this guide, website designers will make websites that perform better in the organic results page. Brandon Falls from Google's search quality team has stated "We hope that webmasters around the world can use the guide to improve their sites' crawl ability and indexing in search engines."

This guide was first published back in November but now is available in 40 different languages.

Improve your website design at the following link: http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

Getting website design wrong will harm your business.

It only takes a small design flaw for an internet user to be wary of online estate agents. Therefore your virtual corporate image has to give the visitor complete trust in your website otherwise a good Google rank will be useless. The following simple rules will greatly decrease any chance of the internet user "clicking off" because of your website design. There are only 7 things to consider. These are: Spacing, colour, background, pixels, typography, organisation and being unique.

Spacing - Websites designed with space look great. The logo should be enlarged to create space and allow the user to acknowledge what estate agent they're visiting. An excellent example of designing spacing is the Dart & Partners website below. The logo is large and prominent and still gives the impression of professionalism.

Another important aspect of spacing is using a grid as a foundation for your property website. Without a grid, the elements that make up your website won't be aligned and it will look extremely unprofessional. Below I've drawn the gridlines next to an estate agent website. Notice the organisation of elements on the page.

The design of the grid is not overly complicated or simplified. Remember that we've been taught from a young age to read from the top left to bottom right and giving people this natural flow will make them feel more at ease. Compare the difference to this overly complicated website design below. There's too much information and the eye struggles to find an easy place to rest.

Colour -The best way is to build you colour schemes around the estate agent logo. The logo would have been created with the brand in mind so having a colour scheme to compliment this is vital. An excellent example of designing colour into your website is the Penyards website. Penyards is a high-end estate agent that deals with country estates or properties that are unique or full of character. Therefore they will not want a website design that is wacky but one that compliments the brand image.

The first thing is to look at is the logo to get an idea of what the website design should be.

The logo conjures up an image of a traditional estate in the 'country'. From this you can gauge the colour scheme. It's going to be black, white and grey. Keeping to this colour scheme would make a very dark and boring website. It would keep within the theme but it wouldn't be very appealing to the eye. So let's have a look at what was the final website design...

This is what greets you when you visit the website. As you can see, they have kept to the black, white and grey layout that is in keeping with the logo. This would all be very boring or overly gothic if it wasn't for the green buttons and the vivid picture. These two things really make the website stand out without being over the top or wacky. This is a good example of how an estate agent website can keep its restraint without having a boring colour scheme or a boring subject. The other way that estate agent websites tend to go is swinging the other way and being too wacky. This obviously can damage the brand and the customer's trust.

The green here is even used as a 'call to action'. The buttons on the right are just begging to be pressed and the first one is 'search for property' and is exactly what our websites are designed for. Therefore colour can not only set the tone of a website but it can also draw attention and call people to action.

As we all know, this naturally occurs. I think we all know what the call to action here is:

Pixels - Changing pixels is a great way to add depth to your online estate agent website. The great thing about slightly changing the edges is that it adds depth to your website and creates a subtle 3D effect without being obvious. Fading is one of the effects that can be used. It can soften the edges having a smoother effect on the object. Usually text is not faded so it is clearer to read. Below is an example of the usage of pixels. Zoomed out the website looks like this:

But when you magnify the selected area you can see that both the text and the box outline is pixelated (in which individual pixels are apparent to the naked eye) but in different ways. The text is squarer so that when you zoom out, it is completely clear. The box has a dark outline giving a smoother feel.

Typography - Typography is the art and technique of printing with movable type. The text has to be clear, the right font, size, and characteristic (bold, italic etc). This has to suit the mood otherwise it will look out of place. Below is an example of good typography and bad typography. The tagline is 'Good typography is invisible / Bad typography is everywhere'.

Below is another example of good and bad typography from an estate agent. The typography below the logo is very professional. It gives a corporate image of 'we're serious' and 'you can trust-us' and then they ruin it with the main text and heading. It looks cheesy and unprofessional. The logo at top of the document has been cut off so estate agent is not discredited.

It isn't possible to have every font you wanted. Computers can only recognise a font that it has in its memory. Therefore websites tend to use web-safe fonts. Web-safe fonts are fonts that are most likely to be on everyone's PC and are therefore the most likely to be recognised. This guarantees that websites can be viewed by everyone.

Organisation - The first thing here is to decide what you want your website to achieve. For estate agents, you want to achieve two things and anything else is just a bonus. The first is that you want the user to search and view your properties online. The second is that you want them to desire a property enough to contact an agent a viewing. So therefore your website has to be impressive enough that the user stays and then have a desire to view the properties. After that, the customer needs to view as much information as they require before feeling compelled to see it in real life. Stunning pictures, floor plan, enhanced mapping, summary and a description is a must for an estate agent website. Large and good quality pictures sell. Pictures that are small and fuzzy not give the user the full impression of the property.

Looking at two brochures below, which house below would you buy and which do you think is more expensive?

Next is an online brochure by a randomly selected estate agent. The picture doesn't enlarge any further but changes when you move the mouse over the picture below, it changes the top picture.

You may be surprised but the second is actually more expensive than the first. Adding aesthetic value to each property will entice the user.

Try using the AIDA model. It is the acronym of Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. This model is used in marketing when trying to sell a product or service so that the consumer will buy it and it can be applied to estate agent websites.

• Attention - does your website have something that will keep the viewers attention or will they move onto another estate agent once they have seen your homepage? This can be creative imagery or something recognisable like a logo.
• Interest - does your website design keep their interest? This includes description of the product/service? Do you have exclusive features that no one else has?
• Desire - convincing the user that they need/desire your product or service. E.G. Testimonials from satisfied customers.
• Action - Do they take the desired action? This can include something like a special offer or a property that is too irresistible to ignore.

Being unique - Unique website design will attract people to your website in their hordes. A good example of this is the enhanced mapping that can give the user the ability to use the latest in viewer technology to search for their website.

All the properties are listed Google maps for the user to click on. It not only has that, but the legend on the right shows local places of interest. This is easy to use and interesting new way to view properties in the local area. Users will keep coming back and even spread this fantastic function by word of mouth! Doing something no one else does in terms of design can be tricky. Usually there's a reason why no one's done it before but use the old trial and error method and you could get unexpected results. A great example of this is Google's home page. Who ever thought that having simplistic search engine would be so popular?

Top 5 SEO website design tips for estate agents

Estate agents that are purely concerned with website design will fall at the first hurdle. Think of it this way, if no one is there to see it, what's the point in having it? In website design, you have to be passionate about the way it looks AND the way it performs in search engines. This is known as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Without it, only users that know your web address will know where to go. Resource techniques has complied the top 5 SEO tips for estate agents below.

1). Content is King

This is undeniable when talking about SEO. Google is looking for relevant current content in the web sites that they index. This can include text, images, videos, animations, applications, blogs, social networking etc. Providing local or national property news is ideal for estate agents. When writing content, think about the wording as search engines scan for this.

2). Keywords

When scanning your website, Google will look for repeated keywords. Website designers will thoroughly check the density of keywords so that the website's SEO is optimised, but there is debate on what percentage that keywords should be used. Ideally a website design should be looking towards a 2% - 3% of repeated keywords. For estate agents, 'Estate agents in' and the local area is a particular favourite of the public as it follows a logical thought process.

3). Meta Tags

This is an invisible code that is embedded within your website. Meta tags are used by search engines to summarise the website. There are two main Meta tags that play an important role in SEO; description and keywords. The description Meta tag is a summary of the main text and the keywords Meta tag are the keywords that search engines at. Previously these have been abused by people using black hat SEO techniques, so now endlessly repeating keywords will flag your website as 'spam'.

4). Links

Simple rule for links: The more links you have pointing to your website, the better for SEO. This indicates a sense of popularity and is looked upon with great affection by search engines. The best links are from websites that have similar content to your own i.e. estate agents linking to other estate agents. Ideally you would want links to the most relevant pages on your website and not all to your homepage. One exception to this is having a website that is considered to be 'bad' pointing to your website, will count against your SEO.

5). Site Map

Search engines love an organised website design. A website that has sporadic page placement and erratic links will make the user experience very difficult and this will affect your SEO. The simplest way for estate agents to erase this problem is to draw out the website design and then draw lines between pages to show the links. To optimise SEO, ensure that every page can link to every other page.

For help or advice on optimising your site call Resource Techniques 0208 457 4777

Or why not take advantage of our free web review offer

Team announce launch of new website, teamprop - NOW EVEN BETTER

"If we can't match the major portals for sheer size, we can certainly outdo them when it comes to quality of presentation." So says team's IT Director Peter Byrne, describing the brand new cutting-edge version of the Association's industry-leading website, www.teamprop.co.uk, which was launched this week.

Teamprop has long enjoyed the reputation of being by a considerable margin the UK's most accurate and up-to-date property website, courtesy of team's unique multi-listing technology which ensures that all property information displayed is automatically updated every 15 minutes. This compares to an industry norm of once every 24 hours, and helps explain why teamprop has consistently punched well above its weight in terms of visitor numbers.

Now, with this latest version, developed in close association with team's IT partners, Resource Techniques, the site is even better.

The first thing you notice is an eye-catching new look and a clearer, more straightforward layout. But this is much more than just a stylish makeover, according to Peter Byrne. "The entire site has been totally redesigned and re-engineered from the ground up using the latest technology to make it faster and easier to use than ever before, while at the same time incorporating a whole array of advanced features designed to give a much richer and enjoyable user experience," he says.

Particular attention has been paid to the design of the site's all-important search function, to make it exceptionally fast and user-friendly. The quality of the photographs has also been enormously improved, utilising automatic visual optimisation to set new industry standards for clarity and printability, and enable properties to be displayed to the best possible advantage. Among the very latest features to be incorporated is Google's revolutionary Street View. And an ongoing process of optimisation has been initiated to maximise the site's visibility to the principal search engines.

All in all, then, these changes look guaranteed to further reinforce teamprop's popularity with both buyers and sellers - as well as those lucky team agents who enjoy exclusive access to it!

Resource Techniques launch new website ad campaign

Based around the principle that a website has just 3 seconds to impress the visitor, impress them enough to compel them stay rather than exit the site before you are able to get your message across. The campaign titled, 3 second 2 impress (www.3seconds2impress.co.uk) is aimed primarily at estate agents, although the message is the same whatever your business

The campaign encourages estate agents to look at their existing website and consider the following:

1) Google Ranking:

Is their website listed on page one of Google when searching for estate agents in their location.

2) An Affordable solution:

Do they get value for money or is their ROI (Return On Investment) a good one, by accessing the placement within Google, site features and user experience how does their existing website compare with their local estate agents they compete with or what's available from Resource Techniques.

3) Latest Technology:

How their existing website stacks up in the technology stakes and how this compares with the technology available on a Resource Techniques product.

4) Specialist:

Is their existing website created by a specialist company with experience in building websites for estate agents? And the benefits of using a company that specialises in building websites for estate agents.

FREE WEB REVIEW:

Finally, the 3 seconds 2 impress site (www.3seconds2impress.co.uk) offers the estate agent a free web review of their existing website, by simply completing the online form, requiring basic information, they receive, entirely free of charge, a review highlighting areas of concern and possible improvement. See - www.resourcetechniques.co.uk/webreview.aspx

Facebook fan page for Estate Agents

If someone offered you free advertising to 29.2 million people, would you take it?

You have to have had your head buried in the sand to have failed to notice that Facebook is the biggest social network in the UK. Even though popularity is unrivalled, only a few estate agents have taken advantage of it. By creating a 'Page' or a 'Fan Page', an estate agent has access to 29.2 million people in the UK. Creating a page takes less than 5 minutes, and regularly updating content will provide users insight into the people behind the brand name. Below is a list of 8 helpful ways to improve your website quickly and efficiently.

Content - This is what Facebook users will be looking for. Provide details on your opening times, nearby parking and public transport. An underlying theme here should be to make it as personal as possible.

'Write something about...' - This is a short summary of your business. You can put in the company motto, mission statement or even a person message. For example "Welcome to the **** Fan page. Here you can see regular property updates and what goes on behind the scenes".

Keywords - do your own Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Your fan page can be searched by anyone on the web. When writing your content, think about keywords that search engines might pick up on. These can include the name of the estate agency, where you're placed, location of houses you sell etc.

Create links - Remember to link the Fan page to your property website. This will help users to not only access your website with ease but also increase the SEO of your own website!

Start discussion topics - Are the roads bad in your local area? Is there a development that's affecting residents? Again this is about providing a personal face to your business. Showing you care will show to people that you have corporate social responsibility.

Staff members can help - Get staff to kick start your popularity by getting them to all become fans of the page. Input from staff members will increase the quality of the content and show users that there is a clear dialogue between staff and the public.

Reviews - This is where members of the public can provide feedback. A great opportunity for you and other members of the public to see how great estate agents are!

Video - Internet users love video and it's a chance for them to see your creative side. Upload a video of a feature property, a staff social or even a review of the area. It's completely up to you!

People love honesty and a personal face to a business. Adding content that people can relate to will reach millions of people who have been gripped by Facebook. Have a look at Resource Techniques Fan page for ideas: http://www.facebook.com/pages/London-United-Kingdom/Resource-Techniques/41521113790

Estate Agents, can your website design improve business?

Design and usability matter a lot when creating any Web site, for estate agents getting it right could be the difference between success and failure. Troy Stanley, Technical Director of web designers and software provider Resource Techniques, offers some good advice.

Getting Web design right is both hard and controversial. If you ask a cross section of the population their opinion of a particular design, there are usually as many opinions as the number of people. To try to understand design, it's worth asking what's the difference between design and art? I would define design as the constrained application of art. Good designers are interested in the practical application of their creative output. And design is not just about aesthetics, it also embraces usability, good functionality and of course cost.

Designing a Web site that can sell successfully is an art in its self, and as getting it right can be the difference between business success and failure, building a web site that achieves this goal is critical.

Design basics

The aim of design has to be to support the objectives of the site and in turn the business it's supporting. In the case of a site for estate agents, it primary goal is to attract buyers and sellers of property.

How can design help to achieve this? First of all we must communicate the brand message that the company wishes to convey to the target demographic. If there is any disconnection between these two, this will jar with prospects and significantly reduce their likelihood of buy in.

The next objective of design, and closely related to brand, is the prime message. Maybe the site wishes to communicate a contemporary feel, maybe something more traditional. Whatever it is, it's the objective of the designer to create an emotional reaction in the people engaging with the site. We call it the WOW factor, research confirms that a site has around 3 seconds to impress the user enough make the stay and not press the back button and exit your site in favour of your competition, the WOW factor is critical.

Design has the chance to bring clarity to what is offered on the site, establish trust and clearly explain how the offering can be accessed. Good web design will attract visitors, impress them and make them stay, make them enjoy the experience, keep them coming back and tell their friends about.

Marketing

Creating a point of difference... How can you as an estate agent in a hugely competitive market place stand out from the crowd? How can you have a clear point of difference? Essentially all estate agents offer the same service, the same selling features, rightmove, newspaper adverting, boards etc, etc...

Your website can create that point of difference, if it stands out from the crowd, if it offers a rich user experience with large high quality images of each property, large easy to read floor plans, PDF brochures, mapping highlighting local amenities such as schools, doctors, dentists etc, Google street view and email alerts.

There is little point in attracting people in your site if they aren't able to quickly access what they're looking for, research shows that 97% of visitors come to an estate agents web site to search for property. It is therefore essential to have clear 'calls to action', 'Property Search' should be clearly identifiable and navigation to relevant property information should be easy and require minimal input.

Usability 101

When designing websites, there are some principles that should always be applied. These include keeping your site simple and easy-to-use. As above, make sure that there are clear 'calls to action' like how to access 'Property Search'. Use common metaphors such as About Us, and Contact Us. Also stick to common concepts, such as making the logo clickable.

Remember that buyers can arrive at any page on the site via search engines, so ensure that each page supports the brand proposition. This is another reason for providing contact details throughout the site, including telephone number, e-mail, and physical address.

Remember the key rule of usability - if in doubt just keep it simple.

The final word

Your web site is your shop window to the World, it has the potential to bring new business 24/7, ensure your website is driving traffic to you and not away.

For further help and advice contact:

Troy Stanley

Resource Techniques

Attracting the 'You Tube' Generation

Whilst many agents have produced and continue to produce virtual tours, now is the time to consider upping the game and using video content within your web site as well as expanding the marketing opportunities the video format offers. The adage 'A picture paints a thousand words' has never been more true. Video is now increasingly used within email messages, this is fairly new to the UK but is massive in the US, particularly in the real estate agent market, so be the first in your area to send video content by email and your clients will be impressed.

Video has quickly become the preferred communication medium for personal contact within the younger market, the buyers and sellers of today and tomorrow. Business communication will no doubt follow the trend in the hunt for this increasingly lucrative sector of the sales market. In the US, real estate agents use video for business cards, introducing themselves and their services. Whilst it's not certain it will catch on here in the UK but its been found some UK estate agents are producing video of their local area and in some instances property for sale and rent. You only have to look at the success of the recent video based viral marketing campaigns of T Mobile (100s of synchronised dancers in a railway station) and Cadbury's (drumming gorilla) TV ads, to see it's potential, as both have achieved an enormous following on 'YouTube'. This type of marketing initiative is fantastic for the company as the brand is promoted by this self replicating viral process, and it's free... so keep them interesting. You never know, you could become a 'YouTube' phenomenon!

Creating video has never been easier or cheaper with many new computers being produced with built in video cameras, this then enables quick and easy production of personalised video messages from your desk. The next step is to produce a video promoting your local area. You can even use your iPhone but camcorders can be purchased for as little as £100 but for around £400 you can buy the latest highly rated slim line compact Sony HDR-TG3. Producing video is as simple as point and press since the camera then plugs directly into the USB port of your computer and the video is downloaded in seconds.

Before embarking on your first video, think about the message you want to give and plan how you're going to shoot it. The goal is to use video to improve and build your web presence, this is achieved by providing rich content that illustrates what it is like to live in your area.

Ensure that your videos are easy to find on your web site; around 90 percent of your visitors go directly to property search or property listings page, so it's important to make sure that your videos are accessible and well promoted within your site. This makes your web site "sticky", keeps people on your site longer and keeps them coming back and hopefully they'll tell their friends, this is how viral marketing starts... Good luck.

Top Video Tips:

1. Produce a video about your local area

Produce a video about your area. In the video, act as a tour guide showing what makes your area unique. This is not a sales pitch about you, the goal is to give viewers a sense of the local lifestyle.

2. Sales team viewing

Present each new instruction to your sales team at your morning meeting, negotiators will be better informed after seeing every new instruction without leaving the office.

3. Get a head start on the competition

If video is the new black then make a start now before it becomes common place, take advantage of the marketing opportunities now whilst it's still new and tell everyone about it.

4. Architectural/places of interest tour

Most areas have certain architectural styles or places of interest that are unique to the area. Make a video of the best examples of architectural style and places of interest in your local area.

5. Post/distribute your videos

Having shot your video, post your video on YouTube, Google Video and Yahoo Video, your own web site, blog, Twitter, Facebook etc etc... All at no charge.

Video will increasingly become important, in terms of both our personal and business communication. Images and text will no longer be satisfactory to the next generation of Web users. Instead, they will expect a full range of video applications that create the experience of "being there", in the future of the here and now, so join the multi media revolution today!

Troy Stanley - Technical Director

Resource Techniques