Tuesday 29 September 2009

Free web review for estate agents by an estate agent website design company - Resource Techniques

In conjunction with our latest campaign '3 seconds 2 impress', Resource Techniques has been providing estate agents with a free, no obligations web review. Over 50 web reviews have now been completed and every single estate agent has benefitted from our expert view. The web review, which is tailored towards each individual website, covers 3 main areas; Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) performance, Functionality review, and a Design and Usability review.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques commented in July, 'putting our money where our mouth is we are offering a totally FREE (without obligation) website review, this review will look at your existing website from both a design and function point of view as well as how well it performs in terms of SEO, pointing out where appropriate where the site could be improved and, being honest, where a website designed and built by Resource Techniques would outperform their existing site, and it's totally FREE.'

Now, Troy Stanley has noted, 'The web reviews have helped estate agents enormously. They [estate agents] have been able to see their own websites from the eyes of a third party IT specialist. Back in our article 'Resource Techniques' conclusion from our free website review for estate agents' we mentioned that there are generally one of two types of websites. One has good SEO and bad functionality and the other has good functionality but bad SEO.'

Troy Stanley continues, 'Estate agents can have the best website in the world but unless they are found in Google, there's no point in having it. What we do is provide a facility so that estate agents can see what position that they are in Google without them having to crawl through hundreds of search pages.'

'The web review will be able to point out the weak points that need improvement as well as parts of your website that are excelling. What̢۪s important is that estate agents are able to see beyond the interface and see their own website from the eyes of an IT specialist company with over 20 years experience.' - Troy Stanley

Do you feel that your estate agent website isn't performing as well as it could be? Resource Techniques is an IT specialist with over 20 years of experience. We provide web design for estate agents, SEO for estate agents, web sites for estate agents and software for estate agents. Contact us on our Twitter page, Facebook page or on our contact us page.

Monday 28 September 2009

Damn good reasons why estate agents should invest time and effort into social networking



For those estate agents that are unsure, Google (the UK's largest search engine with over 90% of the search engine market) scans the internet for web pages that it can use in its SERP (Search Engine Results Page) and good news is that this includes your social networking profiles!

Facebook

A recent statistic said that 5% of all internet usage is on Facebook. Facebook allows users to create personal profiles, Facebook 'pages', groups and applications, all of which is indexed by Google. Another recent fact, for estate agents considering a Facebook page, is that Google has indexed 503 million pages. Estate agents should not take this social network lightly when trying to gain online exposure.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'Estate agents now, more than ever, need to be on Facebook. Facebook has over 300 million people worldwide, which is almost the same as the U.S. population and the UK has approximately 20 million users, meaning that 1 in 3 people, in the UK, has a Facebook account.'

Troy Stanley, continues, 'Facebook is a great way for estate agents to support their online presence. Estate agents do not need to spend as much time as users do, but they [estate agents] need to start regularly updating and expanding their profile by spending 5 minutes or-so a week.'

Troy Stanley confirms, 'Spending more time will benefit the estate agent's website and the estate agent's online presence in two ways. Firstly Google will is more likely scan a webpage the more it is updated and estate agents can use certain Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques to improve their ranking. Fill your Facebook page with as much information as possible and use related keywords.'

'Once your page has filled out with all your business information, estate agents must then post content that property searchers will be interested in reading.' Troy Stanley reveals 'Users will be interested to know your latest properties for sale as well as the estate agent's latest events, socially and officially. Colin Bibra, an estate agent in Ealing, has an excellent online activity on both Facebook and Twitter.'

'Don't forget that this is not taking into account the possible communication between you, the estate agent, and members of public looking for property online. Giving them an opportunity to start an online conversation has become more attractive than ever before.' - Troy Stanley

Twitter

Twitter expanding at an enormous rate and is the 27th most visited website in the UK. A large amount of estate agents and users 'do not get' Twitter yet it is still expanding. Some high profile celebrities use Twitter in the UK including; Steven Fry, John Cleese, Jonathan Ross, Philip Schofield, Russell Brand and many more.

Estate agents can use Twitter to their advantage, by 'Tweeting' a link to the latest properties on their website, estate agents can boost traffic to their own estate agent website.

Troy Stanley comments, 'Estate agent should think Twitter as not just a social networking site where they can directly communicate with members of the public, but a type of media that is free. Again, estate agents do not need to devote an enormous amount of time using Twitter, but a few minutes a week 'Tweeting' their latest properties for people to access firsthand. 'Setting up a social network profile only takes 5 minutes. Estate agents can call Resource Techniques on 0208 457 4777 for free advice on setting up and utilising their social networking. - Troy Stanley.

Resource Techniques is a specialist in providing IT services for estate agents. Services include web design for estate agents, SEO for estate agents, SEO services, web sites for estate agents and estate agent software. Visit our portfolio page for our estate agent website designs or contact us page for more information.

Friday 25 September 2009

Minesweeper and Solitaire - the hidden education from the misunderstood demon

When people first started using GUI's (Graphical user interfaces), they needed something that will help them easily pick up the basic functions of something that modern PC users take for granted; the mouse. This is where Minesweeper and Solitaire reared its ugly, counter-productive head...

Invented by Robert Donner and Curt Johnson, two Microsoft employees, Minesweeper has been installed with every Microsoft Windows since Windows 3.1 in March 1992 and has been used to waste time in offices all over the globe. Minesweeper, for those estate agents who are unsure, is a game where a tiled board hides 'mines', that when clicked on, end the game. The aim of the game is to left click on all the spaces between the mines and 'flag' (by right clicking) possible mines.

The roots of Solitaire's history cannot be exactly pinpointed. It is known to have become popular in France around the 19th Century and then spread to the UK and the US in the end of that century. Again, for those estate agents who are unsure, the aim of Solitaire is to sort 7 increasing sizes of card piles (the first pile containing 1 card to the 7th pile containing 7cards) into the 4 different suits in ascending order with the remaining deck of cards.

Countless office hours have been whittled away on these games. In fact in 2006, one man was fired by the Mayor of New York City (Michael Bloomberg) after he saw an open game of Solitaire on the man's work computer. But was the purpose of these two games to reduce the worldwide productivity? One article entitled 'The most successful game ever: a history of Minesweeper' suggests not.

The article suggests that the two games were intentionally built to train or educate users to fully utilise the mouse. Minesweeper was designed to help users master the point-and-click element (users have to point and click to a particular square they believe to be a space or a mine) and solitaire was designed so that users could become skilled at dragging and dropping cards from one point of the screen to another. Both of these functions are now used in everyday for clicking on buttons or dragging and dropping files from one place to another.

Even today these basic functions are used in modern estate agent websites. Take the example of embedded and enhanced Google maps on one of Resource Techniques estate agent websites:



Users and estate agents use the point-and-click function to not only choose the local amenities that they want displayed but also to click on a house that they will be interested in. They also use the drag and drop function to navigate around the Google map to see the houses for sale in the surrounding area. Functions like these are integrated into everyday life without users and estate agents even realising. Maybe the next time you are on an estate agent website and using enhanced Google maps, you'll think of Minesweeper and Solitaire.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'Point and click and drag and drop is now second nature to users.'

Troy Stanley continues, Simplistic features, like the enhanced Google Maps with local amenities on estate agent websites, are completely user friendly. Users are able to view a properties location and surrounding points of reference in Map, Satellite and Hybrid view from a simple click.

'An Estate agent website hosting online properties has evolved. They are no longer a long list of properties with limited amount of information; they are places where users can users can view high resolution photos, receive email alerts, print high quality property particulars in a pdf format, see embedded EPCs and HIPs and even view from the property from a satellite to viewing it on the street.' - Troy Stanley.

Resource Techniques specialises in web sites for estate agents, including website design for estate agents, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for estate agents and in-house software for estate agents. contact us on our Twitter profile, Facebook Page or through our contact page. Resource Techniques also provides a free, no obligations website review.

Thursday 24 September 2009

Humour for estate agents - lovelylistings.com

http://lovelylisting.com/category/england

Run by Sara Lorimer, an America author who has written 'Boot': Girl Pirates on the High Seas' and 'Pregnancy to-Do's: A Book of lists for Mom-to-Be', has noted on the about us page that: 'I'm just trying to keep myself sane while we decide if we should move, remodel or make do.'

Estate agents, are you bored at work? This website will tickle your ribs!
The website posts photos and listings that are disastrous, humorous, or just downright weird. Users can view posted listings, vote on upcoming listings, submit listings or view listings from their own country or U.S state. One listing that Resource Techniques found highly amusing was listed as an 'Open plan' studio apartment in Kilburn...



Notice that the 'studio apartment' was described as 'cute' and 'great for singles'! Estate agent code: Tiny and great for people that don't like entertaining!

Looking for a new website? Demand an industry specialist. Resource Techniques has been an IT specialist for estate agents and property professionals for over 20 years. We specialise in web design for estate agents, SEO for estate agents, SEO services, web sites for estate agents, software for estate agents. To get more information, visit our portfolio page for our range of estate agent web site designs or contact us.

Estate agents, what's your social networking policy?


Many estate agents around the UK will have to, at one point or another, decide their social networking policy to determine whether they want their staff to have full access to social networking, limited access or no access at all. Should estate agents (knowing that their business is a social one) allow their workforce full access so to unlimited usage of Facebook and Twitter or should estate agents run a dictatorship where social networking is banned to out of office hours?

Businesses are currently split on the issue.

Some estate agents see social networking as a distraction from work where people whittle away countless hours and it offers no leads whatsoever. The extreme view believes that social networking is a teenage fad that is alien world to them, phrases such as 'tagging' or 'tweets' will never be used in the workplace.

The estate agents on the fence allow their staff members limited access to social networking. Many of estate agents in this category choose to only allow employees access to social networking between 1pm and 2pm or in their lunch break. These estate agents see social networking as something that they shouldn't ban but it's still a disturbance to their work and it still doesn't provide any leads.

Lastly, some estate agents embrace social networking with open arms and open internet browsers. They see that social networking will benefit their estate agency in three ways. It raises staff morale, bonds staff members closer by giving them an extra platform on which to socialise and communicate, and it provides leads by having an increased online presence.

What it boils down to is... trust in people. Estate agents need to clearly think about how much they trust people to have the option of procrastination but still choose to work. Do you think they'll use social networking as a platform in which to create more and more business by networking online or will staff members use the time so that it is counterproductive to the business? Let Resource Techniques know your views, contact us on our Facebook profile or Twitter profile!

Resource Techniques is a company that specialises in IT services for estate agents and property professionals. We provide the latest website design for estate agents, estate agent software and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services. Do not accept any website designer, demand an industry specialist!

Wednesday 23 September 2009

The best IT resource for estate agents

I have been working for Resource Techniques for 6 months now and I absolutely love it. The staff are enormously friendly and are genuinely dedicated towards providing the best service for estate agents. Including services such as web design for estate agents, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for estate agents, software for estate agents.

in reference to: Resource Techniques — Web Site Design and SEO for Estate Agents (view on Google Sidewiki)

The crucial SEO secret that has been overlooked - by almost everyone


Estate agents must be careful, once this Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) secret has been revealed, your estate agent website will never be on Page 5 or lower again. This secret has been stated by Google over and over again but no one has listened.

Web masters and SEO consultants all over the globe have been telling estate agents that their Meta Tags must be optimised, proper headings must be used, site maps must be built etc... (These tips do help, Resource Techniques isn't telling you to stop using SEO techniques!) But there is still one secret that either has been ignored or web masters just don't believe it to be true.

Are estate agents ready for this? Remember that this secret has been declared before...

Content.

That's the big secret.

"Content is King".

The best way to get to number one in Google is to produce compelling and relevant content. Once your estate agency website has content that people want to read, people will start to automatically link to your content. So what does this mean for estate agents?

A news section, with local and national news, is the easiest way to have relevant content on your estate agent website. Ideally this local news can include local building work, local new developments, or estate agents can write about national news that will affect property searchers in the UK will want to read. The main thing here to keep it relevant, creating content that is related to the property industry means that property searchers will want to access and read your estate agency website.

Do not fall down at the first hurdle. A few estate agents have outsourced their news feature to countries such as India where the quality of the content will be significantly lower than what is required for your website. Try writing estate agent and property industry news first hand. Firstly try to create content with your visitors (online UK property searchers) in mind then try your utmost to create content that you will want to read yourself. Once you have mastered the art of creating content that users will want to read, you will find your estate agent website teetering at the top end of Google.

Looking for a new website? Demand an industry specialist. Resource Techniques has been an IT specialist for estate agents and property professionals for over 20 years. We specialise in web design for estate agents, SEO for estate agents, SEO services, web sites for estate agents, software for estate agents. To get more information, visit our portfolio page for our range of estate agent web site designs or contact us.

Tuesday 22 September 2009

Evolving your estate agent website design


Estate agents cannot keep the same website design forever. It gradually becomes dated, in both aesthetics and usability, as the fashion of website design changes and user online behaviour alters. When is the best time for estate agents to redesign their website? Estate agents must always remember that they have 3 seconds to impress.

Most of the time, people dislike change. Take the example 'Users criticise Facebook update' from BBC's Newsbeat. It states that in an online poll 94% of users disliked the changes but Facebook, but Facebook ignored this. They knew the changes were for the benefit of its users and now most people have forgotten what the old Facebook design was like. Yet, users have even responded positively to Facebook Lite, a slimmed down, re-design of Facebook.

This is where balance has to be entered into the equation. Estate agents must weigh the pros and cons of redesigning their estate agent website. The only con is that users love a familiarity, but this is from routine. As from the example above, it didn't take long for users to change their habits as long as usability is the underlining factor of a website's design. Estate agents must remember to redesign their website for their users, not for themselves.

Estate agents need to remember that users are task orientated. They have accessed your website for two main reasons, property search and accessing contact details. Once on your estate agent website, they will be looking for several 'Call to Actions' so that they can complete the task in hand. Several 'Call to Actions' are now the benchmark of any estate agent website, including a large property search button or a crystal clear primary navigation that clearly states each section of the website.

Estate agents should not forget features. As discussed in 'the best estate agent websites', enhanced mapping, Google Street View, high resolution photos, EPC's, HIPs, virtual tours that are all embedded into the website will improve the 'stickiness'. Features that link off or are opened in a 'pop-up' increase the chance that users will be led onto another competitor or just led astray.

In conclusion, estate agents must get the basics right. A website with clear 'Calls to Action', transparent usability, fantastic user experience will win hands down over a website that looks visually stunning but users find hard to navigate. Features that are on top of a well designed estate agent website will finish off the WOW factor and will force users to keep coming back again and again.

Resource Techniques is a specialist in websites for estate agents. We provide a large range of services including web design for estate agents, Search Engine optimisation for estate agents, SEO services, and software for estate agents. Resource Techniques can be contactable from our Twitter profile, Facebook Fan Page or our contact us page.

Monday 21 September 2009

Voice chat coming to a Facebook near you!


Facebook, one of the most popular social networking websites on the planet, was in the news this week for having 300 million users, which is almost the same amount as America's population last year (304 million!) and Facebook is also releasing Facebook Lite. Facebook Lite is a slimmed down version of Facebook that doesn't include some features such as Facebook chat. It has been designed for users that have a limited internet speed and has, so far, had a positive response.

Facebook chat was released on the 23rd of April 2008. The feature allows users to communicate with each other through instant messages. A feature that is very popular but there have been some problems, including chat buddies that keep going offline, maintenance and messages not being delivered.

That aside, Facebook has also announced that users will be able to converse with their friends through the power of speech. The new feature, which will probably be called 'Facebook Voice Chat', won't be powered by Facebook but a third party company called Vivox. Vivox is a company that designs voice communicating chat for online games such as Everquest, Second life and Star Wars galaxies.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques, predicts that 'Facebook Voice Chat' will be popular; 'Millions of users will be able to chat to their friends, for free, on Facebook. All users have to do is install a plug-in [an extension of your browsers computer program] and they'll be able to speak to their friends across the globe.

Troy Stanley continues "With Facebook being so popular, I wouldn't be surprised if other online voice services such as Skype saw a dip in usage. It will depend on how reliable the service is."

Resource Techniques is an IT provider for property professionals specialising in web design for estate agents, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services and estate agent software. Click to view our portfolio of estate agent website design or contact us for more information.

Resource Techniques is an IT provider for property professionals specialising in website design for estate agents, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services and estate agent software. Click to view our portfolio of estate agent website design or contact us for more information.

Thursday 17 September 2009

Europeans search more than anyone else in the world

Are you a search fiend? Do you search for almost every question presented to you? Well it seems that you are the majority. A report by ComScore stated that Europe takes up 32.1% of all the worldwide searches, while Asia Pacific was a close second with 30.8% and North America third with 22.1%.

Not only that, but search activity jumped 41% between July 2008 and July 2009 to a massive 113,685 million searches for the whole of the internet. This means that there are roughly 311 million people searching through search engines daily. This is a clear sign that more than ever, people have integrated the internet into their daily lives.

This is another warning sign that estate agents need to embrace this cultural change. Estate agents that have a website positioned at the top of search engines will benefit from this huge amount of traffic. Getting people to access your estate agent website is half the battle. Once on your estate agent website, estate agents have 3 seconds to impress with the latest design, features and usability. Any hurdles, errors or technological faux pas will ring alarm bells and users will simply click off onto another website.

Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is a requirement if estate agents want their website to be at the top of search engines. SEO is the process of changing the estate agent's website design so that it obeys the search engine rules. This is also known as 'White hat SEO'. Interested? Read 'Which hat should estate agents use? Black or White?'.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques, is intrigued at the recent statistics. Troy Stanley commenting: "It'' superb that Europeans have embraced the internet more than any other continent in the world! Not only that, but search engine activity has jumped an enormous 41% in one year. This is the internet golden age."

Troy Stanley continues "Estate agents can profit from this, as users are constantly searching for local property or local estate agents. 'Estate agents in...' or 'Property to buy/rent...' and their local area is one of the top search terms used by internet users searching for property."

"Resource Techniques is a specialist when providing IT services for property professionals. We have 20 years of knowledge and experience in website design for estate agents,SEO services and in-house software for estate agents. Estate agents should not accept anything other than an industry specialist." - Troy Stanley.

Wednesday 16 September 2009

The best estate agent websites

The best estate agent websites

Producing quality estate agent websites, combined with state-of-the-art Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and estate agent software is what Resource Techniques do best. Over the years we have provided some stunning websites that impress the public on a daily basis. Therefore Resource Techniques has decided to share with you some of the best estate agent websites.

Homepage

Penyards Estate AgentsResource Techniques's flagship website. Penyards is a stunning website dealing with country estates in Hampshire. First entering the website, users are greeted by a striking animation then the eye is drawn to the prominent property search button. Estate agents, remember that 95% of people accessing an estate agent website go straight to property search. Visit www.penyards.com to experience it yourself!

Colin Bibra Estate AgentsColin Bibra, an estate agent in Ealing, deals with renting and selling houses and flats while also providing a highly-rated service in lettings management and residential estate management. The website is just beautiful. The blend of large imagery and vibrant red makes this one of the best estate agent website designs.

Colin has also embraced social networking with both arms. Visit his Facebook profile or Twitter profile to see prime examples of estate agent social networking.

Hennings Moir Estate AgentsHennings Moir is a team estate agent selling and managing properties in South East Cornwall. This 'Blue Sky' website is team's branded website for members of team. A beautful sky mixed with vibrant colours and clear 'Call to actions. This is a favourite for team members! Go to www.henningsmoir.com to view their magnificent properties.

Julian Reid Estate AgentsJulian Reid is an independant estate agent in Stoke Newington specialising the sale and purchase of property.The website has a very modern feel to it, again with 'Call to Actions' that guide the user through the property search process. There are individual colours that catch the eye. One example is the blue from the logo, this is present throughout and is utilised in the property search button.

There are common elements throughout each of the estate agent website designs. Each one has large imagery, clear 'Call to Actions', and the organisation of the elements have a clear structure. Quality websites like these only come through an in-depth knowledge and experience from an industry specialist, estate estates should not accept second best for their websites.

Websites are more than just a homepage. Property search, the latest viewer technology with high resolution pictures, Google Street View, Google maps, printable property particulars should be a nessessity for every estate agent website. If property portals are able to offer these features, why shouldn't estate agents?

Property search using Google Maps

Google Maps

A Google map that is embedded directly into the estate agent website is a modern requirement. It gives users even more interactivity than ever before. Local amenities such as school, doctors or vets can be plotted by the user to give them an idea of the surrounding area. Not only that, but it looks very pretty!

Outstanding individual property details

Julian Reid Esate Agents

All property details should look like this. Large imagery, user-friendly interface, clear contact details, and all organised so that it is visually stunning.

High Resolution photos

Resource Techniques - High Resolution Photos

All photos are embedded into the website with the latest viewer technology. One simple click on 'Close' on the top right hand corner or off the photo brings the user directly back to where they were. No pop-ups, no extra tabs. Website designers call this 'sticky' which is the ability to keep users stuck to the website.

Embedded Google Street View

Resource Techniques - Google Street View

Google Street View was released in the UK in the 19th of March this year. Within two weeks, Resource Techniques was able to provide to any of its customers. Are you interested in Google Street View? Read ‘Do you have Google Street View on your website?'.

Embedded property particulars

Resource Techniques - Property Particulars

Many estate agent websites only have a 'printable version̢۪ of their property particulars and customers are able to get hold property particulars from the post or directly from the estate agent showroom. Being able to download, save and print property particulars at any time is useful for the user and it also saves estate agents time and money!

Embedded EPC and Floorplans

Resource Techniques - EPC Resource Techniques - Floorplan

Like all every other feature, the EPCs and floorplans are embedded into the website and a simple click of 'Close' or on any other part of the website brings the user straight back to the property that they were looking at. This, as mentioned before, is the latest viewer technology. Companies such as Sony and the BBC use this technology on their websites.

Large, Clear icons.

Resource Techniques - Clear Icons

Not always a feature when reviewing websites, but is just as important. Large clear icons give the user a whole range of features from saving properties and email alerts to emailing a friend about that particular property whilst being clear and concise.

Resource Techniques is an industry specialist in estate agent websites, our experience and knowledge of the field puts the company at the forefront the industry. Each year Resource Techniques invests heavily in new technologies to guarantee that we continue to stay at the top. We are able to provide this whilst keeping our prices affordable for today's modern estate agents.

Request a Website Review or visit Contact us for more information.

Tuesday 15 September 2009

Bing launches new visual search that will keep users coming back again and again

Bing is in the news today for launching a new feature called visual search. Visual search is escalating the competition between the two search giants and the clear winner will be the consumer. Currently Google is still the giant in the UK, conducting 91.44% of all searches in the UK, whilst Bing has a market share of 2.68% (statcounter.com Sept 2009).

Estate agents, and general Bing users, might have trouble finding visual search. Visual search does not feature on the Bing homepage so users have to search for 'visual search' in Bing's search bar. Once on the results page, users will see news about visual search at the top of the page with the required link below. To help users find Bing's Visual search, Resource Techniques has provided the Visual search link.

Once you've on the visual search link, users are required to download Microsoft Silverlight which is a graphics system that is supported by multiple browsers. The download takes a minimal amount of time, but once past these two hurdles, users are able to fully enjoy what the feature has to offer.



Currently, there are 47 available galleries ranging from Popular Books to the FBI's most wanted. The 5 different galleries are; Entertainment, Famous People, Reference, Shopping and Sports and these galleries have the full range of choices available. For example, under 'New Cars', there are 357 cars to view. You can sort these results by; Most popular on Bing, Safest, Most Expensive, Best Highway MPG, Hybrid, Sports or SUV and users can narrow each result by type, make, base price, and fuel type.

Options like these will prompt users to use the feature more as a point of reference rather than something pretty that they can use. Once the feature is used as point of reference, then users will keep coming back to see which mobile phone to buy or which dog breed that they saw that day.

Resource Techniques provides a similar feature on our estate agent web sites, in which users are able to use as a point of reference. Our enhanced mapping allows estate agents to map the local amenities on their Google Map search. Not only is the feature embedded into the website (not in a pop-up or external, but users do not have to download any files to view them!



This is a very popular feature with users! Local amenities from schools to restaurants are able to be plotted alongside properties for sale or rent which means that users can plot their children's route to school or even the nearest train stations to get to work. Features like this, and visual search, keep users coming back again and again. Click to view our portfolio or contact us for web sites for estate agents or SEO for estate agents.
On the 12th August, Resource Techniques talked about 'The end of newspaper advertising? Many estate agents ask this question.' With that shift in marketing, journalists also have another attack on the very fabric of their industry; free online news. Why should the public go out their way to spend money on something that they can get free? Do you read free online articles or pay for it?

Google News was launched in April 2002 as a beta release (testing by users before its official release) and then officially released on the 23rd of January 2006. In March of 2005, the French paper 'Agence France Presse' sued Google for $17.5million for infringement of copyright. In 2007, there was also a court case in Belgium that ruled that Google News is not allowed to publish links to Belgian Newspapers.

The relationship been journalists and Google has been described as 'frosty' to say the least. Journalists are wary of Google news whilst Google News is aware that its very existence depends on Newspapers publishing their articles online.

Time for a change.

In a possibly brave move, Google is proposing a micropayment system to change the way people access its online content. An 8 page PDF response by Google has been published by the Nieman Journalism Lab shows that Micropayments are only part of an overall plan to help newspapers make money from their online content. The 8 page PDF included 5 important features that will be part of this system. They are:

* Single sign-on capability for users to access content and manage subscriptions
* Ability for publishers to combine subscriptions from different titles together for one price
* Ability for publishers to create multiple payment options and easily include/exclude content behind a paywall
* Multiple tiers of access to search including 1) snippets only with "subscription" label, 2) access to preview pages and 3) "first click free" access
* Advertising systems that offer highly relevant ads for users, such as interest-based advertising

Estate agents, would you pay for online news? What if there were free news sites but you had to pay for articles from major newspapers, would you pay then? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook!

Monday 14 September 2009

25 captivating Google Internet Stats for estate agents

Google has just launched its own webpage on the latest industry facts from third parties. Resource Techniques has narrowed these stats down, for estate agents, to 25 of the most interesting facts.

Some of these stats will shock you and some of these will be signs of things to come. Overall, internet, mobile and social networking usage is on the increase and many consumers research any service or product online before they buy it. Estate agents must now take their online presence seriously as we are amid a digital golden age.

Mobile

Nearly two million people in the UK use their mobile phones for a growing number of services, from text alerts that confirm when they have been paid to transferring money between accounts.
Times Online, February 2009

24% of mobile phone users in the UK have watched mobile TV and/or video.
QuickPlay Media Inc., February 2009

UK mobile search increased from 3.2m in July 2007 to 4.3m in July 2008.
eMarketer, December 2008

Paid mobile search spend worldwide is forecast to grow from $260.60m in 2009 to $2,977.30m in 2012.
eMarketer, March 2009

Social networks

Social networks have a penetration of nearly 75% among European Internet users.
Comscore, February 2009

Social media use has taken off in the UK. eMarketer estimates that 39% of UK Internet users - more than 15.4 million people - will use social networks at least once per month in 2009.
eMarketer, April 2009

20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
YouTube, May 2009

Although men and women follow a similar number of Twitter users, men have 15% more followers than women.
HarvardBusiness.org, June 2009

5% of all time online is spent on Facebook.
Comscore, April 2009

Of the 282.7 million European Internet users age 15 and older who went online via a home or work computer in December 2008, 211 million visited a social networking site - representing a penetration of 74.6%.
Comscore, February 2009

eMarketer estimates that 39% of UK Internet users - more than 15.4 million people - will use social networks at least once per month in 2009. By 2013, the social networking population will reach 21.9 million and represent 50% of UK Web users.
eMarketer, May 2009 >

Globally, social networks have enjoyed a 25% growth in unique visitors in the last year. Some sites have doubled their user base.
Comscore, August 2008

In May 2009, YouTube reached 15.4 million unique users in the UK.
Nielsen, May 2009

41% of Europeans claim to have changed their mind about what brand to buy as a result of researching choices online, according to EIAA's latest Mediascope survey.
Mediascope Europe, November 2008

Search engines

In May 2009, Google had over 4.0 billion search page views in the UK.
Nielsen Netview, May 2009

41% of shoppers use search engines to identify new websites.
Verdict Research, May 2009

Over half (51.0%) of consumers are using the Internet before making a purchase in shops, educating themselves on the best deals available.
Verdict Research, May 2009

Over 8 million people used the Internet for arranging the purchase of a new financial product in 2008.
GFK, February 2009

There are 1.5 million business searches daily on YouTube, making it the second-most-visited destination for business searches, behind Google.
Google, Forbes, BtoB, June 2009, June 2009

In May 2009, Google had over 4.0 billion search page views in the UK.
Nielsen Netview, May 2009

76% of UK adult Internet users find out about local services online.
Ofcom, August 2008

51% of Internet users purchased a new Financial Services product in the past year.
GFK, February 2009

Media

There are 22,471 TV channels in the UK, and yet the BBC maintains a 30% share of viewership.
BARB, June 2009

Over 30% of our leisure time is now spent online, according to a TNS survey in late 2008 across 16 countries.
TNS, December 2008

Over 90% of online merchants are planning to add rich media and social networking functions in 2009.
Internet Retailing, February 2009

Resource Techniques supplies IT services for estate agents. These include SEO services, estate agent software, web design for estate agents and web sites for estate agents. If you wish to discuss any of these facts, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Friday 11 September 2009

Estate agents that get involved, get the problem solved

This news feature, like many before, is on Twitter. Many estate agents have now set up their Twitter account and are now being faced by the daunting task of using Twitter to their advantage. Have they completed this task? A small few have, many haven't. Twitter is like any other new social network, it is intimidating at first, but like anything other tool, instrument or device, it takes practice to get it right.

Firstly estate agents with a pristine profile will start to look for people to befriend or follow. If you are stuck at this stage, add us at www.twitter.com/RTechniques or go to Twellow.com for a yellow page of Twitter users.

Once estate agents have a stream of twitter messages or 'tweets' on their homepage, they find that many messages will be continuous self promotion on a large scale. Estate agents should not be deterred by this, behind all the self promoting messages are still people that are tireless sending out promotional messages. Buck the trend and send them a message. You'll find that they'll message you back, and with enthusiasm.

What these 'Tweeters' forget is that social networking is about creating connections between people. They see it as another advertising medium where they can send out message after message or estate agent promotion after estate agent promotion.

All it takes is one message a day to one person. Introduce yourself and ask what they do. Estate agents will be surprised at the variety of responses that they get back. Not every message will produce a lead but taking that first step to start contacting people it will kick-start the networking that estate agents are craving for. Try dedicating 5 minutes a day or 5 minutes a week and estate agents will be surprised at the responses that they get.

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques is on Twitter! Follow us @ www.twitter.com/RTechniques. Do you have any questions on social networking, website design for estate agents, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services or, software for estate agents? Get the ball rolling and send us a message!

Thursday 10 September 2009

Estate agents, 'me too' positioning won't cut it with social networking

Many businesses in history have taken the 'me too' position. A 'me-too' brand is one that positions itself to offer exactly what the original brand offers. It can work it some industries and with some products or services but not with social networking.

Firstly estate agents have to realise that only having a social networking profile is not good enough. Users want to see evidence that estate agents are using social networking to its full potential, not a stale profile where the only evidence of activity is a post that occurred a few months ago. Users want estate agents to share the most up-to-date properties, local news, videos, the latest developments, useful links, advice on avoiding housing disaster, and many more. The great thing about online marketing is that it is only bound to the imagination of the user.

Estate agents that copy another estate agent's social networking activities will find a lack of leads. Estate agents need to try and come up with original ideas that will entice the user to visit their website. The website should then prompt the user to make a property search, view the listings then contact the estate agent regarding a property that they are interested in.

As social networking is used by increasing numbers and by a larger audience, it is only logical that these users will start using social networking as part of their online property search. Estate agents must start experimenting with social networking now before a rival estate agent gets there first. With that, estate agents must keep working hard at creating an experience that will push users onto their website.

For examples of social networking profiles, visit our or our Twitter page.

An estate agent website specialist, Search Engine Optimisation for estate agents and estate agent software specialist, Resource Techniques provides free consultations to all our customers on social networking. We guide estate agents through the sometimes tricky online world to help them generate online leads. To see what Resource Techniques can do for you, visit our portfolio or contact us.

Thursday 3 September 2009

8 Common SEO mistakes

Search Engine optimisation or SEO is important for every part of the estate agent website design. It moves the position of the website up the natural listings (rather than the websites that are advertised) and provides targeted property searchers whilst not costing an arm and a leg. The internet is full of SEO consultants telling estate agents how to improve their SEO but there are also many common mistakes that are repeated again and again. Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques, has provided estate agents a list of common SEO mistakes that greatly punish the estate agent's move to the top of search engines.

Over optimisation - Search engines want to show the best estate agent websites in their results so that users searching for estate agent websites will continue to use the same search engine. Websites that do not have relevant content for property searchers or a website that has sacrificed usability and user experience for SEO will be flagged by search engines.

Integrate into website design - Website designers also need to know the intricacies of SEO so that the web design can also help towards the website SEO as a whole. Resource Techniques has previously reviewed a website with no Meta tags and the estate agent was using 'tables' (which is an outdated way of constructing a website).

Websites completely in flash - Flash is a useful tool. It is pretty and website designers are able to create interfaces that users love. One major downfall is that website's completely in flash are bad for SEO. Flash is useful but it should be used in conjunction with other elements. Check out our visually impressive animations.

Duplicate content pages - Search engines dislike duplicate content. Avoid at all costs.

Too little content - Search engines love content. Estate agents that have little information about the company and then have all their properties on a property portal will suffer. Estate agents that include local news relevant to the property industry will watch their website shoot up Google.

Keywords - There are two mistakes here. Many websites either use one word keywords or is stuffed with too many keywords. One word keywords are not reflective of what users put into search engines to search for estate agents. Whereas keyword spamming was identified a long time ago by search engines and estate agents still suffer from keyword crazed SEO consultants to this day.

Starting early - Estate agents need to establish their website as early as possible as search engines trust websites that look like they're going to stay around for a long time. SEO that is properly done takes time. Do not trust SEO consultants that will guarantee immediate results.

Poor grammar and spelling - This is an obvious mistake but it still happens today.

Has this article interested you? Try reading 'website design for estate agents and SEO'. Resource Techniques provides web sites for estate agents and professional SEO services as well as a free website review. Interested in upgrading your website? View our portfolio or visit our Contact us page.

Wednesday 2 September 2009

B.I.N.G (Bing Is Not Google); Google respond

It's not like Google to stand by and watch as a possible competitor was about to enter the search engine market, possibly taking a larger market percentage than any company would be comfortable with. Bing, Microsoft's replacement search engine for Window's Live search and MSN search, was launched on the 3rd of June 2009. With an advertisement budget of $100 million, they weren't planning on creating a small wave.

It was widely believed that Google will have to respond alike and that increased competitiveness for the search engine market can only benefit the end users in the long run, but nothing happened straight away. Finally there have been rumours of Google using code name 'caffeine' and until now, people weren't sure what Google was up to.

Code name 'Caffeine' has apparently been in the pipeline for several months now. This secret project has been revealed as 'the next generation' of online search. It has been hailed as the next-generation of search. In other words, the face of Google will still look completely the same but the software under the hood will be upgraded. This could suggest that even though Bing is a new search engine, Google is updating to an even better search engine than before!

Troy Stanley, CTO of resource Techniques, is excited about the change: "Google, the most popular UK search engine, is basically giving a better basic search facility. This is the primary reason why people started using Google in the first place."

"The upgrade will have enhanced search whilst crawling and indexing the internet at a much faster rate. This allows them to narrow the real-time search gap to provide one of the best up-to-date search results."

So how does this affect estate agents?

Troy Stanley continued, "Currently Google is used by 90.55% of people in the UK whereas Bing has a 2.71% market share. With that in mind it is easy to think that Bing can be dismissed or ignored, but still almost 1 out of every 37 people in the UK use Bing. With a population of 61 million people in the UK, roughly 1.6 million people in the UK use Bing (give or take a few, as not every single person in the UK has the internet)."

"This million or so will be, at one point or another, using Bing to search for their local estate agents to search for property. Estate agents with an estate agent website should be asking their website designers or website providers what they are doing to make sure they capture this amount of people. Ignoring any search engine, even one with a smaller market share, can cost estate agents business." - Troy Stanley.

To try out the new version of Google, go to www2.sandbox.google.com and see how your estate agent website performs.

We at Resource Techniques, regularly cross checks search engines, to guarantee that estate agents that we supply for have Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) that they can be proud of. SEO, for those that are unsure, is the process moving each individual estate agent website is as high as possible on a particular search engine. SEO is important part of every website design for estate agents.

Resource Techniques is dedicated to staying on top of any industry changes regarding SEOest or website design for estate agents. Click to read more on 'website design for estate agents and SEO' or 'estate agents, SEO services are not just for Christmas'. To see how we can help your estate agent website design, ensure that you are getting as many people accessing your website and searching for property on your estate agent website by contact us.