Estate Agents - A New Year for some brand new gear.

Before the Christmas Break, Resource Techniques told Estate Agents that it's time to reflect on your achievements. Hopefully Estate Agents did give themselves a good pat on the back and an overindulging rest over the festive season.

Now it's a new year and many have a positive outlook for 2010. Many see it as a year of recovery and a time to rebuild on what has been destroyed on the market crash. This is well and good but Resource Techniques sees 2010 in a different light.

So how does the team at Resource Techniques foresee for 2010?

If one thing from cinema has taught us is that by now we should be driving flying cars, have contacted aliens from outer space and we will have enslaved a whole army of robots to do our most monotonous chores. Now we are here we can see that this is certainly untrue.

2010 will still be a year of technology. Below is a list of technology that Estate Agents should be looking out for:

• Apple tablet - Latest reports suggest that Apple's own tablet will be revealed at the end of this month and shipped around March time. With a reported price of $1000, it won't be cheap!
• iPhone 4th generation - After being released in June of 2007, Apple have made a habit of introducing a new version of phone every year around the same time. Industry experts have suggested that this year will be no different.
• 4G - Mobile phones have seen a rise in connectivity speeds. 4G is the 4th generation of 'wireless telephone technology' and promises a maximum of 100mbps which is around ten times quicker than the current 3G. This technology has already been available for public use in Scandinavia last month. Time will only tell when the UK will receive such a luxury.
• Project natal - A secret project by Microsoft that has been not so secret (first announced 1st June 2009). The project is expected to be another 'next generation' of home entertainment technology because users do not need to touch a game controller. Instead Estate Agents will have to use hand gestures, speech, or presented objects and images in front of a sensor that is placed below or above the TV screen.

The more people you have accessing your website, the more enquiries you will have.

There are two ways to get people onto your website and searching for your properties:a

* 1. Pay-Per-Click - An expensive advertisement that is on the first page of Google. Each individual click onto your website can cost you a couple of pounds (which will add up!) Also, users are more likely naturally look at the organic search results without looking at the PPC advertisements.
* 2. Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation or SEO doesn't have to be complicated. It is the process of improving the website so that it appears higher in Google's organic results, which are located on the left hand side. The general public are most likely to choose the 'organic' area without even checking the PPC area. Resource Techniques does all it can to move estate agents as far up Google as possible, but many estate agents have not signed up to social networking.

The image above shows that our customer, Bonett's Estate agents, is page one position one when searching for 'Estate agents in Brighton'. Search Engine positioning such at this will create a large amount of targeted traffic for your website with potential customers looking for property in the Brighton area.

Estate agents must do a self check to see where they rank in Google. Pretending you are someone looking for property in your area, you will search for 'estate agent in...' or 'flat to rent in...' and your local area. There is no point in searching for your company name because these customers are already brand loyal. Estate agents need to capture property searchers that do not have a particular estate agent in mind.

Once on your website, online property searchers will then notice your website design. Estate agents must be vigilant when employing a specialist web designer so that they create a visually impressive website. Our latest campaign, 3 seconds to impress, had spread the message that on average, web design has 3 seconds to impress.

From there users will be looking towards the functionality of the website. Features such as large resolution photos, Google Street view, Enhanced Google mapping, detailed property descriptions, email alerts, email a friend and embedded EPC and floorplans impress the user to repeatedly return to the website to look for further properties. The website is then defined as being 'sticky' as users and online property searchers will stick to that website.

Did this article inspire you to think about your estate agent web design and SEO performance? You can read; 'Complete twitter guide for estate agents', and 'The four basic elements of web design' or you can contact Resource Techniques directly on 0208 457 4777 to see how we can benefit you.

The horrible C word, the dreaded S word and the unmentionable W word.

You are usually in your teens when you realise what the dreaded C word is all about. It creeps up on all of us, takes us unawares and makes us re-evaluate the world. Deep down we all hate it. Many people are in denial for a long time and try to busy themselves ignoring the mounting evidence. Alas, in the end, you cannot ignore the evidence. 'Change' is the only constant in our known universe.

As Bob Dylan once wrote, "The times they are-a-changin", which is as true in 1964 as it is today. Some may even argue that technology has even sped up the process, with the use of the internet and mobile phones, people are able to communicate at a much faster rate.

So what's the latest change that hasn't been fully utilised by estate agents? This is an easy one, the dreaded S word - 'Social networks'. The dreaded social networks make agents communicate directly with their customers. Oh no, we wouldn't want to directly communicate with new and existing customers... No wait, we were communicating directly with customers before, so how is social networking different?

In all honesty, it's not that different. It's as instantaneous as a text, as in-depth as an email and as personal as a phone conversation, and can be as warm as face-to-face. So how does it help my estate agency? I hear you cry... (Please don't cry, we're getting to the point!)

This leads us to our last unmentionable W word - Websites. Social networking not only helps you communicate with new and existing customers, but it allows you to point people in the direction you want them to go. Your website.

Not everyone wants to search for property all the time, but catching that one person at the right time can turn the tide when it comes to property sales. Unless they are a hermit, people will one point in their life look to moving house. This decision won't be immediate and neither will the final move. Within this time frame (spanning months to years), users will log onto their social networks and interact with the digital environment.

The great thing about social networking is that agents do not have to catch that person at the right time. Updating your profile, on a regular basis and with relevant content, will stay there indefinitely - or for as long as you have a profile.

As soon as the individual is ready to start thinking about moving, your estate agency will be sitting behind a mass of branded fresh, updated content on their social network. All this content will be pointing towards your website, which will of course have an unbelievably beautiful design, a prominent 'Property search button' calling them to action, high resolution pictures through the latest viewer technology and enhanced Google mapping with local amenities such as schools and public transport.

Troy Stanley comments, 'Don't take our word for it. Visit the Team Wessex website, type in 'BH21' and tick the box that says 'Display on Google maps'. From there you are able to view 13 different amenities including doctors, dentists and theatres.'

'Users love functionality like this. They can do anything from planning their child's route to school or the nearest bus stop so that they can get to work.'

'Call us on 0208 457 4777 to see how we can help your web design for estate agents, Search Engine optimisation (SEO) or social networking.' - Troy Stanley.

Top 15 need-toknow news articles for a modern agent

In June of this year, Resource Techniques has increased the number of news features. Our team is dedicated to providing the latest news for estate agents including general internet news, social networking news, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) news, latest gadgets, website design for estate agents and many more. To celebrate this, we have complied our top 15 news articles that will help today's modern estate agent.

1. Estate agents, Generation Z are slowly growing up
2. Estate agents, SEO services are not just for Christmas
3. Estate agents are you having a social networking burnout?
4. Estate agents who are you more likely to communicate with on social networks? Men or Women?
5. Estate agents, me too positioning won't cut it with social networking
6. The crucial SEO secret that has been over looked - by almost everyone
7. 25 captivating Google internet Stats for estate agents
8. Top 5 Sat Navs for estate agents
9. Minesweeper and solitaire - the hidden education from the misunderstood demon
10. Estate agents, internet users love animations on your property website
11. Resource Techniques conclusion from our free website review for estate agents
12. 5 Killer songs for bored estate agents
13. Getting website design wrong will harm your business
14. Did you know that websites can bounce?
15. The end for newspaper advertising? Many estate agents ask this question

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments, 'Our news archive is growing by the day!'

'My favourite articles include, 'Estate agents, Generation Z are growing up', 'getting your website design wrong will harm your business' and 'estate agents, SEO services are not just for Christmas'. Troy Stanley continues.

'We upload all our articles onto our Twitter page and Facebook page. Check daily to see the latest news relating to property professionals.' - Troy Stanley.

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.

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 version’ 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.

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!

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.

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.

Website design for estate agents and SEO

Estate agent website design is important for your business. Not only does it have to look spotless and show exactly what the brand is about, but it also has to provide a large amount of traffic. There's no point spending valued resources on a website design if no one is there to access it, irrelevant on how the website looks. Therefore website designers today have to appease to the mighty search engine giants and also to the everyday internet user that has a range of knowledge and experience. With 72% of customers seeing you first on the internet, you cannot underestimate the importance of getting this right.

The everyday user

People searching for estate agents online will have a wide range of experience with websites. Some of the younger generation will have been using websites all their life and others will have limited experience. Since more and more people will be using the internet for property it is important to cater for everyone. This is done by using certain techniques.

Firstly you need to greet the user onto the website. Having a lot of content and images flash up will disorientate the user and increase the chance that they will simply click off the website and move onto another estate agent website. Therefore having an animated introduction to greet the user and establish your brand name or logo gently introduces them into the website. Next you naturally guide the eye to a 'Call to Action'.

A Call to Action is where the website gives the user a clearly defined route to take. For estate agent websites, the Call to Action is the property search. This is because over 97% of users visiting estate agents websites are just simply looking for property. With this fact in mind, why would you make it difficult for them? Providing a large and clear 'Property Search' will give both you and the user exactly what you want. They want to view the available properties and you want them to contact you for viewings.

So you've got the user viewing you're properties, whats next?

Things have moved on from just having 'property listings'. The savvy internet user wants a bit extra. They want:

* Large quality images
* Full search options
* Enhanced mapping - indicating local amendments
* The latest viewer technology
* Floorplans
* EPC
* A printable PDF brochure
* Virtual Tour or Video
* Email alerts
* News Section
* Google Street View

All this plus a simple design that lets everyone make use of any feature they want to use. Some users will want to receive emails of similar properties whereas others will prefer just to keep coming back and using Google maps to see the houses for sale nearest their children's school. It is the option that counts.

Modern trend

Website design has continued to evolve and modern estate agents understand that brand image is reflected from what is on their website. A tawdry website with cheap gimmicks won't do your brand justice. Whereas a website that reflects the colour scheme and the underlying brand image could strengthen your overall brand and keep people coming back again and again.

The modern trend at the moment is to use large imagery combined with simplistic navigation process to guide the user to each Call to Action. For a website selling clothes, the Call to Action would be to go to the checkout and then finally purchase the items of clothing. Property website's call to Action (as mentioned above) is primarily the 'Property Search' button, then after viewing each property the Call to Action would be to contact the estate agent. For this to happen there has to be clear contact details with every listing.

Search engine optimisation (SEO)

So far the user side has been covered. As equally important is getting people onto your website. This is done by putting yourself onto the results listings of search engines and hence the birth of SEO.

Search engines were made because of the need for people to try and find websites that they did not know the addresses for. While defining exactly how to list websites, Sergey Brin and Larry Page produced an algorithm that created the search engine giant Google. This algorithm is a way of putting ranking weights on different aspects of how the website is constructed. The more a website fits the algorithm the more likely it is to appear on Google's results page. Therefore SEO is optimising or modifying websites so that it complies with the most up to date algorithms. By doing this your website will be higher up the rankings and therefore have more traffic.

One major way of utilising SEO is providing relevant current content. Even Google has gone on record and stated that "Content is King". Better content means a better user experience which means the higher up the rankings you will go. One way of doing this is to have a 'News feature'. Google's programs will see that not only your website has content from local or national news but it will also notice that it has been updated recently.

Another way to do this is to have particular keywords within your website. These keywords are embedded into your website as a whole and represent the terms in which users would search for. For example, people in Watford finding a house to buy would most likely search for 'estate agent in Watford' or 'property in Watford'. Utilising your website to these search terms means that you can maximise the amount of people (traffic) that views your website and pin point exactly the type of people who go on your website.

Another way is having many in-bound links to your website. The more links you have pointing to your website the more your website can be viewed as popular. A popular website will have content that people want to read and therefore these are the websites that Google wants to list, popular websites with relevant current content.

Resource Techniques is dedicated to providing estate agents with website design that will be visually impressive while also performing well in search engines using the latest SEO techniques. To enquire about web sites for estate agents, SEO Services or any other services we provide, contact us on 0208 457 4777 or visit our contact us page.