ResourceTechniques Blog

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Monday, 12 October 2009

Read all about it: The lightest laptop ever made

From working at a coffee shop to working at a service station, or even on-site, having a laptop can be seen as more of a necessity than a luxury for estate agents on the go. What about weight though? Does lugging around a huge laptop for the slightly higher memory, processing speed and extra functions a good enough reason to justify a bad back?

Good news! Sony has just revealed a new laptop that is the lightest one ever built, perfect for estate agents on the go! It's called the Vaio X a laptop is just a tiny 655g and half an inch thin.

This laptop is perfect for any commuter on the go. The battery life is claimed to have up to 16 hours, which is more than enough for the well-travelled estate agent.

Sony describes it as, 'a perfectly balanced package for style-aware business travellers'.

One downfall (and there was bound would be one), is that this weight comes at a price. To achieve this minuscule weight, estate agents must have a particular battery called the 'S battery' and no modem.

Not satisfied? Estate agents can also choose from the MacBook Air, Averatec 1579, Asus Eee PC or even the Toshiba Protege R500, which are all light choices.

Did you enjoy this article? Why not read '5 killer songs for bored estate agents', 'Top 5 sat navs for estate agents reviewed by Resource Techniques' or even 'UPDATE: our website screenshots on the iPhone!'.

Wednesday, 7 October 2009

Welcome to our first e-news bulletin for the 21st century estate agent

Estate agents, we are amidst a digital golden era. From the very young to the very old people are increasingly spending more time on the internet and incorporating it into their daily lives, from reading the news and communicating with friends, family and colleagues to shopping and banking online, they're even searching for their new home online. Estate agents that have embraced this have found a new wave of property searchers that have propelled them into the forefront of the property industry. 'But what is Resource Techniques doing to immerse me into the pool of digital knowledge,' we hear you cry...

Well this is great news for estate agents! Resource Techniques is now providing our first e-news bulletin! The bulletin will baptise estate agents into the digital pool of knowledge until silicon is coming out of their ears. But never fear, Resource Techniques will gently guide estate agents into topics such as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), web design, useful gadgets, social networking, 3 seconds to impress and general internet news.

Our first mailer will include many interesting titles such as; '25 internet stats that will blow your mind', '3 seconds to impress - a must read for every website owner', 'Minesweeper and solitaire - the hidden education from the misunderstood demon', 'Gadget of the week - 5 top Sat Navs reviewed,' and lastly, 'Complete Twitter Guide for Estate Agents.'

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments,'"the e-news bulletin is a must have for estate agents. We are providing them, free of charge, with the latest industry news, easy to follow guides, gadgets, and statistics that show the changing behaviours of today's tech savvy society.'

Social networking is a must have for the modern estate agents! Do you have a social networking profile? Add us on our Facebook page or Twitter profile or you can add Troy Stanley on LinkedIn! Estate agents will not only be able to directly communicate with our dedicated team but we will provide estate agents with useful links that'll make them think and laugh.

Tuesday, 6 October 2009

Google enhanced Google maps listings - estate agents, get yourself on there!

Google has just enhanced their map listings. It has worried some web design companies as it is a simplified version of a website. To access the page, users must click on 'More info'.
The Business page includes:

* Category
* Description
* Details chosen by Business Owner
* Photos and videos
* Reviews
* Small Google Maps
* Sponsored links
* Related Maps
* Related Web pages
* User content

Real web design companies do not need to fear. This business page is more like a directory than a website. It has all the information that the user requires to get to or get in contact with the estate agent. This webpage misses key features from a main webpage such as; feature properties, news section, email alerts, email a friend, individual properties, EPCs, floorplans, property particulars and enhanced Google Maps including local amenities such as schools, restaurants, local transport etc.

Although this directory doesn't have as many features as a website, estate agents need to enter their details on there. This is so that members of the public that click on 'More Info' will be able to access your full contact details. To add your business to Google Maps go to :.www.google.com/local/add

Resource Techniques is dedicated to staying on top of any industry changes regarding SEO 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.

Monday, 5 October 2009

UPDATE: Our website screenshots on the iPhone!

As mentioned earlier today, mobile internet is on the rise. Estate agents need to make sure that their design company is keeping up to date with the latest industry changes. Below is a range of screenshots from three of our websites including www.henningsmoir.com and www.colinbibra.com, www.bonetts.co.uk.

Both websites are crisp and look exactly how they would look if you viewed them on a PC, each with large imagery and a clear 'Call to Action'. Even the enhanced Google maps is accessible from the iPhone, let's have a look at www.bonetts.co.uk as an example:

Users are able to search for properties and view the results on Google maps on their own mobile! As in the screenshot above, users are able to zoom in, and with the quality still excellent, users can choose local amenities such as schools, doctors and restaurants.

Not only that, but our latest viewer technology, that is used by large companies such Sony and the BBC, is also able to seen in high quality. HIPS, EPCs, floorplans and PDF property particulars are all available within this website!

Resource Techniques is dedicated to staying on top of any industry changes regarding SEO 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.

Friday, 2 October 2009

Noticing people increasingly using their mobile on the train, on the bus, or cafe? Mobile internet usage is on the rise!

The Neilsen Company has just released some interested mobile internet user statistics. Total internet mobile usage has increased by 34% to a total of 56.9million page views just in the month of July. More men are using mobile internet, but compared to last year, women have started to use mobile internet more.

The largest group using mobile internet is, unsurprisingly the 35-54 year olds, but surprisingly the largest growth is the 65+ age group with a 67% yearly increase of users (overlooking the tiny 3% overall usage by the 65+ group).

This is fantastic news for people who people who already use mobile internet, phone companies will notice this increase in usage and the great mechanism of capitalist competition will kick in and lower prices. Lower prices, in turn, will increase usage for mobile internet.

Will an increase in usage, more and more people will use their spare time or commuting hours to search for properties on their mobile. This comes at a time where uSwitch have also reported that the British public spend an average of 30 hours online in one week, 18-24 spend almost 7 hours a day online and 93% of the British population shop online.

As the processing power and internet speed increase for mobiles the next step for websites is to either have a mobile version of the website or estate agents need to make sure that their website is mobile friendly.

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.

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.

Thursday, 1 October 2009

3 Internet milestones; online estate agents must take note.

The internet has hit three big milestones. The first was in the newspapers today; internet market expenditure has outgrown television spend for the first ever time. Whereas television has been leading the marketing spend for over half a century now, the internet took just over 10 years.

Stats were collated by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) shows that internet spend was a record £1.75 billion budget was spent on online advertising whereas only £1.6 billion was spent on TV advertising. This means that the internet now accounts for 23.5% of all advertising spend in the UK, while TV ad accounts for 21.9% of marketing budgets.

Could this be a sign of things to come? Will families gather round a LAN connection to communicate online after Sunday dinner? The suggestion bit extreme but the stats do suggest that the internet is increasingly becoming part of our daily lives. Take this next milestone for example:

In the U.S. alone, over the month of August, there were 25 Billion online videos viewed, which means that the average internet user watched 157 videos each over the month. The data supplied by ComScore, also mentioned that Google had a share of 39.6% of these views (remember estate agents, this will mainly be YouTube).

A staggering statistic, but what does this mean for estate agents? It means that estate agents can take advantage of this phenomenon by having video content on their estate agent website. Virtual tours of individual properties and marketing videos of the local area can be uploaded onto the estate agent website to promote either the area or the property particulars.

The last internet milestone is a social one involving a three-fold of social networks in London; the London network of Facebook has the largest number of members, Twitter's chief executive said that London is the "top Twitter-using-city" and lastly a Digg Spokesman said that 10% of Digg's (A social network where users share content) traffic comes from London alone.

Don't believe the old adage that 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks', estate agents that haven't need to start embracing the online world and taking advantage of the opportunities on there. When considering a new web site, always demand a specialist. Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques 'we provide IT services just for estate agents. Services include web design for estate agents, SEO for estate agents, SEO services, web sites for estate agents and software for estate agents, but we also provide domain name registration for estate agents. To see what we can do for your estate agency, visit our portfolio page or contact us.'