Web Design Guide - The Property Jungle - Web Site Development for Property Professionals

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Things to consider when commissioning a website

Site design

Fact: More than 90% of visitors to your website will be local to your area, so it's vital that brand consistency is carried through to your website.

Whether they are vendors, potential buyers, tenants, landlords or business partners, website visitors should instantly recognise it as yours.

Your site design and content should reflect the characteristics of your target market. That way they will want to stay and search following a process you define.

Think about your objectives

Think of your planning your website as you would a new office.

It should be designed to give customers the information they want, in a way that you want.
Navigation should be intuitive and relevant. For example mortgage links are of little interest to tenants.
Make sure the benefits of using each of your services is explained.

If the object of your site is to acquire more listings you will need to attract developers, landlords and vendors. The design, content, navigation and contact methods should reflect this. There should be less emphasis on potential buyers or tenants.

As a general principle you should aim to do the following: -

Ask for the business. Always have calls to action to guide visitors actions (such as "request a valuation", or "register now" etc.)

Include all revenue generating activities. If you sell it then tell it.

Deciding on content

The content for your site should support your objectives. There are several key components for a successful estate agent website:

Database of listings for applicants and tenants to search.
Vendors and landlords should see their property listed within hours of giving you the instructions.
Live web chat or email gives easy contact for potential vendors and landlords as well as applicants and tenants.
A map of the area helps locals and non-locals locate areas.
Features like live chat and mortgage calculators increase the time spent on your site.
Describe your services together with features and benefits.
List all of your branches - it will instil confidence.
Encourage visitors to contact you by making it easy.

Examples of website structure

Features	Description
Navigation Menu	A minimal amount of clicks and page loading should be necessary to take visitors where they want to be. It should also present relevant options at the right time and right place to maximise your opportunity with them. A good navigation menu should achieve all of this and ensure that visitors have a good, fast experience on your site.
Home Page or About Us	A short description of your business, its USP and why your company is the perfect choice. Keep the description short. Who you are, what you do and where you do it is enough.
Search	The majority of visitors will want to see a selection of properties. They could be a prospective buyer, a landlord or vendor looking to see their property listed or someone evaluating your site as a prospective landlord or vendor. The search must be easy to use, clear in its layout and dynamic in its results. Pages should return in a matter of seconds with small, fast-loading graphics. All the properties should match their requirements. An online database is by far the most efficient way of achieving this, using our own database offering or your own
Virtual Tours or 3D-Walkthrough	Using 360-degree or 3D walkthrough technology your clients' properties can be shown off to their best with full colour 360 images taking visitors on a virtual tour.
Registrations	Your website should create customers. Make it easy for visitors to contact you with simple to use forms.
Live Chat	This is a very effective way of converting surfers into customers. Online operators manning your website gives you the chance to use text chat. This creates relationships with surfers.
Calculators	Budget planning is the thing most people get wrong when moving home. A simple mortgage calculator can give a good indication of probable mortgage costs. Other calculators can advise on likely legal expenses, stamp duty etc.
Service Listings	Make sure you tell site visitors what you do. If you have an auctioneer department, financial services, lettings division make sure they know. As well as portraying the size of your operation, this is the first step to customer acquisition.
Maps & Office listings	A good map of the area, showing your offices, helps to identify which office to contact. It helps to show visitors in which areas to concentrate a search. The proximity of facilities and can be a very attractive addition to the site.
Email	There are many ways of naming your email accounts. For example: yourname@yourcompany.co.uk or department@yourcompany.co.uk or office@yourcompany.co.uk It doesn't matter too much which you choose but contact links should be well displayed on your site. And you must routinely check and reply to email. A startling 66% of email takes longer than a day to receive a response. In the property business a day is too long - your customers simply go to your competitors.
Call Me	A Call Me button is a useful device. It allows people to leave a message with their number and a time they would like you to call them.
Privacy Policy	You are asking people to give you private information about themselves therefore you have obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. It is advisable to host a page declaring your compliance with the Act making clear what use is intended for the data.
Terms of Use	Clearly state the extent to which a surfer can rely upon the content of your site and the purposes to which they can put it. Also states clearly who owns the content.

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