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. Everybody cares about the look and feel of the site but at the planning stage function comes before form. It doesn't matter how good a site looks if it doesn't do what you and your customers need it to do.
- 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.
- Aim to convert anonymous surfers into people you can do business with.
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.
- Make sure that it is easy for potential
customers to make contact with you. Phone numbers, email links and simple forms do the trick.
- A map of the area helps locals and non-locals locate areas.
- Try to increase
the time spent on your site by adding in features like local amenities lists.
- Describe your services together
with features and benefits.
- List all of your branches - it
will instill confidence.
Features |
Description |
Navigation Menu |
Aim for a minimal amount of clicks and page loading
to take visitors where they want
to be. Your menu should 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. |
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 auction 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. |
|
