Have you looked at your competitor’s websites and wondered whether it’s time to improve your own online presence?
Have you asked yourself lately if your website is actually working for you; are you getting good search engine results for your area, are you getting decent website traffic and most importantly – are you getting any subscribers you can bring in as quality leads in your database?
If your website looks like it belongs in the 90’s and is a somewhat forgotten aspect of your business, you really need to revisit doing something about it and rethink how it can impact upon your company profile and sales success. Selling real estate in 2010 is so much more than phone calls, door knocking, mailbox droppers and window cards. While they’re important, it’s a well known fact the trend for buyers, renters and vendors is that their research is increasingly being conducted online.
When your potential clients browse your website, they’ll be seeking to learn more about you and the agency you work at. They’ll also be making very quick assessments about the types of properties you sell… how many you have in your portfolio and the types of suburbs you specialise in. Do you or other team members have any testimonials? Can we see how many properties you’ve sold?
We’re also emerging into an era of dedicated mobile phone websites. The new generation of Smart Phones – such as web browser enabled Nokias, Samsungs, BlackBerries and iPhones – are also being used more and more to research property purchase decisions with incredibly high adoption rates and the accessibility of cheaper broadband plans.
So how do you fulfill the needs of an increasingly savvy and demanding market? You need to address your website and make sure it’s easy to use, clearly presents useful information to the visitor and make sure it’s capturing leads. If you have excellent search tools to assist the visitor, the right kind of property, property details pages that are legible and offer good photos and videos, as well as present a good sales history – there really is nothing that can stop you. It also needs to look fantastic – with fierce competition out there, no one is going to want to subscribe and be part of your database if your online presence is the virtual equivalent of a shanty-town.
You should take charge – now is the perfect time to consider one of iProperty’s real estate website packages. iProperty’s websites are well thought out, reliable and full of great features. We’re kicking off our new package deals with some great new mobile website technology free of charge. That’s right – any Basic or Premium real estate website you order from us will be delivered complete with it’s own matching, branded mobile website.
So what else do you get in the Basic and Premium packages?
Basic Packages get all of the Real Estate essentials – a search form, a feature property, latest listings on the homepage. You also get content managed pages where you can add your own text and images. Open for Inspection and Upcoming auction pages. Full account creation functionality so visitors can bookmark properties and sign up for Property Alerts over email (this service also automatically updates your iDashboard customer database). You also get the ability to display Virtual Reality tours, videos, image slideshows and Googlemaps. It also presents printable floorplans and property brochures.
Combine that with full staff profile pages with testimonials, contact forms, market appraisal and maintenance request forms – and you’re on a total winner. After plenty of consulting with actual real estate agency principals and sales staff, we developed this system from scratch and it covers most bases excellently.
But for some, there always needs to be more!
Premium Packages combine the essential features of our Basic Package with extra search features for a start. On the homepage, regular visitors can access a property quickly with a Property ID search. We’ve enhanced the search form with a keyword field. We’ve also added a map search feature – where properties in your main area of expertise are displayed with pointer on a large google map.
Search results are presented with a powerful refine search feature with many extra search parameters to narrow down the properties returned.
We enhanced the Property Details page with a new, tabbed Google map – offering traditional view, street view, and WalkScore – further assisting Buyer and Vendors to make their purchase decision. In addition, we’ve added Social Media sharing facilities – benefiting both your customers and your search engine rankings.
We’ve got a lot more to offer about our websites on our products site – complete with 6 fully functioning demonstration sites that you can play with. If you’re interested, we welcome you to have a play and call us on (03) 9328 5455 with any questions.
Recently we updated our own blog with a great WordPress plugin called WP Touch. It automatically detects whether your blog is being viewed on a Smartphone, such as a Blackberry or iPhone. What it then does is it displays your blog as a very smart looking, highly usable and phone-friendly site that almost appears as though it’s an application.
