TECH WATCH

Internet marketing
Services Help Build or Enhance Your Web Site

Abundant options ease the burden of effective online marketing for real estate professionals.

BY MICHAEL ANTONIAK

Whether you’re looking to create a new Web site or searching for features to boost traffic on an existing one, there’s a real estate Web company eager to work with you. In fact, there are now so many Web companies targeting the real estate market, the biggest challenge may be deciding which features to add, or which company gets your business.

Make sure the feature or service you consider delivers what it promises before you make it part of your Web presence. If it’s a turnkey Web site development solution, contact real estate professionals who’ve used the service to see if they’re completely satisfied with it. And now, here are just a few of the options available.

Web Site-Building Services

If embedding a link or adding a few lines of HTML sounds like more than you want to know about Web technology, you’re a good candidate for services that simplify every phase of building and maintaining a Web site.

Canada-based Point2 Technologies Inc. claims even a novice can build an effective Web site using the browser-based tools available with its Web development and hosting service, Point2 Agent. The package includes modules for building and maintaining a site, managing transactions, prospecting, and promotion. The services are free if you allow banner ads on your site. Otherwise, there’s a monthly fee of $29.95 or $99.95, depending on the amount of content on your site, number of listings, and the size of your e-mail database.

If you want a little flash, literally, on your Web site, Oklahoma City-based a la mode inc.'s Agent Xsites serves up the tools to create a customized Web site from 60 Flash-based animations and sounds. The service includes domain name registration for the site, submission to major search engines, 10 e-mail boxes, and the tools to create site content, including virtual tours.

If you want to turn the entire site development process over to a professional, QCM Technologies of Scottsdale, Ariz., offers its websview.com turnkey solution. For as little as $99, the company will build a Web site containing up to 56 pages with content, such as Flash animation and sound, calculators, home-search forms, MLS search (where available), contact management functions, and information of interest to homebuyers and homesellers. Once QCM creates the site, users pay an ongoing hosting fee ranging from $100 to $300 per month, depending on the size of the site and level of support required.

Pandera.com Inc. of Stanwood, Wash., offers both a turnkey Web site development solution and software that can be used to create virtual tours and manage an existing Web site. For $799, the JustMySite service allows users to create a new site. That price includes the JMSListings management software. Or you can purchase the JMSListings software alone for $179.95. The software guides users through the process of creating virtual tours, managing listing information, and updating an existing site. Pandera.com also provides site-hosting services for $49.95 per month.

Enhancement Features for Your Existing Site

If you already have a Web site, you know that the biggest challenge is making the public aware of it and giving prospects a reason to visit and return. Everyone understands the importance of registering your site with major search engines to generate Web traffic, but what else can you do?

Think links. Links to and from other Web sites can be a cost-effective way to draw potential clients. If you do use links, make sure they automatically launch a new browser window. That way, you’re not losing visitors to your site when they click on the link to other sites.

For ideas on where to link, start with the RealEstateLinkExchange.com. It features a directory of professionals, directly or indirectly involved in real estate sales throughout the country, ready to link to your Web site in return for a reciprocal link.

Links also are a good way to make your site a resource of information that homebuyers and homesellers need. A link to the local chamber of commerce makes sense on any real estate Web site, for example. If you want to provide general information and advice for buyers and sellers but don’t have time to develop it yourself, link to The Real Estate Library. You can link to its database of articles, and have a link to your site featured there, for as little as $5 a month.

Since buyers and sellers are concerned with numbers, another useful feature for every real estate site is a financial calculator. At HomeResearcher.com, you can download the LoansOfficer mortgage and loan calculator. Use it on your site for free if you include a link to the company. Spend $20, and you can add the calculator without the link.

Ruston, La.-based Wheatworks Software LLC offers a broader selection of calculators at www.MoneyToys.com. Download 11 different financial calculators for $29.95 each, or as a group for $129.95.

Many more companies provide Web solutions to real estate professionals looking to enhance their sites. Before you settle on one or two, do your homework to make sure the services fit your needs.

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Previously by Antoniak:

Another Choice in Mobile Computing
Gifts That Give Back
Do More, Carry Less
E-mail Campaigns Offer Marketing Option

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Do you have technology you’d like to learn more about or a new user twist that you’d like to share with your peers? Let me know about it by e-mailing antoniak@dtccom.net, and I’ll do my best to give it the coverage it deserves.

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