BUYER’S GUIDE: Your Web Page

BY MICHAEL ANTONIAK

Site Selection

Gone are the days when the telephone was your main means of reaching prospects. With 77 percent of buyers using the Internet frequently or occasionally in their home search, according to 2004 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® research, you need to be serious about the Web. Recognizing that is the easy part. Less apparent is what’s required to build your online presence into an asset that speaks loudly about your professionalism and dedication.

Whether you want a fresh look for your old site or something entirely new, you have several options. You can

• Build and maintain a customized site yourself with Web design software.
• Compose the site quickly from proven page templates and design themes.
• Entrust the whole project to a professional Web designer.
  
  The best choice depends on what you can invest in money, time, and effort. When the Web was new, all that was required was a simple home page or electronic brochure. But what looked great back then won’t work today. The Internet has grown up with the availability of broadband, bringing demand for content-rich Web sites that feature community information and virtual tours.
  
  If you want to immerse yourself in the process, you’ll need Web authoring software. Price here is a good indication of the level of sophistication. Microsoft’s FrontPage, $199, provides an intuitive approach with basic tools. For experienced Webmasters, Adobe’s GoLive CS, $399, might be the smarter buy.
  
  You’ll likely want to adapt such generic solutions to your needs—a labor-intensive process. Most practitioners are better served with real estate Web templates. Services such as iHouse 2000 and Rapid Listings let you create a site using preformatted designs and themes and customize it somewhat, combining your information and listings with vendor-supplied content. There’s often a one-time setup fee, but the real cost is measured in the monthly or annual subscription fee, which can tally hundreds of dollars.
  
  For a truly distinct Web site, you’ll need the services of a professional designer who knows the industry. This gets expensive: Expect to pay at least $50 an hour for site design and content development, plus ongoing hosting and maintenance fees.
  
  Before you spend, compare sites created with each approach. The best indication of the worth of any Web solution is a site you’d be proud to have speaking for you.
  
  What makes a winning Web site?
  
  A compelling, user-friendly design is only the first step to a dynamic Web presence. Other key ingredients:
  
• Domain name. Catchy and easily remembered, it should stay top of mind (Yourtownrealestate.com). Visit InternetCrusade (www.InternetCrusade.com) for information on buying domains.
• Heavy promotion. Encourage visitors by featuring your Web address in all marketing materials and correspondence.
• Contact information. Every page should remind people how to reach you, with an e-mail link.
• Quick response. Answer e-mail before potential clients have a chance to turn to someone else. InternetCrusade’s e-pro® Internet certification program (www.epronar.com) recommends you respond within 24 hours.
• Easy navigation. Make it simple to find pertinent content and people will explore the site.
• Virtual tours: Buyers want to see multiple photos; sellers want marketing savvy.
• IDX. Internet data exchange lets brokers include each others’ listings on their sites, with consent. The MLS data presented on an IDX site is typically less detailed than what appears in the MLS, but when visitors can search much of what else is available in the market without leaving your site, there’s a better chance they’ll contact you first.
• Lead capture. Forms or features that capture information about who’s using your site help initiate your relationship with prospects.
• Tips. Informative articles that explain the buying and selling process show visitors all you can do for them.
• Tools. Financial calculators and loan qualifiers make the site a true resource.
• Traffic reports. These offer you insight into who’s visiting your Web site, where they’re coming from, and what most interests them.
  
  General solutions
  
  FrontPage 2003 $199 Microsoft Corp., www.microsoft.com/frontpage, 800/426-9400. Easy-to-use visually oriented approach to site design. Includes design, layout, and graphics tools; library of page templates, clip art graphics, sound; and HTML coding tools for professional-level editing. Preview pages on different Web browsers. Create tables, forms, and pop-up menus. Included in Microsoft Office Windows XP.
  
  GoLive CS $399 Adobe Systems Inc., www.adobe.com, 800/833-6687. Sophisticated solution for the experienced user who requires hands-on control. Includes visual layout grid with pixel-level control. Supports all current industry standards for Web design and content. Easy integration with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and PDF files. Also available as part of Adobe CreativeSuite.
  
  Web Easy Professional $69.99 V Communications, www.v-com.com, 408/965-4000. Includes basic design tools with library of page templates, themes, graphics, and audio content, as well as e-commerce tools for creating forms and marketing programs. Interactive tutorial guides users through site-building process. Optional site hosting and domain name registration available.
  
  Real estate solutions
  
  AgentPro $799 setup fee, plus $40 monthly site hosting and maintenance Agent Image Inc., www.agentimage.com, 800/492-6777. Template solution offers choice of designs. Content includes articles and tips for site visitors. Optional ListingPro property database for simplified management of listings online. Company also offers step-up template packages and custom design and development services.
  
  Agent XSites $699 annually A la mode inc., www.agentxsites.com, 800/252-6633. Web-based design solution. Seventy customizable design themes. Provided content includes daily news updates, interest rates, listing teasers, mortgage calculators, and multilingual pages. Allows for unlimited number of listings and IDX search. Web-based contact management and scheduling. Built-in virus protection.
  
  Classic Package 3.0 $599.95, plus $39.95 monthly or $399.95 annual hosting fee
  Advanced Access, www.advancedaccess.com, 888/902-4653. Customizable Web-based template. More than 900 pages of company-supplied content available. Page Manager feature for custom editing. Includes ListNow tool for managing listings and virtual tours, IDX searches, site traffic reports. Mail Center for up to five e-mail accounts.
  
  iHouse2000 Agent Pro $98 setup fee, plus $39 monthly or $398 annual hosting fee iHouse2000/CIS Data Systems Inc., www.ihouse2000.com, 866/645-7702. Customizable, browser-based template. Includes 110 pages of company-supplied pages and links; iEdit design system for customizing home page and adding customized content and pages; five customizable forms for buyer/seller inquiries; and site traffic reports. Up to five e-mail accounts. Office version and several upgrade options available.
  
  RapidListings Basic $49.95 setup fee, plus monthly subscription of $14.95 Rapid Listings, www.rapidlistings.com, 800/798-1838. Web-based template. Basic package (one in company’s selection) offering site hosting. Includes one company-created customized home page with pages created from templates. Provides for up to 15 listings and 150-name contact database. Automatically resizes and optimizes image files. Provided content includes mortgage calculator, buyer and seller tips and resources, real estate glossary, and FAQs.
  
  Real Estate Marketing System Gold Brokerage solution starts at $4,500 for Web design, $895 site-activation fee, and monthly subscription fees based on number of users and site features RE Channel Communications, a division of e-neighborhoods, www.rechannel.com, 800/261-5405. Price covers up to 50 hours of custom design services. Supplied content can include mortgage calculators, lead-generation forms, buyer and seller pages, property search, and unlimited number of listings and photos. Optional add-on pages and features offered on a fee basis.
  
  Real Estate Websites $199 setup fee, plus $35 monthly or $350 annual hosting fee Myers Internet, www.myersinternet.com, 800/693-7730. Customizable browser-based template tool for building site from choice of templates and design themes. Site can include up to 75 pages of company-supplied content. Agent Center feature for managing site, adding listings. Built-in contact manager. Upgrade options available.
  
  REALTOR.com $99 creation fee; agent sites start at $250 annually, office sites start at $350 annually Homestore Inc., 800/878-4166. Customizable template with choice of designs. Standard version includes resume page, contact-me form, targeted property searches. Automatically links to your listings. Multiple REALTOR.com listing photos automatically appear on your site, too. Upgrade option and company templates available.
  
  Prices are the manufacturers’ suggested retail prices and are subject to change. This list isn’t comprehensive; NAR doesn’t evaluate or endorse these products and isn’t responsible for changes in company info.
  
  Voices of experience
  
  Judy Szablak, ABR®, e-PRO® salesperson, RE/MAX Heritage, Fairfield, Conn.
  Szablak estimates she spends between five and six hours each week tweaking her site, www.BestAgentOnline.com, and about $200 per month to maintain and market it. She credits the design, provided by Best Image Marketing, with making it an easily accomplished task. “It’s a template site, but it’s incredibly easy to customize and make changes,” she says. “If someone can use a computer to view the MLS, they can do this.”
  
  David Schubb, CRS® selling broker, Security Pacific Real Estate, Orinda, Calif.
  Schubb’s company (www.securitypacific.com) contracted with VREO Software
  (www.vreo.com) for a combination of templates and custom design services. He believes a turnkey solution is appropriate for most practitioners. “You have to remember you’re not a graphic artist or Web designer,” he says. “You need to spend your time selling property.” He estimates his company spends about $50 a month to maintain the site.
  
  Sebastian Diessel
  photographer and loft specialist, Maxwell Associates, Boston
  Diessel estimates he and his wife, Onnelly Parslow, have invested more than $7,000 cumulatively as well as countless hours to create their sites, www.loftsboston.com and
  www.luxury condosboston.com. “At first I learned to program raw HTML,” he says. “Later, I purchased Adobe GoLive. That made it easier to visually build the site.” When he wanted to add an interactive database of listings and images, he turned to a Web designer and programmer.
  
  Diessel still makes some changes using his software and coding skills. “Being involved in the process and working closely with the designer helped create the site we needed,” he says.
  
  MORE ONLINE: Visit our Build a Better Web Site page for dozens of articles on building and maintaining Web sites.