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BUYER'S GUIDE: Web Site Components Web Essentials Before adding all the bells and whistles to your Web site, make sure you’ve covered these basics: Beyond search results Most people visit a real estate Web site to see what property is available and what it’s selling for. But since they can get that from your competitors’ sites, you’ll want to make their search results on your site more relevant. Add driving directions, community and neighborhood information, quick tips for buyers and sellers, loan calculators, and a rundown of what’s sold in recent weeks. Easy navigation Include links throughout your site and give your site’s menus and buttons concise and descriptive labels so people know what they’re clicking on. Consistent menus on every page establish a unified look. Simplicity Avoid the temptation to overwhelm visitors with lots of flashy multimedia animation and sound. If you can’t resist, at least allow those who won’t be impressed to skip over your multimedia intro and move directly to the information they want. Regular updates Keep people coming to your site by adding new content and rearranging articles and pictures for an updated look throughout the year. Plus, updating your Web site frequently can help boost your site’s search engine placement. Quick response The whole point of your Web site is to motivate prospects to place a call or send you an e-mail. Once they’ve taken that initiative, return their message as soon as possible—before they stray to a competitor’s Web site. Web Site Packages *Price includes hosting eNeighborhoods Web site Base price $199 setup, $29.95 per month eNeighborhoods Inc., www.eneighborhoods.com, 877/363-4442 Customizable Web site with integrated home sales and neighborhood information. Additional modules—available for purchase individually or as a suite—include Comparative Market Analysis, which helps you create a report blending property and neighborhood information; BuyerTour, assisting you in building a presentation for your buyers filled with property information, neighborhood demographics, and loan scenarios; and Maps and Aerials, which include pictures of properties taken from the air. AgentXsite Professional $449 per year a la mode Inc., www.alamode.com,800/252-6633 Integrated Web site solution. More than 300 template design themes and 100 pages of site content. Supports an unlimited number of active pages and listings. Includes blog, calculators, contact management, lead capture, IDX searches, audio and video podcasting, showing scheduler, and automatic e-mail for buyers on new listings alerts. Broker Xsites and free Agent Xsite with limited features also available. Point2 Professional $49.95 per month Point2 Technologies, http://nls.point2.com Solution for managing listings, prospecting, and marketing with site tracking, analysis, and reports. Create sites from customizable templates with content, calculators, blogs, virtual tours, maps, and forms for capturing information. Supports automatic e-mail alerts, RSS feeds, and importing data from and exporting it to contact managers. Free standard version and step-up premium version also available. WebBuilder 3.2 Base price $199 setup, $35 per month Myers Internet, www.myersinternet.com, 800/693-7730 Web site solution with navigation editor and updated search engine optimization. AgentCenter site management tool guides users through site creation with customizable templates and content. Includes library of information for buyers and sellers, mortgage calculators, forms, house finder, maps, e-mail alerts, and market analysis reports. Optional IDX LeadCapture module available. Featured Web site Base price approximately $500, depending on features REALTOR.com, www.REALTOR.com, 800/878-4166 Web site creation and management component of REALTOR.com Marketing System. Customizable design templates and content. Includes calculators, blogs, IDX search capability, side-by-side comparisons of communities and schools, and mapping with area maps of recent sales. Web Site Extras The following options can bring some of the latest features to a Web site. Prices, where quoted, are for the basic version. Blogs An online journal or blog keeps your name before clients and prospects on a regular basis and promotes your services. Content on timely topics of interest can help with search engine placement. With an RSS (really simple syndication) option, subscribers can be made instantly aware whenever your content is updated. Blogs are available through free services like REALTOR.com, ActiveRain Real Estate Network, Blogster.com, and Blogger.com. A basic account at Typepad (www.typepad.com), $4.95/month, allows posting from mobile devices or makes podcasts available. Movable Type users can add a tech support package for $49.95 a year. Floor plans Add more perspective to your virtual tours with a floor plan depicting the layout of the house. Services like EZfloorplan, $28, and Floorplanet, $14, allow you to quickly create a floor plan of the home from your notes and measurements. Maps Alive, $19.99, enables you to combine your floor plan with photos linked to markers in each room. Video Video promises to become the next standard in Web presentations. In addition to use in tours, agents promote themselves with video clips about themselves and testimonials from clients. A new site, Your Video Views, aims to rival YouTube with free hosting of real estate clips and provides instructions on creating and uploading these mini movies. (For more video hosting options, see “Now showing,” May 2007, page 48.) Maps Accurate maps are essential in real estate. Fortunately, it’s easy to create maps or combine them with satellite images, photos, or whatever information you think is relevant to incorporate into your Web site. Tools that take the challenges out of mapmaking include Yahoo! Maps and Google My Maps, both free, and fee-based services like Real Estate MapBuilder (www.mapbuilder.net/realestate), $19.95 per month Site surveys and questionnaires An optional brief survey or questionnaire gets visitors involved, and can encourage repeat visits. Responses can deliver insight into what’s on the minds of buyers and sellers, and what they want from your site. Sample this concept with a free service like Cool Surveys or Free Online Surveys. Survey Monkey, $19.95 a month, offers tools to develop, post, and tabulate a survey. Prices are the vendors’ 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. REALTOR Benefits® partners offer special pricing or services to NAR members. Find out more at REALTOR.org/realtorbenefits. |
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