Why use a property website specialist to build your site?
Why do you need a property website specialist to build your website? For the same reason you need an Architect to draw blueprints and a mechanic to fix your car. Property websites are a niche market with many considerations that have to be taken into account before a website can go live.
Don’t fund someone else’s learning curve!
Firstly, property website’s unlike many other websites are data driven. This effectively means that a database (your software) has to communicate with the website in order to display your properties. Ensuring your properties are displayed correctly on your site and the portals that you advertise on is no simple process. At Technicweb we install a software that has been developed in house called Estateweb Bridge between your software and our CMS Estateweb. This allows us to monitor your database and ensure any changes you make in your software are picked up and changed on your website and the portals. Many design agencies that aren’t specialists in property websites struggle with the database side of the build as they aren’t dealing with the intricacies of setting up a bridge between your software and your website every day. Technicweb specialise is database integration for property websites and we have been developing our systems for over 13 years this means that we don’t have to pass the development cost of our systems onto our clients. Many companies will quote inflated prices for building websites as they need you to fund their learning curve as they try to enter a new market! Technicweb have managed to lower our asking prices year on year due to the fact that our production methods are becoming more efficient due to our constant investment in R&D.
On-going support
While many design agencies can create nice looking websites the on-going support and account management is something that a lot of companies cannot offer to their clients as are they aren’t equipped and don’t have the infrastructure in place to deal with legislative changes or modifications that you want.
A good example of this is the CAP legislation that recently changed the way that tenancy admin fees had to be displayed on Agent’s websites. Many agents are still not compliant because the companies that they used to create their sites weren’t involved in the property market and therefore didn’t preemptively put measures in place to ensure all of their clients were compliant by the deadline.
No lag time on new products
Often in the web development industry a lot of companies that create websites use open source software such as WordPress and Joomla which are systems that they haven’t created themselves. This therefore presents several problems when It comes to the development of new products that benefit your website. When partnering with a specialist you are afforded a higher level of service due to the fact that we work on our own platform that has been built in house. Technicweb constantly monitor the marketplace to ensure that we are developing products that meet the demand of our clients & you can also voice your opinions to your account manager on which aspects of the website could be improved and also offer suggestions for products that could be produced.
The difference with a company that uses an open source software is that they have to wait for the community of developers to rationalise and develop a product for your website. This can take years due to the fact that they don’t have an experienced team solely focused on website design for the property sector bettering their products. Technicweb have developed many products ahead of the industry curve such as our applicant capture software, Estateweb CIP. This has been proven to increase applicant registrations by 600%.
Keep it all under one roof!
If your company is going through a re-brand it can be difficult to co-ordinate between your design company and your website designers. If you build through a specialist you will often find that they offer services such as branding and logo design. Not only will the cost of creating logo’s and branding be cheaper but your website will be built around the colour and design of your logo, producing a clean consistent design.
Another aspect of the website build that a specialist will deal with is the SEO. Many designers who are not property specialists may build a site that looks good but in terms of it being readable from Google’s perspective it could fall short. The advantage of using a specialist is that you are guaranteed that your website will be rationalised to ensure maximum exposure for your keywords on Google.
Conclusion
Using a specialist to build your website is much like using an Estate Agent to sell your home; it is key if you want the best deal possible. A specialist knows the ins and outs of building a property website and will build you the best possible site to generate leads. Don’t settle for a website that only looks nice and has no functionality because at the end of the day you will not being getting a return on your investment. A website that works will delivery you valuations, which in turn will generate profits for your business!
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