Just another thought - for those who are holding back because of cost. I realise the pitfalls of going with the wrong development company, and hopefully we can guide you on how to avoid them by the end of this thread.
However, if you do go with the right company, the investment that you make on your website, should always make a return. In most cases, a massive return.
A lot of people seem to miss the middle ground between design, and
SEO. That middle ground is conversions. Probably the main thing that you should be considering when putting together a property website, is how you are going to convert the users.
I've seen so many examples of companies paying through the nose for
SEO - with landing pages that will probably generate a 90% bounce rate. What is the point of being on page 1, with 200 visitors a day, when 90% of them are clicking back within the first 30 seconds.
That's where conversions come in. If your website has been properly put together, with care and experience then you won't only convert a good amount of visitors to leads, you'll convert more then average - which then works for all of your marketing efforts.
As web developers, especially us that specialise only in real estate - we have had experience and feedback working with many estate agents, large and small, and while working with these agents, we gain a knowledge of what works, and what doesn't - to give our customers the overall benefit on their websites.
So, in summary - there are risks with spending money with the many cowboy web development companies. But if you find the right one, even in these hard times - the investment should pay off many times over.
There's two ways to get through a down market, creep along, keep costs low and hope you make it through (which is very viable), or attack it, make sure out of all the business that is going on, you're on top, and you're the one making the sales still.
I know a lot of estate agents are suffering at the moment, but I also know a fair few that are thriving.
