Spanish Real Estate forum - Spanish property - Estate agentsSpanish Real Estate forum - Spanish property - Estate agents

ToniW · 10-08-2007, 11:36 AM

I think the advertising and availability of "cheap" "diy" websites has increased and does make it easy to "diyÂ´Ã*t" but the quality is definately a telling point. Before i joined my company they had a very poor website bought from a professional company and costing a fortune! (ripped off!) We have since had a new company design a new site out right, paid them a one off fee and we "maintain" in house, this is by far cheaper and we still have the professional look (I hope!).

Almeria Property Place · 10-08-2007, 11:54 AM

.. but i think an agent will still need a website for directing self gen clients from exhibitions or anywhere else to , you cant just direct them to a portal with your reference sites, but like this the agent will only need a basic searchable site with which to operate, so really will not need any SEO just submit and use the site to give to clients at exhibition. Looks like the only people who will require web design will be the people that can afford their own in-house professionals, if indeed the market goes this way!!!
dont you just wish you had a crystal ball?

ToniW · 10-08-2007, 12:14 PM

An agents website is pretty much their shop window and floor. Jeremy is correct that all agents need somewhere to show their properties and their properties only.
As our site is performing excellently for us so I tend to use more time concentrating on that than spending money on portals where my properties will show along with all our competitorsÂ´.

Matthew King · 10-08-2007, 03:10 PM

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Jeremy - I understand your reason for doing it, the initial setup cost that you were quoted previously sounds on the high side, but not insane - but then it depends what they were doing for the price. I build all of my own software from the ground up, I don't use any other open source web app's or the like, all of my stuff is tailored. Sometimes I come in at the high end with my quotes, but that's usually because im offering a hell of a lot more then the other developers, both in terms of features, and experience.

Having a client constantly ask you to change this, change that is a bit of a nightmare from our side - we can't turn around and say, ok that'll be Â£10 beccause it seems pointless to invoice for such a small amount. But its not as easy as you think for us to make some of these changes, some require that we test in all browsers again after. And if I'm working on another project at the time, I have to close down my dev environment and start it all up again to make your quick change. There's a few ways around this, but my method is to give the agent's my content management system, which allows them to make any changes that they want to the website - without even asking me! They can all create new menu items and pages, upload files etc.

I have used this to great effect with many clients, and they all love it. €450 euros an hour for changes is truly stupid.

In regards to the hosting bill, wow that's high! That's almost as much as I pay per month for my dedicated server.

So all in all, I would say that given your past experience and the current market, you have probably done the right thing.

Web Development is a weird set of skills, I find that you don't really know how much you don't know, until you are humbled by another developer. It's extremely annoying for us to see all these people offering websites for Â£100 - and at the same time, its very annoying to hear of the ripoff merchants that are around. At the end of the day, its us developers that know what we're doing, and offer a good service that suffer.

We are out there though, so don't give up on us all together!

Matthew King · 10-08-2007, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToniW

I think the advertising and availability of "cheap" "diy" websites has increased and does make it easy to "diyÂ´Ã*t" but the quality is definately a telling point. Before i joined my company they had a very poor website bought from a professional company and costing a fortune! (ripped off!) We have since had a new company design a new site out right, paid them a one off fee and we "maintain" in house, this is by far cheaper and we still have the professional look (I hope!).

So far that's two companies that have been ripped off by rogue developers then. Keep the reasons coming, and if theres any concerns that you guys have about doing business with web developers, please voice them here.

Perhaps at the end of this, we will be able to put together a guide or check list for finding a reputable web development company - a kind of what to look out for list.

Toni: Your website is indeed pleasing to the eye, and works quite well. I think you've found a nice balance there between professional and inhouse.

Matthew King · 10-08-2007, 03:42 PM

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.

Almeria Property Place · 10-08-2007, 04:22 PM

.... i know my site doesnt look overly professional, but at the moment it is working well and am on page 3 google for Almeria property, so all in all for what it cost me i think i made the right decision as well, eventually i hope to get a "real one "done, but I must admit to a little pride since it only took me 3 months9But many hours in each day) to learn what i needed and to put the site together, along with Db, hosting and everything about which i knew sweet **** all, it will be hard to let go after all the work i put in but we must move on eventually, hopefully will be looking to upgrade to a real site early next year. In the mean time if you have any handy tips i am sure the whole forum would be interested.

Proud
Almeria

Richie · 10-08-2007, 04:56 PM

It's really good some of these comments as it helps pin point what agents issues are concerning web development/design/SEO/promotion/marketing whatever you want to call it that this discussion is going.

And sorry, CT Internet - you did shoot yourself in the foot

, of course you need a site to promote, there are not many out there now with out one even if if was built in the dark ages of 1996!

ToniW made a good point about all of these portal sites, there are hundreds of them popping up every where, I can't stand them (even though I am trying to get one together myself, but in a different light!!!). For the amount of money that you will spend on them in a year or two - you could have spent that money on a stunning site set up the way YOU want your site to work with some money going into SEO!

These portal sites (not all of them) can be a waste of time, there are thousands and thousands of properties on them and the chance of your property actually being found is like the odds of winning the lottery!

I do promote other sites through e-mails but that is just for agents that like free advertising and places to advertise their properties, portals are a little like print advertising to me:

Too many of them (portals)
Not cost effective
Over crowded (too many ads)

Matthew King · 10-08-2007, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Almeria Property Place

.... i know my site doesnt look overly professional, but at the moment it is working well and am on page 3 google for Almeria property, so all in all for what it cost me i think i made the right decision as well, eventually i hope to get a "real one "done, but I must admit to a little pride since it only took me 3 months9But many hours in each day) to learn what i needed and to put the site together, along with Db, hosting and everything about which i knew sweet **** all, it will be hard to let go after all the work i put in but we must move on eventually, hopefully will be looking to upgrade to a real site early next year. In the mean time if you have any handy tips i am sure the whole forum would be interested.

Proud
Almeria

Your site is clean and usable, a fine effort for someone that doesn't do it professionally. Page 3 is an excellent achievement, hopefully when you're looking to invest in your site again, we will be one of the companies that you contact - then we can sort out a page 1 placement for you

Matthew King · 10-08-2007, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webmaster

These portal sites (not all of them) can be a waste of time, there are thousands and thousands of properties on them and the chance of your property actually being found is like the odds of winning the lottery!

I think the main problem with the big portals is that a high percentage of their traffic comes from generic terms such as 'Spanish Property'.

Let's be honest, anyone typing Spanish Property is in the very first phases of research for a move to Spain. Once people know where they want to go, they'll be typing much more specific search phrases - and getting to the smaller portals and agents.

My portal site is very new, but im climbing steadily on the search engines, and all of my traffic is very targetted - they know exactly what they want and where they want it - so the enquiries should be of a much greater quality.