WEBSITES
ENGAGING THE CLIENT
Chris Haines of Evolvin says that the portals may be the first line of connection but agents have to work at building relationships with the potential client. “The modern website has to be far less about pushing content and more about engaging people, ninety per cent of agents’ sites are still in the mode ‘I have property, you like property, read that’, very push orientated.” Dave Bartlett of Pocket Size Media
agrees that engagement is vital. “Think about your favourite brand, one that you engage with regularly. Mine might be Amazon. I’m not a bookworm but I do buy from them regularly, and what they do that works for me isn’t about one particular element but about the whole experience. “Having floorplans over virtual tours in
itself won’t be a deciding factor in winning an instruction, but giving vendors and landlords the confidence that you are going to portray their property in the best possible light will.” Daren Pledger, of Hang10Media, says
getting traffi c or visitors to your site is key, “T e more visitors, the better the chance of making that sale or letting that property. Something that’s still overlooked is social networking; utilise Facebook, Twitter, etc and blogs – it’s a great way to not only increase the hits on your site, but also to build up that all important rapport with a client, by engaging them in direct two way conversation.” And the level of engagement matters; the
more information a viewer gets from your website, logically, the more likely they are to think of you as ‘their agent’, says Mike Smithson of The Property Jungle. “In our experience the sites which provide the greatest overall utility to their visitors are the ones which deliver the greatest bottom line value to the agents.” For example, where a site shows
customised schools performance data in relation to each property, healthcare facilities, council tax bands and transport facilities, the site becomes a valuable resource for applicants. “They stay on the site for longer and visit more frequently, because the site becomes a ‘moving resource’, not just a house hunting tool. “Not only does this increase transaction
potential, but it increases listing potential which is where it adds value for an agent. Vendors and landlords alike recognise the value and utility of the information and how this increases the prospect of them clinching a deal by listing with the agent that provides this information.”
APP APPEAL
Agents often ask suppliers for apps, they’re all the rage at the moment as high-res smart phones become increasingly popular, however, the issue of so many different mobile operating systems is a real problem; iOS (iPhone), Android, Symbian, Windows, Blackberry, and the cost of developing ‘Apps’ for each of them is a concern. But some suppliers are building solutions; Andrew Clack at Technicweb says, “We have developed a universal Web-App (a mobile version of the estate agent’s website) that displays instantly on most modern smartphones without the need for any ‘App’ to be download.” But it’s not really about apps, says
Evolvin’s Chris Haines. “What we’re actually talking about is online marketing,” he explains. “Your online profile is way more important than your website. “Mobile access is important, but it has
Sites that provide the greatest utility to visitors are the ones that deliver the best
bottom line value.’ MIKE SMITHSON THE PROPERTY JUNGLE
to be done via the mobile website, not through apps. While a buyer might download an app giving them access to Rightmove, they’re not going to download apps for each of ten or eleven local agents, so agents need to work with the mobile web, instead.” On the other hand, vendors, landlords
and tenants might appreciate an app that lets them handle basic processes while out and about, for instance, arranging appointments, logging maintenance requests, or showing feedback from applicants.
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE
Chris believes the websites of the future will not be nearly so linear as existing sites, which tend to make users follow a hierarchically organised path, they will be much easier to navigate. “When I’ve done a property search, do I want to navigate away, or do I just want to hover over it and see a bit more detail?” he asks. Mouseovers and similar functions will make the website “a much more interactive experience, not clicky-clicky as it is today”. He thinks the sector has fallen behind,
airline aggregation sites like Momondo, and Google with Instant Search functions, already provide such functionality, and agents should look and learn. Agents also need to think about how the
website interacts with their other systems, the days when applicants would pick up the phone to ask about a property they’ve seen online have gone. Technicweb, for instance, produces a client interaction pack which can help increase applicant registration dramatically; the website needs to capture client and applicant data as well as promote the properties in inventory. Technicweb also points out that though
applicants may find a property through a portal, the agent’s own website is crucial for winning instructions. “The main portals do little to attract vendors and landlords, because it’s almost impossible to
PROPERTYdrum JULY 2012 25
The modern website has to be far less about pushing content and much more about
engaging people.’ CHRIS HAINES EVOLVIN
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68