There are often heated discussions about choosing real estate websites. These discussions usually center around whether it is better to develop a custom site, or work with a real estate website vendor that offers template websites.
If you talk to someone who builds custom sites for a living, they will tell you that template real estate websites are worse than useless, and that a custom site is the only way to go.
If you talk to someone who has a well-designed and optimized template site, they will tell you that there’s nothing better than creating a lead-generating website that you can edit yourself.
So, who’s right?
In my experience, it depends on what you want from your real estate website, and what is reasonable for you to put into it. Very often, custom sites require more technical expertise than template websites. See this article on real estate website alternatives for more information. If you aren’t already an HTML wizard, it may not make sense for you to take the time away from your business to become one.
So, evaluate a custom site designer carefully to ensure that you can manage the site with the knowledge you have. The other key factor is to ensure that you are working with a firm that understands search engines and SEO, not just design. I have spoken to agents who had a custom site developed, only to learn that it would be impossible to have that site ranked in search engines.
We have fairly recently established a strategic alliance with Mike Parker of The BlackWater Consulting Group. Mike and his partners, Compass Internet Solutions, provide search engine optimization for real estate websites of all kinds.
We have also been partners with Point2 Agent since 2004, and have had excellent results customizing Point2 sites and getting them to rank in the search engines. Our alliance with Mike Parker gives us an opportunity to concentrate on the marketing and customization work, while he excels in the area of getting sites ranked with the search engines.
Working closely together, we can provide clients with a seamless process of getting their sites customized to be attractive to visitors and search engines, then moving right into the process of getting the sites ranked.
I was inspired to write this post after reading Mike’s latest article published in the Broker-Agent News. If you want to know what good a template real estate website can do for you, read Mike’s article on Four Steps to Online Marketing Success - you may be surprised!
4 Comments
August 2nd, 2007 at 3:18 am
I totally agree with your assessment. I would make the additional suggestion that agents, when considering both alternatives, determine what specifically it is about their website that they want to use for differentiation. Often, with a custom website, you’re paying a premium on design – so if style REALLY matters in your model (and having a completely novel design – an inherent weakness with “templates”), then a custom site might be a good solution for you.
But if you’re looking for a website that is high on functionality (the ability to really engage your clients and visitors) and flexibility (the ability to adapt frequently, easily, and without delay) then a template site could be the optimum choice. The reason behind this lies in the fact that template website providers (a la mode, Point 2, etc.) have the resources and ability to build and provide an engine and tools that would simply be impractical for you to pay a custom designer to build for you.
Template sites often provide tools such as listing syndication, the ability to quickly build custom lead capture forms (using the graphical user interface of a wizard, without requiring any programming knowledge), a “page builder, etc. These give you the ability to make your own changes on the fly – constantly adapting and building, without having the troubles often associated with communicating your vision to a designer, the associated feedback and wait process, etc.
As you suggest – it all stems back to what you really want from your website, and what level of commitment are you willing to invest in your online strategy.
The good news, is that Point 2 and a la mode’s Agent XSites both provide completely free website levels, allowing you to try them without any monetary investment or risk.
Rusty Lindquist
VP Agent and Broker Products, a la mode, Inc.
rusty@alamode.com
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:51 am
Rusty,
Thanks for stopping by. You make some excellent points.
If someone priced out building a custom site with all the capabilities of sites like Point2 and Agent XSites, the cost would certainly be prohibitive.
Also, when agents sometimes lament that all template sites look the same, there are a couple of things they may not be taking into account.
First, the visitors to their websites won’t land there having just looked at 20 other sites from the same vendor. So, visitors to a site have no basis of comparison to lead them to the conclusion that a particular site looks like many others.
Second, even custom designers typically have a “look”. While their designs may be more varied, often you’ll find that you can spot a particular designer’s sites just as easily as a tempate site.
Again, it gets back to defining your objectives and finding a solution that meets them!
Kathleen
August 25th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Most real estate agents that have websites, do nothing or very little to promote them. They aren’t using them as a lead generation tool. They are just for convenience of their current customers or farm area.
A person that is using it only for that purpose can get away with the convenience of having a template site.
If a person wants to get serious about SEO and their ranking, they really need to step up to something more optimized – either a custom site, or a WordPress one. More work, but it ranks so much easier than the template site.
Great article, enjoyed reading it.
August 25th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Jennifer,
Thanks for stopping by, and for representing the custom site side of the issue. I do agree with you that most agents don’t promote their websites effectively.
The fact that real estate websites are notorious for being poorly optimized for the search engines gives the rest of us (custom or template) a much better shot at achieving good rankings!