Everyday I get emails and phone calls from Realtors in SW Florida looking for a website redesign. Reasons vary: no leads, dated content or look, unresponsive service, etc.

Being in the enviable position of turning down business, I thought it might help to provide Realtors a road map as to how to choose a webmaster. While this is directed at Florida Realtors, it is probably applicable to most real estate markets in the US.

In real estate, the top 3 criteria are: Location, location, location!

In real estate web design its: lead generation, lead generation, lead generation! If the website does not generate leads, it is useless! (A lead is the name, email address and or telephone number if contacted from the website – if contacted by phone from the website, it’s someone who say they wish to buy, sell or rent real estate)

So with that in mind, here are the steps to choosing a real estate webmaster.

Determine Scope of Your Website

All real estate websites in Florida should have at a bare minimum the following: MLS Search Engine with Broker Reciprocity, mortgage calculators, featured listings page, Realtor or company bio, etc. Search the Internet for real estate websites to determine the design elements you like.

The scope of your website is determined by the market you’re trying to reach. If you’ re looking to attract buyers, you should concentrate on specific areas and communities within those areas. If you’re looking to attract listings, you may want to concentrate on ways to enhance your own listings to use the site as the focus of a listing presentation. These are decisions that go into what appears on the homepage and what the majority of the targeted content will feature.

Search

1. Go to Google and enter the search phrases you want your website to be found (Google still handles 90% of Internet searches). If you are in Miami, enter Miami real estate as your broad search phrase, then narrow it to areas of Miami, then communities in those areas. Make note of the of the web design firms of the first 10 websites for each search phrase.
2. Visit their websites to find pertinent information as to the costs involved, services included, list of markets, etc. Then narrow the list.
3. Find out from professional acquaintances their experiences with any of the firms on your pared list. Make note of how many leads their site generates. Ask if they hire an outside firm for search engine optimization or if they use Google Adwords to generate leads on the Internet. Narrow the list again to the top 5 or 6 web design companies.
4. Peruse their portfolio.

First Interview

Most web design companies provide a free  telephone consultations. Use this time to tell them about your project and ask for an estimated quote. It should take a legitimate (busy) web design company no more than 48 hours to get the quote to you. Ask about terms of  payment?

For a Realtor or broker website, Florida web design companies will charge an upfront deposit and stage payments based on agreed milestones and deliverables. If you are purchasing a simple MLS search engine website with a couple of extra pages, be prepared to pay in full. Find out if they use custom designs, templates or both. Pare the list according to your budget.

Second Interview

Now is the time to ask the in depth questions, the answers you’ll need to know in order to determine the true cost of your website and the services you’ll receive.

1. Who will you be your contact person? How do we communicate? It is important to have a single point of contact to ensure nothing gets lost in the shuffle. If you are working with a small web company the Project Manager may also be the web designer and/or web developer himself. Most web design companies prefer contact via email, as there will be a written record from the client.
2. In addition to website design, what other services does the web developer offer? Most web design firms offer other services besides web development and design. SEO or search engine optimization, web content writing, SMO or social media optimization, blog promotion, and Google Adwords management are services offered by many experienced Florida web design companies. The key is finding a company that offers the services that you may need.
3. Does the web design firm allow clients to host their websites with any host? If not, is web hosting included? If not, is it an annual or monthly charge? Web hosting is cheap! The company I use to manage and administer my web servers (www.hostgator.com), provides UNLIMITED Domains, UNLIMITED Disk Space, UNLIMITED Bandwidth in a shared web server environment for $9.95 per month with a 99.9% uptime guarantee! If you’re a Realtor and a web design company is trying to charge more than $20 per month for web hosting – BEWARE!
4. What information do you need to provide? Can the web development company help with website content copy writing? SEO copy-writing and content if optimized correctly, can have your website showing up on the front pages of the major search engines for your chosen search terms. Your website design may draw the reader in and focus their attention where it needs to be – but the words get them to the website, initially.
5. What is the  time line for completing the web design project? Ask what the web design firm considers to be a typical turn-around time for projects similar in size to your own.
6. What type, if any monthly maintenance is included with the website? How are updates handled? Be aware of the charges for updates to your website. Consider how often you will require updates and ask the web design firm how they handle updates and maintenance.
7. How are website statistics provided? Insist on using Google Analytics, this will give you an independent arbiter for traffic to your website.
8. Is initial SEO included? Search engine optimization is more than just good SEO copy-writing. Meta tags, link title tags,  image alt tags and a Google sitemap should be added as the website is built.
9. Is initial SMO included? Utilizing social media networks like ActiveRain, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, etc., can bring an abundance of traffic to your website, particularly if you blog. Make sure to use these outlets if you are already familiar with them.
10. Who owns the website content? In most cases, the MLS search engine and components are proprietary and if you leave a web design company, your new one will have to provide these missing elements. But the client should own the remaining aspects of the website. If not, move on.
11. Does the company outsource any parts of the project to third parties? If so, which parts and where are they outsourced? Outsourcing saves costs and keeps overhead lower, but be cautious with any web design company who takes your project and out-sources large parts to another company or country. You’ll have to be concerned about low quality, cheap labor, and remote project management issues, so be sure to bring them up before your project begins.
12. Is the website scalable? A real estate website is never finished. New developments come along others are bulldozed, technology keeps marching on, etc. Look for a webmaster who eager to help you build a web presence. But be prepared to pay.
13. How long will it take my site to show up in the search engines? After a site is launched and submitted to the search engines, you can expect to wait up to three months for results. Thereafter, several other factors can increase your site’s popularity over time.
14. How do you keep your web design/development knowledge up to date? If a web designer can’t name at least 3 sources they use to keep abreast of the latest trends and developments, think of the implications it will have for your website in the future.

Finding the answers to these questions is time consuming, but it is an important part of the interview process. After you have interviewed several companies and had your questions and concerns addressed, you should be able to select a talented web design company that is knowledgeable and easy to work with.

Of course, you don’t have to follow my suggestions, just hire the cheapest firm available or the kid down the street. And watch a one month project turn into 9 months.

Happy Holidays!