Realty
Web Design Resources
Getting Started
Planning,
Practice and Talent
The three most critical
elements of Real Estate web site design, I'd have to say,
are planning, practice and talent.
At least a little of all three are required to build a successful
realty web site. Why? Well let's take a look, one at a time:
Planning: In
the 'real world,' planning is always considered an essential
step
in business. Well prepared (and well-followed) business
plans and marketing plans assure so much more success than
running
a business
'willy-nilly.' Well... using the Internet
as a marketing tool demands the same level of commitment
as real world marketing. If you're planning to develop
your first real estate related web site, a great deal
of planning should be done way before you publish it to
the World Wide Web.
- Visit other Real
Estate web sites and determine what you like and
dislike about each of them. Use this
as reference
when planning your own design.
- Learn about the importance
of web site promotion. Check out free resources like
the Search
Engine Watch web site, which provides information
about how search engines work, which search engines
and directories are most popular, and much more.
Take lots
of notes and include search engine preparation in
your Real Estate web site planning.
- Find a web host.
Your web site will require hosting in order to be seen
on the Internet. Hosting accounts vary in cost and features,
so don't just sign up with the first host you see. Compare
a number of web hosts and choose the one that's best
for you.
- Register a domain
name. Domain names (your address on the web) are so affordable
these days that there's really no reason not to register
for
one
for
your new web site.Do
a search to see if the domain name(s) you want is
available for registration. *Tip* As a Real Estate professional,
it is highly recommended that you try to find a domain
name that is a) easy to remember and b) easy to spell
-- if someone drives by your bus bench or billboard,
they may not have time to write your web address, but
if its memorable, they might just visit your web site
when they get to the office or back home.
- Get the right software.
At the very least, have an HTML editor and some sort
of image editing software at hand. If you're using a
digital camera, make sure you know how to save your photos
and perform basic editing (cropping, resizing, rotating,
etc...) with the editing software.
- Other preparation
may include: taking a web design course to learn how
to properly use the tools of the trade, frequenting webmaster
web sites and forums for more information on web design
and setup, and/or finding web services that let you manage
your own web pages and real estate listings while leaving
the technical stuff to the web experts.
Practice >>
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