Category Archives: Build & Host Agency Websites
New Mapping Product Launched

US company Digital Map Products, which lists redfin.com, zillow.com, and trulia.com amongst its clients, has released a new mapping tool that visualises how home prices change over time.
The product, dubbed SpatialStream, animates property price fluctuations as colours on a map, changing from green to red as prices fluctuate. The company says this is an easy way to show what would otherwise be thousands of separate data points on a spreadsheet.
estatecreate.com Builds for Agents

We first reported on UK-based single property website creation tool estatecreate.com when it launched in February last year. At the time, it was pitched as a challenge to agents in that it offered an alternative selling tool for home owners.
After launching, estatecreate.com decided to include an agent-focused option in its subscription offerings, allowing agents to create single property websites to promote their clients properties.
Since then, it seems agents have been clamouring for an option that doesn’t involve them creating the websites on their own.
Finding the Fold with Google

For those who run their own websites, keeping content above the “fold” – the place where a web page disappears below the bottom of a browser window – can be an important issue. Ideally, content you want to draw attention to will sit above the fold, giving visitors an incentive to investigate further before they bounce back to their search results.
But because Internet users view websites through a wide range of different browsers, knowing exactly where the fold is for each of them can be tricky. To address the problem, Google have stepped in with their new Google Browser Size tool.
Mobile Websites: A Closer Look

The recent National Association of Realtors conference in San Diego highlighted a number of technology trends emerging in the world of real estate. One of these was the use of mobile Internet, and we looked into whether agents should create their own mobile websites or invest in a branded, downloadable application.
The important thing to consider when choosing between these options is who your audience is, and how they will use your mobile presence. The cost of developing a downloadable application might be appropriate if you targeting a large, tech-savvy audience. If, on the other hand, you don’t foresee a huge return on investing a branded application, stripping back your existing website to make it mobile-friendly might be more suitable.
One thing is clear: ignoring the mobile option is a risky strategy. Sales of Internet-enabled phones are increasing in Australia, the US, the UK and the Asia Pacific.
Technology Trends from the NAR Conference: Part 3 – Low Cost Agent Sites

Welcome to the third in our series of technology trends from the NAR Conference held earlier this week in San Diego.
In Part 1, we wrote about how more and more website providers are offering realtors a mobile presence. In Part 2, we looked at the continued existence of video and virtual tours and discussed the relative merits of using them. In this article, we will look at the low cost websites being offered to realtors in the US and discussing whether they are worth the investment.



