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Who built your website? Who hosts your website?

The more I get into all this online stuff, the more questions I have.....like, right now I've got a website through a company.....I've heard good things about them....from the people who use them....but I'm not sure....how do you know if you've got a good website? How do you find out if there is a better website/hosting company out there for you?

I'm totally bummed because today I looked into Vision but my MLS isn't listed as one they can service, so that's out.

I would love if people could share who they used to design their sites....something custom? Or did you go template-based? Either way, who did you use?

Who hosts your site?

How do I find out if my website is doing everything it can? I'm sure I'm missing ways to optimize its performance and by the time I learn everything on my own I may not have any of my own teeth left!

Any insights/thoughts/advice you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Coleen :)

Coleen DeGroff, MBA

Coldwell Banker M. M. Parrish, Realtors

3870 NW 83rd Street

Gainesville, FL 32606

Office: 352-372-5375; Cell: 352-359-2797

Posted by Coleen DeGroff, MBA -- Your Gainesville FL Realtor on 06/19/2009 07:37 PM

Comments (23)

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23 Comments on Who built your website? Who hosts your website?

JUN

I use top producer. Here is my website if you want to check it out. www.HomesByVanna.com

I use epropecting, they have great Realtor templates. Visit my web-site and check it out. If you like it scroll to the bottom and get their info. www.Laura4Homes.com

I recommend Dakno. They did my outside blog and my web-site.

I had been with a very expensive company for 9 years and I had Dakno build build.

Brad is one of the most subscribed bloggers on Activerain.

I use agent point2. I'm rebuilding the site right now so it incomplete at the moment. However they have an amazing set of tools and tech support. Call them as often you want .. no charge. Its not that pretty but content, regular updates etc is what attracts and keeps people not how pretty it is.

Coleen, I use someone local, although it doesn't matter much where they are; we do everything by the Internet. I think my webmaster is pretty good and isn't expensive relative to some of the prices I've seen. As for hosting, I started with GoDaddy, but outgrew their capacity. My webmaster recommended a company she has used for larger sites--ultimately we'll be growing to several thousand pages and have video. My site is, The Housing Guru, if you'd like to check it out. As I've only had the site for less than a year I'd appreciate your input too. Good luck.

Diverse Solutions....love it.

I have a custom made solution from a company that is run by some long-time associates at TwelveHorses.com.

Wow! You guys are awesome! Thank you everyone for your input......I am definitely going to look into all of the companies mentioned here.

I LOVE ActiveRain!!!!

All best,

Coleen :)

Coleen - I have several website, and all are template sites, but they all use wolfnet IDX MLS search capabilities. My point2agent site at www.Nashvillerealestatelink.com was built first, and has around 1500 unique visitors per month. My Keller Williams site at www.larrybrewer.com has around 800 visitors per month. once again, both use the same IDX mls search and capture system, and without a lead capture system like wolfnet, the rest doesn't really do much for you. I require people to sign in after looking at 4 properties. I usually get valid phone numbers and e-mails addresses at the rate of about 50 per month.

My total cost of all of this is $50 per month, and my time to build the sites. I do get discounts from wolfnet because of Keller Williams.

Coleen, thanks for asking the question. Got some good answers. Hope you don't mind if I borrow this information, too.

JUN

Colleen,

I have been using Point2Agent also for about 4 months and like the features that they have and how in-expensive. For a bisic templated site it runs about $10/month. But it is very limited on the features and it has a very very templated feel. You can check it out at www.nbushrealtor.com.

yesterday I just subscribed to a new templated provider called intagent. I really like it so far. It costs $30/mo but it does not have that templated look that most have. In fact I have done very little work to the site so far and it looks good. I am still figuring out how to work with all the extra features but seems extremely easy to use. Check it out at www.homesalesEastTN.com.

Both worked with my MLS with ease. IntAgent has an online chat feature that helps out great also.

Good luck with your website, send me a link once you build it, i would love to see it.

Nick Bush

Total Auction and Realty

www.homesalesEastTN.com

Nick -

Great looking website there, buddy! And thank you for your service to our country!

Larry -

Nice websites! Which one is easier to use in terms of back-end management?

Christianne,

Very pretty website! Lots of info and pics yet uncluttered at the same time. How often do you have to update it? How easy is it for you to update? How much traffic do you get/how many leads do you generate from the site? Is it expensive?

So many questions, so little time! Thanks again for sharing!

Hi Karen,

Nice website!! Is it easy for you to maintain? How often do you have to update it? How did you find out about Diverse Solutions?

John,

Great website! Very well organized....loved all the pics and how easy it was to find things. Do you update it yourself? How often? Is it easy to update? What kind of traffic are you getting?

Hi Bob,

Thanks for sharing your site with me. I have point2agent as well and didn't know you could do those cool box things at the bottom of your page giving customers a way to get daily listing updates, etc.....how did you make those box things? I want some!!

Hi Missy,

Thanks for sharing! I like how you incorporated your blog postings onto the front page, yet there is still easy access to MLS. What kind of traffic do you get to your site? How is it at lead generation? Is it easy to update?

Hi Laura,

Thanks for sharing your website! How easy is it for you to update? How much traffic do you get to your site? How about leads? Inquiring minds want to know!

Hi Vanna,

Thanks for sharing your website info! Have you been with Top Producer long? How expensive are they? I like how you have easy access to MLS search. How is your website traffic? Do you get a lot of leads from it? Any info you could share would be greatly appreciated!

Coleen, I send my info to my webmaster for updating. I have neither the time nor expertise to do it myself. And we try to add material weekly, sometimes more often. My Google page rank has moved up to 3 and overall, I'm ranked pretty well for a website only a few months old. Traffic varies significantly, but we're sometimes getting a few hundred hits in a day. We have about 200 pages and should have over a thousand in a few months more.

JUN

John,

Thanks for getting back to me. Sounds like your website is working out well for you.....congratulations!!

JUN

Thank you all for sharing! I currently have ala mode and have for about 3 years. I get compliments but not as many customers~ :) We just opened up a brokerage, and I think I'll look into a few of the other mentioned above. Good luck, and keep us posted on who you choose! www.brittanystewart.com

Brittany

JUN

I don't think it really matters who builds your site or hosts it as long as you can either add fresh material to it weekly or so, or you have a webmaster who can do that. The important thing is not to let it become static. I have a home inspector web site to which my ActiveRain blog gets posted, so it stays fresh. Additionally, I like to keep my web site shallow rather than deep, which also helps the Internet bots index it. In other words, no more than one click to get to any page.

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