What You NEED To Know When Choosing A Web Developer! Part 2
PART 2 - Our Response To Our Own Blog!
In Part 1 of this blog, we listed several items for you to remember when choosing a web developer. Here in Part 2, we are Answering our own questions, to allow you the chance to get to know us better!
What Experience & Background Does The Developer Have?
Probably one of the most important questions to ask! I've included a few questions to ask in this subject.
•· What is their experience in real estate web development?
We have developed web sites exclusively for the real estate industry for several years. Before we started web design, we provided IT & Marketing services to the industry, developing custom servers & programs for real estate offices, Office Network Installations and basic marketing (flyers, brochures, postcards) We began building websites exclusively for the real estate industry so that we could focus our business to better serve the needs of our clients. Our programmer works extensively in the UNIX, LINUX & WINDOWS Operating systems to develop custom websites & programs to meet our clients every need. I (David) have extensively expanded our marketing services in real estate, and now 75% of our business is marketing.
•· How well are you familiar with the buying, selling & contract processes in real estate? -
Since we service over 300 real estate clientele, we have focused our personal training to the entire buying, selling & contract processes. We regularly shadow agents throughout transactions in order for us to better learn the every function of a Realtor. Since we only work in real estate, we can help our clients focus their needs, while also showing our clients how to be more efficient in real estate. All of our services (web development, marketing, & IT) are done in a way to provide the most efficient service to our clients, so that they in return can provide efficient service to their clientele.
•· Are you familiar with the content that is required by law (for example: Equal Housing Logos, Realtor Logos, Broker contact information, MLS Requirements, and more).
Absolutely! Although laws vary from state to state (and even county to county) we know the requirements for North Carolina, Virginia, DC, Maryland & Delaware. We also know exactly what to ask you when developing your website (or other marketing) so that we can ensure that your website is fully compliant with your MLS & State!
•· Do you have a programmer & a marketing person or are you a one man show?
We have marketing personnel, as well as a programmer. Depending on the project we also employ the services of other marketing & designing professionals. We feel that it is very important to have multiple people on our web development team. One person can not and should not do it on their own. I always say that it takes a totally different brain & person to do marketing than it does to do the programming side of the website.
•· What other value added services does your web development company offer?
We are full service marketing & IT company, meaning that we can service your every marketing need: Website, Agent Branding, Brochures, Flyers, Postcards, Business Cards, Email Templates, Ad Design (including The Real Estate Book), and much more. Our IT Services are only available in select markets but those services include: PC Repair & upgrades, Office networking, Mobile Office Configuration, Real Estate Software Training, & More. Even if you are out of our IT service area, we can still assist you some IT needs, plus it gives us an edge as to what is available in the IT/Marketing Field, as I feel that the two are somewhat combined. We are up-to-date on all the newest, latest and greatest Marketing & IT Products available to the Real Estate Professional!
How Easy Are Your Sites To Modify Myself?
EXTREMELY! We provide our clients with an extremely easy to use back end system that allows you to add/edit/delete listings, add/delete photos, & add/edit content on your website. It is as easy as working in a MS Word Document! We would be happy to assist you in a tour of our websites & backend system to prove how simple it is. We do not have a bunch of confusing buttons, and links. Everything is upfront, easy, and to the point!
Who Do You Use or Recommend For An IDX Solution? Can We Use Our Own Provider?
We use WolfNET TECH for most IDX solutions, however they are not available in every market. We also can use your MLS provider for feeds, as well as any provider that you wish.
The majority of the providers we work with have easy to search, and save features, as well as the ability to search via a map, that allows you users to view satellite views of the property (select markets) and much more!
What Format Do You Use To Develop Your Sites?
Our programmer uses multiple methods for building our clients sites. He has extensive knowledge and regularly uses the following languages when building: HTML, CSS, PGP, MySQL and more!
Our programmer also checks each site & page to verify that the code is verified and has no errors or warnings.
What Is Expected Of Me As A Client? What Am I Going To Need To Provide To The Project?
We like to work directly with our clients throughout the entire web development process! We usually request that you get updated photos, and content that relates to you and your unique business. We will interview you, to learn the clientele that you work with, and that you would like to work with and that you target in your marketing (or want to target). Other needs may come up throughout the process as well. We try to keep you informed throughout the entire process. You can also request changes at any point throughout the web development process.
What Is It Going To Cost?
MILLIONS!! Just kidding! The majority of our custom websites are a flat fee of $800. You may have a need that will require extra work, and will therefore incure extra charges - that we will inform you of, when the service is requested. We DO NOT CHARGE A MONTHLY FEE with our websites (unless you want us to perform all changes to the websites-including adding listings and such) but for 99% of our clients there is no monthly charge. There is a yearly fee from the WEB HOSTING PROVIDER approx. $50-70 a year. Your IDX provider also will have a monthly fee....other than that our websites are a FLAT FEE with no strings attached!!!
Expandability...
You can add & delete content as much as you please, and you can also add as much as you want! We have no limit on the amount of photos for your listings (or how many listings you have (your hosting provider has a limit-but it is extremely high limit that you will probably never reach) Your site can be changed to meet your needs at any time, and pages of new content can be added with ease.
SEO
Our marketing & programming personnel are very much up-to-date on SEO. We are constantly learning! When we build our websites, they are designed & implemented from the ground up with SEO in mind. We will also teach you how to add content and maintain content on your website to be optimized for SEO!
We hope to work with you in the future! If you have any IT or Marketing questions, feel free to ask us!
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