I could not agree more with you. Some of the most effective and SEO strong sites out there are basic html.  HTML is a valuable tool to have as most subsquent languages such as PHP, CSS and XTMHL all operate on a similar language structure.  

I originally used Dreamweaver to build the basic structure of my site but after looking in the actual code I was amazed at how messy it was. I knew how to code HTML a few years ago so all I needed was a quick refresher online. I went in a cleaned up all the code manually and as I'm learning more and more about CSS I'm cleaning it up even further. There are so many tutorials online on the subject that you don't even need to pay for classes.

Hi Terry,

I just tried to email you from AR, but there was an error, so will keep trying to contact you.

I used to live in Van. and would love to have a contact there.  Let's network.

Aloha - The Hunter

Aloha Georgina, we are always eager to educate individuals who choose to DIY website design/development and SEO. Should Realtors find it's actually a better use of their time practicing their core competency, perhaps they should consider seeking out the help of the professionals. Either way, we're here to help.

I couldn't disagree more with the idea of building your own website. I used to work at a website company, I already know some HTML and I would never do it.

1. A professional design is not easy to do. Better to have a pro do it, rather than look mediocre with one of your leading branding pieces

2. Can't you pay a developer less than $50/hour to design and build a simple website? How many dollars an hour is your time as a Realtor worth? How many hours would it take you to learn the skills to make a comparable website? Calculate the opportunity cost on this one folks - if you aren't already website savvy, you'll waste a lot of time learning.

I think you are better off financially to pay someone else and leverage your business by focusing on selling. You will also look better online with a more professional design.

However, if you wanted to try a simple website just for lead generation that is not advertised in all your other marketing, then go for it. But only if you want to.....not because it is the best financial decision for your business.

Just my opinion... =)

adam

San Diego Homes for Sale

Good points from both sides of the fence! 

Bobby and Adam you are probably right, as most people are really not that good with spelling, which can be fatal and extremely frustrating in code.

  Aloha - The Hunter

Nice website Georgina - did you do it yourself??  I had my husband design mine (he is not a webdesigner but good at the tech stuff).  I have to rely on him though for every posting.  Then Barbara Erskine, a Virtual Assist. reached out to me and has turned me on to Point 2 and is helping me with the design.  Maybe it's not as glamouras as one a paid profession could build but once launched it will be functional and attractive enough.  Best thing is I don't have to bother hubby after long days work!

Love your cat -we have a look a-like - her name is Magda

Cindy, you're on your way.

Yes I do all my own websites.  Sure, they're not that glamorous either, but they do the job.  (maybe I'm a closet control freak?)  I get leads from the internet, and have closed deals.  In fact some of my best clients found me on the internet.  It's important to respond just as quick as you can. 

Nice cat!  Mine is called Wally and he loves to climb things.

Aloha - Georgie

well done then Georgie!  What platform are you using & what is there a monthly fee if I may ask?  We lost Magda loutside ast year for 23 days. She is an indoor cat so we were getting frantic since it was getting cold.  At least it was a happy ending.  Magda says hello to Wally!

Cheers,

Cindy 

Hi Cindy,

I'm not sure what you mean by "platform".  I have my site hosted by a local company... and I do my own updates with FTP which is a very easy thing to use.  The webpages are made the old fashioned way, from scratch, not with a program or anything.  One of the hosting companies charges $10/month with no hand holding, and the latest one I use is only $5/month with support.  That one is the best deal.  I may end up transfering others over to him.   Check them out....  www.Meyercomputer.com   He's located here on Maui, but as you know the internet is everywhere.  I usually have my husband do all the "geek" stuff, but I managed to stumble through Meyercomputer.com and start my ocwn account and all that.  I think they will even help you make your own website with their tools if needed.

Good luck,  Georgie

PS - Wally is usually outside, but today he's in playing with his tinfoil ball.

designing it myself has given me complete control of my content, copy, layout and an edge on the agents that buy their pre-fab sites. I can control every aspect of it (control freak, i know) but I also have to learn how to make it a lead generating machine for me.

I have to disagree, at least with the design aspect.  Many do it yourself websites look like they were do it yourself.  When someone visits your site, if they don't like what they see or feel comfortable within the first few seconds, they will leave.  A professionally designed website is usually worth the money put into it.

If you know html, then make text modifications and minor modifications yourself, however, pay someone to design your site.

Great blog Georgina,

HTML is pretty easy, and especially if you use a GUI software, you don't even have to know HTML that much...

One tip, I'd like to give is that use more text than graphics, because google will see the text and place you in the search engine accordingly

As much as HTML is easy, I think you should think twice before doing it yourself.  At least get an experienced designer to design the site.

if you don't take the interest in learning the aesthetics and layout...go with storebought. if you want to make it exactly the way you want, do it yourself. at least with storebought you can control content. don't take for granted that web designers are not versed in lead generation...just web design. you're not out of the woods with learning. if you don't learn what works on a website, you get what you pay for, literally.

Hi Georgina, I agree that it is very to create a website if you are comfortable with technology. Your website has a clean professional look. Most of the agents that I have met are not comfortable with technology at all. I would recommend using a basic template site for these agents that allows the agent to edit. Good content is the goal.

I also built my website completely from scratch, but it is constantly evolving and today I will be spending a few hours on it. I have invested a lot of time in the site, but I have the skills and it is the slow season.

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback and tips.  It does indeed take a lot of time to maintain your own site, and it's nice to cut to the chase and just get it done without waiting for someone else's schedule.

I am definitely looking into an HTLM class after reading your blog and comments.  Thanks

Oops I meant HTML class on the above comment. 

hahaha - watch your spelling, that's very important in HTML.  Good luck with it.

I agree, it is valuable to be able to jump on change stuff around your self.  Sometimes the simple sites do the best.

It seems to me that most of the people that are proponents of do-it-yourself are not doing it because you believe you can come up with a better design or really save more time. It seems you are doing it because you want to control and modify the content. Well, you can have the best of both worlds!

I know a local developer that is building CMS (Content Management System) based custom websites for real estate professionals. The idea is that they do a design and build a back-end system that allows you to work on, add content to and modify your site yourself in a VERY easy and FAST way - much faster than HTML will ever be. In addition, if you upload things like market statistics, they get inputted into a database and the system can output long-term cumulative stats and graphs. I will be using their system for my new site greenhousingsd.com.

If you are interested in learning more, you can visit them on the web at http://www.integralimpressions.com/ and contact Matt Browne. You can also view one of their sites using this feature at http://www.portlandrealestate.com/

adam

Adam, thanks for the comment.  CMS sounds like a good idea.  How are they able to upload the market statistics?  For specific areas?

Hi Georgina,

The CMS can be custom-tailored to the statistics that you want to enter. It would be like filling out a form - just inputting data in the boxes already there. With statistics done this way, you can aggregate them over time and start running some really neat metrics....contact Matt@integralimpressions.com for more info and mention my name.

Adam, If I ever find my box of "round to-its" I'll check it out, and will be sure to mention your name.  : )

Georgina,

Thanks for the advice.....I have been meaning to take a class myself, and I guess I will take the plunge.

Dan, If you're good at languages, it should be a piece of cake.  It's surprisingly simple.

I agree that there is a great deal that can be done without the professionals -- but it's always important to know when to call in reinforcements, even if it's just to discuss strategies for making the site rank better.

Stephen,

Thanks for commenting.  I'm hoping that some AR juice will come my way!

Good information for us all to know the basic of.

Ron

I think a hybrid between doing it yourself and turning everything over to someone else is actually the way to go.  Getting a great and original design might be something that having a designer do would be the more efficient path.  But, knowing how to make changes and tweaks is WAY better than having to hire it out, or pay to have done. 

Ronald - it is very basic

Lane - it's great to be able to make your own quick changes without having to wait for someone else

Good HTML skills and SEO skills are not the same thing. Nor should a good looking website be confused with one that will automatically rank high on the coveted first page results of Google, either.

Art can sometimes be created with a chainsaw. And there's a lot of websites out there that looked like they got created with a chainsaw.

My point is this:  If selling homes were so easy, why do we complain about FSBO's not understanding the value a REALTOR brings to the table. Do you see where I am going with this?

Sure a REALTOR can create a basic website. Or, you can go to one of the McWebsite companies like Advance Access, #1 Expert, Homes.com and look just like 15,000 other agent websites.

SEO MYTH #7: Google penlizes sites for duplicate content and 92% of websites created by these firms will NEVER rank naturally on page one. 

Advertising agencies often have the best real estate talent on board for those seeking a website that looks good, but one that can also be optimized to rank higher than broker bob when next time home buyers come looking for a home on-line. They often use the city+real+estate search phrase, that being if you are a REALTOR in Phoenix, the user is most apt to enter in: phoenix real estate when they go to look for real estate in the Phoenix area.

The highest and best use of a REALTORS time isn't going to be spent learning how to do html, or php, or AJAX or XML. It's hard enough staying up with ethics and getting our 30 CE's every three years. Smart REALTORS know their time is valuable. IF you have spare time left over, spend it getting your CRS, ABR, ePRO or SIMS (Senior Internet Marketing Specialty) designation. The Internet is changeing so fast that you will be hard pressed to enjoy life at the top of the real estate food chain, earning six digit commissions year after year.

But every once in a while, I get proven wrong on my assumptions. So, if you just happen to be one of those REALTORS who can design a website better than an advertising agency, and get it ranked on page one of Google better than Danny Sullivan can... then I'd LOVE to Interview you for my new book; Real Estate Warriors.

The book will be out sometime late in 2008 and it will feature candid interviews with some of the biggest names in Real Estate and what they did to get themselves to the top of the real estate food chain such as Ralph Roberts and others.  

Hi Bart,  Thanks for stopping by and commenting.  Good luck with your book project.

I do my own website as well.  It is not the easiest thing to do at first but once you get the hang of it lookout.

Hi Michael - Thanks for the comment.  I'm off to see your website.

I think there is a distinction between DIY and having a basic understanding of what is happening. Knowing the capabilities of the WWW and SEO gives an site owner a leg up.

But, good professional designs have been proven to convert traffic. As have some DIY sites.

Overall, the more you know, the better the desicions that you wil make. Even if you outsource it.

When it comes to the SEO aspects, here's a multi-page document that was specifically written for real estate professionals, using real estate examples:

Search Engine Optimization Basics For Real Estate-Related Websites
http://www.domaindrivers.com/seobasics-realestate-main.htm

I hope it helps.

Dirk - thanks for the info... I'm looking into it.

I like using CoffeeCup software...  http://www.coffeecup.com/ to develop quick and dirty websites...  Personally I'm not very creative so even though websites are actually easy to create I don't have the patience or the visuals on making them look good.  Probably why I really good at SEO since that is more of a technical challenge as opposed to a creative challenge.

Glenn - interesting point - kind of a left brain vs right brain thing.

Great post and comments...I've been using the same Dreamweaver that I bought back in 2001, or was it earlier...anyway, it still works and is very easy to work in. 

Thanks for the idea. I really hadn't thought about it, but now I'll try it.

Elizabeth - good luck!