Over 74% of all buyers are searching with mobile devices. If your website is not mobile friendly then they will likely go elsewhere. See this short video and explanation of ‘What is a Responsive Real Estate Website‘.
FAQ
Real Estate Website Build F.A.Q.s
How quickly can I get my web site built?
Once we have all the basic information from you, we can complete your site within 10 business days.
Can I get a Custom Design?
Yes, if you have specific design requirements then we can create custom designs to meet your needs.
Please contact us.
Do I need a Domain Name?
Yes, you require a domain name.
How do I change the Domain Name DNS?
When you purchase a Domain Name you will specify where and how the domain name is to be hosted. You must set the DNS (or Domain Name Servers, or Name Servers) to be our domain name servers. This ensures that when someone types in your domain name, the Internet will direct that request to our servers and your website actually gets shown.
We will send you instructions
What content and pages are included with the web site?
Every website comes with the following standard pages and content:
- Home page
- How To Buy section – pages of content and details explaining how to buy a home
- Sell Your Home – pages of content and details explaining how to buy a home
- Mortgage Calculator as part of any Property details display
- Community Links page – we need you to supply links
- About page – you supply text and content for this page
- Contact form
Questions? 1-800-205-0317. Give us a call. We’re here to help.
Get a Free Consultation. We can help you discover your strategy and style.
What information do I need to supply so my site can be built?
We require the following information from you:
- Your site URL (domain name)
- Your Contact Information and Company name
- Your BIO or any text you want to have the ‘About me’ page
- Your Slogan or Motto
- Your images- Logo, picture of you and any other images you want to have in the site.
- Any welcoming text for the home page
- Send us your Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn credentials if you want us to set up automated content distribution to your social profiles
What design changes can I request (such as different photos or alternative colors)?
All sites are semi-custom, which means that it’s possible to change any aspect of any website!
However, sites are designed to be affordable and fast to setup, which means that some modifications may be ‘custom’ modifications, i.e. not included with your website, and therefore cost a little more.
When you choose a POWER site template you are agreeing to the color scheme and general layout of that template.
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For content areas, you can use the WordPress dashboard / admin system to upload your own images.
If you have very specific custom design needs, you should consider a custom-design website. Please contact us.
Can I have my logo added when the site is built?
Your Logo is automatically added to the site design. We will use the graphic you supply to us – so please ensure your logo graphic is a good quality image.
What if I want extra pages or sections created?
If you want us to provide webmaster services to add more pages (such as a neighborhood section) when we build your site then we can quote to do this for you.
Some examples of the types of webmaster services we can offer include:
- Add extra pages with your supplied text and images etc
- Add whole sections with multiple extra pages
- Add menu tabs or move menu tabs around
- Add IDX display widgets on multiple pages to show MLS properties
- Add map display widgets
- Create special / custom MLS / IDX search forms
- Create special landing pages or squeeze page methods for lead capture
Do I need to get any contracts signed with my MLS for IDX data?
Each MLS has different rules for accessing IDX data. Please check with your MLS to see if they require some form
of agreement or additional payments from you.
Can I have an email account?
We do not host email or provide email services.
We will help or advise you to set up appropriate email services elsewhere.
How much do you charge for extra design or modifications?
For additional custom work, we charge $69 per hour.
We will provide a quote to you before we start any extra work. However, each site is based on WordPress and therefore already has a substantial content management system built in for you.
Who owns the website you design and build for me?
You own the rights to any written content, images or media that you add to your website.
You also own the rights to any graphical or design components provided by you to us, that we use when creating the design for your website. For example, if we used your images to design the header of your webpages.
If you request, we will ‘export’ your written content (pages and posts) to a WordPress export file (XML format) and provide this to you.
This file then can then be re-imported to a different WordPress system.
If your site has custom designed graphics and components that incorporate your brand or identity in a unique way, then you have the right to recreate this design using a third party.
You may to download any such graphical components directly from the browser view of your website. We are unable to provide an export file of these items.
Please Note: The underlying WordPress system, HTML, CSS, WordPress Plugins (including Buying Buddy components) and general configuration information of the website are all part of the Server, WordPress and technical infrastructure and so we are unable to export or provide these to you. We create websites using a technical framework which utilizes custom code and integrations; as such, it’s not possible for us to download or export a ‘theme’ for you. However, as mentioned above, we will provide all your pages and content via a WordPress export file to enable fast import to a new website.
We know there are often good reasons why you may choose to move your site to a different hosting service, and whatever the reason, we will always help our clients with the content and files they need to make the transition a smooth and painless process.
Can I Add Video?
Yes you can add video that is hosted elsewhere such as YouTube.
You can add video to pages and blog posts
Please note that our servers are not designed to “stream” video, so we do NOT support video files uploaded to our servers as media.
Using Your Real Estate Website F.A.Q.s
Can I make changes to the site once it is built?
Yes. The WordPress system has a content management admin area where you can make changes to pages, add pages, blog, add media and much more; specifically you will be able to:
- Add new pages
- Write blog posts and manage comments, categories and tags
- Change content on pages
- Manage SEO settings for all pages using Yoast SEO plugin
- Add Properties and any of our IDX Search and Display functions on your pages and blog posts
- Add pages to Menus and change menus
- Add images, photo and media such as YouTube videos to pages
- Manage your testimonials
The advantage of WordPress is that it’s used by millions of people who want a simple non-technical way to add content to their websites. Each website is created using WordPress site – so adding any content is easy to do using the standard WordPress admin area.
Once your site is launched, the training tutorials and webinars make it fast and easy for you learn how to do this.
Can I have full WordPress “administrator” role access?
We provide all our customers will full access to the WordPress admin panel so that you can add pages, content, images, blog posts etc. Specifically, you will be able to:
- Add new pages
- Write blog posts and manage comments, categories and tags
- Change content on pages
- Manage SEO settings for all pages using Yoast SEO plugin
- Add Properties and any of our IDX Search and Display functions on your pages and blog posts
- Add pages to Menus and change menus
- Add images, photo and media such as YouTube videos to pages
- Manage your testimonials
If you require additional WordPress plugins then we will review, verify and add these for you.
In the unlikely event that you do still require “Administrator” role access, then we can provide this.
However, you must understand that that it’s very easy to break things and if you do then you may need to pay us to have things fixed.
Also, even with “Administrator” level of access, you will not be able to install plugins or change themes etc.
The reason for this is that we take security threats very seriously and because we have a shared server environment we need to verify and validate the security and robustness of all plugins before they can be installed. Many plugins today are full of malware and may not have been kept up to date and so are old and do not perform well.
Most plugins required by our customers are already installed. For example we deploy and maintain YOAST SEO and many other popular plugins.
When can I start to use Buying Buddy CRM / Leads and Contacts system?
As soon as you are approved by your MLS for IDX, we will send your login and access information for My Buying Buddy®.
You will then be able to login to the Leads and Contacts system. This will immediately allow you to:
- Manually add in any leads and contacts
- Set up automated home searches for your leads
How do I enter my own Listings in the web site?
Your MLS listings will be automatically available for presentation on your website as soon as we receive them in our IDX feed from your MLS.
Typically we get IDX RETS updates throughout the day.
So with My Buying Buddy® IDX/CRM service, your listings will be imported and setup automatically.
In addition, you may also add and present your own custom / pocket or non-MLS listings too.
How do I ensure my web site is found by the Search Engines?
The secret to good search engine performance is having a site with a focus on a specific niche.
Your site can be set up with all the right tags and content to help you achieve this.
Remember too that your site is a great tool to convert a measurable percentage of visitors into leads – therefore Advertising with PPC (Pay Per Click) strategies can prove very effective.