For a business a Web Site is an office (or a store) on the Internet. The important point to understand is that the site is not the same as an office in the real world. When you rent office space it is a location from which you do business. So long as the location of the office is half way good and the appearance is acceptable, the office will do its job.

A Web Site is different. The construction of a Web Site includes elements which impact both your marketing and your sales strategy.

In the real world one advertises in newspapers, magazines and on the radio or TV.  On the web only a few companies utilize paid for advertising. A majority of businesses attract customers via the search engines.  If prospects are to find you via the search engines, the content and layout of the Web Site makes a big difference. This includes hidden text that is provided specifically for the search engines. Appearing on the first page of the search engine results is one of the goals of all Internet Marketing Strategies. The search engines "rate" your site and this rating determines your placement in the search results. Each engine has its’ own rating system and they vary but, there are certain basics which all engines value. (See tomorrow's section on Search Engines.)

For some time now we have been collecting "War Stories" about the experiences of Realtors on the Web. Many of these stories teach a lesson and others are perhaps more valuable for the humor. Here is one example of what can go wrong in Web site development.

There is a Real Estate Company with multiple offices that had contracted for a Web Site to be developed. The Web Site development firm was an established company with good references in the Real Estate industry. The site was developed to the satisfaction of the franchise owners and they sat back anticipating the results.

Nine months later with thousands of "hits" and very few inquiries they began to examine the site that had been designed for them. They found that the site had never been submitted to the search engines and that it was not "keyworded" for the cities that they serviced. They had not been getting the detailed log reports which they should have and had not had a search engine performance analysis on the site. When they confronted the Site Developers they were told that changes in the industry were responsible for the poor performance and the site had to be redesigned because of this. Of course this is ridiculous.  As professionals they should have kept up with industry changes. 

Not only that, the Site Developers never did submit the site to the search engines.   To date, they have already been paid more than $75,000 for the site development and administration. Th Real Estate Company was locked in. So, they agreed to pay an additional $5,000 - to correct the problems caused by "industry changes". Two and a half months later their redesigned site is coming up on the search engines, but it is still not key-worded for the cities they service and the corrections continue.

This story is not a unique one. Today, there are middle school students who can develop a Web Site. This does not mean they fully understand the Internet and how it works. A Web Site is a key business element that requires knowledge of the business, sales and marketing and all the facets of business management. It also requires a broad-based knowledge of the workings of the Internet.

The greatest problem that we see is a lack of knowledge on the part of the business person who is considering a Web Site for his business. Without an ability to evaluate the competency of a Web Site Developer the business person is at a loss to make a qualified judgement. There are many people who have developed numerous Web Sites but there are few who have created sites which produce the intended results.

The Internet Real Estate Newsletter is published by Glenn Weilbacher of GAW Associates, an Internet Marketing Firm.

Click here for: Part I - How the Internet Works

Published: June 9, 1998

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