In my last installment we reviewed three different functions a property website may serve.  Now we’re going to discuss the Prospect Portal in more detail, describe the differences between some of the choices available (template sites, custom sites, etc.), and help you understand which is best for your property.

Let’s clarify exactly what we mean by Prospect Portal.  This is a website with the sole purpose of helping your community prospects get to know, like and trust you.  The desired outcome is to provide your prospect with enough information to take the next step towards contacting the property and consider the apartment as their next home.

There are two things you need your site to do.  First, you need the content on your site to inform, educate and motivate the prospect to call the property for a tour.  This may seem obvious, but finding the right content and displaying it in a concise and consistent manner is more difficult than it sounds.  Secondly, you need your site to “look good” to search engines like Google and Bing, so when prospects are searching for things like – apartments Phoenix – your site gets listed (ideally on the first page) .

Next, determine if you’re going to build the site yourself, or if you’re going to use a third party provider.  Subsequently, what kind of site is best for you?  There are two general types – customer built websites and template websites.  Each has its strengths and weaknesses, and there are no hard and fast rules to go by.

Template sites are providers who offer a wide range of different styled websites that look professionally done, but don’t allow you to choose which functionality you have on your site.  Some of these – like Property Solutions – offer the ability to input key information for search engine optimization (Meta Tags, H-1 Tags, etc.) however, you’re limited to what they offer.  More importantly, just having the off-page SEO in place doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily see much new traffic coming from the organic search.  One advantage is that they’re generally lower cost solutions, and quick to put in place.

Custom websites are the opposite.  They give you complete control on look, feel, and functionality.  They’re also typically better suited for off-page SEO.  Companies who offer custom sites will often offer SEO services such as back-linking.  The down side is these can be expensive ($5,000 to build) and slow to implement (30-60 days).  However, if properly implemented and maintained it offers the ability to build a significant presence on the web through SEO.  In the end you’ll produce more leads for your property.  They’re more expensive upfront, but over time a well designed build and managed website will become your number one source of traffic.

Whichever option you choose, remember to educate yourself by asking lots of questions, visit “live” sites, and ask to see web analytics before you make the final decision.  This kind of insight is what makes Property Marketing Gurus your top choice for property marketing services.