Websites are undoubtedly the most important element of the Internet. Nevertheless, the term is often used inconsistently, so this article will hopefully shed some light on the subject and equally provide an answer to the question: What is a website?

Who needs to be on the Web?

Entrepreneurs need a site that reflects their business and presents it. The objective is to inform customers and prospects of the products or services offered, or to market its products.

As far as individuals are concerned, having their own website is an opportunity to take an active part in the public debate. The proliferation of private sites testifies to this and many offer informative content, or content that is simply intended to entertain.

In addition, your web presence coupled with a social media profile can permit you to reach potential employers or like-minded individuals. A website is a door opener to almost anybody, which is the main reason for its exponential growth around the world.

Building a website

Many companies indicate the web address of their site on business cards or in email signatures. By typing the URL (Uniform Resource Locator), i.e. the address of the site in the search bar of the browser, one usually arrives directly at the home page of the website. Internet users can then browse the other pages of the site, which are HTML documents linked to the home page by hyperlinks (often simply called “links”).

Users are often encouraged to go to the most important subpages (product groups, information pages, categories…) during navigation. Links to the main pages of the site are often present on the header of the site but also at the bottom of the page. This navigation is facilitated by the menus, which allow the user to navigate and have an overview of the site.

Websites – dynamic or static?

If the goal of the site is simply that of an online business card, then a static web page will be sufficient. For this, HTML documents containing the desired information are created and saved on the server with its own URL. When a user visits the site, the static Web page will be displayed as it was saved on the server.

What happens when a website regularly needs to upload new content?

Changes to a static web page must always be made manually on the HTML code for each subpage. With dynamic web pages, the workflow is different. These pages are generated each time the server requests them, which systematically adapts the content of the page, unlike static web pages.

For this, dynamic web pages separate the content from the layout entirely. These two separate elements are then assembled when the page is displayed on the browser. As a result, dynamic web pages require much more performance from the server and an appropriate database.

Typically, dynamic web pages are developed from templates (the architecture of a page’s design). Due to their flexibility, the popularity of dynamic pages on the Web is constantly increasing.

Comparing static and dynamic web pages

Static pages	Advantages: Static web pages have reasonable operating costs because they require less server performance in terms of storage. HTML documents are designed all at once, they display as is, and deliver content that remains relevant. If one goes to a static web page, the loading time is relatively small compared to dynamic web pages.
	Disadvantages: If information changes have to be made, each HTML page has to be edited manually and this represents a greater workload. This type of manipulation requires programming knowledge. In addition, an FTP program is required to transfer HTML documents to the web server.
Dynamic pages	Pros: Flexibility is the primary benefit of dynamic web pages. Thanks to the separation between the content and the layout of the website, even people without technical programming knowledge can make changes to the content. Typically, a simple text editor is used to make changes. On the other hand, dynamic web pages react to user data.
	Disadvantages: the development of dynamic web pages often requires the use of a CMS (or an e-commerce solution). In addition to basic knowledge of HTML, proficiency in programming languages such as Perl or PHP is sometimes required. The server on which the website is hosted must also have a large storage capacity. Depending on the size of the project, dynamic Web pages require more server resources than static Web pages.

Create your own website

Depending on the type of presence you want on the Web and the size of the project, you have three options for creating your website. It used to be customary to program the source code yourself using an HTML editor in order to create your home page. But many possibilities and solutions are now available, whether CMS or online site publishers.

Businesses and individuals who do not have the necessary programming knowledge can choose from the multitude of paid providers that offer professional website development and maintenance tools.

Related: How much does a website cost?

Website builders: the perfect solution to get started.

Today, you don’t need to be a programmer in order to create your website. With the help of website editors, you can create the desired result in a few clicks and choose from many templates.

You can draw inspiration from texts and images that are already adapted to many available industries. These creative support bases are based on the principle of “What You See Is What You Get” and allow you to proceed step by step. Changes can be made easily, with a preview tool. If the layout corresponds to the desired result, the editor allows you to freely insert texts, videos and images.

If your site builder is paired with a web hosting service, the result can be brought online in a few clicks. This type of service also offers other advantages, as websites can be created without prior programming knowledge and changes can be made directly on the editor. The disadvantage of this type of service, however, lies in the lack of flexibility in terms of customization, since the templates are pre-designed and reserved for static web pages.

CMS: an effective web design tool for experienced users

For those who are willing to invest a little more in website development and want to work with scripting languages such as HTML or PHP, CMS (content management system) is a good solution. Once installed on the Web server, CMS (or “content management system”) make it possible to separately manage the content of the site on the one hand, and its core on the other hand, i.e. the architecture of the site.

CMS generally work with a database and allows you to generate dynamic web pages. These content management systems are just as popular among company sites as they are to individuals, especially because they are often free and open source.

The market leaders are WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and eZ Publish, many of whose templates and browser extensions are available so that you can carry out a wide range of customization of your website.

Just like site builders, text, video, and image elements are easy to integrate. This part of the CMS is called the front-end. It makes it possible to manage editorial tasks, even for people with limited technical knowledge.

IIn order to secure your website, it should always be managed by an administrator who takes care of updates and ensures that the site runs smoothly in the long run. The administrator works on the back end, which necessarily requires knowledge of CMS programming languages.

The solution for professionals: programmed HTML pages

For a complete customization of your website, you could program the HTML source code of documents or CMS templates yourself. If you want to launch your website as an individual, this option is only open to you if you have the required technical knowledge or want to acquire it.

Typically, companies outsource the development of their own website rather than directly hiring a dedicated staff for the task.

In order to develop a static and simple web page, basic knowledge of HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is sufficient. For this, beginners can use site editors, which enables them to see how the source code changes the structure, design or layout of the site.

Since professional websites must meet certain security standards, in addition to elaborate display and features, it is recommended to use the services of a programmer, web designer or agency.

What should we look out for?

Putting content online has never been easier. But before launching your website and content, you have to make sure that everything is in order from a legal point of view. Otherwise, you may incur legal risks or a fine. That’s why it’s your duty as an administrator is to check whether your site should display legal notices (it often does) and whether you’re posting copyrighted content.

• Legal notice: Legal notices provide information about the administrator of a site and contribute to more transparency on the Web. As a general rule, legal notices are not mandatory if your site is for private use and of purely personal interest. These types of sites represent a small part of the web ecosystem. For example, even a personally managed blog is aimed at the public and even this type of site requires the display of legal notices. Compliance with this constraint is all the more important for online sales or service sites and those of a journalistic nature.
• Copyright: Copyright is to be scrupulously respected online too. The unauthorized use of texts, images, videos or music is a crime. The exploitation of a copyrighted work is only permitted with the consent of the author or rights holder. Since software is also protected by copyright, even the use of a template can lead to legal complications, unless its author has not clearly specified that the template can be used for free.

You have a clear idea of how your website should look, but do you know what costs are involved? If you check within your professional network or circle of acquaintances, you will get a wide variety of answers, from “apart from hosting and domain, it cost me nothing” to “We invested five figures”.

In this article, we offer you an overview of the costs that you will need to calculate, depending on the type of website you have in mind, the time and know-how you already have.

The prices of a website: types of sites and choice factors

Blogs, landing pages, online shops, websites take very diverse forms. Choosing the right type of website for your needs depends on your business or project. Not only do the types of websites differ in their structure, but also in the technical effort required for development and maintenance, thus, will have an impact on the budget you will need for your project.

1. Landing page: In order to publish a page online, you don’t necessarily need any programming knowledge. Whether you want to use a simple sales page or create an informative homepage, the price of the website and the technical level are low. A website building kit will be sufficient. As long as there are interfaces with email marketing systems, postal addresses can also be collected, and sales generated by passing them on to shop systems.

Difficulty level: easy

2. Portfolio: If you want to showcase your creative work online, you may be limited by website building kits because you want to further customize the design or add new content easily. In this case, using CMS systems such as WordPress or TYPO3 will be a great choice.

Difficulty level: easy

3. Blog/Magazine: Anyone who wants to regularly publish new content on their website, who values creative design, who collects their readers’ email addresses, and who eventually wants to sell individual products will not be satisfied with modular systems. A CMS is then the best choice. However, you will often need to customize certain elements, the implementation of which requires programming skills.

Level of difficulty: medium

4. Microsite: Creating interactive websites on a niche topic and creating unusual designs requires developer skills. Microsites are usually programmed individually in their entirety or partially. As a non-developer, you will definitely need to hire professionals, whether they are freelancers or work within an agency.

Level of difficulty: medium

5. Company site: You can create a very simple business site using a modular system, without touching a line of code. But if you have higher requirements, custom development is usually the best solution. The degree of difficulty of implementation increases especially with multilingual websites, pages with dynamic content and integrated applications.

Level of difficulty: variable

6. Online shop: A simple online shop can be set up with modular systems. Large online shops with wider product ranges are technically challenging projects due to the ordering and payment processes that need to be integrated. In addition, costs for payment solutions and shipping costs must be taken into account.

Level of difficulty: medium to high

7. Web application: Online applications are the ultimate web development projects. Depending on the range of functionalities, it is possible to spend up to six figures for the price of the website if the programming is fully customized. These projects can only be managed by a competent agency or freelance team, provided they have their own project management skills.

Difficulty level: High

In addition to the financial cost, what level of effort and personal investment should be expected?

In addition to the type of website, three other factors which determine the budget for your online project: time, money and know-how.

The figure climbs as follows: the more money you have at your disposal, the less know-how and time you need to build your website. In other words, you can easily compensate for the lack of knowledge and time if you have good financial means.

But if you want to develop a website and keep costs as low as possible, you’ll have two other options: either you invest more time in the project in order to acquire the necessary knowledge and take on as many tasks as possible, or you already have a lot of know-how, so you have to spend less on the help of experts.

What are the best solutions for your project?

We have already briefly explained above the technical possibilities of implementing a website project:

• Modular system
• Content Management System (CMS)
• Custom programming
• Web design service

With the first two options, you can also publish a website without coding. While with the last two options, you’ll often work with agencies or service providers.

In order to help you choose either of these approaches, here’s an overview of the pros and cons of each solution.

Modular system

For many simple websites, a modular website system is quite sufficient. Blogs, portfolios, small business sites, all websites can be made without the help of developers.

There are different providers on the market, but the principle of a modular system is always the same: the user can choose from different design patterns, adapt the elements of the page and create his own content via a WYSIWYG editor. Depending on the price chosen, you have more or less customization possibilities. In most cases, search engine optimization features are built in or can be added.

Many providers equally support domain hosting and integrate a domain name with a matching email address, so you don’t have to worry about these technical details.

The quality of these modular systems is very variable, especially in terms of user-friendliness and adaptability of models, and customer support. So you should take advantage of the free trial periods offered by most companies in order to check for yourself if you can get along with the app and implement your ideas.

Benefits	Disadvantages
Professional results for simple websites and online shops	Design is not always easy to adapt / visual quality is often standard
Fast website creation with templates	Advanced features often can’t be mapped
No programming knowledge is required	Not suitable for complex websites
Low costs

Content Management System (CMS)

Many users switch from modular systems to CMS after a while.

CMSs also offer a graphical user interface and many templates, along with greater design freedom. There are plugins for almost everything, so non-IT specialists can, to a large extent, get by without professional assistance. Even simple online shops can be put online without outside help.

One downside: plugins can incur high running costs (cost per plugin or per plan), and negatively impact website performance.

For major customizations or an initial configuration, it is worth consulting a developer who will write the changes permanently in the code. These custom programming is not possible with construction kits.

Another advantage of CMS is that they are better suited if projects are at scale and if needs and traffic increase rapidly.

If you decide to use a CMS, you’ll need to be in contact with an IT service provider, because unlike modular systems, a technical problem may arise sooner or later.

You also need to take care of hosting and registering the domain yourself. 

For hosting, it may cost you about $50 per year, while the registration of a domain name may cost up to $20 per year. The CMS itself has no additional costs if you use an open-source solution like WordPress or TYPO3.

Benefits	Disadvantages
Great possibility of customization	No support
Costs can be flexibly designed	Familiarization needed for beginners
Free choice of host	Required technical know-how and/or cooperation with service providers
The CMS evolves according to the successes and needs of companies

Webdesign agency and freelancers

This is probably the most practical solution, which allows you to have the site developed by professionals according to your specifications. However, this variant is also the most expensive. But for the complex requirements of online shops or web applications, this is the only professional approach.

If you want to have a website created and save money, then you have the option of working with independent service providers: a web designer for the design of the interfaces and a programmer for the functionalities of the website. In this case, however, you must have experience in project management or have knowledge of usability and user experience yourself, so that the website not only works technically, but also convinces users.

If you want more advice, it is better to contact an agency. There, designers, programmers and project managers work together. They take care of your needs, show you what is possible and useful, and coordinate the different stages of work so that you can get your results as quickly as possible.

How much does a website you order from professionals cost? The investment can quickly reach a five-figure value. Therefore, make sure that your online project is based on accurate market analysis and has a solid chance of success.

Planning to develop a web application? The price of a website of this quality can quickly reach high sums. You should only engage in such an entrepreneurial investment after a thorough review of the economic viability of your project, detailed financial planning and critical selection of your service providers.

Here too, in addition to the website development costs, there are additional running costs for the domain and hosting. If you want to host it on a virtual private server you should expect to pay about $30 per month.

Benefits	Disadvantages
Highly personalized results	High costs
Quick completion

Web Design Services

Aside from web design agencies, you equally have access to web design services. Here, too, you’ll work with experts who’ll help you achieve personalized goals. 

The advantage of this solution is: the design and hosting offer (often including the domain and SSL certificate) come from the same provider. This can especially make a difference when it comes to maintenance and support.

With a web design service, you opt for a mix of one-on-one consulting and website creation. You can count on the help of experts and get a very good result without having to invest a lot of time or money for the design. However, you choose your template from a variety of templates and let the experts adapt them as needed. So you can get professional help while paying only a fraction of the price of a web design agency.

Benefits	Disadvantages
Expert advice	Slightly higher costs compared to modular system and CMS
Often available in combination with an accommodation package	Not completely customizable
Large number of models for design

How much does a website cost? Factors to consider

It is not possible to give a general answer to this question. The spectrum ranges from 5 to $100000. We hope that our overview has given you an idea of the budget you should plan for your particular case or possible technical solutions.

When planning your finances, you should also consider the fact that additional indirect costs could be incurred during the process. For example, does your company have a professional corporate identity? If you don’t want to design a logo yourself using an online tool, there will be a cost to a designer.

Once your website is online, it needs to be maintained regularly. Updates must be installed, security holes must be closed, and new legal requirements must be implemented. You need to plan for these follow-up costs. If this service is not integrated into your modular system, you must consider the costs of service providers.

Finally, you may want to advertise your website so that your target audience discover its existence. Depending on the strategy you adopt, different costs corresponding to advertising – for example Google Ads and advertising on social media – to technical specificities, content for your search engine optimization, emailing, etc., can emerge.

Price of a website: comparison according to the different options

The cost of a website therefore depends a lot on your requirements and how you want to implement the project. The more time and expertise you put into it, the less expensive it will be to implement.

	Level of difficulty	Benefits	Disadvantages	Price level
Programming yourself	Difficult	– total control – individual modification – no design costs	– requires a lot of know-how- Hosting, domain and SSL certificate must be reserved in addition	From $10 per month
Content Management System	Medium to difficult	– a lot of control – often open source – no knowledge of HTML or CSS is required	– not all wishes can be fulfilled- Hosting, domain and SSL certificate must be booked in addition	From $10 per month (much more with premium plugins)
Modular system	Easy to medium	– no programming knowledge is required- very fast implementation- Hosting, domain and SSL certificate often included	– little technical control – offers less scope for customization	From $10 per month
Webdesign agency/freelancers	Easy	– possibility of complete individualization- no know-how required- cooperation with experts	– very high costs- only suitable for professional and ambitious projects- subsequent changes are only possible to a limited extent and at a high cost	From $5000 (payable in one go, plus maintenance costs)
Web design Service	Easy	– lots of individualization possibilities – quickly achievable – often available, including hosting, domain and SSL certificate- also useful for small projects- cooperation with experts	– relatively high costs compared to the modular system and CMS – subsequent modifications are only possible with restrictions	From $40 per month

For businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs, the Web is the key to a successful marketing strategy.

With a website, it is possible to reach potential customers and prospects, encourage them to make a purchase or retain them. Consequently, a landing page is a very important web marketing tool which combines advertising and interaction with customers on a single space.

It’s the perfect platform you can use to convert or retain potential clients to your brand.

For a landing page to be profitable and attract customers, certain guidelines must be respected.

What is a landing page and what is its purpose?

A landing page is a specific web page that Showcases a specific offer. Internet users are often redirected to such a page as soon as they click on a sponsored ad (Such ads are available for example among Google’s search results (SERPs), banner ads, blogs, magazines, or affiliate websites, for example).

Landing pages are widespread tools in web marketing and attract potential customers through a targeted offer. A successful landing page is tailored as closely as possible to its target group. Its content offers added value to users and it is optimized for SEO on search engines.

In order to invite the landing page visitor to interact, CTA (Call-to-Action) elements such as links, buttons or contact forms are frequently integrated. These CTA elements are used to invite users to take an action on the site (for example subscribe to a newsletter or make a purchase) rather than remain passive.

For website administrators and e-commerce platform managers, the landing page should achieve two goals: conversions (transactions with customers) and leads (interaction with potential customers). The objective of a landing page is therefore to direct a visitor directly to the offer or product that aroused his interest in order to speed up the process of buying, downloading or collecting data. For this, the offer must be summarized and accessible in a few clicks.

If the page is well indexed by search engines and the content is optimized, the landing page will be better referenced naturally. That’s why landing pages are an essential tool in web marketing for every website or online store administrator.

What are the contents of a landing page?

Often, the landing page is the first result that a user will have access to on the Web regarding a particular offer. Unlike the home page of a website, the landing page goes straight to the point and corresponds to the user’s search, shortening the online customer journey.

When a user clicks on an advertisement, they usually have a clear idea of the product or service they are looking for. This is why the landing page must be targeted according to the keywords searched. For example, if a user clicks on an ad called “winter shoes”, he will be annoyed to find himself on a landing page that displays “winter coats on sale”.

Also, if the user has to click from one page to another before finding the type of articles that interest him, he will quickly lose interest in the item because the landing page did not meet his expectations. That is why it is essential for website administrators to always ensure that the landing page is in line with the expectations of the user.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an administrator of a magazine site, a blog or an online store. It is only with adapted and relevant content that Internet users can be won over and interact with the product or service provider. To make this strategy a success, it is necessary to answer the main questions of the users directly:

• What site am I on?
• What products and services does this site provide?
• How can I get these products or services?
• What are the advantages of this site compared to the competition?

A successful landing page includes all of its information, and it’s all on one page. The text is informative, the images speak and the whole has an added value compared to the competition. The visitor will then have the impression of having found exactly what he is looking for. Although the text is the first informative source, aptly chosen images and videos help to highlight the words and promote the offer.

The contents of the landing page will achieve the most results when the contents are structured in a clear way and follow a logical meaning. The texts must be concise, easy to understand and of course not include errors. It is the best way to communicate the seriousness of the offer, to best expose its qualities and skills.

Also, the title must be striking in order to attract attention. The text should ideally have several information blocks with subtitles, which best summarize the information included in the text below. The images reinforce the message, and this effect is called “hero shot”.

Information should be prioritized, with primary information at the beginning, and secondary or illustrative information in the background. Text is more impactful when redundancies are avoided. In addition, keywords are most effective when they are chosen carefully and when they match the offer.

Call-to-Action and legal notices

Between the different informative text blocks, the CTA (calls to action) buttons must be made visible, so that the visitor can perform an action at any time (purchase, registration, download, etc.). References and recommendations from satisfied customers or partners can also complete the page.

All information on this page must be convincing and inspire the confidence of visitors. The attention span of Internet users is limited, and it is only when the offer is convincing that the landing page will be effective and there will be a real interaction with the user.

In addition to the offer and content, the legal aspect must be taken into account. The legal notices, the privacy policy and the general conditions of sale are to be defined. As an Internet service provider, you are bound by certain regulations, which require you to clearly display a contact address as well as the way in which you use user data, such as their name, postal address or email address. This information must appear on all pages of the website and be clearly displayed at the bottom of the page, both on websites and landing pages.

In order to generate leads, it is also important to perform a double opt-in method (i.e., confirmation) for subscriptions and newsletter subscriptions. After the user has entered his data, he must confirm to a double registration confirmation. This process has become mandatory from a legal point of view, which is why it is imperative that you do some googling about legal guidelines before launching your website or landing page.

Structure and design

With landing pages, as well as for websites, optimal usability is recommended. The user must quickly have an overview of the offer and navigate the landing page without difficulty. The structure and design of the landing page must inform the visitor without detours.

If the structure is too complex or navigation is not smooth, visitors will quickly get tired, and the bounce rate will be high. If visitors leave the site quickly and the visit time is short, it is not only a handicap for the conversion rate and leads, but it will equally have a negative impact on your SEO among search engine results.

That is why the main content of the page must be placed judiciously and concisely, in several homogeneous blocks of text.

A successful landing page is not an abstract job: it has clear, talking, and targeted content. The layout, from a visual point of view, must be uncluttered and match the product or service. Also, regarding the choice of colors, the design must match the content and highlight it.

It is preferable to choose nuanced colors, which match well with each other and above all comply with the Corporate Identity (CI) of the offer. If the brand identity (CI) is rather “corporate” for example (gray, navy blue …), it is still necessary to ensure that the colors of the landing page are not too bland.

If you go for a dynamic, creative and energetic landing page, make sure that it remains structured and does not give a chaotic overview, which could lead to confusion.

The style of the advertisement must be found in the tone of colors, typography and the choice of images on the landing page.

For mobile devices, landing pages should feature a responsive or an adaptive design for smartphones and tablets. Thus, content well be displayed appropriately on mobile devices and navigation will be smooth regardless of the medium used. The other advantage of such optimization is that it improves SEO on search engines.

The use of whitespaces so that the text can “breathe” is also recommended. Depending on the amount of information you intend to provide, it may be a good idea to place the main information at the beginning, so that the visitor does not have to scroll to the bottom of the page.

A successful landing page follows a precise pattern, is compact and gives a clear overview of the content and offer:

• First overview: logo, title, introduction, representative image
• Description of the product or service: main information, USPs (acronym for “Unique Selling Proposition”), price, benefits, operation
• Call to Action: which pushes visitors to do an action, with a button, text and/or image
• References: quality certificates, certificates of trust, positive reviews from customers or business partners

A clean landing page should have a short loading time. This is why it is important to avoid too much data, high-definition images or unnecessary plugins and functions. The performance of the landing page is essential and can be achieved by performing data analysis, A/B testing and bug detection.

Only when you know what drives visitors to leave your landing page is it possible to optimize it effectively.

Download our free landing page template

The internet is the number one place where people search for real estate today. So, having a website is therefore essential for anyone working in the real estate industry.

In order to limit your dependence on large portals and networks and to have an additional advantage in this fight for buyers and tenants, you’ll definitely need to create your own online real estate website.

In this article, you will learn about the real benefits of a personal website and how to create a real estate agent website.

What are the advantages of a real estate agent’s website?

Considering the number and breadth of web portals showcasing real estate of all kinds, many agents wonder whether it is necessary to have their own real estate agent website. They quickly tend to consider only the positive aspects of physical marketing solutions and ignore the advantages of an individual real estate site.

A personal online presence offers the advantage of not having to depend on real estate portals or networks of real estate agents and ideally saves or reduces the costs of such external services.

In summary, a real estate agent website offers the following advantages:

• In the real estate industry, business is done on a personal level. Having your own real estate website could be a decisive element in your success.
• This online presence helps you simplify administrative tasks. Via your website, you can easily communicate new information to potential buyers or current tenants and present basic data and addresses of properties.
• Compared to real estate platforms, a personal real estate website gives you more leeway to showcase your strengths. In this way, you will be able to better present the local and regional peculiarities of a competitive market.
• Marketing also plays a key role in the real estate sector. A real estate agent website can play a central role in planning campaigns and social media actions.

Personal real estate website: an essential tool in times of coronavirus

To say that the real estate sector is heavily impacted by the coronavirus crisis would be a lie. The need and demand for housing remains high. However, delays in construction work, clients failing to meet their financing plans and the complication of visits and paperwork are not without impact on day-to-day business.

Therefore, it is more essential than ever to have a personal real estate agent website on order to provide the latest information and your contact details to your clients, and to communicate with them.

If you currently need to state in your listings that property visits are strictly limited to individual visits, a personal real estate agent website is an ideal platform for communicating this information to your clients and providing them with further details on the current situation.

With regard to visits, a personal website also allows you to offer alternatives: you can thus enhance your offers with even more detailed descriptions and additional photos or make a visit of the property in person.

In this difficult period, we at WEBGIIG wish to support you and be alongside your agency.

Creating a real estate agent’s website: what are the possibilities?

In most cases, the skills and time necessary to develop and personally publish your real estate website won’t be at your reach and you will then need appropriate help. Depending on your needs and your budget, there are different solutions such as using a modular site creator, a CMS or hiring an agency.

In order to help you choose, we’ve presented these different options with their advantages and disadvantages.

Programming your real estate website yourself

If you have the necessary HTML, CSS and JavaScript knowledge, you can naturally consider this route and personally build a website for your real estate business. This way, and if all goes well, you will be able to save a lot.

Apart from the necessary knowledge in programming and Web design, you will however have to take into account the considerable time factor that goes with this DIY approach.

However, if you are not familiar with web development, it is strongly not recommended that you choose this option to build your own real estate website.

Use a design agency or service.

If you feel that your real estate agent website should reflect your professionalism and personality, hiring a design agency or service is usually the best solution. Entrusting the programming, design, if necessary, content writing and maintenance of your web project to experts, gives you the opportunity to concentrate fully on your daily business.

In this case, and depending on the chosen service pack, the required technical knowledge will be low, or even non-existent.

Nevertheless, in order to rely on an external partner, you must, however, have the necessary budget. Indeed, the costs necessary to create website this way will be significantly higher compared to other options.

Create a real estate agent website using a CMS

Modern content management systems (CMS) offer different features that’ll enable you to design your own website without having considerable programming knowledge.

Like WordPress, these popular solutions today resemble modular website building sites in many ways: for example, website components can be added, organized and removed using drag and drop features. Another advantage of CMS lies in the strict separation of design and content which allows easy independent modifications in these two categories.

The majority of content management systems are available for free and open source, by opting for this solution, you will only have to pay for the hosting of your real estate website.

Real estate website using a modular creation website.

If personally managing a CMS is still too technical for you, then a more traditional modular website building system will be a suitable alternative. Here, too, you have the option of organizing predefined components using drag and drop and automatically converting the content to HTML, CSS or other languages ​​using user-friendly editors.

Unlike a CMS solution, you will get the software needed for this directly from the vendor that hosts the software and your real estate agent website out of the box. As a rule, you have to pay a monthly fee for this which depends on the different packages offered.

Personal, agency, CMS or modular design programming: an overview of the pros and cons

In summary, the most suitable solution for the development and design of your real estate website will depend on your knowledge, the budget available and the time you have to carry out this project.

We have summarized for you the main advantages and disadvantages of the various options in the table below:

	Personal programming	Design agency	CMS	Modular creation site
Suitable for	Professionals	Amateurs	People with basic knowledge	Beginners
Cost factor	very cheap	expensive	cheap	cheap
Time factor	Very high	Weak	Raised	Average
Advantages	Maximum freedom	Professional enables you to focus on your day-to-day business.	Work with open-source software; good basis for long-term maintenance	Strong friendliness; the technical part is entirely the responsibility of the service provider.
Disadvantages	A considerable challenge; huge time cost	strong dependence on partner	Need for regular CMS updates (mainly circumstantial)	Limited website customization due to the limited number of templates available to all users of the modular system

What content should you put on your real estate website?

For a real estate agent’s website to meet the expected success, it is essential to associate it with an effective and thought-out concept in terms of content. If your website is informative and has your contact details, then you have already taken the first steps towards a successful transaction.

The following pages are essential on a good real estate agent’s website:

• Home page
• About page
• Services
• Real estate offers
• “Sellers” area
• “Donors” area
• Contact page.
• Legal notice and privacy policy

Home page

Since the home page is the first page viewed by visitors to your website, it plays a significant role in the success of your real estate website. It aims to inform visitors about the subject and the various contents of your website and to place the latest news in the spotlight.

In this context, it is essential to place striking images and texts in order to attract the attention of visitors.

The home page also includes the main menu which is the central navigation element of your website and shows users the full scope of your online offer while allowing easy and convenient access to the various sub-pages.

About page

In the real estate industry, sympathy, trust and a personal exchange generally plays an essential role. By presenting yourself or your team (with text and possibly photos) on your own real estate website, you can therefore score some valuable confidence points.

On this page, you can also present the history and philosophy of your agency as well as indicate references to the properties that you have successfully sold.

Services

On a well-structured real estate agent’s website, visitors should be able to quickly determine what services you offer. A detailed list of your services is therefore recommended, especially if you want to stand out from the usual offerings in the market.

You can thus optimally present your additional services, for example home staging, moving assistance, carrying out administrative formalities or investment and financing offers.

Real estate offers

Showcasing the real estate you offer is the number one reason you can start a real estate agent website and get people to visit your site. Being able to display your assets exactly the way you want them is a big advantage.

You have carte blanche in the choice and number of photos as well as in the description of apartments, houses, etc.

“Sellers” area

Depending on the real estate market, it may be more or less important to you that owners of real estate wanting to sell these properties can contact you directly.

Having a real estate website with a section dedicated to sellers is a good basis for achieving this. In this way, interested parties can not only get in touch with you in a simple and practical way, but also inform themselves beforehand about your services and your approach as a real estate agent.

“Donors” area

What is true for sellers of real estate is also true for lessors. Inform your potential partners on the terms of a possible collaboration in a separate area of ​​your real estate website and thus increase your chances of managing new properties on the market.

Contact page

We have already talked about placing your contact credentials at strategic points, for example on the pages of the properties offered or on the information pages intended for sellers and lessors.

However, it is just as essential to put together the main contact credentials in a separate page of your real estate agent website which will be accessible through the main menu or the home page of your site.

Some website operators present this information directly on the home page. If you opt for this solution, visibility is however a key criterion.

Legal notice and privacy policy

This section must include the operator of the website, his contact details as well as information concerning his registration in the trade register and his tax identification number.

A privacy policy is essential and mandatory for your website. This policy tells your visitors or customers what data you collect, what happens to that data, and what steps you take to protect that data. Like the legal notices, the privacy policy must be accessible at all times and easily from every page of your real estate agent’s website.

Step-by-step guide: the guide to your own real estate website

Whichever solution you choose to create your real estate agent website, there are of course a host of other steps required to fulfill your dream of having your own business card online. We present below the main steps, from choosing your domain name to publishing your project, including the design and content.

Step 1: choose a domain name and register it

At the start of your project, choosing your domain is a point that should, in principle, be quick and easy to accomplish. In practice, however, it could turn out to be more complex than expected. This is part of a name short and punchy that will match your own company name. On the other hand, the desired domain name and address must be available.

As soon as you have found a suitable domain, you must register this address. To do this, find a suitable domain provider who will allow you to activate the desired domain and offer you a corresponding plan.

Step 2: programming and design of the real estate website

Once the domain is registered, you can now get started with the technical and artistic design of your real estate agent website. We have already covered the programming possibilities extensively in this article. However, this step obviously involves more than just writing the code or having it written by a service provider.

Before you start creating the pages, you’ll need a well-thought-out concept of how you want your online presence to function along with the design.

On one hand, you must ensure that you offer your site visitors the best user experience possible. The fluidity of navigation is of paramount importance here. In addition to the user experience, on the other hand, you need to create visual hooks in the overall interface design to attract users to your website.

Step 3: integrate the content into the real estate website

With the technical framework in place, you can now turn to the core element of your online presence: At the start of this article, I told you what content your real estate agent website must contain.

The design of the various pages – such as the home page, the property presentation page, the spaces reserved for sellers or lessors or the contact page – is left to your entire discretion. You can for example use individual contact forms to reach different target groups (tenants, buyers, lessors, sellers, etc.) in the same way or add value to your website with a personalized blog on the real estate sector.

Another useful option could be a separate area for connecting existing customers.

However, the main content of a real estate agent’s website is and remains the presentation of the properties you offer. Professional photos are as indispensable as informative. The use of videos, slideshows and interactive elements, which make it possible for example to visualize the plan of the property, can also promote the success of your activity as a real estate agent.

Step 4: publish, promote and optimize your real estate agent website

Once your real estate agent website is created and the contents written, you can finally publish your new business card on the web. However, check beforehand that you are satisfied with the final product and that all the elements (navigation, buttons, links, forms, etc.) work as desired.

You can of course make changes to your website at any time once online, but major lapses in user guidance will have a negative effect on visitor satisfaction and the search engine rating of your site.

Lastly, a real estate agent website will also permit you to: add your domain address to your flyers, business cards and official emails and promote your website on social media like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter if you have a page on these media.