Over the past few months we have been asked the question do real estate template websites work ? What is a real estate template website ? To answer these questions it is important to define template website. When referring to a template website there are two images that come to mind. Programming code that is shared and design. Websites that share common programming code to return property results can be refereed to as template websites. For example if a company is providing 10 template idx websites all ten agents share the same code that generates the property listings. In a custom idx solution the code that generates the property listings is replicated ten times. As you might imagine the custom idx solution gives an agent the most flexibility.
Some agents refer to template websites as the design of the website. It is important to understand that all websites use some form of template or theme to give the website its look. However, template websites generally have the same look and feel. Not a good idea if you plan on building a long term brand.
Do template websites work ?
It is important to understand that template websites do work as lead generators but the agents ability to add custom features and ideas is extremely limited and if not impossible. Also the companies that provide these websites are in business to replicate websites fast. Its more about quantity versus quality. Is is very common for agents to get quoted over 10k from these template companies to build a custom website. Why ? Because the foundation of their business is built to run thousands of similar websites not custom websites.
Template websites can work but you have to understand what you are buying.
SEO – Template websites are generally wrapped or iframed into a website. Iframes and SEO is like oil and water they do not mix. Can you get an iframed website ranked ? Yes but not as easy as you can with a solution that offers indexable properties. SEO is a fixed cost so if you are going to spend the money on seo, make sure you take advantage of every available technology to help achieve your goals. Stay away from iframe and wrapped idx solutions.
Custom Built Features – Custom functionality is hard to achieve in template websites. Due to the way template websites are built, it is almost impossible to build custom features into the idx. The template website is good for an agent who wants little or no involvement with the site, however this is generally not a good idea. Keep in mind the competition is fierce on the internet and its important to build new features that will give you a competitive advantage.
Flexibility – A template system is a spoon fed solution. Dont expect the flexibility that you will find in a custom solution. Building on open source CMS such as Joomla and WordPress can help agents achieve new functionality without the high costs of custom development.
Conclusion – Real estate agents looking for a turn key solution that can be built fast and cheap should research the template website. It is possible to drive leads, however without a true value proposition agents might find themselves wasting precious marketing dollars. The custom website is for those real estate agents who want the power to adopt to the the changing market and to create a unique value. This requires more input from the agent but the results can be night and day. For some a web presence might represent 1 or 2 leads per year. For others it might mean driving an entire brokerage office from the internet. Either way the internet is proving to be a great lead generating medium for real estate agents.
