Entegral Blog

In keeping with its commitment to help rebuild the property industry and to bring about a lasting change, Gumtree is offering an option to upload all your listings via Entegral for free  from 1 June onwards! The functionality for this is already set up and by simply contacting your account manager you can get your listings feeding through today! From 1 June 2020 , Entegral clients will be able to automatically feed all their listings to Gumtree for free   – adding massive additional exposure without adding budget pressure! Gumtree South Africa is committed to helping rebuild the country’s property industry. While the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically suppressed activity and the ability to trade, you can significantly boost your leads ahead of a return to trading conditions. Whether your listings are Sales, Rentals, Residential, Commercial, or a combination of these, you have nothing to lose and over 1m monthly property visitors to gain! (An optional extra to automatically...

Invitation Homes, a joint venture between the Rabie Property Group and Kloof Capital South Africa, recently launched a brand new responsive website powered by our industry-leading Flex framework . Our team of highly skilled developers worked closely with the design team of Invitation Homes to create a custom-built Flex website for them.  The site is not only branded according to their corporate identity but is also armed with leading, custom-developed technology which will enable them to provide an online presence for their business. The website embraces responsive technology, secure browsing, and optimal UX design to deliver a unique browsing experience that is based on the latest design and industry trends. A lot of attention has been paid to make the property search experience as fast as possible. The website’s custom-built search functionality allows a user to search according to the various developments in particular Cape Town areas owned by the groups, ensuring that vi...

by Adriaan Grove, Entegral Are you an estate agency looking for a fully customized website? You've probably received some eye watering quotes or think a customized website is reserved for large franchise groups? How things used to work until now Nowadays, most real estate website solutions give you a very limited choice in terms of customization. In most cases, one template is offered where the home page and overall colour scheme can be tweaked to create a more unique look and feel. This customization, unfortunately, disappears when you start to drill down to the sub-pages and realize your website is an exact duplicate of your competitor's. This is done with reason, as web development companies need to keep costs low, and having one set of code to maintain helps a great deal. Fully customized websites need to be built from scratch, which in turn means a large upfront investment, time, and associated delivery risk. It certainly puts a damper on any creative ideas or uniqu...

Start with a responsive base Are you weighing up your options on a service provider for your real estate business' website? Ask yourself one simple question - will my website be responsive and automatically adapt to any screen size device? This really is one of the most important factors to consider in 2019 when you need to stay at the forefront of technology. Google recommends responsive design for a better user experience, something our team envisioned and has perfected over the years. Customize the front end, the way you want Flex real estate websites are responsive , and now provides a higher degree of customization for agencies wishing to do something different to the limited stock templates sites we see these days. We now offer 5 new unique templates to choose from and offer a greater degree of freedom to customise them further to accommodate your look & feel. If that is not enough, fully customized websites can be developed using our industry first real estate devel...

Creating a professional online presence has never been more important and to ensure that we offer the very best to our clients, we continuously work on not just the way your website works but how it is presented to visitors. With that in mind, our designers and developers have made it possible for clients to choose from new themes that adhere to the latest design trends without losing what makes our Flex product unique in its offering. As always all our websites are responsive, hosted on the cloud and backed by our unrivaled tech to produce a 24/7 lead generating machine. Starter Theme Our Starter theme no-frills, no-fuss cost-effective real estate website solution you have been looking for. We have worked tirelessly to create a product that would offer real estate agents the perfect base to get started from in the digital landscape. Our new Starter theme boasts with all the basics you would need to get started and will be available as either the Normal Starter theme or as ...

The word “marketing” conjure up images of complicated strategies and pricey campaigns - however, there is a way you can market your real estate business without spending a dime! We take a look at our top choices in our latest blog post. Video marketing You would be losing out on a large audience if you ignore the proliferation of video over the past few years. Jump on the bandwagon and start engaging in some video marketing. Begin by setting up a YouTube channel. You don’t have to create Hollywood-esque movies – just a simple video blog will do. If you’ve got something useful to say, then say it on video. It also makes for highly shareable, marketable content – put it on your website, push it out on social, and include it in your emails (more about email marketing later) Post to Facebook It goes without saying that social media is one of the most valuable marketing tools out there. And it’s free. This doesn’t mean you should sign up for every platform but rather focus on ...

Mobile traffic is not new and in years gone by a mobile version of a desktop website would have been enough, however, in the age of smartphones, tablets and an agile society that wants information right now responsive design is the only way forward. You can argue that a mobi-site is suffice for your business but you would be wrong. Not only is responsive design a key element in a strong SEO strategy, it is also a deciding factor for many consumers on whether or not they will make use of your services. Here are the latest statistics that prove that you can no longer wait to switch your site over to a responsive website: As mentioned before - mobile traffic is not new, in fact  Statista has found that it has been ahead since 2015, however with the technology behind smartphones improving turning mobile phones into mini laptops and the increase in mobile traffic, websites that aren’t responsive are losing progressively larger portions of their audience each year. The ...

By offering competitive industry tools, supporting an agent's personal brand, and investing in a collaborative workplace culture, agencies can make themselves indispensable to their agents and future talent as well. Invest in technology that makes agents better According to an Inman report, real estate agents overwhelmingly support tech tools provided by their agencies. The vast majority of agents at franchised agencies and independent agencies use tech products either on a daily basis or at the very least, a few times a week. Additionally, they have come to rely on their agencies sharing the costs of these technologies. Investing in technology that aids in their productivity will help you retain your current agents and will also become a great selling point for agents considering joining your agency. Here are a few examples of technology that will aid in productivity in your real estate agency: Document Management Contracts, inspection checklists and other real estat...

You have been in the game for years and people in the areas you operate in know your name - so does it matter if you are still using the branding you had when you started 10 years ago? Two sides of the logo Perception matters and in our visual driven society an outdated logo or branding can hurt your chances of scoring business from the younger generation entering the property market. It is not just clients you might lose - you might be missing out on hiring the next big real estate rockstar because they don’t like the image you project with your outdated branding. However, there is something to be said about staying consistent throughout the years. Take a look at Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Nike as examples. You know exactly how their branding looks because it has stayed consistent throughout the years. So what are you supposed to do? Rebrand or stay the same? Meeting in the middle In most cases you don’t need to rebrand completely - all you really need is to refresh your c...

If you are looking to increase your business profile and by extension, your revenue, a large part of your marketing strategy should focus on healthy lead generation. Before you even start to generate leads, you’ll want to organize the ones you have. Leads should be segmented based on behaviour — one-size doesn’t fit all in 2018. Make sure that whatever lead nurturing techniques you are using resonate with the correct audience. Setting up a paid social campaign is a great way to get visitors to your site, and an easy-to-navigate listing page with a one-click form is an excellent way to capture a lead, but what’s next? If you don’t follow up with the lead, all the effort you put into securing it will be for nought. Segment your leads, provide them with customized content, connect with them on social and maintain an appropriate level of interaction with them. By doing this, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals. If the new year snuck up on you and you haven’t had...

A recent firmware upgrade to Matterport 's existing technology has reduced the amount of time it takes to capture footage when creating an immersive 3D listing tour. The firmware update increases the speed at which the camera rotates, allowing more square footage to be scanned in less time. The company published a comparison video that shows a new Matterport scan finishing 50 percent faster than it did prior to the upgrade. Matterport vice president, Mark Tepper, told Inman in an email that "real estate agents who own a camera and choose to do their own scanning can now save time, getting in and out of a property listing in a fraction of the time it would have taken previously.” He added that customers using Matterport Pro2 and an iPad Pro should also be able to capture a space in half the time it previously took. Customers wanting to try the update can register on Matterport’s website. The update is free for current customers and requires no new equipment. Tepper ...

Social media is a powerful marketing tool and with these tips and tricks, you will be able to improve your social media engagement this year. Marketing yourself or your agency on social media in 2018 should no longer just be about reaching a large audience, rather about having people reacting to your posts with not just likes but with much more valuable comments and shares. We take a look at how you can improve your social media engagement here. Share valuable content This goes hand-in-hand with our usual advice of writing fresh content for your website, at least once a week. Not only is it good for your search engine optimisation (SEO) it is also good for your social media engagement. These are the five marks your content should hit to make it valuable (and perfect for social media): Is it helpful to your audience? Are you actually solving their real estate problems or answering their property related questions? Is it saving time? Are you ensuring that your readers can ...

The digital landscape is fast moving and ever changing, and a stale digital marketing strategy won’t cut it anymore. We take a look at a few things you can do now to spruce up your strategy to ensure you don’t fall behind and miss out on valuable website traffic in 2018. Stop stuffing content with keywords This might have worked in the past, but search engines have changed dramatically and this won’t help you at all. You might even end up hurting your business as search engines might flag your page as spam. Keywords are still important but search engines (and humans) prefer long tail keywords. Long tail keywords are those three and four keyword phrases which are very, very specific to what you are selling. This means content with the phrase ‘Lonehill property for sale’ will fare better than simply ‘property for sale’ when you want to ensure you are getting better ranking in personalised search results. Step-up your social game Everyone is on some form of social media...

Despite the rise of e-commerce, the majority of shopping still happens locally. A study from May 2014 showed that 72% of consumers who searched for local info on a smartphone visited stores within eight kilometres of home - and this year data shows consumers stay even closer. So what does this mean for your marketing efforts? As a real estate agent, we are all trying to become the neighbourhood expert and one of the ways to establish yourself as an expert is by popping up in search results. There are two ways to achieve this - making sure your agency has a Google My Business listing and by ensuring you are providing vital area information on your website . Here we take a look at how to approach hyper-local advertising and here we find out more about the importance of Google My Business. Local agencies must adjust their marketing reach to account for the small radius of their audience. However, that audience might include local residents, commuters who work nearby or out-o...

Our creative thinking is not just applied to our industry-leading tech to make your responsive real estate website load faster, deliver more accurate results and provide you with a powerful online marketing tool. We also apply it to design better-looking websites to ensure your site doesn’t just work great but also looks great. With that in mind, we have updated and revamped one of the variations of our Elegant theme . The upgrade has enhanced the way the featured properties are displayed on your Flex responsive website - making for an overall better user experience. Current clients with this variation of the theme will now see the change on their website, while new clients will automatically have their featured properties displayed in this format. As always all our Entegral Flex real estate websites are responsive and backed by the cloud and managed by our Office Management System. Take a look at the theme in action by visiting some of the sites already using this variation on t...

The holiday season is upon us and with that comes a well-deserved break, but don’t let your news section go stale in the time you’re away. Write your blogs ahead of time and schedule them to publish on your website. Scheduling your blog Before we cover a few topics to get through the holiday season, we take a look at how you can schedule your posts to be published on your website. It really is as easy as selecting a date and time from your OMS dashboard. Once you have written your post, select the date and time as shown below and hit the save button. That is all you have to do! Real estate blog topics for the holidays End of year recap and an overview of what to expect in the coming year Create a year-in-review broken down by neighbourhood, type of home or other criteria. If you want to get fancy, you might create an infographic or chart for easy sharing as well. You can use our suburb reports to find the data you are looking for! Local lights and events Inclu...

No doubt you’re providing the best service, but how do you ensure a quality experience translates into a positive review online? Getting a customer to take the time to share his or her thoughts can seem challenging, but there are a number of strategies you can utilize to increase the odds that reviews will be posted. Why do I need online reviews? Consumers are increasingly relying on the Internet to obtain information about businesses. Reviews not only serve as a guide to customers but also provide free advertising. Your customers can be valuable references for people they don’t even know, just by posting their experiences on your public profiles. Get followers on social media Having a following on social media speaks wonders for your brand. A strong digital following shows that customers are satisfied with your business and more importantly, they want to continue that relationship. After you’ve worked with someone, you should think about reaching out on social media to thank...

While online tools can serve as an excellent supplement to any real estate agency, they are by no means a replacement for traditional quality service. Here are five key components of good service that will never go out of style: 1. Go the extra mile Unfortunately, many real estate agencies these days do not make customer service a priority. As a result, they end up having mediocre service that leaves clients and customers frustrated. Therefore, if you choose to prioritize good service, you will differentiate yourself from the competition and customers will appreciate you for it. A little extra effort goes a long way, so show your clients that you care, and you will be creating a positive relationship that could last a lifetime. 2. Maintain strong internal communication If you don’t have your act together within the company, it will be immediately obvious to the outside world. So in order to achieve good customer service, start from the inside out. The first step is to organize you...

A study by Redfin asked the question - what is the true benefit of professional quality listing photographs? The answer was that listing a home with professional quality photos not only sell the home faster but for more money. Here are the top mistakes to avoid to ensure you have the best photos of your listing. Don’t be smart Yes, your smartphone has a great camera...but, not for real estate photography. Put the phone back and get an entry-level digital camera. Your listings will thank you. This is an actual listing photo | source Play with the camera or sign-up for a course to ensure you get the most out of your camera. Your business will thank you because you are not investing in yourself but investing in lead conversion. Why lead conversion? Who wouldn’t want to work with an agent that puts that much effort into marketing a home? Tell a story The Entegral Office Management System (OMS) allows you to organise your photos in a specific order - use this to your benefit ...

You’ll never generate more leads or attract more visitors to your website if it isn’t credible - but what determines the credibility of your website and what influences it? In our latest blog, we take a look at what influences your credibility and what you can do to build and maintain it. Visitors are skeptical from the get-go Scientists from Microsoft Research analyzed page-visit duration for 205,873 web pages (with more than 10,000 visits to each page). Using data from a popular web browser plugin, they were able to find the answer They found that 99 percent of web pages have a negative ageing effect*. When website visitors hit your landing page, they’re skeptical. They’re quickly scanning the page looking for a reason to abandon your site. Get your website visitors past the 30-second mark and they’ll spend a lot more time on your site. So how do you get them to stay longer? Credibility! They are looking for signals that show your organization is reliable, trustworthy, a...