Entegral Blog

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...

Dear Clients, There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic is putting a damper on economic activity and have now resulted in a national lockdown in South Africa to help save lives. This will undoubtedly have a direct impact on the real estate market and agents specifically. Business as usual has been disrupted and working from home is the new normal for everyone in the next few weeks. At Entegral business operations continue as normal. We've been operating a remote work force for the past 5 years so there is no disruption in our service to you. Our team is actively busy working on new features and tweaking existing systems as usual. Recently, our South African partner portals have stepped up to assist agents as follows: Property24 will not charge for services for the month of April; Private Property will reduced subscription fees by 25% for 3 months; Property360 has recently partnered with Entegral to offer a reduced subscription fee for a new account; Although Entegr...

Entegral is now making it easier and more cost effective to launch any type of real estate portal, anywhere in the world, using our new  portal-as-a-service platform .  The service provides a quicker way to get a new portal to market with a highly optimized, tried and tested platform. It removes the complexities and therefor the risk normally associated with setting up a new real estate portal under a predictable cost structure. The solution is perfect for: Real estate organisations like MLS's who'd like to launch a local portal with their members. Smaller real estate groups who'd like to establish a hyperlocal presence in a particular region. Larger franchise groups looking to roll out a national or international brands. Entrepeneurs looking to launch a real estate portal and associated services in their own country. The costs benefits can be quite significant compared to developing your own portal from scratch while providing cutting edge features by default...

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 ...

Finding worthy topics to write about can be a difficult task, especially if you are already managing a very busy day. But it doesn’t have to be - all it takes is a bit of planning! Before get to the actual blog writing part, we have to mention that for most people browsing social media from their phones, a responsive site is a must. If you are writing compelling articles, why wouldn’t you want to make it accessible to anyone no matter on what mobile device they are? You can find out more about our responsive packages by visiting www.entegral.net/flex and more about the importance of responsive design here: Mobile-First Indexing Plan ahead To ensure you have some copy ready for the year, plan ahead. Think seasonally and around holidays. Provide gardening tips, or winter home maintenance guide. Home safety around the holidays is another seasonal topic that is always welcomed. Write these articles now, that way you have them ready to publish when the time comes around. Weekl...

As we reach the fourth quarter of 2017, it’s time to start thinking about the year ahead and what to expect from SEO in 2018. Here are some of the trends you should be keeping an eye on in order to stay ahead of the curve. Voice search and digital assistants  Voice search technology presents a big opportunity for changing the way we communicate and process information. The rise of digital assistants has presented a growing market that can change the way search queries are performed. According to Google, 1 out of 5 searches already come from voice queries. The rise of voice search brings out the need to focus on more long-tail search keywords and a natural language that matches the user’s conversational tone. As accuracy improves in digital assistants, there will be more people using voice search from their mobile devices, seeking for quick and relevant answers. It becomes important to research the voice user intent will provide more accurate results, helping the algorit...

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...

We are going to say it again - content is king - and Google rewards high-quality content with better ranking positions. But just what makes content ‘high-quality’ according to Google? We take a look in our latest blog. The answer to what makes for high-quality content is not new, however, it is something that is not implemented on websites often enough. Google’s style guides reveal that high-quality pages — the kind that ranks well in search — are a combination of high-quality code, content and UX (user experience.) We here at Entegral have you covered in terms of high-quality code - with ongoing updates and tweaks to ensure your website runs at its very best . The content, however, is up to you, and with these tips from the style guide, you will be sporting some impressive content in no time. Here is a quick overview of Google’s Developer Documentation Style Guide tips for content creators: Use a friendly, conversational tone with a clear purpose — somewhere between the ...

At the latest Apple event, the launch of ‘Animojis’ is more than just a new fun way to communicate, it is yet another definitive sign that brands (and real estate agents) should get serious about augmented and virtual reality. “Augmented reality mobile content will go beyond gaming, as we have seen before and offers new ways to visualize content and personalise mobile experiences, expanding to industries such as retail, sports, and entertainment,” predicted Roman Taranov, CEO of RGK Mobile. “Advertising will follow suit, taking on new formats and offering an immersive user experience.” Such a scenario is getting easier and easier to imagine. The International Data Corporation predicted in February that total spending on AR and virtual reality will reach nearly $14 billion by the end of 2017. “The possibilities are endless and range from Minority Report-style programmatic outdoor advertising to superimposing sporting events and concerts on top of consumers’ living rooms,” added ...

As real estate agents, you have a unique insight into one of the most taxing aspects client's face when they buy a new home. Buying a home is already a stressful event and all the packing and organising can add to the stress levels. This creates a great opportunity for real estate agents to set themselves apart from the rest - help your clients solve some of the biggest headaches and you’ll be creating loyal brand advocates and clients! Firstly, before the move even starts, go right back to the beginning. Declutter the home before listing the house will not only lighten the load later but will help when taking the listing photographs and also help prospective buyers easier imagine their own possessions in a space. Here are some more tips: Shed and win! Help your clients by suggesting selling some of their unwanted things. The money raised can help cover moving costs! There are many platforms to help people sell their items - from dedicated advertising sites like Gumtree to...

Personalised search has been around since 2005 and there are a number of factors that influence a user’s search engine results page. We take a look at some factors that influence them and how you can make it work for your real estate agency. Factors Country: As with real estate, location is a major factor. Users from different countries will see different results. Think about the search term “football” for example - in the US you will get search results for American Football while in the U.K your results will all relate to what we call soccer.  Locality: Digging deeper, Google goes much further than just country . Results are tailored using city level. This is all made easier with mobile technology and that most people use their smart devices for browsing the internet. Therefore, typing in ‘real estate agents near me’ will deliver the closest agency on a city level instead of country level.  Web History: The goal of Google’s personalized search results is to p...

Believe us when we say, Content is still very much King. However, content as purely SEO is definitely dead. Today, SEO means creating content for users. The idea that SEO should be created for users and not search engines seems counter productive but it isn't. A decade ago, SEO content was about keyword density and not entirely about the quality of your content or user intent. However, times have changed and many search engine marketers no longer refer to it as search engine optimisation but search experience optimisation. What does this mean? Before we dive into the technical side we have to look at why SEO is no longer the SEO that we remember. These days a search query, such as ‘property for sale in cape town,’ is often the starting point of a journey. In this case, the user might type in the phrase, find a real estate website, find a house they like, then they need to find out as much as they can about buying a house, then maybe a bond originator...and so forth..wha...

The real estate game has always been about building lasting business relationships and in the digital age, this has become not only an in-person reality but also a digital actuality. Word-of-mouth marketing has (and still is) one of the most important tools a real estate agent has to gain new clients and in the digital landscape, word-of-mouth marketing presents itself as recommendations and testimonials. So how do you get your online reputation to match your offline reputation? We take a look at a few ways you build a formidable online reputation. Make it easy for people to give reviews Facebook remains one of the biggest social networks and also the easiest way for your clients to review and recommend your services. Therefore it is vital for you to have a Facebook business page for your agency and to display your social media icons on your website. Your Entegral responsive Flex website makes it easy for you to display your social media icons to ensure visitors can find...

If you need a website that can not only showcase your property stock but also provide vital information or helpful calculators to potential home buyers than our Flex responsive website solutions are just what you need. www.kristall.properties For Kristall Properties, their Vision-themed Flex website is a one-stop solution for all their business needs. Not only are they able to advertise their stock in areas such as Woodland Hills, Somerton Estate and Wild Olive Estate they can also provide vital information in their property news section, and help potential clients work out their affordability or bond repayments with easy to use calculators. They also boast with an interactive suburb map search to further enhance the way people search for properties. Backed by countless hours of development, their Flex powered website can do all of this no matter what device you are browsing on. This means that they do not need an extra mobile website and that the website will adapt to the d...

For Pretoria based real estate agents, Arlon Properties, keeping up with the growing student accommodation demand is vital to their business. Established in 1991, this agency has made it their business to supply rentals and investment properties in the vicinity of the University of Pretoria and with their new Flex responsive website , they will be able to keep up with the mobile generation. www.arlon.co.za Backed by hours of innovative development and groundbreaking Cloud Infrastructure their new Vision-themed website allows them to put the focus on what is important - their property stock in one of the most in demand property nodes in Pretoria. The key feature of their new website is its responsive technology that allows the site to adjust and adapt to any screen size it is viewed from, without compromising the aesthetic and most importantly functionality of the website. This eliminates the need for an additional mobile website and also assists with SEO. Other features incl...

According to a recent survey by U.S based brokerage Redfin ,  one in three home buyers are making offers sight-unseen. What does this mean for real estate agents and the future of home buying? With the advancement of technology and the competitive nature of the real estate industry (and market), it is becoming clear that home buyers are starting to make use of alternatives to not only find their ideal home but also buy their new home, and the real estate agents that adapt are the ones that will thrive. While the survey is based on the U.S marketplace, this is much more than just a market shift - this is a generational shift.  The thirty-three percent of people that bought a property sight-unseen in 2016 is a massive 19 percent higher than 2015 and 21 percent from two years ago. “Millennials were more than three times as likely as their parents to make offers sight-unseen, with 41 percent having said they had done so, compared to 30 percent of Gen Xers and only 12 p...

Most real estate agents wouldn’t even think twice about hiring a professional photographer/videographer for their high-end luxury listings - but should they consider hiring a professional writer for those listings? Buying a home for most people is not just a financial decision but also an emotional one and targeting those emotions in theory should help you sell your listing. But does a listing description really matter enough that you need to hire a writer to help you tell a story about your luxury listing? According to a 2016 study by Zillow, the word “luxurious” added 8.2% to the sales price of lower-tier homes for sale. Among higher-tier homes, the word “captivating” added 6.5% - so it would seem that the right words do matter. Listing features and square meters does help a seller tick off whether or not a property is a good fit for them but it tells them nothing of the experience of living in the property - for family buyers, for example, knowing that the property is in a...

A visitor already in the market for your services is always beneficial - they are more attentive and it is easier to convert them into clients - but how do you get them to your website? We take a look at some strategies to implement into your marketing strategy. AdWords A relatively cost-effective solution, AdWords will allow users to find you when they search for ‘real estate agents in Pretoria’ for example. It is all about keyword targeting and we have taken out the guesswork with our Search Engine Marketing packages that will help target buyers and sellers at the point of search and from there directing them to your website. We have been doing this since Google AdWords was launched and we have been growing (and gaining knowledge) ever since, ensuring you get the best bang for your buck. Email Marketing Email marketing is one of the most valuable tools in your marketing toolbox because the sole fact that people have opted into your list is an expression of intere...

You might not think that your website has a large impact on your business but you would be wrong - perception matters and outdated websites could spell trouble for your real estate business. An outdated website - which includes not having a responsive website - creates a negative perception of your business. We take a look at some of these perceptions and how you could address the issues before they affect your bottom line. They are going out of business An outdated website creates the perception that your real estate business is going out of business - this goes as far as updated news or press releases displayed on your website. If you have old news or press releases on your website, customers are going to think that you are either going out of business or even worse that you are already out of business. Luckily, with Entegral’s Office Management System (OMS) you can easily load news and press releases that will feed to your website. You can even schedule the news so you don...

Operating from the vibrant Windhoek , Azandra Properties is the latest Namibian real estate agency to launch their very own Flex powered responsive website. Visit Azandra Properties' website This boutique real estate agency, under the management of Sandra van Rooyen who comes with a wealth of property knowledge, has not only launched their new Elegant-themed Flex website that allows their listings to be showcased on any device from desktops to smartphones without ever losing functionality, but they also signed up for our Office Management System (OMS) as their core management system of listings and contacts. This means that they can feed and advertise their listings not only to their own website but also to other property portals such as MyProperty Namibia . Visit our website to find out how you can have your own responsive real estate website and office management system setup.