Does anyone have an estimate of the cost for building a website and marketing it in search engines? I have spoken with two companies and gotten similar estimates, with a start up cost of between $6000-$8000. Both are highly reputable companies. Thanks!

Costs of websites all depend on what you put into them, how much content you provide vs. they provide for you and what you want the website to do.

Your estimate sounds really high, based upon my experience (I got a quote for $500 for a fully functioning real estate agent site), but without knowing what this $6,000 site will do, I don't think anyone can really comment on whether that's a good price.

That is WAY more than you need to spend. Why re-invent the wheel? You are going to be paying these companies to build you a listing database and contact management system (at least I hope that is where some of the money is going) when there are systems out there already that totally meet the needs of real estate agents. Designers often spend a whole pile of time on the look and feel of the site when that is not worth wasting your money on.

I know there are people in this forum who don't believe in template sites. But I have one and we love it. When generate tons of business from it - 5-10 leads a day. We're spending a bit of money on Google Adwords getting traffic to the site, but we also do quite well on the search engines without spending a penny.

No matter what you choose, your website will not generate business on its own. You have to get people to the site, get them to contact you, respond right away, and have a system in place to stay in touch with them until they are ready to buy or sell.

Our site is through Point2Agent, you can sign up for a free one here: http://agent.point2.com/selfreg/ColdwellBankerJohnstonSelfReg.asp
but you have to upgrade to a paid site to get all the functionality you need.

Hope that helps!
Sara

Hey, you [usually] get what you pay for! Template sites are fine... if you want to look exactly like 50 other agents in your town and 10,000 other agents nationwide. And if you're not into being creative or writing original material to make your site stand out amongst all of your competitors, template sites come with dozens and sometimes hundreds of pages of material... already written. The exact same material as is on 50 other agents in your town and 10,000 other agents nationwide. Generic, mindless information you can find anywhere.

You spend so much time, money, energy and effort in trying to make yourself look better, more knowledgable and more qualified than the next guy. A canned website will go a long way to negate that - as you look EXACTLY like everyone else. Except maybe "theme A" in green with a boy picture instead of "theme B" in blue with a girl picture.

Get some quotes from several companies. You don't have to spend $8000, but for most people, spending $2-$4000 should get you a decent, custom site that will present your image the way you probably would like to, and give you a decent number of pages so as to make somewhat of a dent in your marketplace in regards to search engines.

I agree with RealEstateWebGuy -

You don't need to spend $8000 on a website, although you typically DO get what you pay for, so you could get a really well done site for that kind of money.

On the flip side, you don't want to spend less than a couple thousand either. If someone is promising you a listings database, management software, etc. for $1500, it's probably going to be pretty half-ass.

While template (or "cookie cutter") sites tend to have a bad rep, I'm actually thinking of starting a full-service realtor network, based on a yearly subscription model.

When someone opens an account, they can pick their design (or have a completely customized one done for some fee), then build their microsite using our *really* nice content management system. This obviously would include a listings database, photo management, search, dynamic mapping, and some other bells and whistles I won't mention here... wink wink.

I'm a web developer at an advertising agency (with a handful of incredibly talented artists who are on-board)... so this would be a pretty high-end project... NOT the average "insert name here" kind of trash...

Would anyone here be even remotely interested in something like this?

CHRIS

Thanks for all your comments! The one company I am leaning towards actually does quite a bit for the money. They provide me with a website as well as an entire marketing plan that focuses on marketing me as a Realtor, but also making me unique. They include a lot of "extras" that most companies don't seem focus on. I am going to continue researching for awhile before I make any decsions.

That actually sounds good. There are two components to success on the web. The site itself, and the most important part - the MARKETING of the site. This is where most people fall flat. A website is a billboard in the middle of nowhere. If you don't have a PLAN to get people to that site (and that doesn't mean putting your URL on your business card and in your ads), you won't be successful. It's that simple. And that's why template sites don't cut it. It's just a cookie cutter site. There's really no ongoing marketing plan associated with it.

What are you getting for your $6000? Do you get an excellent listing database that automatically forwards your listings to other sites like Yahoo Classifieds and Google Base? Do you get Google mapping and Google Earth? Do you get a completely customizable drip marketing system to stay in touch with your leads? Do you get an RSS feed for your listings? Can you add and change content on your site whenever you like? Can you show MLS listings on your site through IDX or VOW? Can you track how many times your listings have been viewed, and who is coming to your site and where they are from? The list of features I'm getting on my site are endless, and have a look....(www.edmonton-homes.ca) it doesn't look like any other sites out there because I've completely customized it. That's the beauty of a template based site.... you get all the features you could need, and you can customize it as much as you like. It's your money though...

Thanks again for the comments. I know I do not want a template site. No matter how much you "customize" a template, to me it still looks like a template. I would rather spend extra to have a site that stands out in the crowd. I can have a custom site that functions just as well as any template I've seen out there, and it will be unique on top of it. And so I will continue my research. Thanks!

Now that's very funny coming from a guy that plagiarized pages and pages of my real estate SEO web site. And yes, I still have copies of the source code and screen shots.

Last time I checked your site many of the pages are just derivative works of my pages - still a copyright violation. Hopefully you have changed it all by now.

You will find that you often get what you pay for, but upwards of 6-8000 is rediculous.

You will find many cheap templated companies and for free they offer a basic website that you fill out the information for.

A custom website could run you about $2000, but it will be unique to you.

On top of that, you must put a marketing plan in place. Building a website will not get you the traffic you might expect. Probably only friends and family at first. SEO will help get you up in the search engines and paid advertising will definetly help. SEO should cost around $250-$500 /month. There are different optimization methods, and I would suggest organic SEO.

Removed more spam

I think that $6000 is way to high for a web site even with the marketing. If you are looking for a fully custom site with nice flash to catch the eye and draw people in I would say that would be closer to $3500. Just my thoughts dont really know all the features they are offering.

As for the marketing I would want to know what they are going to do to market your site and get more of an itemized bill on it. This way you know where you money is going and you can make sure it is going to be best used to increase the traffic to your site. Adwords are going to be a good way to go and are usually not that costly.

asking what the cost of a website should be is like asking " how long is a piece of string"

All websites are NOT created equally...period....the vast majority are little more than billboards in the desert.

There should be a place in your marketing plan for several types of websites. My image site, www.MissSanLeandro.com is an example of site that I have paid thousands for. It helps "seal the deal" with potential clients and reinforces my professional status with my current clients, sphere, etc.

I also use template sites, www.BuyingSanLeandro.com which is great for creating instant leads. These leads will often take quite a while to cultivate, but having several sources from your transactions is the way to make it all work.

Best of luck,