A website for your real estate appraisal business is critical. Your website shows potential clients the services that you offer, the area that you service, and ways to contact you. Without providing this information, how would someone know that you are the right appraiser for their needs?
If you are like most real estate appraisers, you assume there is only one option for getting a website. It is understandable that finding how to get a website can be a challenge, so going with that one option checks the box of getting a website. That is great news for that one company, but not necessarily the best news for you.
Fortunately, there is more than one option. We will briefly discuss the pros and cons of each option. We recommend Option 4.
Option 1. XSites website from a la mode
The most obvious option is an XSites website from a la mode (aka CoreLogic). For many appraisers, XSites may seem like a great option because:
- It’s easy to bundle their website with the other services from a la mode. This can be a very convenient benefit.
- Appraisers assume XSites is the only option. In fact, a la mode’s website says that XSites are “the only websites built specifically for appraisers”, which is clearly a false statement (See Option 4 below).
Some potential drawbacks to XSites are that:
- A la mode is not a website and marketing company. They’re an appraisal services company.
- A la mode is owned by CoreLogic. CoreLogic is a data company. There is a lot of data flowing through your website about each of your visitors, let alone a visitor who completes a contact form on your website.
- A la mode owns the website. The appraiser does not. They also host it. Is this a bad thing? From Terms of Use on the XSites websites they sell: “The works of authorship contained in this Web Site, including but not limited to all design, text and images, are owned, except as otherwise expressly stated, by ALM or its licensors.”
- The website of every appraiser looks almost identical, with very similar (or identical) content.
- Ghostwriting. Unless ghostwriting is done very well, there is a chance that Google would consider this tactic detrimental to ranking your website. Google is very smart, and penalizes websites that attempt to outsmart it.
Option 2. Build Your Own Website
Building your website can be the least expensive way to get a website for your real estate appraisal business. However, it takes time, regardless of how user friendly the website builder is.
The easiest tools are all-in-one website builders, such as Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, and GoCentral from GoDaddy. There are many other website builders, but these are the most common.
The more challenging option is to build your website on WordPress. This requires technical knowledge, and time to invest to learn the platform and build your website. A well done WordPress website will generally outperform a website builder.
Option 3. Custom Website Developer
Go ahead and Google “website developer”, and you will be overwhelmed by the quantity and variety to choose from. This is probably the reason most people go with XSites from a la mode.
Chances are that a website developer doesn’t know the needs of the real estate appraisal industry. And you will spend countless hours getting quotes, with lots of terminology that means nothing to you, with price ranges all over the map.
It is possible to find a great website developer to make your website. It just takes time to find the right one for you.
Option 4. Website from Appraiser Sidekick
We also make “websites built specifically for appraisers”. (To quote a la mode)
Your website will be built on WordPress, hosted on a fast servers coupled with a content delivery network (CDN), technically optimized for SEO, we submit directly to Google and all other search engines, and so much more.
Even better, we won’t own your website – you will.
As additional services, we also offer copywriting for your entire website and the creation of your Google My Business profile.
The process of getting your new website is easy, and it will be tailored to your business. If you currently have an XSites website, we can use your existing domain name, and will redirect all of your pages so that you will build on any Google ranking that you currently have.
Click here to learn more about a website from Appraiser Sidekick.
Conclusion
There are many ways to get a website for your real estate appraisal business. A la mode is right that there aren’t many options for websites specifically for the real estate appraisal industry, but they’re wrong in saying that they’re the only one who does it.
Your business website is very important. Consider all of the options and go with the one that is right for you. Websites are not a one size fits all, so having the four options listed above is a benefit for you.