Gone are the days that people are looking at newspaper listings and browsing television channels to wait for that one commercial about a real estate advertisement, unless you’re about old-school.
However, the rest of the world are living in the digital age, doing their property search on the Internet and you’ve probably heard of the big names in online real estate listings:
- Lamudi
- Property24
- ZipMatch
- OLX Philippines
- My Property PH
- Property Finder PH
- Hoppler
- Pinnacle PH
- HomeTivo
In fact, we’ve already written a comparison for each of them and which one would be the best for you to list in. But then again, I’m sure you’ve read the reasons why you should own a real estate website, instead of relying on listing websites as a host for your properties. One of them is about using your websites and landing pages for lead generation, all prospects will be funneled to you directly without competition.
Imagine being able to reach all 4.39 billion internet users around the world, with 69.6 million of them are located in our country.
The internet culture in the Philippines has reached the point that we have been dubbed as a “social media capital of the world” for using the Internet and social media by major news publications like CNN, Inquirer, and PhilStar.
It’s reported that Filipinos spend an average of 10 HOURS AND 2 MINUTES A DAY online.
That’s way more than a good night’s sleep!
DO YOU ALREADY OWN A WEBSITE
There are different platforms that you can use to try building your real estate website in the Philippines and whether you’ll do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you, there are key elements you should know about and understand as they will affect the way your real estate career will operate.
Here’s the 3 of them.
- Hosting – In order for your website to exist, it needs an allocated space on a server (device or program that stores your data that allows your website to operate). This can be used for free or purchased online or from a service provider company. If compared to real estate, this is basically the plot of land that is used to build a property on.
- Website – We already discussed the pages that need to be found in your website and the roles they have in helping you with digital marketing and online branding. Since we’re using real estate jargons, your website is basically the property itself that is built on the land i.e. host.
- Domain Name – Your web address, or in colloquial terms, your URL (uniform resource locator) that provides your online location to visitors. Purchasing a domain usually comes in subscriptions, or bundled together with a hosting package. So in real estate terms, this is the address that your website is located and can be found in.
WHAT’S IN A (DOMAIN) NAME?
We’ve discussed website hosts and builders; and websites themselves in numerous articles. How about your domain name? What’s the purpose of having one?
Like your address, a domain name is your unique identity on the internet and requires investing when it comes to owning a real estate website in the Philippines. Every computer and website has an IP address that basically locates their servers.
NOTE: URLs often start with “https://www.prosperna.com,” while domain name refers to “prosperna.com” and an IP address looks like this “104.27.179.206”
We talked a little bit about IP addresses in our previous blog before, but remembering a string of numbers for every website you plan to visit can be quite difficult, hence the domain name system was established to make life easier for everybody.
Other than looking professional, your company or organization’s rights will be protected from copyright and trademark; all while building a brand and credibility online. They also make it easier for people on the internet to find your real estate website and do business with you.
SELECTING THE PERFECT DOMAIN NAME
We can’t tell you exactly what to do because your domain name depends entirely on you and what you want your real estate business to be remembered in the long-run.
What we can give you would be general advice to lead you in the direction you wish to go; and to make things simpler we made into a list:
1. DOMAIN NAME EXTENSION – also known as TLD (top-level domain) are the suffixes you use at the end of your domain name. We recommend “.com.ph” or “.ph” as they are the most common, affordable and popular TLD that Philippine websites use for locality. See this list for more examples.
2. MAKE IT EASY – to type, to remember, to pronounce. Nothing complicated to spell or read, and avoid using numbers or hyphens unless that’s your thing. Remember K.I.S.S. (keep it short & simple). You can try this FREE name generator to help you brainstorm.
3. YOUR KEYWORD – something that screams your brand or business. It could be your name, company or a catchphrase that sounds real estate. That way you become memorable, and not generic.
4. TARGET AUDIENCE – make it sound local or international. You can even narrow it down to an area or demographic to sound exclusive.
5. AVAILABILITY – consider social media usernames and trademarks. If you’re fast enough to claim the same domain name as your social media presence usernames, that would be the best for your branding. Check their availability for FREE through namechk and knowem.
WHERE TO BUY A DOMAIN?
There are popular marketplaces to buy a domain from which you have to buy for an annual subscription with a registration fee.
Lucky for you, Prosperna can help you find the perfect domain name within your budget. Furthermore, if you get your own website builder from us, your real estate website is integrated with a CRM software; is mobile-responsive, personalized and branded as you like; you get small unlimited fixes, hosting and security; plus content for generating qualified leads.
What are you waiting for? Book a FREE DEMO now to learn more.
Dennis Velasco
Technology Evangelist super passionate about helping the industries of eCommerce, SMEs and real estate in the Philippines reach new levels of success.