Name of your website?Homesearch Costa Blanca
Your name?
Denise Pick
Your Location (city, etc)
Saxmundham, Suffolk
Please give us a short summary of your website?
We are and independent UK company, specialising in finding property in the Costa Blanca region of Spain. We find property for relocators, investors and those wishing to purchase a second home.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I felt that it was the best and most economical way to promote my business. Also, I want to attract clients in multi-national locations.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
I launched this website in September 2006. It is my first website.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I had the usual headache of trying to find a name that was unique but that also described what our business was about. It was also something to do with what domain names were available.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
That's a tough one! Our title tells people what we do but is probably not that different from others. However, the way we work is totally different from the majority of Property Finders in Spain.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
To keep the site in order to promote and grow our business.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Success has been slow but ours is a niche service. I think it takes time to get the message across to people that our style of doing business will benefit them more than the accepted style.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would make it more visually exciting and more sophisticated but I would want to retain the existing classic style and not make it gory or full of adverts! Personally, I prefer to use an easy to read and understand,user friendly site that tells me what I want to know and offers good links to sites that will help me to find out more about the subject. I also like free information, like most people!
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
I would grow and adapt to accomodate it!
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
No surprises on the cost really - I did a lot of research before I started.
Understanding search engine speke is a bit of a headache, as are pirate sites that keep attaching themselves to my name and appearing on Google when people perform a search for our company. Some of these sites are really nasty and unsavoury. I am hoping that my webmaster can sort this out soon!
What has been your biggest challenge?
The usual story - having enough time to do everything, as a small family business and having the resources to expand!
Also, persuading prospective clients that our way is the best way!
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Just started working on it - I have had a Google adwords campaign running for a while but finding the right keywords to use in a niche business is difficult and the real estate business is very competitive, which makes hits difficult to achieve with a limited budget.
I would say that quality links (I prefer paid ones in general, as I don't always want to reciprocate the link) are the best way forward and considering blogging/forums too.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I thought I would get loads of hits pretty soon and that didn't happen! I was a bit green about knowing about how search engines work and I haven't devoted enough time to it to make it work so far. With respect to the physical upkeep, I have a webmaster who does the hosting and anything I can't do and I am able to edit it myself. I get a bit frustrated that I haven't a lot of time to work on it but there are many jobs that have to be done in a small business and deciding which to give priority is the biggest problem!
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
It's been running for about a year. I will keep it up as long as the business continues to operate. My aim is to make it work and find out which is the best way to promote the site widely in the most cost effective way.
Does it bother you that large companies with big budgets can get more traffic?
I guess is bothers me to a degree but when I look at our site and compare it with others, I think that the quality of the website (or online brochure if you want to call it that) is not related to having a large budget. If you are prepared to learn about what works and what doesn't, there is nothing to stop anyone getting out there and getting noticed. I'm still learning.....
What is your website address?
Homesearch Costa Blanca
