Propertyinvestment.co.uk

Overview

Propertyinvestment.co.uk is an independent property broking and advisory service based in London that assists prospective property investors and lifestyle buyers through the whole process of property sourcing, analysis, purchase, legal and financial advice. The requirements for their website were the ability to list thousands of properties throughout the globe and allow prospects to search for investment opportunities such as leaseback, fractional ownership and guaranteed rentals, also lifestyle choices such as golf, ski and beach. The main difficulty facing propertyinvestment.co.uk was finding a technical agency that also employed a combination of other disciplines, including usability, accessibility, project management, Search Engine Optimisation, creative skills, in particular Flash, and not least, Quality Assurance.

Website

www.propertyinvestment.co.uk

Background

Propertyinvestment.co.uk believes the greater the amount of information that a web user can view on any piece of real estate can help lead to the better qualification of that potential prospect. Empowering the user to be better informed using new media technologies, helps engage prospective property buyers to a greater degree than has otherwise been the case with traditional techniques. Thus helping to eliminate potential time wasters and leading to greater efficiencies on sales consultant's time management and greater utilisation of the company's resources.

Objectives

To have detailed information listed succinctly using a variety of tools
Ease of navigation / use
To utilize new media technologies that make traditional presentations more dynamic and interactive
To employ the most cost effective marketing - Search Engine Optimisation
To meet stringent accessibility standards

Solution

The first stage in development, after an initial requirements gathering process, was to put the preliminary wireframes of the site through rigorous uability testing phase using focus groups made up of the business's target demographics. The intuitive navigation and ease of use that resulted from this early research laid the foundation for additional development of the site's functionality and guided the various creative teams that worked on the project.

Some examples of the latest technologies that have been used to make the site interactive:

an interactive world map was designed using Flash, offering a rich user experience by allowing drill downs to countries and regions, also offering filters by type of investment and lifestyle choice
streaming video provides users an enriched experience and allows developers to showcase their portfolio to a greater degree
the mortgage calculator allows prospects to accurately assess mortgage repayments and change loan periods, interest rates and payment terms
the various calls to action encourage an active response to contact sales consultants - feeding all information into a CRM platform
the site offers downloads of free property investment guides that are specific to the country and / or financial instrument to help users make informed decisions
a bespoke search back end that allows users to filter their search results on any aspect of a property and return their results immediately
strong analytics within the CMS empower the sales consultants and principals to identify the most suitable properties to match their users requirements

"Trying to find a CMS company that is innovative, who understands your needs, can visualise them and execute them in a timely and costefficient manner is a very demanding task. After a thorough examination of the market, conducting initial meetings with several companies, I was refreshingly surprised to find a company that meet all of them.

Solid State Group brought creativity and vision coupled to practicality. Their skill set and teamwork brought the project in on-budget and ahead of time. They managed to make a complex site - using some of the latest technology - easy to use and highly user friendly.

I have developed an excellent working relationship with them and intend to use them for my next project."

Ewan McGarrie, Managing Director
propertyinvestment.co.uk

About Solid State Group

Solid State Group is a content management, web applications and services consultancy which was founded out of a desire to provide solutions which were more time and cost-efficient.

Leveraging the managing partners experience in the IT consulting, financial and marketing sectors, Solid State Group has built a strong reputation for robust products that can be rapidly and effectively implemented across a broad range of industry sectors.

For more information please visit www.solidstategroup.com or call 0845 838 2163