A dynamic website is essential to modern day businesses, and we don’t want the commercial property sector left behind. ZipBox have been conducting a fascinating investigation of commercial property websites around the country, starting with the wonderful city of Manchester but with other cities around the country to follow soon so we will soon be able to see how Manchester compares!

We assessed 62 commercial property websites with an office based in Manchester and ranked them on their effectiveness. We defined Manchester as those companies with an office in the M postcode area. If your website is in this area and is not listed or you have any comments or feedback, feel free to contact us and we will be happy to update the league table.

How the scores were determined

Our analysis was done using the independent online tool Website Grader combined with our own analysis of the site, with a particular focus on the property search as we believe this is an essential feature for all property websites. Each site was given a score out of 130, with 100 points allocated by the independent assessment of Website Grader. Obviously there are many ways to measure a website's effectiveness so the results below are not definitive and sites that score poorly on Website Grader may score higher on other criteria not assessed here. Screenshots were taken at the time but the scores can vary day to day so may now be different.

The results

Website grader

100/130 points are based on the grade from the popular independent tool Website Grader. This is a free tool accessible to everyone that gives useful information and tips on the overall standard of your site. The Website Grader score is made up of four different elements.

Performance

This looks at the overall performance of the site, which is crucial to increasing traffic. The performance measure is out of 30 and is made up of these factors.

• Page size: To optimise the speed of a site the page size should be kept below 3MB.
• Page requests: The more requests, the slower the site. Combine files to minimise this.
• Page speed: When pages are slow to load users will often abandon the site in frustration, the best pages load within 3 seconds.
• Browser caching: This is a great way to speed up your website by storing content in local memory.
• Page redirects: These increase the loading time, so are best avoided. Compression: Your website will run much faster if your JavaScript and CSS are compressed.
• Render blocking: This removes interference, so pages can load more quickly.

Mobile

Optimising your website for mobile is essential for all businesses, with many searches now done on mobile devices, if you are not utilising this then you are missing out on traffic! The score for mobile is out of 30 and is made up of two factors.

• Responsive: If your website is mobile responsive then your search ranking will be improved!
• Viewport: This means the width and scale of your site can adjust to different device types.

SEO

Search engine optimisation looks at how easy it is for users to find, for this to happen it must be easy for search bots to understand. SEO is scored out of 30 and is calculated from the following factors.

• Page titles: These should be under 70 characters and not repeat key words.
• Meta description: This the snippet of information below the main link of a search result, it describes the page to a searcher. To be effective this should be relevant to the content of page and kept under 155 characters. The best meta descriptions pose a question or offer a benefit or solution to the user.
• Headings: It is important to use heading tags to distinguish headings from your core content. These should also contain keywords.
• Sitemap: Site maps can boost your SEO as well as help users navigate your site.

Security

The security score is a pass/fail check out of 10. To pass the security check an SSL certificate is needed. This ensures all data passed between the web server and browser remains private, which is good for sites that ask users to give over personal information as it gives them confidence in the site. It is also good for SEO as Google ranks sites that have an SSL certificate higher than those who do not!

The final 30 points are based on other aspects of the website that we believe are important to the commercial property sector.

Property Search

An effective property search is essential for commercial property websites. According to a poll we ran in June 2016, 94% of people believe that this is the most important feature of the site! This area was worth 20 points, focusing on four specific aspects that were worth 5 points each. These were the prominence of the property search on the homepage, the usability of the search or property list, the standard of the full details page for individual properties and whether properties can be searched for or displayed on a map. These factors aim to ensure a property search as user friendly as possible!

Content and Social

This focused on the content of the site and its social aspects, totaling 10 points. We looked at whether the site had a blog or news section with recent posts, as this can really give a website that personal touch. We considered whether the website had featured properties on the homepage as this is something that entices users into viewing property details. We also looked at the prominence of contact details and social media presence on the site, as these are important to connect with potential buyers.

Want to top the league tables?

A cost effective and easy way to get your site to the top of the tables is with a ZipBox website. ZipBox can develop a fully functional mobile responsive site in a matter of days. It will include an easy to use property search, featured properties, search engine optimisation and everything else we have mentioned in this blog! Keeping a commercial property website up to date is essential, but we know it can be costly and time consuming, which is why ZipBox sites use a simple content management system to make updates quick and easy.

Why not check out some of our first ZipBox sites- www.reddin-clancy.co.uk and workspaceoffices.co.uk both score 123/130, which would top the league table!

For more information, visit www.zipbox.co.uk or contact us on info@zipbox.co.uk or 01767 400 085 to request a free personalised demo showing what your new site could look like!