This document has been written following a meeting between Ed Ross and Giles Thompson of Keyhaven, Tim Joyce of HOOP and xxxxxxxx of London Internet Property Services. It is designed to set out the tasks and costs estimates for creating a website for LISP, a new company offering a comprehensive search facility to Local Estate Agents and the General Public. The site needs to be very simple to use, as Estate Agents are the main target audience.
The site will make use of a new template technology that HOOP have adopted. This allows clear separation between the 'programming code' that is used to do the searches and access the database, and the 'interface code' (or HTML) that is used to make the pages look great. By using this technology, the project can easily be broken down, with significant parts being undertaken by LISP staff if required. It also means that maintenance of the site is greatly simplified.
It is essential that the site is easy to use and obvious to navigate. This is especially important as the key target audience (Local Estate Agents) will probably never have used the internet before. The design must be simple, the user should be in no doubt how to do what they want to do.
This page will feature that LIPS logo, a clickable map of the area covered by LIPS, and a brief introduction to the service that LIPS offers. It will provide links to the following pages:
The home page will also provide space for premium advertising of properties and agents.
The search will allow users to easily find properties on the database. The search criteria will be:
If the search page is accessed from the map on the home page, the location selected on the map will be automatically selected on the search.
A separate page will be provided that allows users to find a property based on a street name or postcode. This is located on a separate page so as not to confuse the novice user.
A link will also be provided to a map service (probably using http://uk.multimap.com). An example map of mayfair can be found here. Using a 3rd party mapping service is a cost effective way of providing navigable maps, however it is not ideal, and we can consider making some maps that are specific to the service that LIPS offers. This needs further thought as it is notoriously difficult to get permission to reproduce other people's maps.
This page will provide a simple list of properties that matches the criteria entered by the user, every endeavor will be made to ensure that the user sees some results, as there is nothing more off-putting than receiving the message "sorry, no properties matched your criteria". The results will be presented in a "best match first" format, so that the most appropriate properties are shown at the top of the list.
If properties returned by the search have associated adverts, these will also appear on this page, along with links to see 360 panoramas if appropriate.
The details on the list will include:
Users will be able to gain more information about a property by selecting it from the list.
Results will be presented in a manageable sized list (perhaps 20 at a time), the user will have the ability to move between pages of results, as well as back to the search criteria page. The search criteria entered will appear at the top of each page.
This page will display a single property, with associated pictures, details and panoramas. A map (using http://uk.multimap.com) will be provided to pinpoint the location of each property.
Users will be able to get to the an Agents page where they can contact the agent to arrange property viewing. The contact will generate an email, which will go to both the Agent, and to LIPS. This will allow LIPS to monitor activity on the site.
This page will allow an individual agent or member of staff to log into the database. Once logged in, the agent can continue to use the site as a normal user, with the following important changes:
This facility allows that agent to use the system in front of the customer, as if it where their own system, easily finding all properties on that agents books (these are the properties that they are most keen to sell). If no property can be found that meets the customers requirements, a broader search of all properties can be undertaken. By branding each page with the Agent's logo, we are conveying 'ownership' of the system, which is key to generating user acceptance.
When viewing a property as an Agent, every effort will be made to make the page printable on the agents headed note paper. Web browsers are notorious for their lack of quality printing support, but we can expect reasonable results.
A facility will be provided so that agents who forget their password can request that it is emailed to them.
Having logged in, agents will be able to update properties on their database. They will first find the property they are looking for in the search, and then be able to enter a simple screen where the details can be entered. A 'File Upload' facility will be provided so that Agents can easily upload any photos onto the site.
LIPS require a database administration facility in order to be able to keep the entire database up-to-date. HOOP have already written a set of programs that allows this, and these will be used on the LIPS site. The administration facility will be password protected and should only be accessed by LIPS employees. It will allow LIPS staff to enter new agents, passwords, adverts, and generally control the entire database.
The database will consist of the following main tables:
Additionally, there will be a number of 'look-up' tables, which will provide descriptions for various fields stored in the main tables.
As already mentioned the site will be built using templates. This will make development easier and keep maintenance costs down, by allowing LISP staff to easily change the look of any page.
The site will be hosted with a respectable UK ISP, probably I-way (www.i-way.co.uk). Initially the site will share a server with a number of other web sites (known as a 'Virtual Server'), this much reduces the cost, and is sufficient for all but the busiest of web sites. If the LIPS site becomes very popular, it may become appropriate to host the site on it's own server.
LISP will want to register a number of domains that all point to the same site. These will probably be along the lines of:
www.kensington-property.co.uk
www.knightsbridge-property.co.uk
www.mayfair-property.co.uk
www.belgravia-property.co.uk
www.chelsea-property.co.uk
www.hydepark-property.co.uk
The advantage of including the name of the area in the Domain Name of the site is that it will help considerably to raise the profile of the site in internet search engines. If some of these domains are taken, then simply rearranging the words e.g. (www.property-hydepark.co.uk) will suffice.
It is probably appropriate to have an email box with each of the domains, as this creates a consistent mechanism for users of the site to contact LIPS
As part of the design, LIPS will require a logo, this obviously has wider implications than the web site, and so can be considered a separate project. If appropriate HOOP will arrange for an illustrator to take a brief and build a logo. LIPS may require further design work to provide a full corporate identity, however this is considered outside of the requirements for building the web site, and therefor this proposal.
The promotion of the site to as wide an audience as possible is key to it's success. The online aspect of the promotional drive has technical considerations that are outside the skill sets of traditional marketing people. HOOP can provide skills that assist in promoting LIPS to search engines, newsgroups and other areas of the internet. However the promotion of the business should always be considered in a wide context, and we have found that the best results are achieved when the 'owner' of a site takes control of the entire promotion process, bringing in skills as appropriate.
As with traditional promotion, the more time and effort spent pushing home the message, the more effective the promotion is. Typically successful sites spend some 25% of the cost of developing a site on promotion.
An essential first step in online promotion is to get the site registered with search engines, therefor HOOP propose to supply an initial search engine 'push'. This involves the following:
The bulk submission, whilst great in principal, tends not to produce great results, mainly because the search engines covered do not themselves generate much traffic. Additionally bulk submission software is far from perfect.
Another important online promotional activity is to exchange links with sites that may have users who would be interested in you service. This has to be done once the site is up and running, and is best achieved by contacting the owner of a site directly.
| Task | Estimate (hours) |
| Pre sales consultancy, preparation of proposal and agreement of costs. | 8 |
| Initial Graphic Design (and agreement) | 20 |
| Build of Database | 10 |
| Build of Database Administration Interface | 15 |
| Home Page | 7 |
| Agents List | 4 |
| Contact LIPS | 4 |
| Search Engine | 15 |
| Property Details | 8 |
| Contact Agent | 4 |
| Agent's Login | 8 |
| Agent's Search | 4 |
| Agents - Amend Property Details | 10 |
| Agents Branding on Each page | 7 |
| Advertisements throughout site | 10 |
| Combination of Design and Templates | 22 |
| Review of Site and sign-off | 16 |
| Peer Review | 8 |
| Total | 180 |
The figures are provisional, and are subject to change following the agreement of the proposal. HOOP charge £40 per hour for Web Site development, giving a total cost for building the site of £7,200.
Hosting will cost £600 per annum. With an initial server setup cost of xxxx. This assumes the site can share a server with a number of other sites. If the LIPS site becomes very popular, it may become appropriate to host the site on it's own server. This costs in the region of £4000 per annum, but it very unlikely that this will be required inside the first year. HOOP will coordinate this process, but fees are payable directly to the ISP.
This costs a maximum of £150 per domain in the first year and £100 per annum thereafter. The addition of an email account for each domain is £10. Domain Name registration is usually handled by the ISP hosting the site. HOOP will coordinate this process, but fees are payable directly to the ISP, and will vary slightly according to the ISP chosen.
As described in section 4.4 - £600.
As described in section 4.5 - £750.
HOOP are very keen to take on this project and are ready to start as soon as we are given the go-ahead. It is anticipated that the site can be built in 6 weeks from start to launch.
The project will be developed online, this gives LIPS staff the ability to monitor progress on a day-to-day basis.
Document Dated: Fri Jan 15 11:07:00 1999
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