Webography - is the art or practice of establishing a seamless web presence through the selection of various web-based applications, joined together through basic and applied web techniques.

Webographer - doer of Webography.

REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™ - denotes standards in applied web techniques and adherence to the Commitment Document as set forth by the National Institute of Webographers, LLC (Webographers.com); the owner of the REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™ certification mark.

Unified Approach to Real Estate Web Applications
Webography implies using out-of-the-box solutions, joined together for your web presence (like a puzzle). When one considers business requirements like an agent website, virtual/online tours, electronic forms and online transaction management--is there one, all-inclusive service provider in existence of these technologies? The answer to that question is regretfully no.

An agent must establish customer relationships with various service providers, being mindful of how they can be joined together for seamless functionality, look, and appearance. After selection of these service providers, the agent or assistant applies basic web techniques, to establish a seamless web presence. Such efforts to establish a seamless web presence includes: selecting products “natively” compatible with each other, ensuring the same personal and corporate branding is applied across all web applications, selecting similar color schemes and much more.

This process is an evolution from traditional web design to establish and maintain an agent’s real estate, web presence. It empowers agents and their assistants the ability to self-serve their business objectives online the easy way. There are many providers of web-based applications for real estate, thus it may be a challenge for real estate professionals to choose the right services that best fits his or her endeavors and budget.

The REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™ certification curriculum covers an array of web-centric technologies and services.  Although educating on the value-proposition of each distinct technology competency, the unified approach towards a seamless, all-inclusive web presence is carried through the educational experience.

In the current world, where emails have replaced phone calls and web-meetings have replaced face-to-face meetings, Virtual Assistants (VAs) are rapidly becoming a more practical answer to the many gaps a small OR large business may have in pure muscle.

Virtual Staffing Agencies (and independent, freelance VAs) are constantly touting the myriad of reasons why VAs have become a profitable solution - they possess many skills already, they "work" online to facilitate support across state lines, eager and motivated to acquire just about any knowledge they don't already have. In addition, they only bill the hours they work, as they are not employees on salary...and the list goes on.

With regards to technical tasks, the list is virtually limitless to the number and types of things a VA can tackle. In this article, we are going to bring to light a few ideas that any RE firm can implement directly or hopefully spark more ideas to more completely and successfully utilize a VA.

1.) VAs can provide valuable advice and guidance for your website(s)

Whether it is customizing a current agent website you already possess and run on your own, or maybe it's creating a brand new site, a VA possesses the skills to design a custom template or adapt a template, and can maintain it on a regular basis, adding/removing listings or information as needed.

This expertise would be invaluable for any RE professional interested in keeping a listing of properties on their agent site. This would also be an excellent asset when creating and or maintaining single property websites, 1 website (URL) dedicated to 1 property. Its often said that many agents/brokers purchase technology, but never use it, as finding time during your day can be a limiting factor.

2.) Make your virtual storefront visible

Once you have a web storefront, how do you attract site-visitors? The answer is something known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is a process of improving the ranking of your site amongst various web crawlers (or search engines). Generally, the higher the ranking, the earlier a site will appear in search results, which yields more site visitors. A VA can customize your site to utilize key words which can be submitted, along with your site name, on a weekly (or even daily) basis to increase your rankings as well as your site volume. They can also solicit other websites to reference (link to) the agent website...activities you simply may not have time for but are critical in SEO.

3.) Take your site to the next level

Your VA can take your agent website or single property site an additional step further with the creation of virtual tours. You've heard of them, you've seen them on other's sites, but you just don't have the time to learn how to create or execute one? Assign it to your VA! After you have sent the photographs, your VA can utilize their computer to create, finalize and publish virtual tours for each of your properties.

4.) Manage your important documentation

Your VA can even manage your paperwork for you, all virtually! For example, you have routine paperwork that must be executed through the life-span of a transaction. Simply fax your hand-written information to your VA. The VA enters the info into your standard form and faxes to the proper location OR they can even utilize online transaction management as a central repository for all your documentation needs. Your VA can maintain this repository for you, facilitating document execution of clients and peer real estate professionals throughout the lifespan of the transaction.

With the technology available today, VAs are definitely a viable resource for your business entity. The examples above are only a fraction of the types of activities VAs can accomplish that easilly puts them to work as more than just an assistant. Rather, they become your partner.

We have received many inquiries from potential candidates about the "Virtual Assistant", also called a VA.  A Virtual Assistant can provide technology administration and support, along with an array of other administrative services to a top-producing, real estate agents, brokers and companies.  Acquisition of technology is imperative, the time to use and administer RE technology can at times, a limiting factor.

Team Double-Click^SM is a virtual assistant staffing company, pairing highly qualified virtual assistants to real estate agents, brokers and companies.  The pairing of VA to RE Client is a process of matching the needs of the client, with search against the thousands of VAs that are a part of Team Double-Click. Kendra Todd, winner of Donald Trump's hit reality show "The Apprentice", uses and recommends Team Double-Click.

Dawn Smith, Marketing Manager for Team Double-Click has this insight into the world of VAs.

Industry experts continue to extol the virtues of virtual assistants. Nevertheless, small business owners continue to undertake operations-related minutia that Internet-based professionals can easily handle. Some experts attribute this to technology.