Case Study: MedSun Villas
Design
The most important feature of the site was to be a simple but powerful search which would make it possible for visitors to easily browse through the properties relevant to their needs. Because of this the search box was placed in a prominent position at the left of the each page. Likewise there was a need to draw attention to specific properties which may have only recently gone on sale or that represent a good deal. These ‘featured’ properties are displayed at the right of the page.
The colours used throughout the design were chosen to try and give the site a Mediterranean feel in keeping with the content. Additionally, as MedSun intended to keep their existing logo there was a need to accommodate the colours used in that.
As the main goal for the site is to generate leads, all of the pages feature various calls to action, with the company phone number and email address appearing on every page.
Currency Conversion
One of the first changes made to the database itself was to ensure that all of the property prices were in a base currency. As most of the properties in the database were being sold in European countries Euros were the obvious choice. However with MedSun being UK-based it was also necessary to have prices available in pounds sterling, so an ExpressionEngine plugin was created which enabled the site’s visitors to choose the currency in which prices were displayed. Exchange rates are automatically updated on a daily basis so prices should always be very accurate.
Automatically Generated PDF Brochures
An example PDF ‘Brochure’
One of the most useful features of the original MS Access database was the ability to produce print-formatted documents for specific properties. This needed to be an option with the new system too and it soon became apparent that Adobe PDF files were the best format to use in order to achieve this. In addition to the new system being capable of producing documents containing the details of individual properties it’s also able to generate brochures of multiple properties that match a certain criteria. This makes it possible for MedSun to provide a customer with an attractive brochure that’s tailored specifically to their requirements, such as a certain area, price or type of property.
RightMove API Integration
Adding a Property To RightMove
Prior to the MedSun Villas site redevelopment a lot of time was spent on adding properties to RightMove.co.uk, the most popular property website in the UK. Fortunately RightMove offer a datafeed API which makes it possible for anyone who already has a property database to automate the entire process of adding properties to their system. This is achieved by generating a data file containing all of the relevant property details and images and sending it to the RightMove server. Any changes or new properties then appear on the RightMove site within 24 hours (RightMove update their site once daily).
Properties can be designated for uploading to RightMove by simply selecting a checkbox in the control panel.