Page 14 of Love's a Glitch
Luke
Mr. Davis,
I’d be remissif I didn’t mention that four out of the five websites you sent haven’t been updated in several years. One of them calls to mind the old-school method of painting a realtor’s face and business name across park and bus benches to advertise. None of the examples you provided receive high traffic. I’ve attached the analytics so you can see for yourself.
If you wanta plain website that doesn’t take advantage of modern-day technology, then of course that’s up to you. I ran a full analysis of your top competitors, who are closing the gap between their companies and yours more each day, and they’re using several of the options I’ve suggested, including the scrolling interactions. While you might not be a fan, people who don’t have to continuously scroll one long page to find what they’re searching for are often grateful—as they say, time is money. Not every website I design has to go in my portfolio, but your website is basically your company’s portfolio, and I’d like for you to take a moment to consider what exactly you want that to look like to people interested in becoming clients.
You hiredZero Gravity Designs because of the many accolades we’ve received. When I say we’re regarded as the top web design firm in the city, I’m stating a fact that I can back up. I can also show you the data that proves our most successful websites—which I judge by most traction, clicks, and conversion tracking—have resulted by allowing us to do what we do best. When it comes to real estate, I would never tell you how to price your listings or give you a script on how to glean sales. If you’ll just put your trust in me, I assure you that I can take your company to the next level. Why would you hire the best and then tie our hands?
Sincerely,
Eloise Kostas
Web Designer, Zero Gravity Designs, Inc.
A growl slipped outas I read through the email again, and Heather froze halfway across my office.
“Sir?”
“Again, you can just call me Luke.”
She frowned.
“Or Charles is fine.”
“Oh, okay. Is everything okay?”
No, it wasn’t. Howdaresomeone I hired tell me everything that I’d requested for my company website was wrong. Except, I hadn’t hired her, and it wasn’t technically my company. This was why I hadn’t asked for this responsibility. The fact of the matter was, I’d be as lost showing our properties as I was with half the technical terms the designer used. Whenever she’d rattled them off, all I could see in my mind were more dollar signs. Could our website truly bring in more money? Didn’t most realtors just search through the listings on whichever site they preferred?
Showings sold mansions. Not flashy animation that made me rapidly click my mouse in an attempt to get the pictures to stop moving for a damn second already. That jab about her portfolio dug deep, too. As if the website I was suddenly responsible for would be a dark smear on her marvelous body of work, one she would refuse to show off.
I eyed my phone, wanting to abandon my responsibilities and text Ellie. She’d likely be at work. Or would she? Since I’d been vague about my job, I’d also avoided asking about hers.
Even keeping things light and easy was growing complicated.
A lightbulb blinked on above my head, and I called Heather over. Thanks to the large monitor, I was able to bring up both website options. One was from the list I sent, and the other was from the web designer’s recommendations. I considered Heather the age of our usual demographic, which would also be a bonus at proving my point.
“Which of these two websites do you prefer?”
Heather’s glasses magnified the widening of her eyes, along with the mascara clumped to her lashes. She nervously glanced from me to the screen and back to me, as though this pop quiz were worth her entire grade and she feared she’d get the wrong answer.
“Neither of them is ours, obviously. I’m just trying to narrow down options for the one that’s being built.”
She pointed a French-manicured finger at the screen, the fake acrylic nails the same type that Mom spent getting filled at the salon once a month. “This one does a better job of displaying all the options. If I were looking for a house, I’d find that nice.”
Shit. She’d chosen the one Eloise had sent. Figures. Pinpointing precisely why I hated it wasn’t easy. Part of it was because the designer had taken my suggestions and insulted them before sending her own list in return—I could admit that. But it didn’t change the fact that I hated it.
“In fact…” Heather bent closer to the screen, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she did so. “I swear this is the one my daughter and her husband were searching last night.” The woman straightened and tugged at her suit jacket. “Of course, I suggested Coastal Realty could help, but as they’re just starting out and looking to buy their first home, we don’t have any properties in their price range.”
“What about this one?” I pointed at the one I preferred.
“It’s fine.”
“Fine? Explain.” When worry crept into her expression again, I softened. “Please. The more detail I have to go back to the designer with, the better.”
“It’s boring. The pictures with the listings are small, and since this”—she gestured to the rectangle with the logo and business name—“takes up the entire top, it draws too much of the focus. It makes me ask what they’re selling. Big letters?” She laughed at her own joke, and I drew my eyebrows together.
“It’s branding. Don’t you think it’ll help you remember the company name?”
