Propertylink fails to impress
We were genuinely surprised here at NovaLoca to see the new property website at EG PropertyLink (now propertylink on estatesgazette.com). But the surprise may have been rather nasty for those hoping to use the site to find new commercial property to let or to buy. “We had all been waiting with bated breath, but so far I have yet to talk to an agent or developer that is impressed,” says Miranda Munn, NovaLoca MD.
While NovaLoca works hard to make everything really easy for occupiers, EGPL requires potential users to agree to receive alerts of ‘relevant classifieds’ in order to be able to email an agent. NovaLoca likes to give occupiers searching for new premises the option to decide whether they want to receive similar properties.
It is not best practice to go for a process that involves no opt-outs, and the EGPL approach could also be off-putting to some occupiers seeking new property. It may also result in some agents giving away leads to their competitors – especially as this requirement also seems to go though to agents’ own “powered by” searches in their own websites.
We also feel that the site – which was inexplicably down for two whole days right at the start of its arrival online – is aimed more at agents than at occupiers, as it has plenty of links that are irrelevant and confusing to occupiers. The ‘premier’ ads the site offers are not terribly clear or helpful.
One area in which you can clearly see the technological superiority of NovaLoca is in the mapping available. Whereas NovaLoca uses state-of-the-art mapping for searches and within property detail pages, the EGPL site currently has no Birdseye or Street Views, and poor Google implementation on its main search function.
While we are all for a bit of healthy competition, we are left feeling that perhaps the good people at EGPL need to go back to their drawing boards and flesh out the bones of their idea a little further…
