Is it me, or is the Primelocation website looking badly out of date? It's difficult to use, plastered with adverts and completely missing the boat on what was a 'premium' niche branding.
The search insists on showing you properties that are nowhere near 'this area only', Microsoft Virtual Earth isn't a patch on Google Street View and the homepage has no layout logic whatsoever. The ads are not even anything to do with property - the ones I noticed were about holidays, food and butterfly conservation.
Compare that to Rightmove or Zoopla which have both clearly worked hard on the user experience and shun adverts to focus on their primary job. There's nothing there to distract you and there's a consistency and logic in everything they do.
Primelocation was once a portal with a difference, nicely positioned to dominate premium property listings. Today I think the look and strategy of the site are in need a complete overhaul.
Definitely seems to have lost it's way and been left behind. Not only by the other portals, but also by estate agents' sites themselves, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated and tighter on their branding, relevancy and overall user experience.
It's the same thing as all businesses isn't it.. If you move into the middle ground, you have to focus and compete on everything.
But if you've got a niche, you can own it entirely..
For me, TDPG have got enough brands covering the middle ground. Primelocation should be targeted purely at the top end - even refusing to list properties which don't meet that criteria!
Martin