Back in August, the other joint Website of the Month winner was Seewest, a property company based in Portgual. We caught up with owner Pedro Guerreiro to find out more about what it’s like running a multi-lingual website and the benefits of running a business in such a lovely part of the world.

Hi Pedro! Tell us a bit about yourself and Seewest.

Seewest started from the desire of two long-time friends to create something different for the property management market. With expertise gained in the general house maintenance and construction market over more than 15 years, we knew exactly what property owners and holiday makers were looking for in terms of services. We started four years ago and so far we have been able to grow our customer base significantly every year.

Given our professionalism and customer services, we are now being recommended by some of the biggest holiday makers. This is something really outstanding since the Property Management market in the Western Algarve is very competitive.

We have also established some great partnerships, enabling us to offer our clients an extensive list of services focusing on every aspect of their property or their holidays. I can give 3 examples:

• Tee Times Golf – Making it easy for our customers to book golf in any golf course in Portugal through our website.

• Zoomarine & Slide ‘n’ Splash – Theme Parks in the Algarve can also be booked through us, with good discounts for our customers.

• Booking.com – All hotels are now available in our website and clients can book securely.

What makes you different to other property companies out there?

We look after customers on all levels – we are big believers in getting the very smallest details perfect. We do all this ourselves and make sure we are totally educated on every aspect of the property and its maintenance, so we can personally make sure everything is flawless. This way, we know it’s within our own reach to exceed customer expectations every time.

What makes the Western Algarve such a popular location for holidays and properties?

Like many other places, we obviously have the weather, but we also have an unspoiled coastline with wide landscapes of dunes or tiny sandy coves, with shells tucked away between looming rocks. We are part of the largest natural park in the Algarve, and here the construction rules are more restrict and monitored. The majestic shapes of Cabo São Vincente and Ponta de Sagres jut out indomitably into the ocean. Amongst plenty of other things, this offers the charm of a landscape vibrant with natural beauty which has been touched so little by passing centuries that it barely seems to have been influenced by human presence at all.

Your website was designed by Stilu – why did you choose them to design your website and how did you find the process?

Helio Pinto, Stilu’s Manager is a long-time friend, and we had admired his work for the past two or three years. When we decided to go ahead and make a new website, we discussed with Helio what we were looking for, and asked him if could help us create a system where all the management could be done by ourselves. We wanted a dynamic and great design for the customers, and the result was this great website that we are very proud to have. Helio’s skills really impressed us, and even when we needed something extra, he managed to find the solution. We are really glad to have Stilu on board with us.

What kind of look and feel did you want to create with your website’s design and content?

We wanted something professional, but with a quiet design – something that was eye catching but simple to use.

Seewest.co.uk is available in both Portuguese and English – how much extra work did that take and are you happy you decided to go down that route?

Having both languages in the website wasn’t really an option so much as it was a requirement, since a lot of our customers know only English, and lots know only Portuguese. It is also done in such a way that we can add languages if demand starts to appear from more countries. Obviously this gave us all more work, but with Stilu’s help we could present something that we are proud to show to everybody, regardless of language.

Do you actively promote Seewest to both Portuguese and English markets? What strategies do you use to attract visitors to the site?

Yes, we promote both markets. We want to get involved with as many respectable and reliable players in both markets as possible to advertise the property market as best we can. We try to attract visitors to our website with some promotions or unique services they might be interested in. Social marketing also helps us in achieving clients.

Why did you choose to host your website with Heart Internet?

We were already working with Heart Internet with another project, and the hosting service is great, so it really was an easy and obvious choice.

How did you go about asking people to vote for your site in our Website of the Month competition?

Through Facebook, and we also tacked it onto an email campaign we already had planned to advertise our holiday rentals for the summer of 2012.

What advice would you give to someone looking to have a website created for their business?

Our advice is to find out exactly what you want, do some research see what your competitors are doing, listen to any advice the web designer gives you, and once the website is finished, prepare a good advertising campaign to give some exposure to it. Keeping the site updated and keeping on top of new technology is also important.