Your real estate website is a window into which potential clients will look to determine if you’re a competent real estate agency. Whether they see an elegant, informative, well thought out website or a rapidly spreading dumpster fire depends on how you design and organize your online space for the world to see.  If you follow these six tips, business will boom.
It’s All About the Imagery
Your customers have a decision to make when they first access your website—and you want them to decide to continue browsing and ultimately pick up the phone, not hastily close out of your page. You can help influence their decision by greeting them with elegant, organized imagery.
Don’t bombard the user with a wall of text or a dozen pop-up windows. Make sure that content is clear and easy to find. Make navigation easy by organizing prospective property images onto a slider complete with floor plans.
In addition, use professional photographers to take pictures of your property when possible. Clear, elegant visuals give buyers confidence. Let the buyer walk through their future home with flattering photographs and video. Give them no choice but to pick up the phone and schedule an in-person tour.
Mobile Accessibility is a Must
A large portion of your potential client pool will be accessing your website for the first time by a mobile device. If they are greeted by a clunky, outdated website that doesn’t allow for them to easily browse from their cell phone, they are going to be looking for the exit.
Make sure everyone feels welcome on your website regardless of where they’re browsing from. A sleek design lends itself to mobile browsing, so be sure to keep things simple and streamlined. This is another reason to keep your images organized, too. Â
IDX is one platform that can make designing a real estate website with the mobile use in mind much easier. Â
Integrate Social Media
In this day and age, even Grandma has made her way to social media. Everyone shares their favorite cat videos, articles, and opinions—let them share your listings with their friends and family too.
Each property should have social media buttons for the most popular social media pages like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You want to make it easy for everyone to share your properties with prospective buyers, and social media is one of your biggest advertisers in this day and age.
Finally, you should have a Facebook business page where you can post listings and an Instagram portfolio for easily accessing your beautiful properties on the go.
Think About Outcomes While Designing
With every change, subtraction, or addition to your website, you should have a goal in mind. What outcome do you want to achieve by adding a slider to your images? How will adding videos affect your potential clients’ decisions?
If your desired outcome is to have browsers share your listings, make changes to increase accessibility and ease of sharing. If you want to wow potential clients and persuade them to pick up the phone, design a sleek, elegant property profile that demands an in-person look. Always keep your outcome in mind while you work.
Integrate SEO Techniques
SEO, or search engine optimization, is a critical factor for every website that wants to attract an audience. It allows your website to show up on searches like Google when potential clients type in keywords that your website uses, such as “houses for sale†or “best real estate company.â€
Adding links to prominent resources can help increase traffic to your website and increase your ranking on Google. Providing unique content that can be backlinked, such as original studies or statistics, can also help. There are many SEO guides out there to help you learn this critical skill.
Create a Great Search Feature
Your website must be easily accessible, and a quality search function goes a long way toward this. The client should be able to search through properties based on price, location, number of bedrooms, and numerous other factors. Time is valuable, and you want to show your clients that you appreciate their time by making their dream home easy to find. Save them five minutes on searching through a property, and they can use that time to pick up their phone and give you a call.
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