Nowadays it is easier to have access to property listings and other information than it was a decade or two ago. Back in the day, it would take dozens of mass media publications and a substantial amount of legwork and exploring to find your ideal real estate property.
With technology and automation now within everyone’s grasp, only a fool would not take advantage of these resources to scale up their real estate businesses and capture their desired markets.
Although the internet has provided real estate agents with such remarkable business leverage, it made the market more competitive and has never been fiercer than it was before.
The power of the real estate website
Today, you cannot find a real estate business without its website that showcases their property listings, professional credentials, services, and compelling content to wow potential clients.
Yet there are still a lot of overzealous agents who want to grab on to everything the online capabilities have to offer and are doing it wrong. What’s worse is that they end up getting frustrated when they are not seeing the results.
One of the common mistakes of non-performing websites is site overload. This means that the website is too overloaded with information, images, and content too distracting to visitors who struggle to navigate through the site and fail to get the information they need and want.
Another error is publishing dozens of blog posts stuffed with keywords in an attempt to sell services, but fail to provide any useful information beneficial for prospective clients.
What is the main goal of a real estate website?
It’s not too complicated nor is it rocket science. The primary goal of a real estate website is one that is designed to make it easy for visitors to find the information they need and in the process establishes one’s authority and relevancy in the market.
In a recent study, 43% or almost half of the home buyers in the market begin their search process online for potential property options and 12% search for information on how to go about the acquisition process.
Based on a survey and review of real estate websites, here is a list of five common factors that are found to be effective for great performing real estate websites.
High-quality images and organised images
Images are non-negotiable ingredients for real estate websites because visuals play a critical role in the success of any real estate transaction.
If you noticed, real estate websites have images of all their listed properties, however, using the right images are vital in attracting customers.
Make sure to have the most recent high-resolution images of any listed property and make sure to get as many images of the best features and angles of the property.
Whenever possible, make sure pictures are taken by a professional photographer to get the best images possible.
The manner of displaying the images is also a critical aspect in making potential buyers take the next step closer to buying the property. Make sure the photos are laid out cleanly and not get overly crowded on the website page.
Organised layout and structure
Another key deciding factor among your website visitors is your webpage layout, which could either entice or stave them off.
Cluttered information, images, or descriptions create an impression of a disorganised website and could reflect on your reputation as a brand. The point here is to not confuse your visitor when they see your website.
Work on a web design that provides an uncluttered and organised layout, which can aesthetically appeal to users and one that makes it easy for people to navigate through the web pages and access to information they need.
Avoid stuffing all information in one or two pages, rather take advantage of the search box, links to your site blog, image gallery, etc. Make sure each section is distinct, easy on the eyes, and user-friendly.
SEO capability
Even when you have all the high-quality images and compelling content on your website but without being searchable online, it will not get you to where you want it to be. Make sure that your website is optimised for search capability by applying Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
There are several SEO methods such as the use of keywords throughout your content strategically incorporated in your home page, service pages, blog, about page, etc. Another method is to allow other websites to reference your website and provide a backlink to your site.
Critical and relevant data and content
Another study found that 69% of digital marketers believe that personalized and dynamic content is vital to a website. In real estate websites, quality content such as your blog or news updates have been found to engage visitors and make them stay longer on the site.
Make sure to provide information that is useful and compelling to readers and visitors so that you can establish trust and authority in the market. You can strategically use news updates, industry-related research findings, and statistics to engage your site visitors.
Mobile-friendly
Portability is an essential consideration in today’s hectic world and people spend more time using their gadgets to browse online while commuting to or from work, taking breaks, or want to get updated with news and events.
It is important to take advantage of this behaviour by making your website mobile-capable. This ensures that you get better mileage for your website no matter when or where your audience may be.
Get it done right
You must incorporate success factors such as those mentioned to ensure that you have a responsive and effective real estate website. Remember that your website creates the impression for your real estate business, so make sure that it is done right for you to get your desired results.
