A high-quality website is a must-have for any reputable real estate agent or team. In most cases, it’s your first chance to make an impression on potential buyers, and it’s the absolute best way to make your brand stand out from the crowd. With such a competitive market out there, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle and if your website is not up to the current standards, that will most definitely happen.
Here’s a complete checklist for any great real estate website. How does your website stack up?
1 – Unique Listings
When a client is coming to your site, they are doing so because they are interested in your unique perspective. If they wanted a generic listing site, they would simply search the local MLS listings. Instead, they want to see how you would market a home or experience the personal touch of working with an experienced real estate agent with a passion for the industry.
This is why we often recommend not including any IDX search functionality on the website. It’s often too generic looking and will reduce the overall impact of your site. Your own, unique listings are enough to capture the attention of buyers while also give sellers great insight into how you would market their properties on your site. As well, including your own listings over IDX often results in better SEO and a better overall look and feel as to how your listings are presented visually (our sales team can give you more info on why we prefer this approach).
2 – Consistent Tone
Most real estate agents specialize in a specific type of client or have a specific persona in mind when they are targeting new clients. The design, content, and overall feel of the website should make this obvious. For example, if your niche is the luxury market, your branding and photos should represent it. If you specialize in relocating military families, you should include content relating to those specific circumstances.
It should be obvious when someone lands on your site exactly what you specialize in and what they can expect when they work with you.
3 – An Active Blog
The blog is often the first thing someone will check when they land on your website. If they go through your posts and see the last time you blogged was October 2015, they might be under the impression that this was also the last time you did business. An active blog is a fantastic way to build brand authority, create sharable content, increase brand awareness, and assert yourself as an expert on a specific topic. You should be blogging at least once or twice per week and the topics should range from helpful how-to’s and industry news, to community spotlights, business announcements, and more.
4 – Inspiring and Comprehensive Communities Pages
Any motivational speaker will tell you right away that clients don’t choose products with their brains, they choose with their heart, and if your website is able to evoke emotion and a paint a beautiful picture of a specific neighborhood in your area, you might just have a better chance at closing the deal.
Community pages are not a new idea to real estate websites, but today’s community page must stand out and touch on the right topics. No one cares about “close proximity to schools and daycares” anymore, instead, your community pages should focus on describing the neighborhood and giving the client a crystal-clear picture of what their life will be like when they live there.
The content should be descriptive and concise, but also be able to engage the client and allow them to close their eyes and actually imagine being part of the community.
In addition to high-quality written content on these pages, you should also include exceptional photography and even video to further illustrate your point.
Want to drive traffic, build your brand, and engage your target audience? Download our eBook: ‘The Ultimate Guide to Real Estate Marketing’. It’s a collection of some of our best marketing articles, tips, and tricks that we’ve collected over the years.
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