The Anatomy of a Great Real Estate Website

How to Build a Great Real Estate Website

October 21, 2020 4pm Robyn Rivera

For a real estate agent (or agency), being visible and getting leads and conversions online is largely dependent on the kind of website they have.

A real estate website is a sales tool that never sleeps, and it’s a real estate agency’s main hub online. However, it’s imperative to understand that not all real estate websites are made equal, nor will they all yield the same results.

Having the right real estate website is critical for any agency looking to stand out and get ahead online, but what does it mean to have the “right” real estate website?

The world of digital marketing has certainly changed over the years, and real estate websites are no exception. Today, we’re going to break down the basics of what every great real estate website needs in 2020.

The anatomy of a great real estate website

Mobile usability

More than ever, people are using their smartphones when searching for a property or looking for the right real estate agent to work with. It’s essential that your website looks good and functions properly on a mobile device.

The first step toward mobile-friendliness is a responsive design. A responsive website will automatically reconfigure itself based on the device it’s being viewed on, which ensures the best possible experience on any device without the need for a separate mobile site.

You also want to make sure that clickable elements, like buttons and links, have plenty of space around them, your content is structured properly and font sizes are large and readable.

How does your website stack up on mobile? Find out with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.

High-quality images

People will decide whether they want to stick around and give your website a chance within just a few seconds of landing on it. That’s not enough time to watch a video or read your content, which is why having eye-catching images is so extremely important.

The images you choose for your website have a direct impact on the kind of impression your website makes on visitors.

If possible, use your own professionally shot images whenever you can, and try to avoid using cheesy stock images if you have another option.

IDX Broker integration

When your clients (and your prospective clients) are looking for properties to purchase, ideally, you want that search to happen on your website as much as possible.

Sure, your clients can visit Trulia, Zillow or any number of websites where they could check out real estate listings, but there’s always the chance they’ll decide they don’t need your help if they go this route.

In order to keep your clients on your website, you need to be able to show them the latest listings in their search area, which means that you need a website that will integrate with IDX Broker.

Advanced search functionality

Buying a house — or any other property for that matter — is a big thing. People looking for real estate have very specific wants and needs, and they are going to want to be able to search for exactly what they are looking for.

A good real estate website needs to be able to meet the in-depth search needs of someone looking for real estate. They should be able to search by location, number of bedrooms and baths, property type, price, etc.

Your website not only needs to make it possible to search by many different criteria, but it should also provide results for searches quickly and smoothly.

Speed

If there’s one thing most people in the process of buying or selling could use more of, it’s time. In 9 out of 10 cases, time is of the essence in real estate transactions, which means that most real estate clients won’t waste their time on a website that takes forever to load.

Whether they come to your website to learn about your real estate agency, schedule an appointment with one of your agents or search for local properties for sale, they’re not going to stick around for long if your website doesn’t load quickly.

Speed is something every modern website needs. Although speed isn’t everything, it has a direct impact on both the user experience and the organic visibility of the site.

Is your existing site fast enough? Test the speed of every page on your site with PageSpeed Insights from Google. And learn about the many steps you can take to make your website faster.

Easy navigation

When people visit a real estate agency’s website, they do so with a specific purpose in mind. They might be seeing which properties are available in their area or price range, looking for information about the agency itself, looking for advice and a whole range of other things.

Whatever it is your visitors are visiting your website to do, make it easy for them by making your website simple and straightforward to navigate. In most cases, a simple, menu-style navigation is best.

Whatever you do, don’t try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to website navigation. There are a lot of areas of your website where creativity is called for and thinking outside of the box is absolutely a good thing. Your navigation is not one of them.

If your visitors can’t find what they want because they can’t figure out how to navigate your website, they’re going to move on to the next real estate website. Keep it simple, and use a navigational structure that’s tried and true.

Uncluttered design

One of the most basic rules of website design is that a clean, sleek layout is preferable to one that’s too busy or overwrought. As with the navigation of your website, you want your website design to be basic and simple.

The more elements there are and the more cluttered your website, the more difficult it will be to direct your visitors to the appropriate next step. Pad buttons, banners, content and other elements on your website with plenty of white space to highlight them and make them stand out.

Keeping your website design simple and basic makes it look more professional and modern. It also ensures a better user experience, because it allows you to guide your visitors’ next steps.

Helpful resources

As I mentioned before, buying (or selling) property is a big deal. It’s not something anyone wants to rush into, and there are a lot of ins and outs that people need to be aware of no matter which side of the transaction they are on.

Many people end up relying on their real estate agents to help them through the buying or selling process — and everything that comes with it. Whether it’s helping them understand the why and how of a market analysis or giving them pointers on what to look for during a home viewing, make sure that you’re providing prospective clients with the resources they’re looking for.

By becoming a trusted source of information for your clients, you can build more trust with them, making them more likely to choose you when they’re ready to buy or sell. They’ll also be more likely to recommend your services to friends or family.

Creating that kind of valuable content will also help to give your website more authority in the eyes of Google. That will mean greater visibility and higher keyword rankings.

Testimonials

For most people, buying a home is the biggest purchase they will make in their lifetime, and selling a home is equally as big and as stressful. With so many unknowns and difficult-to-grasp details, people want someone to represent them who they can trust.

Trust is something that every small business operating online needs to focus on, but for real estate agents and agencies, it’s even more vital.

Trust can be a difficult thing to establish, especially when you’re largely relying on your website and need to establish trust before an in-person relationship can be built.

Every real estate agent claims to be the best at what they do, which is why what an agent says about themselves doesn’t hold that much weight. But, when a client raves about working with an agent, it makes an impact.

Build trust with potential clients by highlighting the good experience previous clients have had in the past. By adding a reviews widget to your website, you can display client testimonials right on your site.

Having the right real estate website is critical to an agency’s success online, and if your website isn’t up to scratch, it’s time for a new one.

With Websites 360, it’s easy to build a modern, effective real estate website that checks all of the boxes and offers everything you need. Best of all, with a library of real estate design templates and a drag-and-drop editor, anyone can build their own website.

Find a real estate website design template to get started!