7 Things to Include in Your Real Estate Agent Website
Your success as a real estate agent depends heavily on getting the word out about your services and track record. That means using ads, setting up social media pages, handing out business cards, attending local events, and even going door knocking. You also need to have an effective website.
In 2021, your real estate agent website is really at the core of your lead generation strategy. What happens when people find you on social media? They’ll look for your website. Where do you send people through paid ads? To your website. If you’re knocking on doors meeting people in your market, where’s the first place they are going to look after they are done talking to you? Your website.
You need a real estate agent website dedicated to your brand. It should concisely explain your services and what you offer, should be simple to use and understand, and should showcase your past success. There should also be ample opportunities for potential leads to enter their contact information and get in touch with you.
We’ve put together six things that every real estate agent website needs to include.
#1. A Professional Look
The first thing people notice when they come to your website is how it looks and feels. Images and videos need to be vibrant and high quality. There should not be any copy errors or broken links. And the copy has to be clear, concise, and easy to read (you don’t want any weird fonts or colors that make it difficult to look at). Your website also needs to load quickly. Slow load times make your site seem unprofessional and not worth looking at.
#2. Logical Organization
Most people only stay on websites reached through organic search for about a minute. A good average website session is two to three minutes. That is not a lot of time for you to successfully make your case or capture a lead. That means you need to make it easy for real estate agent website visitors to find what they need. Ensure things like home valuations or market analyses are quick to find, and put some form of your unique value statement front and center. Above all, use a simple navigation menu that’s visible on every single page.
#3. A Responsive Design
In 2020, 68.1% of all website visits came from mobile devices. Whether they are home or on the go, people increasing access the internet almost exclusively from their phones. As a result, your real estate agent website needs a responsive design so it can adjust its width and format based on the device it is being viewed on. There’s nothing worse than a website that looks great on desktop but has severe formatting problems when scaled down to mobile.
#4. Your Real Estate Listings
No real estate agent website would be complete without a page showing off your listings. If you can, the best approach is to include an IDX feed that integrates your MLS listings seamlessly into your site. If your MLS doesn’t allow you to do that, then see if they have any other ways to display listings on your website.
#5. Listing Search Function
Your website should make it simple for visitors to find a listing their interested in. You want a search function in which they can set parameters for types of houses or must-haves, along with criteria like price ranges, amenities, and even school districts.
#6. Useful Content
It may seem simple, but your website needs to include ample high quality content. This helps SEO (search engine optimization), it makes you look like an expert, and it provides value for website visitors. Include things like blog posts about your market, local area, and the real estate industry in general. It’s also a good idea to add information about local neighborhoods—types of houses, restaurants, neighborhood events, and similar information.
Additionally, you want to have an “About You” page. This section will showcase your experience, how well you know the area, your track record of success, and what unique value you bring to the table that will help you solve the website visitor’s problem.
#7. Contact Info
Your phone number and email address should be easy to find on every single page, typically in the header, footer, or in a sidebar. The site should also include contact form fills and bots that make it convenient for visitors to request more information on a listing or things like a home valuation. Once they contact you through your website, their information should be automatically added to your real estate CRM.
Your website showcases your business and your brand. Invest the time and resources to make useful and professional, and it will pay off big as an effective tool in your real estate lead conversion wheelhouse.