Heat Level: 
Mild: These tips are beginner-friendly.
Bottom Line: Give the people what they want with IDX search and don’t forget that good photos, design, and seamless user experience are essential.
To Do: Give your own website the same audit we give our clients:
Check photo quality
Check user experience
Grade your design and IDX experience.
Your website is your first opportunity to demonstrate professionalism and commitment to quality.Like snowflakes, no two real estate sites should be the same. But there are some common features found on most successful sites...and common features across total flops. Whether you’re setting out to build a new site for your business or want to make sure that your existing site is working to its full potential, this list is for you!
Low-quality photos are a common mistake. Think about how many terrible listings you’ve seen with dim, blurry pictures highlighting clutter or problems a house may have. Even if the pictures are a poor representation, it’s harder to convince a client to even look at the property than it would be if the photos were decent.
The photography issue extends beyond listings too. If your site features pictures that are low-resolution, obvious stock images, or seem poor-quality, it can be a red flag to visitors navigating your site.
Check yourself: pull up your website and look closely at the photos on your website. Are any of them grainy? Pixelated? Stretched? Squished? From 2006? If so, you could be giving the impression that quality and modernness aren’t your top priorities.
Basically, anything that makes your site feel spammy. If a visitor has to click past a popup that won’t leave them alone every time they come to your site, they’ll stop coming. If someone has to sit through a minute-long video intro before they can navigate your site, they’ll Google another real estate pro. Users want to know they’re in control when they’re navigating online, so don’t use anything on your site that takes the power away from them.
Check yourself: remove or minimize any features that get in the way of site’s core functions. Even a “log in” or “contact me” message that’s too aggressive can turn users off.
User experience is everything. If your site hides important information people will leave. If your site takes too long to load, they won’t wait. If your contact information is incorrect, they won’t trust you. Internet users make decisions in a matter of seconds online. If your site doesn’t allow them to quickly and seamlessly find what they’re looking for they’ll move on to your competition.
Check yourself: browse through your site like an actual user and make sure everything makes sense and works well.
Let’s state the obvious: people are coming to your site because they’re in the market to buy or sell a home. So why wouldn’t you feature the search prominently? Having an IDX search of all MLS listings on your site is a fundamental part of a good real estate website. Making that search one of the central features of your site is an easy way to give visitors what they want right away.
It’s not just about showing available houses. It’s about using that data feed to your advantage. Only with IDX can you set up landing pages that always show the most recently listed homes in your primary service area, price range, school district, etc. You can also utilize your IDX feed to showcase your listings on the homepage - automatically, without any manual work.
People respond to buttons online. Call-to-action (CTA) buttons are one of the best ways to get visitors to do something, whether that’s providing their email address, contacting you about a listing, calling your office, etc.
Equally important are contact forms. Having simple, easy-to-use contact forms on listing pages, your about and contact pages, and anywhere else that makes sense ensures visitors don’t have to look too hard for a way to get in touch with you.
We know it’s tempting to think that all information is important, so it should all be highlighted on the home page. But having a clean, simple design that isn’t cluttered with too many text boxes or images is a much better bet.
It’s also important to know when you’ve gone too far in the opposite direction and eliminated all useful info. Internet users expect the menu to be easy to find near the top of a page. They also expect to be able to find certain information, like an about section, contact info, and so on, from that main menu. Being creative and unique is important. But providing users with an easy-to-navigate site that doesn’t overload them with information or frustrate them by hiding key details is far more valuable.
This is a big one. If you want your site to rank well on Google and other search engines, you NEED content. In the past, what you wrote didn’t matter as long as you had a lot of content. That’s not the case anymore. If you want your site to retain credibility with Google you have to provide original, high-quality content. In other words, posting lots of mediocre content full of nonsense keywords or copied from other sources is a big problem. Having a site with no content, just IDX search and a contact page, is also a big problem. Quality, not quantity, is the name of the game.
One easy way to grow the quality content on your site? Blogging! We recommend having a blog on your site with company news, useful information, client stories, and more. Blogging doesn’t have to be an all-consuming endeavor. A good way to make a blog content plan (and stick to it) is with a content calendar.
Fun fact: homes that are listed with professional photographs sell 32% faster than those without. According to the National Association of Realtors, “87 percent of homebuyers who searched for a home on the internet found photos to be among the most useful features.” With this much emphasis on photos, spending the time and money to have it done right only makes sense.
But the need for high-quality images extends beyond listings. Using old, grainy, pixelated photos from the 90's will make users think you're not up-to-date. So invest in modern, bright, clear photography of your office, your team, your community - anything you want to showcase. You might consider hiring a professional photographer, or learn how to take great photos (not with your cellphone camera).
If you keep these tips in mind, your site will be set up to power all your other digital marketing efforts.
And if you’re worried about building your site the right way, we can help!
Working with ListingManager allows Jess to explore an alternate reality where she could one day own a house instead of renting. When she’s not focused on her daily to-do lists, Jess enjoys HBO binges, gourmet lattes, and playing with her dog. How did you like this article?
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