How much time have you spent taking care of your real estate website lately? It is easy to get overwhelmed with buyers and sellers and making sure properties close and completely overlook other things that need a little attention. While a good real estate website shouldn’t require daily maintenance, you need to schedule a little time each week to spend making sure your website is current and working for you.
Here are some critical parts of a website that yours must have to make it worth your money.
IDX connection-Probably the largest draw
for a real estate website is the ability to search for properties. Buyers don’t just want to see the properties you have listed but also be able to search for other homes to see what else is available. It’s great when you can sell your own listing but I doubt you are going to turn away a buyer just because they are interested in a home that you don’t have listed. Having an IDX connection built in to your website is the key to making this possible. Add the option for buyers to sign up for property updates to be emailed direct to them when new homes are available and you now have an easy way to capture lead information.
Once the IDX is connected, you should also be able to set up a page on your website featuring your listings. This is essential because once you list a property, your seller will be looking for it and having a section of your website that features your personal listings will make this easier for them and make you look good.
You need a call to action for sellers wanting to know the value of their home. Many people are intimidated when it comes to asking what their house is worth. In the current market where the demand for houses exceeds the supply, you should aggressively be looking for listings.
Make it easy for people to find a way to contact you. Provide your email and phone number readily on every page of your website, not just from the home page.
A blog will allow you to easily post new information to keep buyers, sellers and residents of your local area informed on the real estate market and benefit your search engine optimization at the same time.
Share some personal information about yourself. There is no shortage of real estate agents in today’s market so tell people what makes you special so they will feel like they know you and want to work with you.
Testimonials are an easy way to share your success and let your clients speak for you. Devote a page on your website to testimonials and make sure you ask your clients to provide you a testimonial and keep this page updated. Zillow provides an easy way to ask your clients for testimonials. Once they post there, you can then add the same content to your website.
Select a real estate website platform that is enhanced for mobile viewing so your site is just as attractive on a smartphone, computer or tablet.
Make sure your website has easy to find links to your social media platforms. Your social media accounts make updating your followers on property changes and local information easy to handle on the fly. The key to this being successful is to increase your following so make this as prominent as you can so you can easily connect with your friends, family, clients and prospects.
Maybe you don’t have a website at all or you just need to get yours updated with the latest information and keep it that way. If you are overwhelmed by how to make your real estate website works for you, contact me and let my team and I help you create a real estate website that will keep you in front of your market. Let’s face it, all websites cost money and if you are going to spend money on a website, it needs to work for you.
To do a self-check of your website – download my complimentary Website Checklist today and then talk to your website provider or manager to make sure you have the best website your buyers and sellers would want.
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Hi Kim,
Thank you for listing out all the most important elements. I haven’t seen the checklist yet but that is probably would be handy for anyone looking to refresh their site.
One question though. You mention realtor website platforms. Would you recommend one over the other? I would love to read more about your thoughts on this.
Thanks,
Ben
Hi Ben,
Thanks for your great question. I will always recommend a custom website so that you own your own content, platform, design, etc. But, I also realize that not everyone had the budget for a custom website, so the real estate template sites are an option. I will be honest I have not been impressed with any of them as I have worked with pretty much all, but if I had to point you in one direction it would be Real Geeks websites. Make sure to ask questions about how the site will be built out and how much it will involve your time and effort to make sure it is built to your specifications. Keeping in mind you do not have a lot of control over it, at least be educated. You might jump over to YouTube and look at their videos to see if this is a good fit for you. Good Luck.