When searching for a home, prospective buyers are turning to their devices long before consulting with a real estate agent. This is because technology has changed the way buyers and sellers transact, and their search often begins with the swipe of a finger or the click of a mouse. Studies show that buyers begin their real estate search about 12-24 months before sitting down for a buyer consultation. Because of this, it is very important to have an attractive real estate website design that not only draws your future client in, provides vital information in an interactive yet simple platform throughout their search.

In 2018, first time home buyers made up 33% of all home purchases. Because of this, real estate websites have become one of the most trusted sources when looking for homes for sale. 

But what makes up a good real estate website? There are a few factors to consider when building a website for your business. 

LEAD CAPTURE

For real estate websites, traffic is not as important as capturing leads and converting these leads into actual business. You want to ensure that when a person visits your page that you have a way of collecting their information to contact them in the future and to create a campaign around their needs. The reality is, however, every real estate website shares this common goal, so what can you do to differentiate without overwhelming the client? An easy way is to show your buyer up front your value proposition and provide a simple interface for providing their information. Highlight the benefits of subscribing to your website/newsletter and how you plan on keeping them up to date on the market. Freebies like E-books and PDFs are great ways to provide information and tips throughout this process. Also, giving a buyer access to pocket listings that are not available on the MLS (multiple listing service) is also a great way to get their information. 

BRANDING

Keeping your branding consistent across all of your social media platforms is vital. You already know how to create the perfect instagram profile, but what about your website? Including a detailed “about me” page and a high resolution quality professional headshot is important and let’s your future buyer know who they will be working with. Are you involved in any charities that you want to include? Are you involved in your community or any other organizations? All of this is important to your overall brand. 

WHAT IS YOUR SPECIALTY?

What area of real estate do you specialize in? Do you work mainly with commercial or residential real estate? Depending on which area of real estate you work in your website will have to speak specifically to that client. A corporate feel for your real estate website will be more attractive to the commercial buyer, whereas a website targeting a family looking for a suburban home will likely have a more relaxed and inviting feel. Do you also have specific certifications or designations tied to your license such as SRES^® (Seniors Real Estate Specialist^®)? Be sure to include these as well, as it lets your buyer know that you have expertise beyond the average agent. 

MOBILE FRIENDLY DESIGN

The reality is that in today’s age, most people are on the go and once the real estate search begins, a buyer will find themselves looking at potential properties at all hours of the day. Ensuring that you have a mobile friendly and responsive design will allow your buyer to look for homes while on the go and is one the main things a real estate marketing company will focus on when building your site. Having a complicated or difficult interface for your buyer to navigate while on their mobile device is an easy way to ensure that the buyer will not revisit your website in the future. 

QUALITY IMAGES

A picture is worth a thousand words, and quality images are a powerful and easy way to capture the attention of a buyer. Ensuring that all images on your website are high quality professional photos is an easy way to make your site a favourite amongst users. Buyers will build a vision around their dream home and this usually comes from various forms of media. If your images do not do the property justice, you can almost always guarantee that a buyer will overlook the property because the images simply did not look great online. 

SEARCH TOOLS

Some of the buyers visiting your real estate website may be more experienced than others, so it is important to ensure that the search tools on your site are great for both the savvy buyer, as well as the first time buyer or casual browser. Quick search options, an advanced search tool as well as an interactive or map search is imperative to a great real estate website and will ensure that you are appealing to a variety of buyers. 

Here are some great real estate website options that will take your real estate website to the next level. 

1. MyHome Theme

The MyHome Theme is a high converting website that offers the complete solution for a real estate website

2. Homeo

The Homeo theme enables users manage their own listings without accessing admin dashboard

3. Pro Real Estate 7

The Pro Real Estate 7 theme helps you engage more users, capture more leads, gain more potential clients and earn more commissions.

4. Houzes

Houzes is highly customizable and its flexibility makes it easy to create a top notch design that suits your business needs. 

5. WP Residence

WP Residence is a great option if you ever plan on collaborating with other agents and clients to allow them to post their listings to your site.

Now that you have a good handle on how to create a great real estate website, it’s important to continue the work of adding to your brand. Have a look at these other 9 essential tips to help you stand out. 

Stella Naggenda

Stella Naggenda is a marketing assistant and a passionate web developer with a background in real estate sales and marketing. Having worked in the real estate field for 6 years, Stella’s passion and interest for technology grew. She enjoys spending her time learning new technologies and working with systems that help optimize a business’ online presence.