Real Estate Website Design Basics: 10 Things Your Website Should Have

The real estate industry is an incredibly competitive marketplace. Possessing a stellar online presence is integral for real estate professionals to be seen by potential buyers and clients. To truly succeed, a real estate business must consider things like real estate website design and marketing. Moreover, elements like website maintenance and SEO services contribute to attracting clients and buyers to maximize growth. In this article, real estate professionals and marketing experts discuss 10 things a fantastic real estate website should have.

A Dedicated Section Showcasing Exceptional Marketing Of Homes

“All real estate websites in 2020 need to have a dedicated section showcasing exceptional marketing of homes by the agent/team/broker. Those that want to list homes need to make it very clear what they bring to the table when it comes to selling a home. Video marketing is becoming the standard, not the exception, so the best produced, high-quality videos are

going to win, hands down. 6 years ago, professional photography and staging were the value propositions that won, but the industry has caught on to this, and is now moving into more advanced marketing techniques. Positioning yourself as a leader in video will set you apart from the pack and put you in the best position to win a listing agreement.

To capture buyers, the best tool is still the advanced IDX, as offered by providers like Chime and Ylopo. These companies understand the need to have a powerful IDX on their sites that give agents an opportunity to capture leads. It boggles my mind how any real estate marketing company can boast a great website without a high-functioning IDX component in 2020.”

Joe Karasin, Owner, Karasin PPC

Latest Or Featured Properties, Photo Gallery, And Sorting

“Real Estate surely has websites to promote or market what they can offer. These websites are crucial and should inform people about every detail a land or a building have.

Below are some of the most important features a real estate website must have:

Latest or featured properties – If you want your buyers to be interested in the properties you sell on your website, It would be nice to post some of the latest properties with great features to catch their attention.

Photo Gallery – You can’t just write the good things about a property, you also need to let them see what every property looks like and show them how great every single one of them is.

Testimonials – Some buyers find it hard to trust what they see on your website, this is the reason why you should feature a testimonial page on your website to let every viewer know the thoughts of those who already bought some of your featured property. Testimonial also provides ratings to inform every buyer how trustworthy your real estate company is.

Sorting – Several real estate website can be difficult to navigate and gives every viewer a hard time to look for a property they want. You need to sort everything in your real estate website, it should be user friendly and easy to understand. In this way, viewers can read and understand every property’s information and its features easily.”

Keith Myers, Managing Editor, The Hempire

It’s The Story You Tell, About And Contact Pages With Testimonials From Happy Clients

“When designing a real estate website, including specs about the property is a given. However, that is not what really sells a house or commercial space to a buyer. It’s the story you tell them.

If we’re talking residential you need to sell them on the life they will live if buying the house. Will they be secluded for a tranquil quiet life or joining an engaging community of neighbors who visit and socialize with each other frequently? Will you be surrounded by growing families or retired couples? Whether the house is 3 or 4 bedrooms matters, clearly, but these are the details that can fast-track or shut down a sale. Sell them on the life and the renovations to the property won’t be as important.

The same goes for commercial spaces. Be sure to describe and provide examples of HOW the property can be used for a business and what type of business it’s ideally suited for. You may not get as many inquiries if you went with just specs and photos, but the ones you get will be more qualified because you painted a picture of the right buyer for that building/space.

Next up: photos. And I don’t mean photos taken on a phone or tablet, nor do I mean four or five. I am talking about professional photos taken by an experienced REAL ESTATE photographer. Every type of photography is not the same. Get someone who knows how to stage a shot (i.e. notices when the family picture hasn’t been put away and fixes it or moves a chair to get the better photo of the room, even if they have to move it back) AND has experience in real estate.

And finally, you should flood the homepage, About and Contact pages with testimonials from happy clients. Real estate is a very saturated industry. Convincing someone that you are the right realtor for them (as a buyer or seller representative) is all about trust and relationships – both of which take time to build. However, testimonials from past clients can give you the springboard to do that.”

D. Channing Muller, Principal, DCM Communications

An About Page Section, A Blog Section,  And Options For The Consumer To Click About Home Values

“Things your website should have: What makes a great real estate website is a call to Action, so Consumers will be drawn to interact and engage. First and foremost is an About Page Section. That alone helps the consumer learn and become more familiar with yourself and what you’re about. It makes it more personal. The 2nd thing is a Webform to fill out the information. In my opinion, these days it’s of utmost importance to retrieve consumer’s information, so you can keep in touch with them and stay top of mind. With a Webform, you can have a series of questions, in order to best understand the consumer.

Another thing is a Blog Section. As we all know SEO is the Holy Grail of a website ranking, so constantly feeding the website with updated content, in the form of a Blog will help rank well and engage consumers to locate the website hopefully on the first page. Having an SEO Grader, like my website from Carrot has been great, as it ensures that my content is SEO Compliant, which again, helps with ranking. 

Lastly, the website should have options for the consumer to click about values, so they can evaluate their own home on their own, as well as request assistance if they’re in the need of.”

Shea Adair, Sell Raleigh Home Fast

It has never been more essential than now, for a real estate professional to have an exceptional online presence. Stellar website design creates a great first impression and generates online leads, which is paramount for the success of any real estate business.

Sarah Bauder

Sarah Bauder is a senior content specialist at Little Dragon Media. Sarah has a degree in journalism and has a decade of experience writing content at numerous renowned publications. She enjoys writing about digital marketing, business, entrepreneurship and more.