So, you have a website. That’s a great step. Now you need to push this site. Make it THE premium destination for real estate seekers in your market. Here are 7 things all real estate sites need.
1. Great Site Design
This seems obvious, but you really need to capture a visitor’s attention as soon as they hit your homepage. Don’t cause visitors to stroke out on the back button. Try to keep your site clean and aligned. Keep it simple and limit yourself to only a couple of fonts and colors.
2. Easy Navigation
There’s a rule called the 5 to 7 rule in web design that states that the optimum menu arrangement should include 5 to 7 items. This ensures that people can easily get to all the pages on your site without becoming overwhelmed. Your navigation should be easy to locate and showcase the most important parts of your site. Ain’t nobody got time to search through a dozen links to find what they’re looking for.
3. Mobile Responsiveness
What used to be a cool novelty has quickly become a necessity. People use mobile devices to search the Internet. They do it a lot and your site needs to be available and look good. Google will hurt your mobile rankings if users cannot see your site properly on a smaller screen. Even if someone makes it to your site, they will quickly leave if it doesn’t fit the screen, or if they need a magnifying glass to read your text.
4. An IDX Feed
So, people are probably searching a real estate website for the best deals on appliances, right? Maybe relationship advice? Nope! They’re looking for real estate. Give the folks what they want. With a good IDX search you can open up the whole MLS for people to search. If you play your cards right they may even contact you to show them properties that they find on your site, but more on that if you keep reading.
5. Good Content
You’ve probably heard this before. I know I have. This is why I keep writing blog articles. Your site needs good, unique content. It gives you a great SEO boost and keeps people coming back to your site. You can have content around popular communities in your market. You could also write a blog and share information about local events and important happenings. Be different and show off your expertise.
6. Prominent Contact info
Real estate websites are judged by how much business they bring in. If someone visits your site and cannot contact you, it’s a big fail. You don’t have to hit people over the head, but make sure that your contact information is prominent and clear. You want people to reach out to you so that you can bring home that sale, which brings us to…
7. Clear Call to Action
You are a real estate professional. You know to ask for the sale. Your website is no different. It represents you to the world at large. It also needs to ask for the sale. There are many ways to ask for this. In fact, there are some great CTA options for you right here.
This is a great place to start. Once you have the foundation, don’t stop there. There is no such thing as a perfect website. Even a well designed site cannot stay static. Don’t go crazy with changes, but always be willing to accept criticism and keep making it better.
