Are you starting a real estate business or developing a website for a real estate client? You’re probably wondering what elements to incorporate into an effective real estate website. Since 90 percent of homebuyers will go online at some point during the home buying process, you want a website that will catch visitor’s eyes and end in conversions. To get there, you need a well-designed website. Here are some things that any effective real estate website needs.
- Optimization for Multimedia
All real estate websites need the ability to showcase their properties through imagery. Photographs are the most common way to illustrate a listing, but videos are growing in popularity. According to Inman research, 85 percent of buyers want to work with a real estate agent who uses video and homes with videos on their listings get four times as many views.
However, a lot of websites don’t have the bandwidth necessary to upload photos and videos. Your real estate website should be different, allowing simple loading of photos and videos without slowing down the page.
- Clear Navigation
Navigation is huge in any website, but especially for real estate. Most visitors know exactly what they’re looking for when entering a realtor’s website, and they’ll find it easily if you have a bold navigation bar at the top of the page with clearly defined categories such as Home, About, Search, Contact, Blog, or Meet the Team. The homepage’s navigation bar will orient your clients and lead to faster satisfaction.
- Relevant Blog
Content is the basis of many company marketing strategies, thanks to its ability to boost SEO, promote products or services, establish creativity, and add value for website visitors. A real estate blog can discuss useful tips for finding a house, understanding the housing market, current news in the neighborhood, neighborhood guides, and other topics that will keep visitors engaged. Apply standards of distinctive style and branding to your blog pages to promote continuity with the rest of the website.
- Map Integration
Sure, web visitors can copy and paste the address of a particular property into a new tab to check its location on Google Maps, but why make them go through so many steps? It’s fairly simple to add a map plugin for the benefit of your users. Map integration is an interactive feature that lets clients scout out the neighborhood. Real estate websites with map integration are used more often than those without.
- Calls to Action
Conversions in real estate see a significant increase when calls to action are present. For example, a call to action button on listing pages encourages homebuyers to set up an appointment with your client to view a home.
You might also use it to get email addresses and subscribers to your blog. Calls to action perform best when placed on multiple pages throughout your website. The more often visitors see them, the more likely they are to convert.
- Contact Forms
Calls to action are useful for converting visitors, but contact forms take it the extra mile. Forms are common on a real estate website contact page, but popup forms usually perform best. According to Crazy Egg research, pop-ups drive 1375 percent more subscribers than traditional contact forms.
Forms can be used to collect emails, get newsletter subscribers, send notifications for home alerts, and provide other useful connections.
- Obvious Social Media Links
A presence on social media can do a lot for a real estate website-if you make social sharing easy. A lot of designers make their social media icons small and inconspicuous so that they don’t “annoy” website visitors. However, visitors are more likely to skim over them without clicking if they can’t clearly see them. Big, bold buttons in obvious places create a strong connection between all online profiles.
- Distinctive Style
A lot of real estate websites look very similar. Designers and DIY realtors use popular templates with default features, failing to customize in a way that allows their brands to shine.
Make it easier for clients to recognize your website when they see it with a great color scheme, photo optimization, a striking logo, and other distinctive features. Incorporate these design elements onto every website page for best results.
- Responsive Design
Responsive design is no longer an option. Without mobile-friendly design, you’ll face penalties from the Google search algorithm, hurting your rankings. It will also reduce the number of regular visitors. With more than half of home buyers researching homes on mobile devices, you don’t want higher abandonment rates simply because your website wouldn’t load on a mobile device.
- Filtering Search Feature
The search feature should be easy to find, simple to use, and multifunctional. Most homebuyers have very specific requests when visiting a realtor’s site. They’re looking for a certain number of bedrooms and bathrooms, a minimum size, a specific neighborhood, or a designated price range. If you offer them a high quality search function with filtering options, you’ll instantly increase satisfaction.
- Featured Listings Sliders
Real estate agents want to move listings quickly, and the featured listings slider can help. It will cycle through select properties, drawing attention to your best properties. Sliders have an innate power to encourage more conversions from website visitors.