Posted in It might be… and if it is, you need to change it IMMEDIATELY.
Internet users are fickle – if there’s something they don’t like, they’ll go elsewhere immediately. Almost all of the tens of thousands of personal real estate websites I’ve seen forget at least one of the following – and it’s damaging their businesses:
1. Make sure your real estate website visitors trust you.
It’s very easy to underestimate the value of this one; but believe me – if your real estate website doesn’t inspire visitors to trust you, then you shouldn’t have one.
Building a trustworthy website isn’t rocket science; just ask yourself, “what do I look for when choosing someone to work with?” Here are some pointers:
- Use a trustworthy photo – if your photo looks like this, REPLACE IT NOW:
Not a trustworthy photo
- Present knowledgeable, specific information
- Be genuine – don’t pump yourself up to be larger than life, or play down significant accomplishments; your website should present you in an accurate light
- Have a completed, personalized “About Me” page with customer testimonials
- Don’t have cheesy sales gimmicks on your website (blinking/flashing buttons drive people away)
- Offer lots of real estate resources (IDX/VOW search, all MLS listings, up-to-date blog, etc.)
2. Make sure your website content looks good.
Taking the time to add content to your real estate website is excellent, but forgetting to ensure that it’s presentable will cost you commissions. Imagine going to your bank’s website and seeing pink and blue font all over the place – would you continue to trust them with your money?
Make sure to avoid the following:
- Lots of different fonts – good websites use 2-3 fonts per page MAX (most only use 1)
- Lots of different font colors – this can make a great website look cheap and difficult to read
- Lots of different font sizes – on a website ONE SIZE DOES FIT ALL!
- Spelling mistakes
- Ill-formatted tables – incorporating a table into your website takes time; make sure you do it properly
- Images – make sure ALL images are crisp, on-topic, and presentable
3. Make sure your website colors don’t turn visitors away.
This one isn’t easy, but our research has told us that the following are important:
- Darker colors and contrast – real estate websites using darker blues and black with high text contrasts generate more leads
- Rich colors/images – real estate websites with committed colors and images generate more leads; websites with washed-out colors and images drive traffic away
- Avoid overly-bright websites – bright websites are not relaxing websites; customers will go elsewhere
4. Don’t try to pass your generic company or brokerage website off as your own.
Guess what? Website visitors can tell when you’ve settled for the free real estate website your broker gave you… why? Because it looks like everyone else’s! The worst part is that if you actually tell people to visit “your” website, you’re promoting your brokerage’s for free! If you’re okay with this (which you shouldn’t be), then I’d suggest going around your office, collecting business cards from your competitors, and handing those out to your customers as well.
The point: Look at any top producer in your office and I guarantee they have their own, personally-branded website – you need one too.
5. Make sure your website offers something to your visitors they can’t get elsewhere.
This is the biggy – if your real estate website is functionally useless to visitors, what’s the incentive for them to stick around? You’re right – none.
Make sure your real estate website offers (at least) the following:
- access to ALL MLS® listings
- market trending
- Map-based MLS® Search
- IDX/VOW
- Up-to-date blog
- Information that can’t be found anywhere else
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