When building a successful website, there are two things to keep in mind:
1. Your brand
2. Your target audience
In the 15 years that Propertybase has been building real estate websites, we have seen time and time again when there was too much focus on the brand and not on the user or vice versa. In today’s consumer-driven environment, with buyers spending three weeks searching for a new home themselves before contacting an agent, ensuring you create a website environment that immediately captures their attention (and most importantly their contact information) is key to beating the competition.
In our new eBook, the Definitive Guide to a Winning Real Estate Website, we share practical tips and strategies from over 10,000 real estate website deployments. This article will review some quick takeaways for converting more leads on your site.
Here are four website features that can generate better engagement and leads.
1. Specific neighborhood profiles
There may be no other word in today’s verbiage as powerful as “search.” From Google to Zillow, today’s consumer knows how to search for their specific needs. Therefore, you can’t afford to only have an okay search experience.
First, start with a terrific property search integrated with MLS via the IDX. Now go beyond broad keywords and ensure buyers can search for specific neighborhoods and keywords not always identified by the MLS. This micro-way of thinking, found across any Propertybase website, appeals to visitors who already know what they’re looking for and helps SEO. The more specific the search, the higher the likelihood of generating quality leads.
2. Market insights
Many real estate websites will have the property search function and perhaps an overview of the area. Make yourself stand out as the experts in your market by providing tailored content that includes snapshots of hyper-local data about recent home sales, average sale prices, days on market, etc. Real estate market insights keep prospective buyers and sellers engaged online. They work as a great lead generation tool by including a “subscribe” feature that immediately captures contact information; plus, over the long-term, market insights provide a great nurture-outreach opportunity.
3. Trust elements
Studies show that you have just mere seconds to create a positive impression with users. Any brokerage or agent can build a website, but keeping visitors engaged long enough to have them provide you with their personal information, let alone choose you to guide them through the real estate journey takes effort. Design your About Us page with awards, real estate associations, client testimonials or community involvement. Showcasing your value goes a long way in building long-term trust and your database.
4. Calculators and conversions
No better website feature presents the opportunity to capture potential buyer and seller leads better than “What’s My Home Worth?” or “Mortgage Estimator” calculators. It’s the best place for a form because you’re offering something of value in return for first-party data. By capturing first-party data from website visitors you can actively grow your database while at the same time generate ready-to-act leads. Word to the wise though: test where and when to gate content and limit the number of questions asked in return for a name or email information.
Apply these consumer-centric features to your website(s) to optimize performance, showcase the value benefit you’ll bring to clients, and compete with the big players.
The Propertybase Real Estate Platform is the trusted technology partner of over 200,000 users and 2,000 leading real estate franchises, brokerages and teams. We’ve built more than 10,000 websites that have generated more than 20M visitors. The Propertybase portfolio simplifies the business of real estate with IDX and MLS-integrated websites, real estate CRM, lead generation, transaction management, back office tools and much more.