Nowadays, before people look for houses, they try to consult Google first and research about the neighborhood that they want to settle in. Therefore, having your own website for your own real estate business is imperative. Did you know that 75% of the consumers nowadays use different search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing to search for a product or service before they purchase it?
That’s why, in the real estate business, it is important to establish your own website. Consider your website as a lead generation machine — all contacts via phone calls or contact form submission will be directed for your website.
Despite the number of competitors, you have in the industry, being able to rise above them in the search engine results pages can give you a definite edge from your rivals. Not yet convinced that you need a website? We can help you define the goals that you need in setting up a website for your real estate business online!
1. Set up A Three-Pronged Plan
Before you buy a domain and select a hosting for your website, you should definitely plan ahead to determine what your website should store. We prepared a three-prong plan that you should sit down with your business partners to design an idea for your website:
Who is your target market? – this should be clearly illustrated in your website. Are you looking for high-class customers or are you target the working middle class? This can help you visitors discern how exclusive your property is.
What can you offer to your target market? – if you market yourself as a highly exclusive community, what are the things that you can offer for your would-be tenants? Can they expect better services aside from the regular services from an ordinary estate? What are the distinct, unique features of your property that makes it livable for your chosen target market? This should be clearly illustrated in your website as this can help your visitors decide whether they want to live in your property or not.
Why should they contact you? – Related to the 2nd item in our list, your website should help you make it possible to close sales, rather than just another wasted investment. Your website should be convincing enough to help you pull in sales. Aside from a convincing web design, you should be able to create landing pages with appropriate call-to-actions that will help lure in your leads.
2. Keep the Design Simple
While some website owners do not prefer a minimalist approach in web design, we recommend that you keep your web design modern, trendy, mobile friendly, but simple. The important things that matter for the client should be evident in each page. Each page should clearly display its purpose. Avoid cluttering too much information on the website; you can make use of icons to denote a thought, or you can group certain features of your property to avoid too much information. Make sure that the important details are displayed above the fold.
3. Call-to-Action
Again, call-to-action is important to catch the attention of the user towards a desired action on the website. If you want them to submit their information on your website, aside from placing a form, your should include a well-visible button that will be prominently seen on the website. If you want people to subscribe to your newsletter, you should prominently display a call-to-action where you can catch their attention to subscribe.
4. Optimize for Photography
In the real estate business, aesthetics is important than any other feature in the website. You should be able to create a website that helps people imagine how “homey” your properties are. Invest in taking professional photos of your properties — nowadays those in the real estate business have already invested in 360 photos to display on their website, and even drone shots to take picturesque shots of the area. High resolution photos help them imagine their life in the property. It’s how you convince your prospects that what you offer is indeed something that they want to be in for the rest of their lives.
5. Integrated Blog Functionality
You might ask: “Why do we even need to blog? Everyone has already written the things that we will write first hand.”
In my experience of handling different website projects, blogs can help reel in customers who are on the deciding phase. One, blogging helps increase your authority in your chosen niche, for this case, real estate marketing. On the other hand, it also helps in search engine optimization (SEO). Sometimes, users look for a specific topic that they need information from. Your blog posts will help those users to get into your website, and influence their decision through your site’s aesthetics and architecture.
Creating a website is easy, but building a website that helps you convert those visitors into customers may be challenging, especially in the real estate niche. Businesses are starting to realize how important internet marketing is, and the results are unbelievably satisfying.
Do you have any web design tips that can help budding real estate businesses? Share it with us in the comments!
Kenneth Sytian is one of the leaders in web design in the Philippines. He has been designing websites and developing web apps for more than a decade. His no-nonsense approach to design coupled with his vast creativity is a winning combination for his clients.
