Every real estate professional needs a well-designed, useful, and informative website. But a Realtor website should be more than just professional photos and some clever-sounding sales text. Your website should be a direct reflection of your professionalism and expertise. Potential buyers and sellers will look to your site to better understand your business, your properties, and why they should trust you with their investments.
Here, we’re examining seven things your Realtor website needs to be effective:
1. Impeccable Design
We live in a visually-driven world. When users go to your website, the first thing they’ll notice is whether or not it’s visually appealing.
Your website shouldn’t be too busy, but nor should it be too sparse. Eliminate any ads on your main page — as this is a major turn-off for customers. Most importantly, though, your website’s overall design should convey to your clients that you are professional, detail-oriented, and an expert in your field.
Both buyers and sellers will generate an immediate impression of you and your business based on your website. Sub-par images will show that you’re not willing to put in the time or effort to take professional photos. Typos or grammatical errors on your homepage show a lack of 
attention to detail. Outdated technology or overall design makes your business feel antiquated, and users will likely take their business elsewhere.
Think of your website as the face of your brand. You want the client’s first impression to be overwhelmingly positive. Therefore, it’s worth spending the time, money, and effort to create an exceptional real estate website.
Here at WinningAgent, we’ve created several ready-to-use real estate website themes, designed specifically with your business in mind. Personalize our designs to make a perfectly stunning website that grabs users’ attention and impresses every client.
2. Easy Navigation
We’re all busy and your clients are no exception. If your website is cumbersome and hard to navigate, your clients aren’t going to spend the time figuring out where to find information. They’ll just leave and go elsewhere, potentially taking their business with them.
Don’t believe us? One study found that 94% of consumers say navigation is the number one most important feature in a website.
Your website should feature easy navigation, allowing users to find the information they need quickly. Make navigation menus easy to find and categorize your menus in a way that makes the most sense. Next, think about your user and the information they’re after. Don’t make them hunt for what they want. Instead, make it easy for them to find what they want from your homepage, so they can get the information quickly and get on with their day.
3. Mobile-Friendly Design
Most users are increasingly accessing the internet from mobile phones. If your website looks great on your desktop but leaves a lot to be desired on a handheld device, it’s time to do some cleaning up.
Our realty-specific websites have mobile functionality built in. But if you’re using a different website design, you can learn more about making your website phone-friendly here.
4. IDX for Home Searches
Every Realtor website needs to have a way for users to search for available properties. An Internet Data Exchange – or IDX – allows a website to showcase all MLS properties on its page. That is, an IDX program allows a Realtor’s website to feature the same listings as a national MLS database, like Realtor.com or Zillow.
There are many IDX programs available on the market, but we prefer IDX Broker. Their software streamlines the listings process, allowing users to access the entirety of the MLS catalog. Plus, the search functions make it easy for clients to search through properties in any location, even from a mobile phone.
5. Relevant Information
An outdated website does far more harm than good. For one thing, Google and other search engines check your website’s content, looking for outdated information or broken links. If you haven’t updated your content in a while, Google notices, and you’ll slip further and further down the search results.
However, when you continually add relevant, up-to-date blogs, articles, and other materials, your website shoots to the top of Google’s rankings. Plus, when you provide information that interests your readers, they’ll stay on your page longer. And the more time they spend on your website, the more Google will see your page as relevant and valuable. The result? You guessed it, a rise in rankings.
Therefore, it’s worth the investment to have someone write detailed, well-researched content for your website on a regular basis. Not only does this provide value for your clients, but it also indicates to Google that you’re a trusted Realtor website.
Do you have an updated website? Are you happy with the design and functionality? Share your tips with us in the comments below!
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