7 Must Haves for Your Real Estate Website

You probably have a real estate website. Or maybe you’re thinking about creating one. Either way, your goal should be to generate traffic, leads, and (ultimately) sales. But to do that, you need to make sure the consumers visiting your website have a great experience.

How can you ensure this is the case? Start with these seven must haves every successful website should have.

1. Contact info

I know, this seems stunningly obvious. Yet you’d be surprised by how many real estate websites I come across that have no contact information — no phone number, no email address, no indication of the location the agent covers. One of the main reasons to have a real estate website is for people to contact you. If you don’t include contact information, that’s a problem.

2. Responsive design

The Internet world is (rapidly) moving to mobile. Real estate in particular lends itself well to “mobile enabled” websites. Lots of people access real estate websites from a mobile device, so making sure your website looks good on a phone and a tablet, as well as the desktop, is key. That’s where responsive design comes in to play. Responsive design simply means that your website “responds” to the size of the viewer’s screen, regardless of what device they are using. Ever looked at a website on your phone and have to pinch and scroll and slide around just to see a page? That’s not a responsive design.

3. Home search

Most people visit a real estate website to look for properties, so providing a home search feature is paramount. “Search the MLS!” is something you frequently see, but that’s not an accurate statement. Only MLS members can actually search the MLS. What you need is an IDX solution. IDX stands for Internet Data eXchange. Don’t worry about that though; just know that your home search solution needs to be IDX-based. Not all IDX solutions will work with your specific MLS. Be sure to do your research. The last thing you want to do is find the perfect IDX, only to find out it doesn’t work with your MLS.

4. CTAs

A CTA is a call to action. They are prompts that get people to do something for you (for example, enter contact information) in return for something of value (for example, automatic listing updates or a free list of foreclosures).

Pro tip: Location matters. Using clear, compelling language in your CTA is important, but so is placement of the CTA on the webpage.

5. Fresh, unique content

Earlier I said that people visiting real estate websites want to see real estate listings. True story. But what helps your website get found in search engines? Fresh, unique content. Let’s face it, you could have the biggest, baddest home search on the planet, but if no one can find your website, it doesn’t really matter. Blogging is one way to introduce fresh content to your website. For content ideas, see 100 Real Estate Blog Topic Ideas.

6. Rich media

Yes, content matters, but your website shouldn’t be just a wall of words. Mix it up a little. Add videos and photos. Varied content is easier to read and digest, and appeals to the various ways people learn and absorb web-based content. Some people prefer reading, so write blog posts. Some are more visual, so include videos. Pictures can tell a story. You get the idea.

7. About Me page

I authored a successful blog for several years. The second most visited page on my blog (after the home search page) was my About Me page. Of course people want to see homes on a real estate website. But when they finish looking at homes, they start looking for an agent. That should be you. A good About Me page gives the visitor some basic info about you to help them connect with (and hopefully contact) you. Here are some great examples to help kick-start your thinking.

Pro tip: Include more than just words about you — include something about your visitors. Talk about what you can do for them. After all, it’s not really all about you. People want to know what you can do for them.

There you have it. Seven essential must haves for an effective real estate website — one that generates leads and grows your business.