The 10 Key Features of the Best Lead-Generating Real Estate Websites
The true mark of the best real estate websites? Not only are they visually stunning and intuitive to browse, but they also bring in leads — and plenty of them.
Of course, a lead-generating website doesn’t happen by chance; they’re built that way, purposefully and strategically. If you commission a real estate agent website, ensure it has these essential features.
10 Best Lead-Generating Website Features
Easy Navigation
Why is intuitive navigation important? The easier it is for visitors to navigate your site, the more likely they are to take your desired action, whether that’s looking at listings, booking a showing, signing up for listings alerts, or simply contacting you.
As you can see from Rochford Real Estate Company’s website, user-centric design is front and center. Featured listings are located just below the fold for easy access, while portals for buyers, sellers, and renters cater to different client segments. Also included is an interactive map to make searching for a home more intuitive and interactive.
High-Quality Visuals
Listings need to make a terrific first impression, which is why high-quality visuals are paramount. That’s not just marketing speak, it’s biology; the human brain can process images in as little as 13 milliseconds — 60,00 times faster than text. Is it any wonder why expert photography enhances recall and engagement for real estate websites?
More precisely, listings with high dynamic range (HDR) photos increase views by 118% and sell properties up to 50% faster. After all, people want a clear preview of their future home, and beautiful visuals increase the likelihood of inquiring about a listing. To maximize impact, hire a professional photographer and use features like photo galleries and hero images to entice site visitors to click through.
An Informative Blog
Real estate transactions are underpinned by trust, which is why you should highlight your expertise on your blog to convince visitors to work with you. Populate your website with information that’s useful to buyers and sellers. Share expert tips and advice on home-buying and selling processes, home improvements, financing, and other real estate-related topics. Provide the latest market data and forecasts to guide readers. In short, turn your blog into a trusted knowledge hub for all things real estate and prospects will come to you.
Neighborhood Guides
Neighborhood guides can significantly boost your chances of being found online because search engines prioritize websites that offer comprehensive information. And as you know, the higher you rank on Google, the more clicks you gain, and the more business inquiries you’re bound to generate. Aside from real estate listings and market trends in the area, also include information about restaurants, shops, parks, and other places of interest. Sell the lifestyle, not just the property. Maps and other interactive tools are extremely helpful with lead generation as well.
Multiple Calls To Action
Calls to action (CTAs) tell visitors exactly what you want them to do, making them essential to lead-generation websites for real estate agents. Effective CTAs tend to be action-oriented, which has greater impact and leaves no room for guessing what the desired action is. Here’s another pro tip: to make your CTAs more effective, focus on outcomes. Instead of “Search Properties,” try “Find Your Dream Home.”
Have multiple CTAs on your home and inner pages to entice visitors at any stage of their browsing. Take a look at Roh Habibi’s website, for example. The CTA “Let’s Get Started” appears both on the navigation bar and just below the fold, adding a strong sense of urgency.
Responsive Design
Browsing on the go is the new norm. Tailor your website features to make browsing and interfacing easy and satisfying regardless of the device. For example, use slideshow galleries to give site visitors a detailed look at featured properties even on a small screen. Likewise, ensure lead capture forms can be easily filled out and sent even on mobile devices.
Check out the best mobile versions of the real estate websites we created.
Backend Database and CRM
Your database is the heart of your professional network. As you build engagement through your website, you need an effective backend database system or customer relationship management (CRM) suite to efficiently store, manage, and retrieve lead information, ensuring that no contacts fall through the cracks. Many CRMs even allow you to automate lead-generation efforts, such as sending out new listing alerts or auto-generated comparative reports to people who share their contact information.
Social Media Integration
Integrating social media with your website maximizes your reach on both platforms. Integrate them into your homepage, for example, so people can stay up to date with your latest listings or trophy sales. What’s more, social media integration can help with your website’s search ranking since Google rewards sites with constantly updated content.
LCT Team, which specializes in Middle Tennessee real estate and has $1+ billion in lifetime sales, is an excellent case study. Both its Facebook and Instagram feeds are integrated into the homepage, ensuring that updates like open houses also get exposure on the website. Aside from that, there is a floating column to the right where LCT Team’s various social accounts can be found, allowing visitors to connect no matter where they happen to be browsing on the site.
IDX Features
Finally, we come to the reason most visitors come to your site—to look for homes. An IDX feed is crucial to lead generation because it allows you to display the latest listings right on your realtor website, creating a seamless home search experience. Preferably, your IDX home search should be prominent on your homepage so you can immediately direct users to what they want to see. IDX solutions also offer other lead-generating features, such as automated comparative reports, interactive maps, lead forms, etc.
Check out our best real estate websites with IDX features.
Targeted SEO
100% of home buyers use the internet when searching for homes, and the vast majority of online users click only on the top results of search engine returns. SEO makes your business easier to find on the internet. It builds your online presence as it increases organic traffic to your website. It also helps in boosting brand awareness and encouraging brand recognition and recall. The best SEO practices are designed to enhance user experience, and that means optimizing your website with a client-first approach. Understanding your market allows you to target their needs and motivations with high-intent keywords, which increases your chances of ranking well.
If you want a custom real estate website that builds your business, you should choose the right features that go into it carefully. That means taking a close look at all aspects of your site, from the layout to content to integrations, and right down to CTAs. Because in this ultra-competitive real estate market, even the littlest things can greatly impact your website’s lead-generation capability.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can set your site up for success by focusing on great user experience that compels users to learn more and interface with you directly. Make your website easy to navigate and present content in a simple straightforward way. Having a clean and visually appealing design greatly helps to streamline visits to your website. Immerse your audience with what you and your business have to offer. Add fresh and informative content regularly and use natural calls to action for multiple sections of your website.
You can boost your website’s ranking and visibility by using relevant keywords throughout your website content. Don’t just use keyword-heavy content but create high-quality content that’s really useful and worth reading through. Apart from that, getting a technical audit of your site can make a significant difference in its performance as well. Some measures can be through optimizing images and page load speed, and tracking web analytics so you know where and how to make necessary adjustments.
To nurture leads, you will need to provide valuable content for your target audience, like market reports or buyer guides. Make it easy for people to get in touch and inquire through simple calls-to-action and contact forms on your site. Staying in touch with people who inquire with you is key, and being mindful of timing is equally important. You can begin the nurturing process by sending out email newsletters and personalized offers to strike up new conversations.
One of the most common mistakes is launching a new real estate website without actively thinking about how it will perform for your local market or rank on search engines for people to find you organically. Without thinking of lead generation as part of the marketing strategy, many agents may end up with websites that have slow load times, outdated content, or lack of clear calls-to-action built for their specific audience. These mistakes can be easily avoided when you’re working with website experts who also know the ins and outs of real estate lead generation.
Get in touch with a top real estate website design company
Agent Image is the choice of the most successful real estate professionals around the globe. We create the best real estate websites for agents. We start by listening to your story and mapping your journey so we can capture your brand and build a beautiful website that works optimally for you.
Call us today at 1.800.979.5799 for a free consultation.
