8 Easy Ways to Enhance User Experience on Realtor Websites
Here’s some real talk
Despite real estate’s glamorous image, there’s no denying that it’s part of the service industry. This means only one thing: delivering excellent customer experiences is paramount to building your brand and business.
Of course, standout customer experiences don’t end with in-person service. The best agents know that their real estate websites should be an extension of the impressive service they deliver to clients. Or to put it another way: your website should offer a user experience (UX) that befits your reputation as a hands-on, dedicated agent.
Amping up your real estate agent website’s user experience helps you create an impeccable first impression, improve user retention, and even boost your search visibility. All of these naturally increase your conversion rates as well.
The key to excellent website user experience is to put yourself in the place of a potential website visitor and ask yourself what you can do to make their experience better. To help you out, Agent Image has identified eight key features that will instantly give your user experience a big lift:
Mobile-optimized design
As of 2024, just over 60% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices. This means a large portion of prospects will discover you online via your real estate agent website; and if your website isn’t mobile-optimized, you might turn off these potential customers. How do you know if your site is mobile-optimized? Simply load it up on your phone or tablet to see whether it’s easy to navigate. Specifically, the content should “reflow” or resize to adjust to the smaller screen space, while interactive elements like buttons or menus should be touch-friendly.
Faster loading speeds
In the digital age, fast is the default speed — including for websites. In fact, up to 40% of online visitors will leave your site if it takes more than three seconds to load. If you’re working with an experienced real estate website, they should have already optimized things like image sizes, browser caching, and server response times to make your site zippier. But just to be sure, you can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to see if your website is in the fast or slow lane.
Clear “hit areas”
Hit areas are simply the interactive elements of your site, including buttons, links, and forms. Making them clearly clickable avoids confusion, boosts usability, and enhances accessibility. In the same way that you want to reduce site load speeds, you also want to reduce cognitive load. That is, you want to lower (or eliminate) the amount of time and mental effort required to figure out what a user can or can’t interact with.
Detailed property listings
The vast majority of people visiting your website are there to look at your listings, so make sure they get all the information they need. Of course, provide the basic specs (number of rooms and bathrooms, living area, and lot size), but also offer a peek into the lifestyle buyers can expect (amenities and special features included). Of course, you should also have high-quality images or 3D tours that give a clear sense of what the property looks like and what it might be like to live there. Providing all the information needed not only boosts user experience, but also increases dwell time – which ultimately benefits your search visibility.
Search filters
No two people have the same definition of what a dream home should be. To help them narrow down their options and find the one that best suits their goals, the best real estate agent websites have search filters. These could include parameters like zip codes, number of baths/bedrooms, square footage, and year built. The good news is that if you have an IDX website, your provider likely has custom search filter capabilities (in addition to a host of lead-generating features).
Useful tools
Real estate transactions can be complex, but your website can offer tools to make things easier for buyers and sellers. For instance, you could offer a home valuation tool so sellers have a ballpark figure for their property’s asking price. Likewise, if buyers want a more visual way of looking for suitable homes, an interactive map is an excellent addition to your site. Is a prospect interested in viewing a property? Integrate a booking tool into each listing page. The goal here is to reduce any friction a visitor might encounter to create a smoother user experience.
Informative content
The content of a website for real estate agents plays an important role in enhancing user experience, too. Remember: buyers and sellers want as much information as they can get before embarking on what is likely the biggest transaction they’ll make. Why not make your realtor website the go-to source for that knowledge? For example, you can create explainer articles tackling the home buying and selling processes. Or perhaps you can write in-depth community guides for desirable areas in your city or county. Another great strategy is to run a real estate blog, which hits two birds with one stone: you can demonstrate your expertise while giving visitors a reason to keep coming back to your site.
Responsive customer support
Your realtor website is your 24/7 brand ambassador, so it should also reflect well on your customer service. That is, you don’t want to leave people hanging if they have a question or if they need assistance. Here’s where technology can really help, thankfully. For instance, you can integrate a chatbot that can field frequently asked questions or set up appointments on your behalf. Have a lead form on your website? Set up your CRM so it immediately sends a follow-up text or email.
Delight visitors with your real estate agent website
The above are just a sample of the many ways websites for real estate agents can deliver an excellent user experience. If you’d like to explore more, Agent Image can give you the trusted advice you need.
For a FREE consultation, call 1.800.979.5799 or send a message here.
