Working as a real estate agent or in property management is exciting. But if you want more people to find you and learn about the properties you offer, word of mouth can only take you so far.
If you’re serious about becoming a top-notch real estate agent, you’re going to need a website. Not only will a website make it easier for people to find you, but it will also help you stand out from the competition.
In this guide, we’ll explain why you should create a real estate website, the benefits of a real estate website, and the different types and features real estate websites should have. We’ll also share how to build a real estate website without hiring a developer or learning how to code.
- Why create a real estate website?
- The different types of real estate websites
- What should a real estate website have?
- The benefits of creating a real estate website
- How to build a real estate website quickly?
- Final thoughts: How to build a real estate website with an easy WordPress website builder
Why create a real estate website?
As we mentioned earlier, a real estate website helps you stand out from other real estate agents in your area. But that’s not the only reason why you should create a real estate website.
1. A website presents you as a real estate professional
When you have a website for your business, it presents your brand and business in a professional light.
A website shows you’re ready to invest in your business and that you take it seriously. It tells people that you’re in it for the long haul, making them more likely to consider you when it comes to looking for real estate property.
2. It helps people find you
A website helps people find you when they search for a real estate agent in your area. You can optimize your website for search engines by using keywords in your site title and description and creating content about real estate.
3. It lets you build trust
Having a website allows you to build trust with potential clients looking for a real estate agent. You can include testimonials and reviews from other clients that give potential clients a glimpse into what it’s like working with you.
4. You own your website
Lastly, you need a website because it’s a marketing asset that belongs to you. You have complete ownership and control over your website, unlike social media profiles.
Your social media profiles can be taken down by the platform, or the whole platform can stop being relevant overnight.
How to build a real estate website: Step-by-step guide
Step 1: Research the Real Estate Industry
To successfully embark on the journey of creating a real estate website, your first step should be to immerse yourself in the nuances of the real estate industry. This knowledge will provide you with a solid foundation and guide your decisions throughout the website development process.
- Understand Market Trends: Begin by researching current market trends, such as housing demand, pricing fluctuations, and emerging real estate technologies. Stay up-to-date with industry news through reputable sources, attend real estate conferences, and network with professionals to gain valuable insights.
- Comprehend Regulations: The real estate market is highly regulated, with laws varying by location. Familiarize yourself with local, state, and federal regulations that impact real estate transactions, property listings, and advertising. Ensure that your website complies with these regulations to maintain credibility and trust.
- Identify Key Players: Recognize the key stakeholders in the real estate industry, including real estate agents, brokers, property developers, and property management companies. Understanding their roles and needs will help you tailor your website to cater to their specific requirements.
Step 2: Study Your Target Audience
A critical aspect of building a successful real estate website is understanding your target audience inside and out. Your audience may include buyers, sellers, real estate agents, or a combination of these. Thoroughly researching and profiling your target users will enable you to create a website that caters to their unique preferences and needs.
- User Preferences: Conduct surveys, interviews, and market research to uncover your target audience’s preferences. Are they looking for modern urban apartments, suburban family homes, or vacation properties? Do they prioritize price, location, or specific amenities? Understanding these preferences will inform your content and design choices.
- User Needs: Identify the pain points and needs of your target audience. For buyers, this may involve efficient property search tools and detailed listings. Sellers might seek guidance on pricing and marketing their homes. Real estate agents may require tools for managing listings and communicating with clients. Addressing these needs will set your website apart.
- Segmentation: Consider segmenting your audience based on factors like demographics, location, and behavior. Tailor your website’s content and features to different segments, ensuring a personalized experience that resonates with each group.
Step 3: Choose a Real Estate Website Type to Develop
Now that you understand the industry and your audience, it’s time to decide on the type of real estate website you want to create. Your choice will dictate the structure, content, and features of your site. More information about the types of real estate websites can be found below.
- Property Listing Platform: If you aim to create a comprehensive property listing platform, focus on building a database of properties for sale or rent.
- Agent Portfolio Site: For real estate agents, a portfolio site should highlight their expertise, listings, and client testimonials. Incorporate lead generation forms to capture potential clients and showcase the agent’s unique selling points.
- Property Management Tool: If you’re targeting property managers or landlords, develop tools for managing rental properties, including rent collection, maintenance requests, and tenant communication. Integration with accounting software can streamline financial management.
- Informational Blog: An informational blog can establish you as an industry expert. Publish informative articles on topics like market trends, home buying/selling tips, and local neighborhood guides. Engaging content can drive organic traffic and attract potential clients.
Each website type comes with its own set of challenges and opportunities, so choose the one that aligns best with your goals and expertise.
Step 4: Create a Design for Your Real Estate Website
Your real estate website’s design plays a pivotal role in attracting and retaining users. A visually appealing and user-friendly design can make the difference between a successful site and one that fails to engage visitors.
- Visually Appealing: Invest in high-quality visuals, including professional property photos, videos, and virtual tours. Use a clean and modern design aesthetic with an emphasis on clear typography and a harmonious color palette that reflects your brand.
- User-Friendly Navigation: Implement intuitive navigation menus and clear information architecture. Ensure that users can easily find property listings, contact information, and other essential features. Mobile responsiveness is crucial, as many users browse on smartphones and tablets.
- Effective CTAs (Call to Actions): Strategically place CTAs throughout your website to guide users toward their desired actions, such as contacting an agent, scheduling a viewing, or signing up for email alerts. CTAs should be clear, concise, and visually appealing.
- Well-Organized Property Listings: Organize property listings logically, with filters and sorting options to simplify the search process. Include detailed property descriptions, pricing information, and multimedia assets to provide comprehensive information.
Step 5: Develop the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
With your design in place, it’s time to start building your real estate website. Begin by creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which includes the essential features needed to launch the site and gather initial user feedback.
- Property Listings: Develop a system for adding and managing property listings. This should include fields for property details, photos, videos, and location information.
- Search Functionality: Implement a robust search feature that allows users to filter and sort listings based on various criteria, such as location, price, property type, and amenities.
- User Profiles: Create user profiles for buyers, sellers, and agents. Users should be able to register, log in, and manage their accounts.
- Contact Forms: Integrate contact forms on property listings and agent profiles to facilitate communication between users and real estate professionals.
By launching an MVP, you can start gathering user feedback, identify areas for improvement, and refine your website over time.
Step 6: Launch, Test, and Improve
The final step in creating a real estate website is to launch it to the public. However, launching is just the beginning; continuous improvement is key to staying competitive and meeting user expectations.
- Quality Assurance Testing: Before launching, conduct thorough quality assurance testing to ensure that all features work as intended, and there are no usability or functionality issues.
- Optimize for Search Engines: Implement on-page and technical SEO best practices to improve your website’s visibility in search engine results. This includes optimizing meta tags, site speed, and mobile-friendliness.
- Gather User Feedback: Encourage users to provide feedback on their experience with your website. Use surveys, user analytics, and comments to identify pain points and areas of improvement.
- Marketing: Develop a marketing strategy to promote your website. This may involve content marketing, social media campaigns, pay-per-click advertising, or partnerships with local real estate professionals.
- Analyze User Behavior: Utilize web analytics tools to track user behavior on your website. Monitor metrics like bounce rate, time on site, and conversion rates to identify areas that need attention.
- Regular Updates: Continuously update your website to reflect changing market conditions, user preferences, and technological advancements. Stay responsive to user feedback and adapt accordingly.
In conclusion, creating a successful real estate website requires a comprehensive understanding of the industry, a deep connection with your target audience, and a commitment to delivering a user-friendly and valuable online experience. By following these six steps and maintaining a proactive approach to improvement, you can build a real estate website that stands out in a competitive market.
The different types of real estate websites
Now that you know why you should create a real estate website, let’s talk about three different types of real estate websites.
Type 1: Personal websites for individual realtors
The first type of real estate website is a personal website. These work well if you’re an independent real estate agent. It allows you to show what properties you have to offer and establish your expertise.
Example: Barbara Corcoran, a well-known real estate agent, has her website (https://barbaracorcoran.com/) showcasing her experience, services, and featured listings.
Type 2: Niche real estate websites
The second type is niche real estate websites. Those types of websites are perfect for realtors who specialize in a specific type of property — for example, luxury properties, industrial properties, residential properties, and similar.
You won’t find varied listings here. Instead, niche real estate websites are very targeted and only showcase relevant properties.
Example: LuxuryEstate (https://www.luxuryestate.com/) is a niche real estate website that specializes in luxury properties worldwide, offering a curated collection of high-end homes and estates.
Type 3: Team real estate websites
Team real estate websites are best suited for you if you have a real estate agency. In this case, you’ll showcase various properties you have to offer and agent profiles along with their contact information.
Example: The Altman Brothers, a real estate team, have a website (https://www.thealtmanbrothers.com/) that highlights their team’s expertise, showcases properties, and provides resources for buyers and sellers.
Type 4: Real estate marketplaces
Real estate marketplaces connect buyers, sellers, and agents in a comprehensive platform. They feature a wide range of property listings, allowing users to search, compare, and contact sellers or agents.
Example: Zillow (https://www.zillow.com/) is a well-known real estate marketplace that offers property listings, agent profiles, mortgage information, and more.
Type 5: Property listing websites
Property listing websites primarily focus on showcasing property listings with detailed information. They often provide advanced search and filter options to help users find properties that match their criteria.
Example: Realtor.com (https://www.realtor.com/) is a property listing website that offers an extensive database of homes for sale and rent, along with tools for searching and comparing properties.
Type 6: Property management websites
Property management websites cater to landlords, property owners, and rental property managers. They provide tools for managing rental properties, including tenant applications, lease agreements, and maintenance requests.
Example: Buildium (https://www.buildium.com/) is a property management platform that offers features for rental property owners and managers to streamline operations.
Type 7: Real estate aggregators
Real estate aggregators collect and display property listings from various sources, including multiple listing services (MLS), agents, and other websites. They aggregate data to offer a broader view of the market.
Example: Trulia (https://www.trulia.com/) is a real estate aggregator that compiles listings from various sources and provides insights into neighborhoods and local real estate markets.
What should a real estate website have?
- Lots of property owner photos and detailed descriptions — potential clients will want to know how the property looks and what’s included with the property.
- The ability to schedule individual tours — use your website to automate the scheduling process so you don’t have to spend hours on the phone trying to coordinate dates that work for both you and a potential home buyer.
- Searchable property listings — make it easy for potential buyers to filter down the list of properties by features on your property listing website.
- Information that’s useful for your users — if there are any bylaws, tenant rules, pet regulations or amenities, include them in the listing website information.
- Directions to individual properties — include an address or a map so visitors can easily find the property once they schedule a tour or after seeing a virtual tour.
Besides the above, your website should also have a responsive web design, meaning it should look good and function on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices.
Responsive website development is important because more than 50% of all Internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Moreover, responsiveness is one of the ranking factors in search engine optimization (SEO).
The benefits of creating a real estate website
Creating a real estate website for your online business has many benefits. Let’s look at some of them.
- Customers can easily book tours and look at listings
Once you build your website, you can easily showcase multiple listings in one central location. You can also make it easy for interested buyers to get information about each property and book a viewing tour.
- You can gather and nurture leads
Some visitors won’t be ready to make the first step towards buying their desired property immediately. They may be in research mode and simply gathering information.
That’s why your website should include an email signup form that allows them to sign up for updates. Through lead generation, you can nurture relationships with leads until they’re ready to take the next step.
- You can take advantage of organic marketing
A property website also allows you to use organic traffic for marketing your online presence instead of relying on social media platforms.
You can create content that provides value to potential buyers and uses relevant keywords and phrases. That lets search engines find and index your content and display it once someone searches for those keywords.
The benefit of relying on organic traffic is twofold. For one, you don’t have to rely on ever-changing algorithms or pay for social media ads to get visitors to your website.
Secondly, visitors actively searching for keywords are already interested in what you offer and are more likely to convert.
Don’t forget that you can also repurpose content created for your website on your social media platforms and use it to drive even more traffic to your website.
- Tell them about your business
Your website serves as a platform to demonstrate your expertise in the real estate industry. You can feature your professional background, certifications, and successful transactions.
Beyond just listing properties, your website can tell the story of your real estate business. You can convey your mission, values, and unique selling points. Sharing your business ethos helps clients connect with you on a personal level, fostering trust and loyalty.
- Exchange information more easily
Your website is accessible around the clock. This means that clients can visit your site and access property information, contact you, or inquire about listings at any time, even outside regular business hours. This convenience can lead to increased inquiries and potential leads.
Websites often include contact forms, chat options, and direct contact information, making it easy for clients to reach out to you with inquiries or requests. This streamlined communication process ensures that you can respond promptly to client needs, enhancing customer service.
Additionally, you can publish blog articles, guides, market insights, and frequently asked questions (FAQs). These resources position you as a knowledgeable authority in the real estate field and provide added value to your clients.
Three ways to make your real estate website stand out
- Favorites section: Implementing a “favorites” or “saved listings” section on your website can improve the user experience. This feature allows users to create accounts and save properties they are interested in, providing a convenient way for them to curate their own lists of potential homes. By doing so, users can easily revisit and compare their choices, ultimately making the property search process more efficient and engaging.
- In-app messaging solution: Incorporating an in-app messaging solution into your real estate website offers the advantage of instant communication between users and agents. This real-time messaging functionality fosters quick and convenient conversations, eliminating the need for users to leave your website to contact an agent via email or phone.
- Calendar for appointment booking: Integrating a calendar system for appointment booking directly into your real estate website streamlines the process for users. This feature allows users to schedule property viewings and appointments with real estate agents with ease. Providing users with a convenient way to plan property visits can significantly enhance the overall user experience and increase the likelihood of successful conversions.
Common questions about building a real estate website
The best platform to build a real estate website, in our opinion, is WordPress hosted on Bluehost. It offers a user-friendly interface, customizable themes, and a wide range of plugins tailored to real estate needs.
Absolutely, real estate agents can create their own websites. Using platforms like WordPress on Bluehost, agents can showcase listings, share expertise, and engage with potential clients.
A real estate website should include property listings with high-quality images, detailed descriptions, and search functionality. It should also feature an agent’s profile, contact information, blog with market insights, and lead generation tools like contact forms.
To stand out, focus on a visually appealing design, optimize for search engines, offer unique content like 360-degree property tours, and leverage social media integration for wider exposure.
Yes, having a mobile-responsive real estate website is crucial. Many users search for properties on their smartphones, so ensuring a seamless mobile experience is vital for capturing leads and providing value to visitors.
Final thoughts: How to build a real estate website with a website builder
As you can see, a lot goes into starting to build a real estate website. But the good news is that creating a website for your real estate business doesn’t have to be complicated.
With Bluehost, building a real estate website is easy. Check out our WordPress hosting plans, choose the plan that’s right for you, and launch your website quickly today.
