8 Must-Have Features for a Solid Real Estate Website
Website

8 Must-Have Features for a Solid Real Estate Website

Your website is the first impression you make with clients. If you're looking for ways to make it engaging, user-friendly, and distinctive, here are 8!

Sophiyanah David

April 25, 2022

8 Must-Have Features for a Solid Real Estate Website

Just like any other business, real estate companies need a strong online presence to reach a wider audience and achieve a competitive edge. But having a website is simply not enough, you also need to consider its usability and design structures. 

In order to contribute to a smooth home buying experience for potential clients, your website must be well designed, intuitive, and user-friendly so that it has the capability to also attract interested viewers, generate quality leads, and convert them into buyers. In other words, it must have the perfect balance of form and function to convince visitors they've come to the right place. 

Sounds complex? Let’s break it down. Here are the eight must-have features of a solid real estate website.

1. User-friendly navigation

When potential buyers come to your website, you want to make it as simple as possible for them to find the information they're looking for. This can easily be achieved if your website has flawless navigation. For any website, proper navigation is critical. Navigation includes all the links dispersed over the pages, menu, and CTAs (or call to action). Your site's navigation system should ensure visitors are smoothly redirected to the pages of their interest without having to click multiple links. 

An efficient navigation system needs to have a clean and interactive menu. Your real estate website must be well-organized, with links classified as the main menu titles and sub-menus. For example, if most of your visitors are home buyers, you'll want to include a link to your "home buying" page that's clearly on the home page. Websites with poor navigation can seem confusing and unprofessional. Instead of encouraging visitors to explore more, they'll push them to competitors' sites that are easier to use.

2. Search Filters

Not every website has (or needs) a search bar. However, for a real estate website to be impactful, it must have a search function. Most real estate websites use advanced searches that allow users to filter through listings and sort properties by latest, oldest, featured, price, location, type, etc. As one of the most important tools on a real estate website, this feature should be placed in a visible location – preferably at the top-right or top-centre of the webpage. 

Popular real estate websites even leverage the power of third-party integrations and data collection to provide potential buyers with more details on the property, including;

  • State of the neighbourhood—infrastructure, school, maintenance, etc.
  • Information about the crime rate in the region
  • Average age rate, family status, education of the locals
  • Likelihood of natural disasters

Such advanced search features provide a seamless experience for buyers, which is what you need to encourage conversions.

3. Map feature

A map is recommended in most websites regardless of the industry they dwell in – however, it is imperative in realtor websites. Google sitemaps help customers pinpoint the property's exact location, including nearby amenities such as public transport distances, grocery stores, and other desired location features. To make your information even more robust, you can go the extra mile by adding satellite, topography, street, aerial view, or a combination of any of the four. Additionally, including a map can even improve your site's visibility on search engine results pages! 

4. Interactive page design 

There are many reasons your website should feature an interactive design. First and foremost is that employing such designs help boost user experience (UX). These experiences are crucial because it provides positive engagements that keep clients returning and stay loyal to your brand. Interactive UX designs help you gain more visitors and encourag them to stay longer on your site. This can create lasting effects in users' minds, ultimately improving brand awareness and reach. 

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, UX directly impacts search engine optimization (SEO) through user engagement metrics. Simply put, Google pays attention to the site engagements to determine how relevant your website content is for future search recommendations. You could get thousands of visits per month, but if all bounce off due to poor UX, your site and page rankings will suffer. 

5. Images and Videos

The real estate field has always been a visual industry. According to a National Association of Realtors survey, photography and detailed property description are considered the two most valuable website features by buyers and sellers. Any pro realtor understands that selling a house isn’t just limited to signing a document to procure a residence – it also includes buying the marketed lifestyle. Photos of the home or surrounding amenities are effective in capturing not only the best features and details of a home, but also the lifestyle that comes with it. So, if you want your site to pique buyers' interests, be sure to include a ton of ultra-high-definition property photos and video tours. Paired with detailed descriptions, visually pleasing photos and videos help buyers better determine a shortlist of properties they want to visit – especially if they don’t have time for in-person drop ins. Besides, with a predetermined list, you’re one step closer to a sold home!   

6. Contacts Section

Adding contact forms on your website is vital for two reasons. First, it's an easy way for buyers to communicate their interest in the property without calling, texting, or emailing. If provided on the actual listing, it informs you on the property they're interested in, their contact details, and the right time to contact them. 

A contact form can also help you build your email marketing list. Every time someone fills up your contact form, it's an opportunity for you to collect their information and add them to your email list. This means even if you don’t currently have a listing that may interest a buyer, collecting information on the type of home they’re in the market for would make it easier to contact them when you do come across a potential property that ticks their boxes. 

7. Mobile Friendly

Did you know that more Singaporeans access the internet on mobile rather than desktop? Browsing on the go has become the new normal. A responsive website is not just one that automatically adjusts itself to fit the screen size of any handheld device it's viewed on, but also behaves seamlessly across all browsers. Let’s be honest, nobody wants to spend their time squinting while they pinch their screens to zoom in and out for every button or property image they come across on your website. In the process of manoeuvring the website to fit their device, users may even end up missing its critical elements or features of a listed property – which is naturally a deal breaker for many buyers. The result? Poor customer experience and missed sales opportunities. So be sure to boost chances of conversions in your real estate website by making sure your page is accessible anywhere, from any device. 

What's more, a responsive website design can also draw in more traffic from free, organic, editorial, or natural search results on Google. One clear example of Google’s preference for mobile-friendly sites can be seen back in 2015, when the search engine giant rolled out a Mobilegeddon update that favoured websites designed to function effectively across all devices while penalizing those that don’t. Similarly, in 2019, Google initiated its switch to Mobile-first indexing, meaning that Google will soon focus on only predominantly using mobile versions of your landing pages and websites for indexing. As such, ensuring your page designs fit the bill has become a fundamental part of a successful SEO strategy in today's mobile-centric world. 

8. Calendar for an appointing booking

Every month, real estate agents schedule hundreds of appointments. As such, setting up a calendar for appointment bookings can prove fruitful to keeping to schedules, preventing double booking, and maintaining an organized as well as scarcity forefront

For instance, once a potential buyer has selected a house, they'll want to take a tour of the property to examine it in person. To do that, they would need to contact a realtor and schedule a visit. But realtors are ever busy, what with juggling multiple tasks and jumping from one appointment to another in a day. This means physically calling in to schedule an appointment might not cut it. Instead, a better option would be to browse the calendar on your website for available slots before scheduling an appointment with your realtors. Hence, largely simplifying this process while minimizing unnecessary arrangements. 

Now that we have covered some of the essential real estate website design features you should consider when developing or redesigning your real estate website, you can rest assured that these features will help you see an increase in traffic, conversions, user experience, as well as site rankings. But if you’re in the market for help to create a comprehensive, attractive, and functional website for your real estate business, team, and brokerage in Singapore, look no further than Sell More Condos! With years of experience in lead management solutions tailored to fit each new launch condo project, we have successfully helped a growing number of realtors across Singapore earn more than 2.5 million in commissions. We also pride ourselves in providing exceptional digital marketing services ranging from Google ads, to microsite, and many more to assist companies grow as well as increase their visibility online. Don't take it from us, let our results speak for themselves -get in touch with our friendly team today!

Latest Articles

View All
Why Property Agents Must Drive

Why Property Agents Must Drive

In this article, we dive into the practical reasons why property agents must drive as a strategic career move, whether it's to reach out to more prospective buyers, convenience or more.

Property Selection: Tips On Choosing High-Converting Projects

Property Selection: Tips On Choosing High-Converting Projects

From analyzing market trends to evaluating potential returns, this article covers everything you need to know to make informed decisions and grow your real estate portfolio.

Pre-Launch: I Have Leads, What Should I Do Next?

Pre-Launch: I Have Leads, What Should I Do Next?

Read on to learn how you can effectively convert property leads into clients with our guide on lead tracking, automated follow-ups, personalization & more!