If you are a real estate agent, reaching as many people as possible is vital for your business and what better way to do that than a website? Along with your phone number, you can add your web address on “For sale/rent” signs and on your business cards. You can share much more information online than on cards/leaflets, and you will get much more exposure as people will be able to check your listings 24/7. This will give you the opportunity to stand out among your competitors.

We have listed a few things you need on your real estate website. You will also see how you can build such a site, so keep reading to find out more.

• 1. Listings
• 2. Map location
• 3. High quality images/videos
• 4. Search option
• 5. Community/area guides
• 6. A detailed About page
• 7. Blog
• 8. Testimonials
• Building a real estate website with ICDSoft
• The ICDSoft Website builder
• WordPress
• Drupal/Joomla
• Do not forget…
• Wrap Up

1. Listings

This is one of the main features you need on your site. Listing all properties that you offer will make the site complete. After all, offering properties for sale or rent is your main business and the site is the place where potential customers will expect to find a full list of the properties they can buy/rent. Provide as much information as possible about each property – type, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, amenities, luxury features, etc. Make sure the text is concise, though, as too much text may push people back. Use well-structured content and bullet points.

For any property featured on the home page, add a “Read more” button and do not add too much information. You can also add a sharing button for the properties you offer in case visitors want to share what they see with their partner/friend/relative to get their opinion.

2. Map location

Location can be quite important when people consider buying/renting a property. Some real estate agents do not add an exact location, but only a map of the area without pinpointing the property on it. In any case, people should have some idea where the property is. Adding a map service like Google Maps or a similar one will allow them to see local amenities as well, which can help them to make a decision.

3. High quality images/videos

A picture is worth a thousand words. You should include high-quality images or even videos of the properties on the site. It is far more likely to get people interested in a particular property if they can see what they are buying/renting. A gallery can either give them a little push to make an offer in case they hesitate, or save them the time to visit the property if they see it’s not what they need. Either way, they will appreciate it if they can see the property in advance. You may consider adding even 360° videos.

4. Search option

If you offer a lot of properties, it is only natural to have a search option. You should add at least a few basic filters, such as:

• Property type – apartment, house, condo, etc.

• Number of bedrooms and bathrooms

• Area – people should be able to choose a specific area to limit their search

• Features – whether the property is furnished or not, whether it has a BBQ area or some other amenities

• Price – people should be able to set a minimum and maximum price for their search.

An advanced search will allow your potential customers to filter the properties on your site into a shortlist that they can look at closely. You may decide to display some search results as featured.

5. Community/area guides

This is something quite useful that people will definitely appreciate. If they hesitate whether a given property is a suitable choice, learning more about the neighborhood can help them take a decision. More and more people consider not only the property they will buy/rent, but also venues and facilities in the surrounding area. Some venues may not be displayed on a map, so adding detailed information either as articles on the site or as blog posts will be very useful. You can include information such as:

• Local schools and colleges. Families will like to know their options.

• Transportation. This includes the nearest transportation hubs, highways, and airports.

• Shopping amenities. Mention convenience stores, malls, etc.

• Entertainment venues. Some people may be looking for concert halls, nightclubs or other leisure venues in the area.

• Dining. Include a list of the more popular restaurants, but you can also add some less popular ones. This way, you will demonstrate that you know the neighborhood very well.

6. A detailed About page

People will surely want to know more about you before they trust you with any deals. This is why you should provide any information about yourself or your agency that you find relevant. You can mention personal qualities and professional certificates/awards that will convince people that you are the real estate agent they need. This is the place to tell people how much experience you have, how responsive you are, and why they should choose you instead of a different agent. A personal (and real) photo can help you gain their trust.

You should also demonstrate how well you know the area and mention if you know any niches that can be useful to your potential customers. This is the page where you should answer the questions you believe people will have about you and your services.

7. Blog

Publishing articles on real estate topics regularly will make your website more interesting to your visitors. Such new content will make your site look more professional and people will see that you know your stuff. The fresh content can also help your site to appear higher in search engine results. If you decide to add a newsletter subscription option, you will be able to remind customers about your services regularly. Find out more about adding a subscription box here: https://www.icdsoft.com/blog/email-marketing-101-launching-a-successful-campaign/.

8. Testimonials

Almost any type of website will benefit from testimonials of happy customers. If people are looking for a real estate agent, they will want to see what your past customers think about your services. You can add testimonials either on the home page or on a separate page. To gather genuine opinions, ask people you have helped to find the right property to give you feedback on your services as a real estate agent. Fake testimonials are easy to spot, so you should avoid using them.

Building a real estate website with ICDSoft

If you want to have a real estate website, you can hire a professional web developer, but you can also build one yourself if you have the right tools. You can use different applications to do that. Here is how you can build the site with a few of these tools:

The ICDSoft Website builder

Our tool is very easy and intuitive to use. It comes with several templates, one of which is called Real Estate. As the name suggests, it is intended to be for real estate websites. Once you activate the template, you will have a ready website with Our Listings and About Us pages, a search box, and Houses, Flats, and Offices categories. You can then add the properties using the Shop module of the application.

You can easily add a map with a location of your choice from Content -> Apps. This is the place where you can select a Testimonials or a Gallery module as well. To add a blog or guide page, go to Settings -> Add a New Subpage, where you can select the category that you need.

WordPress

If you decide to use the most popular Content Management System out there, you will find several useful plugins in the WordPress repository. Here are a few of them:

• Essential Real Estate. A powerful free plugin that comes with a lot of features. You can create all pages you need with just a click. You can easily add a property with very detailed information, such as size, year built, garages, rooms, location, floor plans, virtual tour, etc. Visitors can compare properties, save their search results, or explore nearby places.

• Estatik Real Estate Plugin. Another feature-rich plugin that you can use. You can add less details compared to Essential Real Estate, but you can set up demo listings, which will help you to add your own content with ease. You will have to add Google Maps and reCaptcha keys to use the full functionality of the plugin.

• WP Real Estate. The plugin is an alternative to the ones above, although some advanced features such as comparing listings are available only in the paid version. One advantage of WP Real Estate is that you can customize a lot of things with a single click – set up a map, set property inspection hours, or add a social sharing option, for example.

You should also use a theme that is optimized for real estate websites. You will find several such themes – both free and paid ones. With our WordPress Toolkit, you can build staging copies to continue developing your site or keep regular backups to make sure that your property database will always be intact.

Drupal/Joomla

You can build a real estate website with any of these two platforms as well, although it will not be as easy. You will find themes and modules/extensions for either one, but you will have fewer choices compared to WordPress. If you wonder which one to choose, Joomla should be your first choice as you will find more themes and extensions for this platform compared to Drupal.

Do not forget…

There are a few things you should have in mind for any type of website, and your real estate site is not an exception. The site should be optimized for mobile devices, so you should choose a responsive theme. You can find more about making your site mobile-friendly in our article: https://www.icdsoft.com/blog/10-tips-to-make-your-website-mobile-friendly/.

The site should have simple navigation if you want to provide a good user experience, otherwise, visitors may decide to go to the website of another real estate agent. Find out more about that here: https://www.icdsoft.com/blog/ten-tips-to-improve-your-website-navigation/.

Last, but not least, the site should be optimized for search engines to appear in local searches. Make sure that you have good content, including relevant blog posts and image meta tags, and add the site to local directories.

Wrap Up

If you want to be a successful real estate agent, you need a website that will allow you to reach a lot more potential customers compared to using the traditional ways of communication. People will be able to check the properties you offer or send you a message from any location 24/7. This will give you an advantage over most of your competitors that do not have a website. Providing detailed information about the properties, high-quality images, a map location, and neighborhood guides with more information about the local venues can help you to get more customers that are looking for a new home.

Pay special attention to the About page, as its content can make a difference. Convince people that you are the right person to help them to rent/buy a property. Of course, do not forget to optimize your site – add blog content for SEO and make it mobile-friendly, with easy navigation. Using your preferred web design software, you can create a professional real estate website and expand your client base.