What are the best real estate website features you need to grow your business and connect with clients? The answer largely depends on your marketing style.
Real estate websites have become a vital part of customer interfacing in recent years. However, many agents still use the basic site their broker provides. These sites often lack many features and the flexibility that agents need to build a successful online business. But searching for a better alternative can get frustrating and confusing.
There are plenty of real estate website options, from suspiciously cheap to costly. But it can be a challenge to determine which offers the best real estate website features that will translate to online success.
There isn’t just one way to run a real estate business in today’s market. When working in real estate online, some agents use ads, while others may leverage social media. In fact, many agents are producing content for blogs or even Instagram or TikTok videos. Other agents are combining some or all of these tactics with more traditional tools such as cold calling, mailing flyers and postcards, and good, old-fashioned referrals.
With so many tools available in today’s real estate market, agents don’t have to use all of them to get the results they’re looking for. One of the keys to success in real estate is knowing how YOU want to succeed and what works best in your corner of the market. What feels comfortable to you, and what is actually delivering results?
Perhaps you hate calling but love creating SEO-rich blogs. Or you make dynamite TikTok videos but need help following up on basic inquiries. Hiring an assistant could help with some of these tasks, but getting organized with all the online tools you need is the key to creating the portfolio of tools that work best for you
Whatever methods you prefer, you need a website that can help you accomplish your goals. Here are some of the best real estate website features to look for when choosing a new real estate website.
IDX Powered Listings
As a real estate agent, you want clients to search for listings on your website and not on web portals like Zillow or Trulia. Internet Data Exchange (IDX) powered listings allow clients to quickly and easily search for homes right on your real estate website. Showcasing multiple listing service (MLS) listings through IDX is vital to helping website visitors connect with their future homes.
Integrating third-party IDX software that allows MLS data sharing in real-time on your website simply makes sense. Attempting to upload each listing and then take it down manually would take far too much time, so any modern real estate website worth its salt will include IDX. Easy Agent PRO provides various useful tools and cool integrations for its LeadSites users. With LeadSites, you can get a streamlined and integrated search feature, property uploads through a Facebook catalog approach, and more.
Content Creation Tools
Your content makes your real estate website appealing, searchable, and visible. By uploading new content frequently, you’re helping search engines like Google to know that your website is relevant. Consistently posting content drives traffic to your pages, especially when regularly shared on social media.
An excellent real estate website should make content creation easier, not harder. It can be tempting to turn to a WordPress-based website, as these are equipped with blogging tools that can make creating articles for your site easier.
But these websites may not offer all of the functionality you need to stand out in the crowd. LeadSites offers blogging tools and includes search engine optimization (SEO) tools such as keyword detection and reporting, backlink suggestions, and meta title and description suggestions. These small but significant details can get you noticed and help you move to the top of the search function.
Lead Capture Tools
Getting potential clients to your website is the first step. However, it’s just as important to know what to do with them once they’re there. You want to collect information so you can make contact with the people who visit your website, and lead capture tools help with this vital step. Several tools will help you effectively capture leads, including:
- Pop-ups, which offer a direct appeal approach
- Free guides, e-books, and home valuations that are accessible once a visitor fills out their information on a form. This method is especially successful when combined with social media ads featuring the free offer
- Strategically-placed contact forms that encourage direct, personal communication
- Chatbots that can initiate conversation and answer basic or frequently asked questions
Some website providers offer other unique lead capture options. For example, LeadSites users can take advantage of an innovative tool called Texty. Many clients prefer to communicate through text. With Texty, potential clients can text a custom number to make contact. Agents instantly get a notification and can immediately reach out to learn more about what the potential client is looking for.
High-Converting Landing Pages
Landing pages are the pages where you want visitors to start (or “land”) when they first visit your website. The beauty of using landing pages is that you can specialize or design these pages with the messaging that best appeals to your visitors.
For example, you might create a landing page that Instagram users can access, but it may feature a different language than a landing page you offer through Facebook advertising. Or you may have placed a home valuation ad that sends people who click on it to a landing page that provides a form for them to quickly and easily fill out for their free home valuation.
With the value that several landing pages can bring, the need for easily building landing pages is clear, as is why we rank this among our list of the best real estate website features. A website like LeadSites will make the process simple, and it’ll also provide the convenience of multiple templates for more versatile use.
Templates
Some agents believe they must invest in costly websites built from the ground up specifically for them. However, this method can be expensive and often depends on a developer to maintain the website. As a result, requesting changes could be challenging and take a long time. But it is possible to get valuable real estate website features without turning to a fully-custom website. LeadSites provides customizable features like templates without forcing you to rely on a developer to build from scratch. These templates allow you to control various aspects of your site to tailor the website to your needs.
When you begin looking into real estate websites, you’ll want to select one that offers templates. However, you should always ask how many templates you’ll be able to choose from. Additionally, some websites will provide higher quality and custom-designed templates for a fee. This option may appeal to agents looking for a more direct, hands-on approach to template building.
Testimonials and Social Proof
Social proof is essentially word of mouth, or the idea that positive reviews can reward your good work. Word of mouth still matters—the only thing that’s changed is how people pass the message along. Another way to get people “talking” through social media is by providing case studies that showcase your past successes and methods.
In real estate, word of mouth is absolutely vital. People want an agent they can trust. Often, reviews and testimonials are the best indicators of a trustworthy agent. This strong need to develop a trusting relationship is even more essential in younger generations, seeking greater transparency and authenticity both in social media and in their business relationships. LeadSites offers users a tool that allows them to visibly display prior achievements and client feedback.
Social Media Connectivity
It’s increasingly critical for many agents to utilize a content-focused marketing approach, which means integrating social media is necessary. As part of our list of the best real estate website features, we recommend a tool that makes posting to social media easier.
Agents should look for real estate websites that feature automated social media posting. It’s even better if the website offers content options that you can post without having to create from scratch, saving you time.
For example, LeadSites delivers two real estate-focused blog posts each week. Users can edit these posts to meet their specific needs or post them as-is to their Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn pages. Features like SEO-optimized, professionally-crafted blog posts allow agents to increase their productivity, freeing them up to meet with potential clients and sell homes.
The key is to find a website that can take the hassle out of content marketing, making it easier to focus on your strengths—and your clients.
CRM
A CRM, or customer relationship management tool, is software that keeps track of all your leads for you, and you’ll find it on anyone’s list of best real estate website features. Usually, CRMs track phone numbers, email addresses, and names. But some agents prefer to keep more detailed notes on a client, including personal information like how many children the client has, their hobbies and interests, and more. These small details are essential links in creating a solid relationship in your quest to help clients find their perfect home.
Just like websites, there are many CRMs agents can choose from, and they can vary widely in price depending on the level of detail needed. Some real estate websites may come with a built-in CRM that handles basic functions.
Other agents find third-party CRMs offer more relevant features. Engagemore is a third-party CRM built by a real estate agent that comes with tons of bells and whistles for agents. In fact, one of the most valuable real estate features is a series of pre-made email and text templates that takes the frustration and guesswork out of essential communication.
Managed Ad Services
Facebook and Google Ads are two popular ways of advertising your business online. However, these services can be challenging to access if you’re just starting out as a real estate agent. Fortunately, there are real estate website providers that offer managed ad services for Google, Facebook, or both. This is one of the best real estate website features you can find when searching for a website.
These agent websites may have pre-designed ads or provide the option to create more personalized ads. Ask your website how they can help with advertising. Some may offer ad management by a professional team that can provide guidance and will work with you directly to build ads that perform well, driving relevant traffic to your website.
Real Estate Marketing Your Way
The best real estate website features you need are primarily dependent on your marketing style and your particular needs. You’ll need to consider how much time you can put into a site to get to where you want to be in your business.
No two agents are the same, and many find themselves stuck at different points in their business development. For example, you might be starting fresh with zero contacts, or you might already be generating some traffic but are in need of a good site to capture those leads.
It’s important to make a list of what is currently working well for you and where you can improve. If you are lacking in one or more of the best real estate website features mentioned above, then there’s a good chance you’re missing out on driving traffic, capturing leads, or successful conversions.
LeadSites is a website marketing platform for real estate agents who want to get leads online and offers an accessible, affordable website solution with all of the key real estate website features listed above. Schedule a demo with the LeadSites team today to see these tools in action.