2 ways to improve your real estate website in minutes

Wanting to improve your real estate website but not sure where to start? Today we're going through 2 easy-to-implement tips you can use to give your site a boost in minutes:

There are far too many sucky real estate websites. There, it’s said. From agents who never think to change the template content that came with their sites to those who feel that they are the sole reason a visitor visits, perusing agent websites isn’t easy.

There are plenty of ways to improve your real estate website, plenty of ways to pretty it up. The fact is, establishing trust quickly is one of the most important aspects of website tweaking, but localizing is a close second.

Improve your real estate website: Stop hiding your testimonials

Think your IDX is the most important element of your website? It may be, for visitors.

But, for you? For lead generation? It’s your testimonials. Marketing claims should be supported by proof, and testimonials “… are the most effective evidence you can add to a website,” according to Andy Crestodina, Orbit Media’s co-founder and CMO.

Crestodina, by the way, has written a brilliant guide to testimonials – how to get them, how to use them and more. Check it out here.

If you have your testimonials running down a dedicated page on your site, fix that.

“Let’s face it, no one is going to go to your ‘Testimonials’ page,” claims another voice at Orbit Media, Amanda Gant.

This means your testimonials, in all likelihood, aren’t going to be read. You can change that by getting them out in the open where visitors can’t miss them.

Use your best on your home page, above the fold, and sprinkle the rest throughout your site (especially the buyer and seller sections).

Improve your real estate website: Get local – now!

We’ve discussed ways to hyper-localize your site in the past but we still see two common problems that are easy to remedy:

No mention of the market served, above the fold, on the home page
Not localizing the Easy Agent Pro blog posts you receive

Let’s take a look at what we see, far too often, on real estate agent home pages.

Imagine you’re a buyer or seller, looking for a local real estate agent. You click on Mr. Blevins’ site and this is the first thing you see.

Do you see – anywhere – the mention of this agent’s market? What is odd is that he obviously has taken the time recently to change this page (the mention of “healthy” seems to apply to the pandemic).

Yet he didn’t think that mentioning that he is an agent in Los Angeles.

As a side note, check out the address bar. Are you sticking around websites that aren’t secure? Me neither. Not to be overly harsh, but he instantly lost our trust.

Here’s another:

Landing on Quiana’s website is like accidentally ending up on a model’s site.

Yes, this is the home page. There is absolutely no mention of either what she does for a living or where.

The homepage image slider does show us, however, that she has a lovely wardrobe, but that’s it. Still no mention of her vocation or location.

And, again, she hasn’t taken the time to provide her visitors with a secure connection. Google has gone to great pains, for some time now, to warn the public that sites that aren’t secure might be dangerous.

“You should avoid conducting any sensitive transactions on these pages—such as logging in, providing personal information, or payment information—browsing insecure sites could put you at risk …” warns the folks at Digicert.com.

According to Google.com, “The site isn’t using a private connection. Someone might be able to see or change the information you send or get through this site.”

Yet these agents want us to trust them with our most sensitive personal and financial information.

No thanks.

By the way, after several minutes of sleuthing we were able to determine that Ms. Watson works in and around Atlanta, GA.

Get the name of the market you serve on your homepage, wherever possible. Change “Search for homes” to “Search for homes in Atlanta,” and “Selling your home” to “Selling your home in Atlanta.”

Believe it or not, people don’t visit your site to learn about your lifestyle, your life philosophy or to witness you promoting yourself. Especially if you’re trying to lure sellers, they want to see how you market homes, not yourself.

Most important, let them know out of the gate that, yes, they’ve landed on a real estate agent’s site and, yes, he or she serves their community.

There are far too many other agent sites for them to turn to. Improve your real estate website and ensure yours lures them in immediately.