As of January 2017, there are over a billion websites online. A search of real estate on a popular search engine returned 1,920,000,000 results and a similar result of 282,000,000 was returned when searching the phrase real estate professional. The numbers get smaller as you further refine your search, but even a countywide search can return numbers in the tens of thousands.
Your website helps build the foundation of a positive relationship between you and your customers. In a world filled with real estate professionals, what steps can you take to stand out in the crowded online space? Research suggests the competition for customer attention comes down to who is delivering the requested content most efficiently and accurately. User expectations vary, but here are a few minimum requirements most consumers expect.
LIGHTNING-FAST LOAD SPEED
We are a nation of impatient people. If a website doesn't load in 2-3 seconds, most consumers will move on to the competitor whose website is more responsive. Having all the bells and whistles on your website may look impressive, but if it's slowing down page load time it may be costing you customers and affecting your bottom line.
RELEVANT INFORMATION
Rarely does a consumer enter the query "real estate" unless they are considering the purchase or refinance of a property. The content on your website should engage the customer and provide relevant information that answers their questions. Carefully craft language to clearly establishes you and your company as experts in the field of real estate.
EASY TO NAVIGATE
Consumers get frustrated when a website is difficult to navigate, overly complicated or cluttered. If your website is effortless for users, they will stay; make it hard to navigate, they will leave. Don't make potential customers click their way through your site to find information that should have been prominently displayed on the landing page.
A quick search of the Internet will reveal numerous analytical tools available to identify problem areas on your website, provide perfomance evaluations and offer suggestions for optimizing and improving performance. Your time is valuable, so if the first site you select doesn't load quickly, provide relevant information and is difficult to navigate..Move On!