Why Most Real Estate Websites Don’t Work

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Whenever we want to learn or do something, we head online to find out more. This action is especially true in real estate! Homebuyers and sellers are doing their own research and looking at homes for sale right from their phones, and more often than not, they're using apps like Realtor.com and Zillow. 

And in this highly competitive online world, many real estate agents have abandoned their websites to either buy leads or build their businesses using social media or relationship-based strategies. Because the thought is "most real estate websites don't work," and I agree with that statement! But what if I told you that there's still ample opportunity in your own real estate website with the right strategy in place?

The Real Estate Site Landscape

Imagine a time where online marketing wasn't as competitive. If you had a real estate website where people could search homes, you could quickly generate leads. It didn't matter if it wasn't the best-looking website. All that mattered was that you advertised your website, and people were more than willing to fill out your pop-up forms.

That's what it was like when I first started my career in real estate marketing. 

Back then, mobile websites were becoming popular, and you could pay for Google Adwords and immediately start generating leads. Yet, over the years, website marketing for real estate changed. While web design improved, it became more challenging for the average agent to get results from their sites. So, unfortunately, many agents stopped focusing on their own websites and found other ways to generate business.

However, I've always believed in the power of real estate websites. In fact, throughout my career, I've dedicated myself to continuously innovating and fine-tuning real estate sites. And in doing so, I've generated thousands upon thousands of online leads, and my professional achievements include: 

• Leading the website strategy and design for an award-winning brokerage site that in 2020 was ranked by Real Trends as the #2 Best Overall Website in the Nation, #2 Best Designed Website in the Nation, #3 Best Video Website in the Nation, and #1 Best Community Website in the Nation

• Being a member of national & broker advisory councils for some of the leading real estate website platforms including, Inside Real Estate's kvCORE

• Sharing best practices as featured in Inman News for real estate website strategies

So, it's safe to say I know a thing or two about real estate websites, including why they don't work for most agents! 

Yet, so many agents get frustrated or haven't seen success because they're making one of the widespread mistakes I'm covering today. It's a shame because a well-planned website can have many benefits for you! It can be:

• The epicenter of all your digital marketing, from social media to email marketing

• A lead generating and database building opportunity

• A place for you to demonstrate your branding & stand out online

• A way for you to connect with future customers and your sphere

So, there is great value to a website, and unlike social media, it's yours. All of the content you put on it and traffic you drive to it will help you in the long term. Just don't let one of the following mistakes stand in your way of online success!

Mistake 1: Your Site is Not Designed with Your Ideal Customer in Mind 

When most agents and brokerages start to design a website, they think about all of the content that they want on it. You might want to highlight a service you offer or promote your listings, and while that makes sense, you need to switch your mindset from what you want to feature to what your ideal customer would find value in. 

So, instead of coming up with everything you want to share on your site, start by making a list of everything your ideal customer would find helpful.

Because while your website will be there to promote you, an effective real estate website is there to help your customer. That way, your website isn't coming from a place of sales where you are trying to convince somebody that you can help them with their real estate needs. You're coming from a place of service and building trust before you ever even speak to a customer. A home buyer or seller will naturally conclude that you're the right agent for them and be excited to work with you.

Most websites don't take this approach. So, they're salesy, unhelpful, and don't work.

Let's explore this concept in action. A traditional real estate website features listings, a page for buyers & sellers, an "about me" page, and possibly a few pages highlighting services. If that sounds generic to you, it's too generic for your potential customer as well. You need to drill down to what a specific buyer or seller would find value in.

For example, if you're targeting millennial homebuyers in Orlando, your website could feature a headline at the top of the site that says, "We empower millennial homebuyers in Orlando." There are options to click such as "your five-step plan to buying your first home," or "view the best neighborhoods for modern professionals in Orlando," or "how to avoid the most common first time home buyer mistakes." 

It's clear what you do, who you're helping, and provides resources that a local millennial homebuyer might be interested in.

In addition, you could include blog content geared towards helping millennials navigate the real estate market in Orlando, stories from similiar satisfied past customers (related testimonials), and videos answering your most frequently asked questions from millennials. 

So, you can see how this approach shifts your website away from what you want and more towards what your customer would be attracted to, and it's doable to replicate for any type of customer in any market. 

I'd recommend you start by establishing who you are looking to attract, what their major challenges are, and how you can be a resource for them. I walk you through how to do this in my marketing plan, which you can download here.

Mistake 2: The Focus of Your Site is All Listings or Home Searches 

It's a real estate site. So it should be all about the listings. Right?

Not anymore! It's incredibly difficult to compete with Zillow and Realtor.com. They spend millions of dollars every year advertising and driving people to their sites. So, if the main aspect of your site is homes for sale, it's going to take a lot to convince people to use it when they could use their favorite home search app. 

You need to provide content on your site that can't be found anywhere else in addition to homes for sale.

You can also categorize listings in a way that's easier to navigate based on needs. For example, if someone is looking to buy a vacation rental in Orlando, they might not know which neighborhoods are best. You could guide them on your site to pre-defined searches that meet their specific needs such as the "best neighborhoods in Orlando for vacation homes" (and that page includes listings). This strategy establishes you as an expert, keeps them coming back to your site, and ultimately leads to the site visitor to working with you! 

And don't forget, having listings on your site is ideal for promoting your own listings.

I've seen far too many agents make the mistake of promoting their listings using one of the search sites or their photographer's landing page. This is a missed opportunity for generating leads and guaranteeing that if somebody wants to learn more, they are learning more from you and not another agent who is paying for leads. You can optimize your site so that when you promote your own listings, you're the one receiving the leads!

Mistake 3: Your Site is Generic and Not Hyper-local or Content Rich 

You might have noticed a trend with the mistakes so far. It's essential to be as targeted as possible! Yet, many agents have generic websites.

Picture this, you sign up for a real estate website service or get a website from your brokerage. It's not likely going to come customized to your unique market and ideal customer. It has the basics, and that's it. 

Well, the basics are why your site isn't working. It's not standing out from the competition or engaging enough for potential customers.

So, many set out to customize their sites with community profiles. Frequently these are pages on the site with a couple of paragraphs about the community or area. While I think this is a good first step, I want you to think back to Mistake #1: "It's Not Designed with Your Ideal Customer in Mind." Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and critically think if your site's content would be attractive. If you're not sure, then you could probably improve.

Consider including a weekly blog or video series, enhance your community profiles with more information, and focus on building up your site's content.

Mistake 4: You Don't Have an SEO Strategy 

It is still possible to have success with SEO, search engine optimization, with your real estate site. (Meaning people will go to places such as Google, type in a phrase, and your site will come up.)

While this is more competitive than it was in the past, there is still an opportunity for people to find you online. 

Instead of focusing on terms such as "REALTOR in XYZ area," you can create niche content that people will find online and lead them to working with you. I have an entire podcast on how to implement this strategy. I'd suggest you check out "EP 42: Approachable SEO for Local Real Estate," where I unpack how to easily leverage SEO to attract more customers. 

And if you're still skeptical, consider how many coaches and thought leaders there are who talk about real estate marketing. Yet, Google is the number one way people learn about Ideas for Real Estate, and I'm ranking on the first page of Google for terms like new construction marketing, real estate social media posts, and Realtor branding ideas. My website is a relatively new site and is still generating significant results without paying for ads!

SEO can make a major impact to your online marketing with the right strategy in place.

Mistake 5: You're Not Leveraging Video on Your Site 

We know how important video is for modern marketing, especially on social media (view 7 video Ideas for Instagram).

However, it's equally beneficial on your website. It's been found that when sites feature video content, users spend more time on them and are more likely to become a lead. So, if you're filming any videos for your social media content, consider simply adding that video to your site. You can upload the video to YouTube and embed the player on your site.

Another quick tip is to embed your social media posts featuring video directly to your site. 

So, if you filmed a video with "tips for homebuyers in your market" and shared it on social, consider adding that same video to a web page or blog. Many website options and extensions allow you to paste the link to your social media post and have it display it on your site. Take a look at an example in my Instagram Reels for Real Estate blog.

Bottom line, video is an engaging, strategic way for you to share content that helps people form connections with you.

Mistake 6: You Don't Have an Enticing Lead Magnet or Landing Page 

While it is possible to generate leads from the pop-ups that block people from viewing homes for sale until they enter their info, there are more creative and effective ways to do it!

By having a signature lead capture on your site, you're not only capitalizing on your site visitors, but you also have the opportunity to drive people back to your site from social and online paid ads. And the most effective form of lead magnet is the one that's most helpful to your ideal customer.

So, your lead capture should align with your site's content - that's why it's your "signature lead capture." 

Let's say your website targets waterfront home buyers or sellers in a coastal market. A signature lead capture could be to download your "ten tips to save money when buying a waterfront home in XYZ area." 

Save your best content for your lead capture, and advertise it on your site. This will not only help you generate leads but also build your subject matter expertise. This strategy will work far better than the pop-up to "save your home search results."

Mistake 7: Your Site Doesn't Reflect Your Agent Branding 

Your website is your opportunity to create a space online that represents your branding as an agent and, in turn, leverages that branding to connect with more potential customers. It's also an ideal way for people to learn more about you and the experience of working with you.

If you want to be known as a high-end luxury agent, your website should immediately give that same impression. How you want to be perceived as an agent can be reflected in your site design, content, and overall theme. (If you're focused on niche marketing, a website can be crucial to your strategy!)

I'd highly recommend you check out my Agent Branding Series to learn more about how to define your branding and then implement those elements on your site. Because you can use your website as a platform to illustrate your branding and aid in your credibility.

You control how you appear on your site and what will appear when somebody heads online to research you (which they do!). So, take the time to tell your story as it relates to your customer's journey. Everything from the copy on your site to the images and videos can represent your branding. 

This is your chance to make the best first impression. So, take advantage of it!

Mistake 8: There are No Special Engagement Opportunities 

Do you remember how annoying pop-ups used to be on sites? They often flashed repeatedly and were impossible to close.

Since then, additional opportunities to either engage site visitors or generate leads have come a long way! They can be used on your site to bring special attention to features or promotions that you want to highlight. One popular example for real estate sites is to incorporate a live chat widget so people can chat you questions in real-time. They even have options for video chats!

I have multiple "engagement opportunities" on my site. 

At the top of my site, I have an announcement bar promoting my Masterclass: How to Generate Seller Leads with Quizzes. All it is a thin bar at the top of my site with text advertising the masterclass. It doesn't move around or flash, but it brings attention to a call-to-action that's valuable for my site visitors. In the masterclass, I teach agents how to engage sellers with a no-pressure quiz about whether it's a good time to sell in today's market.

Quizzes are another excellent opportunity for engagement! 

They are interactive and people enjoy taking them and seeing their results. So, after you've spent some time on my site, you'll see a pop-up that encourages you to take my quiz to "discover your agent branding style." Every single day agents find my site, usually through Google, and take this quiz. From there, I'm able to further engage with them and provide more helpful content. (If you'd like to learn more about how to create a quiz for lead gen, attend my Masterclass: How to Generate Seller Leads with Quizzes.)

Finally, if you're focused on growing your social media following, your website is an ideal place to do so. It's unlikely that a visitor to your site will come back every day and see what's new. 

However, if you can get them to follow you on social, that's even more opportunities for people to get to know you and want to work with you. I have a slider that appears on my site, encouraging people to follow me on Instagram. You can add this to your site quickly as well by using a service like MiloTree.

Mistake 9: You're Not Using Your Website as "Your Digital Home Base" 

At this point in my career, I cannot imagine effectively advertising online or on social without a website. While many might argue, you don't need a website if you're focused on social media marketing, I believe that a website can help you maximize your social media marketing.

If you make a point of first including any content you create on your website, you can easily repurpose it and share it on social media. 

That way, you're getting the benefit of growing your online presence (which could be found by Google) and always having something to share on social. For example, if you film a video "3 tips for staging your XYZ area home for sale," make sure you put it on your website with a written description. From there, you can share that video on social or include it in an email newsletter. You'll have multiple options for marketing the video and your content if you have one place you share it from. You'll also be able to easily optimize your social media profiles, like your Instagram Bio, by having additional links that lead to call-to-actions on your site.

As you can see, this helps you repurpose content and also ensures that when you share anything online, people end up back at your site. This strategy is crucial when sharing listings as you want any potential leads to come back to you.

Mistake 10: You're Not Advertising Your Agent Site

Bottom line, the number one reason why most sites don't work is that they're not advertised.

I like to use the example that building a website is like building a house in the middle of nowhere. If there are no roads to the house, direction signs, or people pointing the way, you're probably not going to find it. The same goes for your website. You have to give people a reason to get to your website and show them the way. 

You can do this by sharing valuable content from your site on social, talking about it in videos, paying for ads, and continuously driving people back to it. 

If you don't talk or think about your site, then your dream home buyer or seller isn't going to either.

But if you give it the attention it deserves, then you can find great success with your website. Whether you're looking to have a place online where you can establish yourself as an agent or you're looking to generate leads, it's possible with a purposeful, well-cared-for site.

How to Implement These Ideas 

Now, my favorite saying is a website is never complete! It's an opportunity for improvement and an opportunity for more connections.

However, it can also be easy to go down a rabbit hole of minor website tweaks that won't make a major impact on your business. So, start with determining whether working on your website makes sense for your overall business strategy and marketing plan. (I firmly believe websites are an ideal way to establish yourself as the go-to agent in a local market, focus on niche marketing, and to brand yourself!) 

Next, choose one area to focus on and work your way down the list. For this episode, "Mistake 1: It's Not Designed with Your Ideal Customer in Mind" is the first place I suggest you start. 

That way, you have a solid foundation for all of your future marketing efforts. And before you know it, you'll have a site that you're not only proud of but leads to working with more buyers and sellers!

UP NEXT:

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I’m Heather Colby, host of the “Ideas for Real Estate Podcast.”

If you like what you read here today, I’d encourage you to take a listen to the episodes. :