Common Mistakes of Real Estate Websites & How To Avoid Them

In today's technology-saturated world, merely having a website isn't enough. To get ahead, real estate websites are under a lot of pressure. To meet the demands of this tech-savvy consumer base, every website needs to guard against a number of potentially deadly mistakes. Take a moment to look through each of these criteria to make sure that you're not guilty of making one of the most common but deadly mistakes of a real estate website.

Thinking It's All About You While credibility and experience are important components of successful real estate professionals, when folks are in the browsing stage of their real estate search, they really don't care about your rewards, association memberships or how cute your kids are. What they care about are their needs - whether this means selling a property, renting a property, buying a property or building a property. Think about them first and they'll reward you later. After all, they'll soon want to know all about you, just not right now. The big question you need to answer for them is: "What's in it for me?"

Wild Goose Chases

For websites that get the vast majority of their traffic from search engines, make sure that for those who arrive at your site from a search engine, the search is over once they land. If they clicked on a link promising real estate listings, don't throw two or three extra steps in the process. In the end, you'll likely lose them to another real estate portal that satisfied their craving for instant gratification.

Insisting That People Pay For Or Register For Information When the public turns to the Internet for information, they are looking for free, in-depth information without having to pay an arm or a leg or signing up for a subscription or membership in the process. If you are complicating their search for specific information with unnecessary steps that delay gratification, you're likely losing those who are most serious about doing business.

Ignoring the Basics of Successful SEO Websites that neglect to create comprehensive and compelling search engine strategies will often lag behind their local competition. There are a number of different mistakes that are made, ranging from a failure to elect the best keywords and keyword phrases, a failure to incorporate a sitemap, or too heavy of a reliance on Flash websites that don't get spidered by search engines. There is a wealth of information on the internet, not to mention professionals who are willing to coordinate and execute SEO campaigns for you. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by ignoring the best practices of a profitable promotional outlet.

No Clear Call To Action Or Contact Information It's insane the number of beautiful real estate sites that have great photos, interesting headlines, a great track record but then forget to deliver a clear offer, call to action or even necessary contact information so that prospects can move the relationship forward. Equally dangerous are pages that offer two, three or four offers or more all on the same page. Limit each page to one clear, concise call to action. Make it as easy as possible for potential customers to follow through so that you can follow up and close the sale later!

While crafting a compelling real estate site isn't rocket science, it is important to understand that marketing and advertising are a science, of sorts. Guarding against this simple yet surprisingly common mistakes can save you a great deal of time, effort and headaches over the long-term.