7 Mistakes Real Estate Companies Are Making With Their Websites
Having a website that attracts potential clients and generates leads is the aim of every Real Estate Company out there. Or at least it should be.
Chances are you already have a website, with all your properties listed, and that’s why you’re reading this.
If you don’t, that a whole conversation on its own (what are you doing without a website in this day and age?).
However, having a website for your real estate company is not enough.
You have to have a website that is designed to attract potential buyers/sellers and convert them into qualified leads who you can then follow up until they become paying customers.
I’ve audited quite a number of real estate sites in the past and there are some common mistakes I see across these sites that aren’t allowing these companies get the traction and results that they can be getting.
In this article, I’m going to reveal what these common mistakes are and how you can take care of them.
Let’s get started.
1. Poor Site Speed
Site speed refers to how long it takes for a website page to load when a visitor visits that website.
Studies show that 53% of people will leave a mobile page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
The Problem:
Many real estate company websites have lots of images and videos and so, this makes the loading speed of the site much more than 3 seconds.
There are a host of other factors that could affect your website speed. The bottom line is to do what you can to improve it.
So what can you do today?
The first step you need to take is to know where you stand right now.
There are a lot of tools out there that will analyse your current website speed.
One of my favourite tools is GTMetrix.
With GTMetrix, all you do is type in your website URL.
It’ll take about 5-10 seconds to analyze your website and then give you the results. But it doesn’t stop there.
You’ll also get a list of parameters, grade your site performance against those particular parameters and then give you tips on what to improve.
The faster your website is, the better so constantly work at optimising this.
Other tools you can use are Google’s Page Speed Test Tool or Pingdom’s Tool.
2. Their Website Is Not Secure
When your site is not secure, it leaves you and your site visitors vulnerable to hackers, viruses, and malware.
Having a secure site also builds trust with your visitors and subconsciously lets them know you’re trustworthy.
The Problem
A lot of real estate websites I audited did not have secure websites.
The reason for a lot of “Not secure” sites out there is simply that they don’t know about it or don’t understand the importance of it.
Trust me, if you’ve been hacked before, you will take extra pains to ensure your site is secure.
Also, this affects your google ranking. Websites that are secure show up higher in google search results.
And we know how important that visibility is.
How do you know the difference between a site that’s secure and one that’s not? “https:// indicates that the website is secure while “http://” signifies the website is NOT.
The Solution
So what do you do to get a secure site?
There are 2 ways:
- You purchase an SSL certificate from your domain name provider or your hosting platform. (Recommended Option)
- You get an SSL certificate from a third-party like Cloudflare (https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/what-is-an-ssl-certificate/)
It’s as simple as that.
3. They do not have tracking pixels installed
This is a big one.
What are tracking pixels?
Tracking pixels are simple pieces of code you put on your website to track visitors and their behaviors on your website.
It also gives you the power to follow up on these website visitors based on the actions they took on your site.
The Problem
Having the power to track who is visiting your site and following them with relevant and valuable information is one of the most critical pieces of your Digital Strategy.
95% of Real Estate websites that I audited DID NOT have any tracking pixels installed. Of the 5% that did have any tracking installed did not have it installed.
Either they had it installed on just some pages and not other pages, or they had it installed incorrectly and it wasn’t actually collecting any data.
The Solution
The most important pixels to have installed on your site are Facebook and Google’s tracking pixels.
Between these two platforms, you can effectively follow up with your site visitors all over the web.
But you don’t have to stop there. You can go ahead and install pixels for Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, etc.
You could also go further and install tracking codes from your email service provider so that you could send targeted emails to your list of subscribers based on actions they are taking.
To check if your pixels are installed on your site, you could download the Facebook Pixel Helper (For Facebook… duh!) and Google Tag Assistant.
Image Box: Need our help with getting your site on track and putting all the right pixels in place?
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4. They do not have Google Analytics Installed
This is very much like tracking pixels above but I brought it out on purpose.
Google Analytics is a different beast altogether and if you’re serious about implementing an effective Digital Strategy for your real estate business and having a website that effectively generates more leads and sales for you, then this is an ABSOLUTE MUST.
What is Google Analytics?
It’s a tool from Google that allows you to not only track visitors that come to your site but actually know exactly what they are doing. And that is not the half of it.
You can find out things like:
- Where your website visitors are located
- What sites your website visitors are coming from
- What search term website visitors use to find your page
- How long they are spending on your website
- What the drop off points are
- The most popular pages on your website
- What traffic sources work best for you
- Where your best leads are coming from
- Where your best customers are coming from
… and so much more.
Bottom line, Google Analytics gives you data and when you have data, you are able to make informed and strategic decisions that will lead to more leads and sales.
The Problem
Again, much like with tracking pixels, about 95% of Real Estate Websites audited DID NOT have Google Analytics installed.
And some of those that did had it installed incorrectly.
The Solution
Install Google Analytics on your website and begin to look at the data.
And, more importantly, begin to take strategic actions based on what the data tells you.
To check if Google Analytics is configured properly on your website, use Google Tag Assistant.
If it’s Red, you know you have a HUGE Problem.
If it’s Blue, it’s installed but not completely.
If it’s Green, then you’re good.
5. They do not have an active blog where they share valuable information consistently.
It is important to engage and educate your ideal clients with content. This can be written articles, videos, Images, Infographics, etc
You should be sharing content that answers the top questions in your ideal client’s minds.
The Problem
Many Real Estate Websites do not have blogs that share consistent, relevant information for their prospective clients.
The Solution
Who are your ideal clients? What questions do they have in their mind regarding your services?
What are the types of things that they would type into google and search?
Write all these down and begin to create content that will answer these questions. That way when they search, you are right there, answering their questions and providing the solutions they are looking for.
This will help you to be top of mind and also help to establish you as a thought leader and industry expert.
Tip: Make sure that the content you are creating is line with what your prospective clients are searching for.
A great tool to use for this is Google’s Keyword Planner.
If you put in keywords or phrases and specify your location, it lets you know what people are searching for related to that and shows you how many searches are happening on that monthly.
6. They do not have a way to capture visitors’ information so they can follow up with them over time.
Capturing your visitors’ information is very important.
People hardly do business with you the first time they come in contact with you. When you are able to capture their information, you are able to keep in touch with them, offer them value and give them the opportunity to get to know, like and trust you and then, ultimately, come to the decision to do business with you.
The Problem
Many of the Real Estate Websites I audited had a form requesting for User’s information BUT they did not give a compelling reason for the visitor to give them this information.
Simply asking for your visitors to subscribe to your newsletter simply does not cut it.
You have to give them a reason to subscribe to your newsletter. What are they going to get?
Solution
What can you give them in exchange for their contact information?
A good place to get ideas is to see what they are searching for on Google using Google’s Keyword Planner.
If you put in keywords or phrases and specify your location, it lets you know what people are searching for related to that and shows you how many searches are happening on that monthly.
Whatever you decide, make sure that it is:
- Something of value
- Easy to consume (nobody wants to read pages and pages of documents)
- Helps them to make that buying decision
Here’s one company that’s on the right track:
Fine and Country asked visitors to subscribe to their VIP List (who doesn’t want to be a VIP) but they didn’t stop there.
They went further to tell would-be subscribers what they would get: “latest & best in real estate trends, tools, tips & strategies.”
So, whatever you do, be sure it is of value to your potential clients. Be creative!
7. They do not follow up based on user activity on the site.
Follow up is the name of the game when it comes to winning new clients especially for high ticket, non-impulse purchase decisions like real estate.
The money is in the follow-up. And when you can make that follow up personalized, it is even more effective.
The Problem
Unfortunately, many Real estate company websites we audited did not have enough information and data to be able to carry out effective follow up of their website visitors online.
Imagine this scenario:
I visit your website and I take a look at a property in Lekki. I spend about 5 minutes on one particular page and then I leave. I also give you my contact information.
Let’s say three companies have different approaches to this potential customer:
Real Estate Company A does absolutely nothing.
Real Estate Company B adds me to their “subscriber list” and then start to send me bulk emails about every new property they have all over the country.
Real Estate Company C will send me a personalized email telling me they noticed I was interested in this particular property and wanted to give me some more information. Then they give me an opportunity to talk to a specialist who might answer any question I might have.
Which of these companies do you think is likely to close the deal with me?
Yup. Company C.
The Solution
It’s a step in the right direction to set tracking in place (which I hope you’ll do once you’re done reading this.) but it’s not enough.
You have to know how to understand the data and use it for more personalized follow-up. And it isn’t restricted to just email. You can do what Company C did all across the web and make sure that the visitor sees you on almost every website they visit.
So, use the data to follow up.
Conclusion
So, go ahead and implement these changes on your website for more leads and ultimately, more sales.
Your turn: Which of these mistakes are you guilty of and when are you going to do something about it? (I’m here to keep you accountable :))
