If Your Real Estate Website Was a House Would You List It?

Real estate agents understand the concepts that determine the value of a property. As a real estate agent since 1985, I can speak your language. So let’s have a conversation about the components of value. They include desirability of the location of the property. In fact, we should mention that two more times because isn’t that what we are taught to do – location – location. The next determining factors of value also include the overall condition of the property. Is it in a good state of repair (well maintained)? Does the property offer superior “curb appeal” – does it “show well“? What about the structural integrity of the home? In today’s vernacular – does the house have good bones? Is the property functional or is it functionally obsolete? All of these factors (and more) help determine the value of a property.

Think of Your Real Estate Website Like a Property

In this post you’ll need to think of your current real estate website as if it were a “property”. The question is would you “take that listing and market it” with all it’s positives and negatives? Some of you have cream puff web properties and many have dawgs!

When It Comes to Location – Your Web Property Needs Location – Location – Location!

Or as I like to say Google – Google – Google! If you are to realize a return on the investment of your website property, it must have location… or in this case – your website needs to be on Google and hopefully near the top of the homepage of Google for your keyword search terms. Otherwise, nobody is going to know your “address” and see your cream puff.

Do You Maintain Your Web Property?

Just like a home, if you fail to maintain your web property, it will not serve your needs. Ongoing maintenance means checking for:

• bad links
• incomplete pages that have no call to action
• dead-end pages that fail to take the visitor to another resource or article
• lack of area keywords
• lack of sub headlines tagged with an h tag
• bad title tags and incomplete meta data
• wall of words articles that frighten away visitors. Reformat these pages to make them reader-friendly so the visitor can easily scan the page

Does Your Web Property Have Great Curb Appeal?

When it comes to “curb appeal“, does your web property standout in the crowded field of other competing web properties? Is the “home“page inviting? Does it instantly connect with your potential buyer the moment they arrive at the curb? Does the landscape engage and connect  with the visitor by offering them easy access to the other “rooms” (pages) in the site? Is it cluttered with so many navigation click opportunities (doors) that confuse and ultimately drive your potential buyer away from your property before they even get out of the car? Don’t forget about the prime areas of the property:

• the kitchen – can your visitor easily “cook up” (AKA search) and create a list of favorite properties and save those properties with your property search tool and share their “favs” with their friends and family?
• the spa-like bath – are visitors able to “soak up” market information and neighborhood hyper-local information?
• the master suite – can the visitor rest easy with peace of mind knowing this is where they can access power-packed web articles about the home buying and selling journey
• the family room – here can your visitors relax knowing you’re the right area expert agent for them just by reading your blog. In the family room conversation is encouraged!

Does Your Web Property Have “Good Bones”?

It’s important to inspect the architectural structure of your web property. Is it built up to “code“? Is the code dated and based on obsolete programming? Does the architecture of the content management system even allow you to make unlimited changes to your web property? Did the builder “lock you out” so you can’t add more rooms (pages) to your web property? Does your web property allow you to manage and save the name (and email address) of every person that engages on your web property?

Functional Obsolescence – Does that Describe Your Web Property?

In case you may have forgotten what this concept means, functional obsolescence means your web property might be dated because of changes in style and taste. Yes, some of you guys have web properties with mated orange shag carpet, fake wood paneling and hideous flocked wallpaper. In some cases your functional obsolescence might be curable and you can retain the “existing” property. In some cases it’s incurable and it’s past time you purchased “new construction“.

Would You List Your Own Web Property?

Marketing your website is a pretty deal these days. Okay, that was the all time understatement but here’s the point. Would you take your own web property, list it and then market the heck out of it proudly?

Let me know your answer by leaving a comment.

Till next time,

Bobby