The Eight-fold Path to a Solid Real Estate Web Site (Part II)

4. Right Agents -- Give the users agent photos and let them search an individual agent's listings. The average real estate buyer or seller will be better served by  a comprehensive presentation of an agent's listings than a long list of every property your company represents. Often agents are known as specialists in a certain subdivision or price range. Your users want to see what they look like and what other properties they represent. People connect to people not to institutions. Real estate companies that accentuate their human resources are more approachable.

5. Right Action -- Make sure the user has clear calls to action on any listing. Give them a prominent phone number and email, preferably the phone number of the listing agent at your company for the listing being showcased. Assign agents to field leads that come in from the site for general MLS properties by geography, price range, or on a rotating basis to the agent on the floor at any given time.  This will keep your agents engaged with your internet marketing efforts, but, more important, give your users a human being--not a general 800 #--to call about a listing. Agents are pretty good at answering their phone at all hours, not just between the hours of 8 to 5. In addition, give the user both an "Email to a Friend" and a prominent "Request More Information" link on your property details page. Make sure the propery MLS # is carried through to the Request More Information form when the user clicks this option.

6. Right Look & Feel -- A firm's physical location is not necessarily its biggest office. I've seen many firms maintain disproportionately small internet marketing budgets while spending princely sums on office renovations. In reality, many of your customers will first "visit" you through your web site not your storefront. The site should be produced by professionals working with a healthy design budget and the look & feel should reflect your brand and the type of property you sell. Overly busy sites are off-putting. You want a clean and elegant site that allows easy access to things that are important to the user--namely search and viewing properties.