Thread by @YorkshireProps

Estate Agency Websites - A THREAD

We are constantly repeating our belief that an estate agent’s own website is their most under-rated, under-utilised and under-invested in marketing tool.

It’s an agency’s very own Town Square; a place where no competitor can be heard.

It acts as many things; An agency’s very own online digital magazine, a unique brand ambassador, a place where they can interact one-to-one with people interested in property.

Such an important part of the agency’s DNA.

So, why then are many sooooo disappointing?

Do some agencies regard them a necessary evil; ‘Well, the competition’s got one so I suppose we had better have one’?

Some firms don’t even bother to build one, their Home Page consists a few company details and a search box which takes people straight to Rightmove. That’s it.

Is it because some agencies are committed to spending so much monthly on national portals, with the add-ons, that they have no budget left?

Understandable given the costs of Rightmove & Zoopla.

Is it because they don’t envision it delivering much of a return on investment?

To us, not investing in your own site is akin to having flaking paint around your premises or having a battered door at your point of entry. These things don’t give people the best impression of your company and may leave them wondering where else you choose to cut costs.

Agents promote ‘eye-catching’ For Sale boards, liveried vehicles, activity on social media, Rightmove pie charts yet barely mention their own web site. Not hard to see why.

Imagine having a website so engaging that people would visit it who are not even active in the market?

We recently chose ten independent agency sites to review on desktop & mobile.

Familiar issues that we encountered include:

• Poor performance figures shown by the @Google Lighthouse test

• SEO rating rarely above 80/100

• Formulaic layouts using sterile, bland templates

• Over busy and distracting Home Pages

• Nightmare navigation / poor indexing

• Video content rarely present

• Rich editorial content lacking (no engaging stories, area info, etc)

• Emphasis on FREE VALUATION buttons but with no qualified reasoning for clicking on it

• Instant Valuation buttons all over the place, are the results accurate?

• No downloadable content (useful branded free PDFs)

• Reviews presented but often not from official sites for greater credibility

• Little direction for visitors to subscribe to their social media

• Note: Lots of agents still not exploiting all available social media channels

• Social media icons often present (tucked away) but with either dead functionality or they lead you to platforms where the account hasn’t been updated for months or years. Not a good impression

• Overall the visual presentation of property listings was very basic, formulaic and not very engaging. If visitors can perceive a better experience on the national portals, why should they bother coming to your site or spend any time there if they do?

• Search function very basic; basic inability to filter out SSTCs missing

• Sadly, we didn’t see any uptake of Key Property and Area Information as supplied by the likes of @HomesearchHQ, @SpriftProperty & @dataloftuk.

• Just 1 out of 10 sites had a live chat function

So, what’s the message for agents we make here?

It’s a clear one; give your website a thorough MOT, especially on mobile/tablet. Invest in it to bring it up to scratch, incorporate new features that are now available. Upload your own bespoke content (both video & written word)

• Make it your top business generator

• Use it to reduce portal reliance

• Make it a part of your local community (by hosting local business & event details)

• Get people coming back to it time and again

• Make it your very own media company

• Invest to get results!

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