According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 93 percent of real estate clients from all generations rely on real estate websites as a primary source of information when buying or selling a home. How does your real estate website stack up to the competition? In order to capitalize on the immense online interest in all things real estate, there are some essential features that every real estate website should have. With the right mix of features, content, and smart design, you can turn your website into a constant, reliable source of leads for your real estate business.

• Responsive Mobile Design
  One more interesting statistic from the NAR: 76 percent of all buyers found their next home using a mobile device. And that number is even higher for Millenial and Gen X home buyers. So if you want to maximize the potential of your real estate website, it needs to look and function as great on mobile devices as it does on bigger screens. Responsive mobile design allows your website to scale to any screen size and makes it easy for website visitors to access key features on any device.

• IDX Listing Integration and Convenient Search Filters
  While many website features pique visitors' interest, the number one reason most people visit real estate websites is to search for listings that match their needs. So IDX listing integration is absolutely essential for any real estate website. It's also important to make sure that people can filter their search based on the features they want in a home to easily fall in love with homes that match their needs.

• Informative Real Estate Content
  Informative, educational real estate content is key to informing website visitors, demonstrating your expertise, and showing them why you're the right choice for their real estate needs. Whether you maintain a real estate blog, post video content on a reliable schedule, put together information-rich infographics, or ideally all of the above, your content provides a window into what potential clients can expect from your real estate business. Clients especially appreciate content that answers real estate questions, helps them overcome challenges, and dives deep into what buyers can expect when purchasing homes in the markets where you do business.

• Social Proof and Social Media Integration
  Social proof is one of the best ways to turn website visitors into clients by showing them exactly why your current clients love your real estate business. Featuring testimonials from current clients is a great way to showcase what you have to offer and show prospects the quality of service they can expect when choosing you for their real estate needs. It's also important to make it easy to find all of your social media feeds so people can seamlessly connect and engage with your business on their favorite social media platforms.

• Neighborhood Guides for Home Shoppers
  While making it easy to search for homes is a great start, it's also crucial to help buyers learn more about the neighborhoods where those homes are located. Neighborhood guides are a great way to help buyers get acquainted with your neighborhoods while finding locations with the attractions, services, amenities, and characteristics that match their needs. Your blog posts and video content are also great places to go deeper into what local neighborhoods have to offer by highlighting local attractions, dining destinations, traditions, events, and anything else interesting about those neighborhoods.

• Lead Capture, Calls to Action, and Subscription Forms
  With great content, IDX integration, responsive design, and social proof, you already have many of the ingredients that will help turn curious website visitors into strong leads for your business. Now it's time to capitalize on all of those important features by capturing leads and encouraging website visitors to take the next step. It's important to include calls to action throughout your website that encourage people to take that next step, add forms that make it easy for visitors to subscribe to your newsletters, and provide incentives for them to learn more about what you have to offer.

• Uncluttered Layout and Intuitive Navigation
  All of the great features on a website are only valuable if visitors can easily find them. Making it easy to find everything will also encourage them to stick around on your website for longer periods of time. Avoid cluttering any one page with too much information, and make sure that visitors can easily, intuitively navigate all of the features that your website offers.

While there are essential features that every real estate website should have, there are also many different ways to customize your website within that framework. With the right mix of features and design, your website can be a major asset for your brand. Contact us today to learn how to make the most of your website.