Luxury real estate often has an automatic connotation: expensive. But just because something is luxury doesn't mean it automatically has to be unaffordable. In fact, what is or is not considered luxury in real estate varies wildly from market to market. We have some clients where a property is considered "luxury" at a price point of $600,000 — whereas, in other markets, you wouldn't even be able to find a two-bedroom property at that price point. 

This disparity can also apply to website vendors. The costs of luxury websites and marketing partners vary widely, too. There are all sorts of factors that determine how a vendor prices their product, and it can be difficult for real estate professionals to parse down why a website with one vendor may cost $99/month with one provider, $300 with another, or upwards of $1,000 with another. The reality is that the marketplace is oversaturated with website developers, many of whom will lean into the "luxury" market because it means they can overprice their products simply by positioning them as some sort of luxury service. 

When investigating which tools are best for marketing your luxury listings, I recommend keeping a few things in mind. First, where is the vendor located? Some web development companies are headquartered in major metro markets like Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle, or New York City. Those firms will automatically come with a much higher price tag than web development companies in smaller mid-western or southern markets. I have often found that tech companies based in the Midwest or smaller metros will come with more affordable price tags as they can pass those savings back to their customers. Secondly, finding a vendor with experience providing websites or marketing assets at scale is important. Suppose you're working with a small boutique web development firm. In that case, you will likely spend more money as they work to produce something more one-off, then leverage previous experience building hundreds or thousands of websites a year. 

Consider the Return on Investment

When looking for a website development firm to help build a site to advertise luxury real estate, I have seen two distinct paths arise. Those looking for a luxury website focused on the properties themselves (search/property oriented) and those building a luxury brand about themselves. Deciding which angle to take with something as important as your website can be difficult. Do you feature yourself, your team, and your unique value add as a broker or agent operating in the luxury space? Or, do you build a site around the unique and exquisite listings you have worked hard to bring into your catalog? 

I am not sure there is a right or wrong answer here. Either path will bring along its own set of pros and cons. For websites more focused on the agent and their brand, you'll provide valuable information to consumers looking for you specifically. Having a website built around showcasing your value is huge because The National Association of REALTORS®' (NAR) data has shown that most millennial homebuyers will look up their real estate agent's website at some point during the home transaction process. When your clients find you, they should be reassured and have that wow-factor moment when they find your website. At the same time, it's important to consider how you will capture leads on your website, and that's where going a more property-oriented route can be beneficial. 

The good news is that many options in the marketplace offer affordable, high-performing websites that can easily be tailored to showcase your brand and luxurious properties without breaking the bank. Even more importantly, there are good options that can build tons of lead-capture opportunities into your website. No agent wants to spend thousands of dollars on a website that doesn't produce any tangle value regularly. Real estate websites should have a return on your investment. If you have a website that isn't directly impacting your business, this is an opportunity to start researching new vendors you could work with. 

Understand What You Need to Capture More Leads

Let's dial in a little further on what type of lead capture opportunities you should consider on your website. With new TCPA regulations on the horizon, it's more important now than ever to understand how lead capture forms work and ensure that any automations you have in place around automated emailing, automated text messaging, or even automated phone calls/voice mail drops are configured. New upcoming regulations will make it illegal to communicate automatically with a consumer via SMS or auto-dialer who has not opted to receive those communications. Any form on your website must have language on the form that clearly shows to the consumer that by creating an account or submitting an inquiry on a property, they are consenting to receive communications from you as a real estate professional. 

With compliance out of the way, I highly recommend seeking several good lead-capture opportunities for your website. 

1. MLS IDX Data 

Every MLS in the country offers the ability to pull in an IDX feed that will showcase all of the listings in your market on your website, typically with a small monthly fee for the data. A website without a true property search would eliminate your ability to generate true inbound lead opportunities. When considering website vendors working with IDX data, it's important to understand how often they pull that data. The faster the IDX data is updated on your website, the better the consumer experience will be. It can be a huge value add to get someone to provide contact information if they can sign up for an instant or daily new listing update for any new properties that hit the market that match their search. 

2. Soft Lead-Capture Forms 

We have also found that websites with a "soft lead capture" perform significantly better than websites that require registration to view property details. Allowing consumers to search for properties without forcing them to enter their contact information will increase traffic to your website, keep visitors on your site for longer, and deliver higher-quality leads. A good website platform will allow you to designate how many properties someone can view before a pop-up prompt recommends they create an account. 

3. Calls to Action (CTAs)

Another good rule of thumb for lead capture is that you always want to have a call to action in front of the consumer at all times. I have seen countless websites where the property detail page design only has a small obscure button or form that can easily be lost on the page. If someone is looking at any property-related information, you should always have a call to action in front of the listings. As you scroll down the page on desktop or mobile, there should be some sort of "contact" button that allows the consumer to send in questions about the property, request a showing, or contact the agent directly. Keeping these CTA's front and center is critical. 

4. Click-to-Calls

You must also have your contact information in your website's header, including your office or cell phone number, not just as a number but as a clickable call to action that will open up the consumer's phone dialer on the mobile. This is called a "click-to-call" and is by far one of the most heavily used lead generation tools on our websites. Click-to-calls may not generate a lead in the system directly, but they are easy to track in Google Analytics. If you use any phone of contact sync with O365 or Google, it should allow those contacts to be synced into your CRM for easy follow-up. Click-to-calls are an easy way to generate activity on your website. 

5. Automated Valuation Module (AVM)

Automated valuation modules offer another great lead-generation opportunity. Many website providers will have the capability for someone to come to your website, enter their address, and then get automated home value estimates of what their property may be worth if they sell. This is a great listing generation opportunity, especially as consumers try to understand how much home they can afford by selling their property. Keeping the home valuation tool front and center on your homepage above the fold is critical for the tool to see extended use. 

6. Single Property Websites

The final lead generation strategy for luxury websites revolves around Single Property Websites (SPWs) and automated advertising. Millions of people love to look at luxury listings. A great strategy to drive engagement is to find a platform that supports single-property websites. These are essentially one-page websites that strictly feature one property at a time, packed with lead-capture opportunities. These SPWs become critical when tied together with an automated advertising program. Our team has found tremendous success by running a $36 Facebook ad leveraging their new Instant Form feature. This ad runs on Facebook in the area where the property is listed, and anyone who clicks on the ad fills out their information in the Facebook app, which is then piped over into the lead generation tools in our platform. Someone sees an ad for the property on Facebook, and if they want to get more details and see the photos of the property, Facebook will populate their information, which they then submit to view the listing details on the SPW. It allows us to generate more traffic to the site, and we're seeing tremendous lead conversions as low as $5-$7 per qualified lead. 

Don't Spend More To Get Less

If your website is not generating tangible results for your business, there is no better time to evaluate options. Even if you specialize in luxury real estate, don't settle for a vendor with the highest price tag for their services. It's never the right move to spend more, only to get less. There are incredible high-quality options in the marketplace, like Delta Media Group,® that can provide you with the expertise to build a beautiful lead-capturing website at an affordable price.