Well, you shouldn’t be. After all, no one else is in love with your website. I know your visitors certainly are not.
Don’t worry. I’m sure no one is in love with my own real estate website either.
Of course, if your real estate website is actually generating business, then it might be OK for you to be in love with it.
She's in love with her website!
But what about all of those fancy graphics? Maybe you have one of those models that walks on to your screen and starts talking to you. Every once in a while you see one that looks as good as Cameron Diaz, but I bet your visitors try to turn the sound off as soon as she starts warbling about how wonderful the site is.
You maybe have one of those scrolling banners crawling along the top of the home page. You might have flashing icons for maps and weather. (Here’s the truth about banners: Visitors will unconsciously avert their eyes from anything flashing, or even a prominent, gaudy header.) And the weather? Do you really think that anyone will bookmark the site because there is a weather badge on it? They can just stick their heads out the window if they want to know what the weather is like.
But what about all of the money you spent? Maybe you are into “branding” and have hired someone like Hobbs Herder to design a matching website, matching flyers, matching cards, and matching underwear. It’s sort of a “put-together” look. You spent thousands of dollars on it, too! Branding is a good thing, but will it really make people click on listings and call you?
You spend a lot of time and money dressing up your site, and you ask your friends and family to look at it. They say “Wow! That’s really cool!” Maybe that’s why we think our sites are so well-loved. Also, REALTORS® tend to have a mindset that says “If I am doing it, it must be good.”
I’ve been there myself. That’s an example of REALTOR® egotism “gone to seed!” Not much real estate marketing is based on empirical data.
Think about it for a minute… When you go to Target.com website, do you land on it and say “Wow! That’s really cool?”
I doubt it. You just started shopping.
Usability is King!
Visitors are only interested in one thing- usability! That means simple navigation to pages with useful information on products or services. They are looking for content and they want to find it easily. Everything else is just a distraction, as far as they are concerned. You can put all kinds of cool gimmicks on your website, but if they cannot access good hard information, they will hit the old “back” button faster than you say “goodbye.”
It’s been proven that visitors won’t back out of your site because it is the color of vomit. They won’t back out because it is a plain white page, either. I can’t give you verbatim or chapter and verse on this, but I read about it in a great book called “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. If they can find what they are looking for, without having to make too many choices to get there, they simply won’t care about the appearance. Of course, you will want to hava a good-looking webste because it reflects on you (I guess!) I have a hunch that visitors will be more likely to do business because they can find what they are looking for. ( However, i bet that the idea that a cool looking website will make visitors choose you over someone else is an unproven assumption!)
If you are a REALTOR® and you want to make a site that nobody will think is cool, try out a minimalist design. I guarantee you that the people in your office will think you are nuts!
Here are some places where you can find minimalistic themes for your Wordpress site:
- iA is a professionally designed and developed Wordpress theme. It is very easy to read.
- Modicus Remix is a free, versatile Wordpress theme.
- Plaintxt.org is militant about minimalism and has the best and most radical Wordpress themes. I guarantee you that absolutely no one in the whole world will say “That’s cool!” Your fellow real estate agents will laugh at you.
Plaintxt.org operates on the premise that people want to actually read something when they use the internet. I think they might be right! When I run into a site with a minimalist theme, find myself reading it intently.
Do I think that I will be making many minimalist websites for real estate agents? I don’t think so. It is a very hard sell. I am not quite brave enough to go minimalist on my own website, although I have simplified it quite a bit.
If you are a real estate agent, and you want a site that is built for visibility and usability, please contact me.
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{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice post! I love the comment about bookmarking a page because it’s got the weather information on it. I think a good, clean looking website is important but I don’t think websites with the “bells and whistles” out perform all other websites. Usability is definitely the most important…if I can’t find what I want, I’m gone.
So very interesting, it seems that so many people are trying to do everything they can to make their site generate leads, but they are all doing the wrong things. You only have to do a few of the right things to get results.
Thanks for the WordPress minimalist sites. I may be brave enough to look at them. I am not quite sure if I am ready to really do it! My website is pretty simple, I did feel bad about it, your article made me feel better!
I am curious how well the minimalist websites do in terms of SEO. I like the idea of something a little more toned down but I worry that removing all of the pictures and video could drop my site rank in the tubes. Any thoughts?
I have had so many visitors and clients to my website, send a special email saying that my site is the most user-friendly site they have ever seen. If you think I do not take advantage of that, you are crazy.
Love it, love it, love it!
Jeff Ellis u posted comment on this post and you done right
I believe the most important thing on a website is the functionality of it, if it easy to use and provides your users what they are looking for then they will come back. Keep it simple is my motto.
Dan_Ns last blog post..Fishhawk Ranch Home For Rent
Another thing to consider is that some people are still on dial-up. You might not want to chase those visitors away with extra graphics, etc.
I look at your site examples, they are clean and neat.
I also like the map intergration.
Do you provide segements for existing sites?
Richard..
Thank you.
Please elaborate on the segments or what you are looking for.
Excellent read! It is so easy to fall in love with your own website, I have definately fallen victim to this. When someone puts alot of their own time, effort, and ideas into a site you can’t help but to get emotionally involved.
Great post for sure!
Derek Weekss last blog post..Now Is the Best Time to Sell Your Home
Nicole…
I wouldn’t recommend eliminating photos or videos that are directly related to your market.
I am still laughing about your first sentence because it is so true. I was just asking a coworker yesterday how her website was coming along as she was starring at it and making some changes to a couple of her links. When I asked her if she had ever received a lead from her website, she replied “no’. I told her to forget about her links page and rethink her Internet strategy all together.
I have several real estate website and most produce leads. I will be the first to admit that some of the sites produce more leads than others, but know exactly what I am doing. I keep a close on my bounce rate, time spent on site, and leads. I can tell you from experience, that a high bounce rate and minimal time spent on site will equal very few to zero leads. When this happens it is time to think complete redesign.
Ryan Martins last blog post..Scotty Browns in Bellingham WA – 3101 Newmarket Street Suite 201
>Well, you shouldn’t be. After all, no one else is in love with your website. I know your visitors certainly are not.
Costa Rica Real Estate Experts last blog post..Costa Rica: Train Offers Ride Through Costa Rica’s Rural Past
I think its hard to move away from a design. People tend to fall in love with their own sites. Its wierd maybe you just become familiar. The same with people that are used to their houses and dont want to update them even if they really need to in order to sell. I really like the minimalistic themes. I should look into some of these more.
Sarah at Dallas Real Estates last blog post..Dec 08 Stats for the Dallas Real Estate Market
great post, Ive been in love with websites before and didnt want to change them because I liked them so much, but as a result i got very few leads from it
I like my website because it’s mine. I really like this blog
i find myself spending so much time and effort on things, that i find out later ,really do not matter. thanks for helping to simplify what seems like an impossible task for a newbie.
Great information…I am just beginning to build my website and I will keep your susggestions in mind when building the site.
I really love to blog about my site. It is more enjoying when people love my blog
Fort Worth real estate blogs last blog post..Executive Office Space in Fort Worth
I like how you are to-the-point about this…sort of minimalistic of you
I agree though, people come to your real estate site for mainly one thing: do a property search. Why get in their way?!
Great information…I have been upgrading my website and I will keep your suggestions in mind as I continue to improve my site.
This gives me a lot to think about as I build my website. I lean toward simple, clean lines but didn’t stop to consider that it might have an impact on how visit.ors will view it.
Great blog! I agree that keeping it simple is the way to go because people know what they want when they visit your site, they don’t need to be distracted or hassled with complicated graphics or pop-ups. It’s good to remember that sometimes less is more!
I think think the old saying less is more holds true with websites as well. Finding the right balance is the key. Websites are never finished, you have to pay attention to changing markets and technology.
I lovge my sites, I am pretty sure alot of my vistors do also. We have over 200 people return day after day.
Usability is king, i’d love for the guys who manage our site to do a better job of making it easier for our clients to get information. I’m working on em but it’s a slow process.
Thanks for a terrific post! Although it’s been said many times before, KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and “less is more”. Your point is well-taken but when oh when will Realtors ever figure this out? The flashing lights, scrolling headlines and weather buttons have *got* to be my most despised features (I mean flaws!). Yes I love that my new website is a lead-generating machine but rather than fall in love with it, I want to strive to continually improve it. Thanks for the reminder to not sit back and get complacent.
I was using the minimalist Viewport Wordpress theme for awhile. It was very appealing with the large photos, however it really lacked at SEO since the home page was mainly photos.
I’ve now moved to the extreme end with regards to SEO and am using the Thesis theme. I see you’re using it on all the sites you design for agents, so obviously I’m doing something right.
Ben Goheen
St Paul MN real estate
Let’s face it, your estate agency advertising either generates leads and helps you close property deals and transactions or it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t generate income, it doesn’t do you any good. Although so many estate agents are already using the Internet, a vast majority of this online advertising expenditure don’t bring any results.
London Estate Agentss last blog post..West Hampstead Property Investment
Well said. Easy navigation is the road to success. When people come to your website they are usually searching for something in particular. Whatever they want, you need to have the answer. When you know that then you know you should make it easy for them to find it.
Regards,
Alex,
Panama property.
Easy Navigation- Make it incredibly easy for people to find what they want. Aim to set up your site navigation so that it is easy to get from one page to another from any page a visitor is on. Providing a simple navigation menu will enhance your visitors experience at your website and allow the visitor to easily navigate your site. On the other hand a complicated navigation menu can be confusing and cause visitors to give up and leave the site in frustration, regardless how valuable the content.
Regards,
Alex,
Panama property.
Great blog, good question.
I’m in love with my Real Estate website. We’ve been together for about a year, but none of the spark between us has been lost. We still go out often, make each other laugh, and talk to each other long into the night. I hope we’ll be together for ever.
Actually I love my site because it’s plain and usable. I’m just glad it’s not as cluttered as all the other real estate sites in my area.
I think you are absolutely right. Not all users are really competent on the computer and flashing and pop-ups are just more confusing. Users want something simple to navigate and east to use. It has to be simple yet full of the lastest information.
marys last blog post..San Antonio Real Estate Stats for April
I’ve spotted a different problem. I normally get very bored of my sites look after just a few days. I have to fight myself to stop form keep changing it. There was a time when I was switching themes every week.
But then of course you lose brand recognition.
Very nice article. I like the focus on usability and on simplicity that allow users to find what they are looking for.
The biggest challenge most real estate agents face is the onslaught of SEO experts but nonetheless, it’s important that every real estate agent have an online presence.
This is one of the cleanest sites that ive seen for quite some time it was very informative and at the same time very interesting.
Real Estate Investment is now treated as a major case of capital budgeting by using state-of-the-art investment analysis which incorporates the future stream of income it may generate and the associated risk adjustments.
I am a big fan of keeping it simple – I just totally redesigned our old website from scratch – using html (dreamweaver) I will be adding wordpress on to it – and so for me it was also due to lack of choice as it takes less skill, experience and imagination to keep it simple, yet usable. It depends on your market and the image you want to portray. We also changed branding a few months back hired someone telling them we wanted to look like professionals and established like accountants or lawyers – they came up with a range of ideas some with all bright colours, palm trees, suns setting and a house on somebody’s palm! I then sat down and came up with a new look.
One of the good things about having fewer clients you have more time to put your own house in order.
PS website still has a few glitches here and there which I need to sort out.
just great! This is what I was looking for.
I think maps with your listings on them are very “usable”.
Visitors of our website matters and we must offer the best when they go to our website. Usability and content-rich are the main factors to consider as well as the popularity of the website.