Real estate websites – the fundamentals of design, form and function

I am avid podcast listener and have through this medium gained a sense of using my time more efficiently;be it listening to global news or technology developments whilst in the car or walking to work. So it was natural that at some stage I would come across a podcast that I just had to share -so have a listen to this one.

In the past I have highlighted the appeal of the Real Estate Guys podcast, but today’s podcast is from a team called Intuitive Websites this podcast series focuses on online marketing, providing tips and trends of specialised web site design and development – not techy, just good practical insight and ideas.

This particular podcast should be mandatory listening for every real estate agent out there! – it is full of valuable advice and insight regarding the key components of real estate on the web.

I also believe it is of as much value to property owners looking to market their homes, as it is to agents marketing property on behalf of owners. I would encourage property owners to challenge and question not just the choice of advertising media proposed by agents, but also to evaluate the presentation of those adverts – especially when it comes to the web given in the vast majority of cases it is the first place people begin their property searching.

The summation of the podcast (which is only around 18 minutes) is categorised by these 4 platforms.

1. Photos – rich imagery is so important, but more than just that is understanding the emotional connections to the imagery – there are some really interesting observations here.
2. Video – with the greater access to faster broadband this medium is likely to grow to become a staple component of almost all listings ( realestate.co.nz is seeing  a vast upsurge in videos on listings overr the past few months).
3. Information – dazzle those website visitors with tons of information on the property – just so that they do contact the agent – one of the ingrained issues of this industry in relation to marketing in general is that many agents think the opposite – because that is how it used to be! – but the internet has for ever changed that.
4. For the agent advice around finding your niche and then actively marketing online with the specific purpose to deliver leads through use of traffic building marketing tolls online, specifically search engine marketing and search engine optimisation.

They may not seem that radical ideas – but the value they can add to the presentation of properties is huge when you see it from the perspective of the benefit of following these key strategies as opposed to not following them.