| |
Problems with Real Estate Websites
It is important to focus on your visitors' goals when designing your site. We've listed some very common problems with real estate web sites below.
Poor Use of Frames
Many companies offer template sites that use frames to separate a header and navigation bar from the main content that is hosted on a central server. Besides the poor aesthetic appeal of frames, this creates a greater problem with search engines and usability. Workarounds to most problems listed below are possible but are tedious, difficult to maintain, and very often not used.
Bookmarks and links don't work as expected. You can only bookmark the top-level page, but not necessarily what's displayed on your screen. When users go back to the link, they only get the homepage rather than the page they expected. This makes the sharing and revisiting of valuable pages in your site extremely difficult.
Search engines do not index the content of frames well. By using frames on your site, you can prevent search engines from crawling your site or get a much poorer ranking. When a link does exist to your site, it is usually linked to the inner content pages, without the header and navigation frames. Users will have no way of navigating your site and may not be web savvy enough to find the rest of your site even if they are inclined to do so.
Browsers have trouble printing frames. Many browsers will only print a single frame rather than the entire multi-frame display. Being that homebuyers are doing research and looking at different properties on your site, this can be a huge problem.
The most compelling argument that can be given against frames is simply that users don't like them. In several studies, over 90% of web users have been shown to choose non-frames versions of the same site when given the options.
Misuse of Pop Up Windows
Pop-up windows are one of the most misused features on real estate sites. The worst offenders are sites that have pop up windows load automatically on the homepage. Automatically opening pop-up windows leads to user distrust and leaves a horrible first impression. It also forces users to close the pop-up window every time they visit the page, breaking their task flow.
The wide misuse of pop-up windows has led to a strong association with unprofessional and invasive advertisements. Users are trained to close them as quickly as possible, often before even reading their contents. In a recent Retail Forward study (2002), users reported pop up windows to be the top frustration encountered during their web experience.
Another report from Statistical Research, Inc. shows that 62% of web users felt strongly that pop-up advertisements interfere with their use of a web site. Users also reported that they were less likely to view companies that use pop-ups as being industry leaders.
Flash Intros
While Flash Introductions may have their place on the web, the real estate web site is not one of them. Visitors are only concerned with information that will help them purchase their new home. Flash intros provide little or no value to homebuyers and can be quite an annoyance to users with slower connections.
Imagine having an open house where visitors were forced to sit through a multimedia presentation of your real estate business before they were allowed through the door.
If you want to use Flash to display your company background, make this an optional movie your visitors may view. Do not make it the first thing they see every time they visit your web site.
Use of Backgrounds
Most real estate web sites that use backgrounds, tile a small image of a logo or photo of a home. This rarely, if ever, provides any positive aesthetic value to the site. It usually only creates a more cluttered appearance and makes text harder to read.
Studies have consistently shown slower search and read times for text with textured backgrounds. If your site uses a background image, consider if you would use that same background on company stationery. Does it make you look more professional?
Animation and Sound
Adding animation or sound to your site merely for the sake of novelty is a definite mistake. Whenever you want to use sound and animation on your site, consider whether it helps your visitors accomplish their goals. Most uses of sound and animation do not add any value to site visitors and only distract and annoy visitors.
Bandwidth and screen real estate are valuable resources that shouldn't be wasted on inessential novelties.
Not enough or inaccessible local content
As covered in the article Content Your Visitors Want, homebuyers are interested in area information. Your expertise and knowledge of your area is what will set you apart from your competitors. Many sites simply contain a few generic links to city and county government web sites or generic school information sites.
For example, a popular template site contains a School Information link, which looks promising. However, the link actually sends visitors to EschoolProfile.com where they must then supply their personal information and click through a series of forms specifying which state, county, and school districts they would like to receive a report on. The report is then emailed to them rather than displayed immediately on the web browser.
First of all, this is horrible in terms of usability. Not only are the users being forced to submit their personal information to another site, they are also required to reiterate the locations that they presumably already specified by visiting the real estate agent's site.
Secondly, how would a homebuyer know which school district applies to the cities they're interested in. Shouldn't the real estate agent, being the area expert, provide this information directly on their site? Take the extra time in doing this research yourself and include some basic school information on your site. Link to third party sites for in depth information that can't be conveniently included on your site.
While links to other sites are useful, they should be used as secondary sources of reference for homebuyers. Homebuyers should be able to acquire as much valuable information from your site as conveniently as possible.
Information By Request Only
Directly related to the lack of area information is the common practice of providing information only after the user submits his personal information. New leads will provide their personal information only if they've been given sufficient reason to do so. Many real estate sites make the mistake of forcing visitors to submit their contact information before providing any real value to them.
Wary Internet users will not provide personal information unless they've already received something from your site and are convinced that they can gain further value by allowing you to contact them.
You must first gain the user's trust by providing them with useful content. Only then can you reasonably ask them to fill out a short form so that you may provide them with even more personalized and helpful information.
Email Address Not Displayed
As mentioned above, users hate being forced to fill out forms to gather information. Many sites do not list the agent's email address but rather force users to fill out a form to contact the agent. While many users may view this online form as a convenience, some users may prefer to use their own email program to contact the agent directly, so that they will have a record of the email.
In any case, needlessly limiting your visitors' options in contacting you will frustrate them and decrease the number of leads you receive. Always make sure your email address is listed on the contact form so that visitors may email you directly if they choose to.
Broken Links and Pages Under Construction
It should be quite apparent that broken links reduce credibility and frustrate users. However, many sites contain broken links, often to other web sites who've moved their pages. You should check your links to other sites occasionally to make sure they haven't changed.
Another mistake that is far more common than it should be is the use of Under Construction pages. By linking to a page that is under construction and contains no useful content, you are simply wasting your visitors' time. When researching, homebuyers are goal oriented and do not have any loyalty to your site in particular. If you don't have the information they need, they will simply move on to the next site. The promise that something of value might replace the page under construction next time is not enough to bring a user back.
If your site is not ready to be viewed, don't list it with search engines, or otherwise advertise it. If a section of your site is not ready for viewing, then don't waste your visitors' time by linking to it. You will only be damaging your own credibility.
Lack of Listing Photos
Homebuyers consistently report that images are the most important factor when they search for listings. Despite this, an amazing number of listings on agent sites don't include photographs, and those that do usually include only one image of the front view of the house and leave it at that.
Whether this is a limitation of the template site, a habit brought on by traditional marketing, or just an oversight, this will seriously decrease the interest in the property. The great thing about the Internet is that for the most part, space is free. Unlike advertisements elsewhere, you can list as many photos of each property on your site as you like. Why limit yourself to one when homebuyers unanimously vote for more?
Blitz Development is constantly adding new reports to this series of real estate marketing tips. If you would like to receive email notification of new articles, please submit your name and email address below.
|
|
 |
|
Real Estate Marketing Tips
Advantages of Online Marketing
Targeting a Niche Market
Why Use a Professional Domain
Choosing a Good Domain Name
Shopping for a Website
Problems with Real Estate Sites
Content Your Visitors Want
Converting Leads Into Clients
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Basics
Choosing Effective Keywords
Writing Keyword Optimized Copy
Link Popularity
Handling Online Leads
Blitz Development
102 Falkirk Court #2
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Email: info@blitzdevelopment.com
Phone: 1-800-510-0025
|
|
