With the creation of new channels of communication, powered by the internet, it is imperative for organizations to revamp their ways to communicate with their potential audience. The internet has emerged as a catalyst in marketing as business organizations pursue prospective consumers to make a purchase.
The need for a real estate website:
The amount of competition that exists in the market compels companies to level up their game. Updating their technologies and marketing efforts are a part of how corporations ensure their sustainability. This competition has driven newer and more efficient ways of transmitting information that not only provide better exposure for the organization but keep existing consumers informed about further developments occurring in an organization’s line of products and services. While social media can be an effective marketing medium, it is usually cluttered with distractions. These distractions can be in the form of advertisements or other posts existing on the same display canvas. The added complexity in getting the essential information to the other side is something that is eliminated by websites. Websites can incorporate any design layout that the firm sees fit, quick links to vital information that saves the readers time and effort, high-quality imagery of properties, and many more elements.
Real estate has historically involved newspaper advertisements informing the general public about properties and their rates. With the era of digitalization, a lot of communication happens online as mobile devices get into the hands of more and more people. The benefits of a real estate website are multifold as:
- It allows you to reach out to more people, consequently, increasing your chances to make a sale
- It enables the ability to show high-resolution images of a property which makes the overall design attractive and adds a whole another layer of visual information.
- Well-built websites and innovative designs reflect a level of professionalism that would help a firm to leave a positive impression on their potential clients
- Websites save printing costs that would have otherwise be incurred had the printed catalogs containing images of properties
- It enables greater present on the internet for a business
- Websites allow companies to collect and track data that would be of great importance when it comes to gauging the increase and decrease in the overall traffic on the website.
- Factors to consider for a real estate website:
Assets:
Everything from the icons on the website to the professionally clicked images of different houses and properties can be categorized as assets of that website. Quality assets can improve the look of the website and goes a long way towards giving the website a professional feel. Having images of the living spaces on your website makes the viewers imagine themselves and their families living inside it, they associate themselves with what is being sold to them and this association is a key factor in making a purchase decision.
Design:
As websites get more and more popular, there has been a rise in the need for innovative and attractive designs. The design of a website dictates how well the screen space is being used to communicate information. The better the design is, the more chances are for the potential clients to find what they are looking for which is crucial when it comes to making a sale. Cumbersome designs require a visitor to make significantly more effort in order to find a piece of information as it hampers the usability of a website.
Many websites include authentic images of the spaces and plan their color schemes and font according to them. This helps the images to shine above all other elements of the website and sets the tone for a welcoming feeling.
There are a few designs that stand out more than others and here are a few that surely fit the category:
99acres:
Hailing from India, 99acres is a cleverly names real estate platform that has made quite a name for it in the past few years. The word ‘Acre’ being a measurement unit used to measure land area, fits perfectly with the name of a real estate firm. The website design being simple and graceful is as functional as it can be with a live search bar and quick links to rented properties, customer service, and an entire menu of quick links. The background image displays a beautiful landscape of properties and flats that indicate a higher standard of living with a simple color scheme.
E11even: Hotels and Residences
The homepage of Miami-based entertainment destination features full-fledged animations and videos right as you enter the website. These videos reflect lifestyle at E11even as various videos related to ‘Indulgence in luxury’ and ‘playing without limits’ make their mark in the background while you browse through the website contents. In its essence, E11even aims to display a life of unlimited possibilities and unforgettable indulgence in pleasure to position itself as a luxury brand.
Bauwerk
The unique design language accomplished by Bauwerk contains a scrollable message on the screen that is bound to fill up your entire display accompanied by videos of luxury spaces. The message reads “Visionary properties created for living & working in the future”. This kind of design sets the tone for a futuristic living standard accompanied by top-notch amenities that Bauwerk seeks to provide its clients. The website innovatively succeeds in maintaining functionality as a live search button (yellow in color) has also been provided in the top right corner that instantly searches for properties near you.
Navigation:
One of the most important things on a website is the accessibility of information. This can be aided with an easy user interface that is intuitive and features seamless navigation. Websites that are easier to navigate generate more traffic and engagement than the ones with subpar accessibility of information.
Here are few tips to keep in mind when optimizing website navigation
- Usage of quick links: These links lead to web pages containing important details about your business, property, or services. Having quick links eliminates the extra time a user has to spend looking for a piece of information which makes for a positive user experience.
- Clean and uncluttered interface: A clean design draws focus on the most valuable parts of your website like the images living spaces and important links whereas, a cluttered design adds unnecessary distractions that make it difficult for the user to find and focus on the stuff that matters. A designer should design the website keeping the point of view of a new visitor in mind as it is easy to get lost in multiple links and similar-looking web pages.
- Utilizing the entire canvas: Many websites suffer from not being able to utilize the entire screen to display the content which causes issues like crowdedness of elements and wasted space on the screen (a problem considering mobile devices have smaller displays compared to laptops). This can be mitigated if the website is optimized to use different screen sizes with varying aspect ratios. Using the full display canvas allows for easy navigation as the elements are exactly where they are supposed to be.