Technology is continuously evolving, and quite often the number of changes seems so great that it becomes harder and harder to keep up with the pace. We know it can be quite overwhelming sometimes, but if you’ve already invested in a property website for your business, the least you could do is keep it up-to-date.
There’s nothing quite as frustrating as navigating to a website that has an old design, non-responsive pages and outdated information on it. This is especially true for sites within the real estate industry, where easy navigation, top quality photos and relevant, up-to-date information is of paramount importance. If you’re not quite sure where to begin, check out 7 signs that it might be time to update your property website:
Confusing Navigation and Design
When people access any website, they basically want a clear and concise overview of what it’s all about. Nobody has time to decipher cryptic widgets or click through numerous menus and categories until they find what they’re looking for. Having a nice, sleek design is awesome, but if it’s user-friendly and easily navigable, then all the better.
Website in Flash, Property Presentations in PDF
Flash was once considered a huge deal and tended to look amazing when done properly. Sadly, this was approximately 15 years ago, so these days it is no longer the most popular choice when creating well-functioning websites. If your site still loads in Flash, it might be time for a change. The same goes for property presentations that contain valuable information which visitors can only access by downloading a PDF. It’s an outdated, less-than-practical solution which is in desperate need of an update. Also make sure that all the info you provide is up-to-date and still valid.
The Site Is Not Indexed in Google
How do you expect to generate sales or even receive organic traffic if your site doesn’t even load in Google? You can have the most amazing website design, or list the coolest properties in the area, but it’s all for nothing if people cannot find it. To increase your site’s visibility, you might want to implement a few key SEO strategies that include (but are not limited to) quality content, keyword distribution, meta tags, linkbuilding and high-quality photos.
Extra Slow Loading Time
At a time when pretty much everyone and their grandmother have a website, a fast loading time is of paramount importance. We understand that large property photos can slow down your site, but you can easily compress them without compromising their quality to ensure a more rapid user experience. Nobody’s going to wait around for minutes until they load. Instead, people will simply navigate away and will likely never return, so make sure you put special emphasis on this when upgrading your property website.
There’s No Social Involvement Whatsoever
Social media has become a hugely important part of our lives whether we like it or not. People share things online all the time, but if your website does not support social shares, not many will copy the link address manually, leaving your content to go unnoticed. You should also think about whether you will be stirring up online conversation with your website, and link to all relevant social media channels for easier user access.
It’s Not Mobile-Friendly
With mobile currently accounting for more than half of all global web pages served, it’s safe to say that this tendency is here to stay. The growth rate of mobile users accessing websites has gone from 0.7% to 52.2% in merely 10 years and it will only continue to grow with new and improved smartphones popping up every month or so. That’s why you should not overlook the importance of having a mobile-friendly website, because you’re severely limiting your chances of future success if you do not do so.
Call-to-Action is Perplexing or Non-existent
At this point, you need to ask yourself what kind of a message you wish to communicate to your visitors. Do you want them to contact you for a viewing? Can you offer them counseling services or can you provide them with other tips that they can use during their house-hunting journey? Or is your site just a portal connecting real estate professionals to potential clients? Whichever the case, you need to state your message clearly and provide a simple and straightforward call-to-action button which will encourage your website visitors to take the next step.
