Single-Property Website: What Sellers Should Know
Forbes Councils Member
Co-founder at Brevitas.com, Commercial Real Estate Marketplace and Platform Partner of the National Association of REALTORS®
Real estate listings appear all throughout the internet. MLSs throughout the country have created co-ops and the ability for brokers and agents to share information. Syndications and APIs have created a network and have standardized the look. This look may not perform best for all listings.
All this information is great for the general market and creates a quick and effective way to list homes. For some properties, there may be a better way. To maximize the performance of your home listing, take control of how you share property information. As someone who’s analyzed the performance of hundreds of thousands of real estate listings, tested and reviewed every type of property landing page and call to action, I can confidently say dedicated property sites have demonstrated the strongest conversion rates time after time.
What should a single-property website include?
With a single-property website, you can customize a landing page for your property. You can then focus this landing page on highlighting what is truly the best features of the property. With the potential buyer in mind, the landing page can target a demographic or micro-target.
It’s likely certain photos and features are the real selling point of your property. Some photos often gets lost when you allow other websites to highlight your listing. For example, most MLSs limit the number of pictures or the size, and even the verbiage of your description. A single-property website has no such restrictions.
A property site can also provide direct access to your disclosure documents. This allows buyers to review critical information they want before submitting an offer. Disclosure documents are not available on search sites, yet it’s one of the best ways to show the outstanding condition of your property.
Don’t leave it up to automated feeds and aggregators to share your listing. Create a unique URL for your property website with the address or property name in the URL. You can then drive traffic to the site with an MLS link, search engine link, email or share your unique link or on social media. It also becomes the organic hub for a whole other type of buyer.
Having a unique URL and property site also keeps your audience focused only on your property. With other websites, it’s easy to change directions and start looking at other properties.
Here are five suggestions for your agent building your property website:
- An easy-to-share, unique URL.
- High-quality photos and/or videos highlighting the best features of the property.
- Direct access to disclosure documents.
- A clear and visible call to action.
- Next steps and your contact information.
The use of single-property websites may not be common where you are. It sounds like a lot of work for an agent, but special properties deserve their own website. They may not be appropriate for all homes, but in some cities, in some circles, single-property websites are expected. You know which homes are special by which ones have their own website. They provide separation, suggest exclusivity, and often draw a few more dollars.
