5 Essential Features of Web Design for Apartments

Before someone submits an application and signs a lease to rent an apartment, research plays a critical role in the decision-making process. Factors like building information, photos, and reviews all help determine whether a potential renter is interested in taking the next step on your space. 

And where do renters get that information? Your website.

That’s why it’s critical that you invest in web design for apartments to ensure renters have a positive experience when browsing your website. When you make it easier for prospects to find everything they need online, you’ll increase showings and convert those visitors into residents. 

Keep reading to learn about the benefits of apartment web design and discover five essential features for doing web design right!

If you find you don’t have the time to dedicate to web design, turn to the experts at WebFX! With over 28 years of experience in web design, you can feel confident we’ll help you deliver a website that fills your apartment vacancies. Contact us today to learn more!

3 benefits of web design for apartment buildings

In today’s competitive, technology-driven world, attracting residents requires more than word-of-mouth marketing or hoping someone sees a “for rent” sign and feels a spark of interest. You need an engaging and informative website to help you sell your apartments.

A high-quality website for your apartment building provides advantages such as:

• Stronger branding: A customized web design increases brand awareness for your apartments by showcasing your desired color palette, including your background, navigation labels, call-to-action (CTA) buttons, and text. 
• Increased traffic and leads from search engines: Implementing the best practices of search engine optimization (SEO) generates a higher ranking on Google so more potential renters can discover your apartment listings. Web design and SEO work hand-in-hand to help more people discover your beautifully design site.
• Increased trust: A poorly designed website reflects badly on your apartment complex. Having a professional web design helps to increase trust, which leads to more people choosing to rent your apartments.

These are just a few of the numerous benefits you’ll reap by investing in web design for apartments.

5 essential features of web design for apartment rentals

Creating a functional, beautiful, and informative website is key to earning new renters at your complex. So, how do you do web design for apartment complexes successfully? 

Here are five key elements you’ll need to create a top-notch website:

1. A cohesive design

The most important aspect of apartment web design is having a cohesive design. When renters visit your website and browse different pages to learn about your complex, they want to feel like they’re on the same website the entire time. If every page on your website is different and inconsistent, they won’t know whose website they’re on.

By creating a planned design, you ensure all your pages coordinate with each other to create a cohesive experience.

The easiest way to ensure your website is coordinated is to create brand guidelines in a style guide. Brand guidelines help you set parameters for how pages should look. You’ll define elements like your:

• Website color scheme (Stick to 3-4 colors)
• Font style
• Font size
• Image style
• Video style
• Call to action (CTA) button style
• CTA button color

When you establish your brand style guide, you’ll have a professional and well-coordinated website for your visitors.

2. High-quality visuals

Another key element of web design for apartment complexes is high-quality visuals. Before someone comes to do a tour of your apartments, they want to know what to expect. The visuals on your website, like images and videos, help provide insight into what you offer.

Excellent photography can seal the deal for someone looking to rent a space. Include high-quality photos in the web design of your site, being sure to compress the images so they don’t slow your pages’ loading speed. You’ll also want to create a gallery representing what your apartment offers and make it easy to find in the menu.

Ensure that you incorporate some of these photos:

• Interior rooms of your units
• Exterior views of your buildings
• Pond or landscaping scenery
• Pool, clubhouse, and gym amenities
• Community events your apartment hosts
• Appealing attractions located nearby 

In addition to images, you can also add videos to showcase your property. Video footage provides an engaging way to grab a site visitor’s attention. Capturing the details of your property on video offers a more realistic way to get a feel for the space than a block of text or a 2D image. 

Consider filming and editing some of the following for your apartment:

• Walk-throughs of individual units
• Tours of the recreational areas and amenities you offer
• Drone footage of buildings in ideal lighting, like a sunrise or sunset

Adding these elements will help potential renters better understand what you offer, so they can determine if your apartment complex is the best fit for them.

3. Fast-loading webpages

When you do apartment web design, you want to ensure you have fast-loading webpages. People don’t want to wait for your website to load –– 83% of users expect your website to load in three seconds or less. It’s critical that your website loads quickly, so prospects stay engaged with your content.

So, how can you improve your website’s load time?

First, you need to see your current load time. Use a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights to see your website’s current load time. This tool will provide you with insight into your website’s current load time.

PageSpeed Insights provides suggestions for improving your load times, so you can have a faster-loading website.

4. Organized navigation

Your website’s navigation is a key component of apartment web design. Your potential renters use your navigation to help them find the information they need about your complex. 

It’s critical that you have an organized and functional navigation, so your website visitors can move around your website without hassle.

Make sure you use broad headings to organize your pages in each category. You’ll also want to ensure you add your logo to the navigation bar, so your audience always sees it at the top.

By optimizing your navigation, you’ll create a frustration-free experience that keeps more renters engaged and learning about your complex.

5. Relevant content

Content is a crucial part of your apartment web design. Having an attractive website is only one piece of the puzzle –– you need to deliver relevant information to your audience too. That’s why creating content is crucial for the success of your web design.

You’ll want to focus on creating relevant copywriting for your pages. It should be informative and helpful, as well as provide all the details website visitors need.

Additionally, blog posts can help attract organic traffic when search engines recognize your content marketing as relevant. In addition, knowing how to write valuable blog posts lets you provide more value to potential renters — and keeps them on your page longer.

Whenever you create website content, make sure it’s easy to skim and understand. Using short paragraphs and bulleted lists can help you provide information fast.

WebFX knows web design for apartments

If you’d like to fill the vacant units at your apartment complex and retain residents with renewed leases, an optimized web design for your complex can help. Let the experts at WebFX create a custom site designed to increase your brand awareness and result in more signed contracts.

So far, we’ve launched over 1600 websites for our clients. Want to see what we can do for your complex? Check out our design portfolio!

If you’re ready to build a website that drives more renters to your complex, contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our web design services!

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