Responsive Design for Real Estate

Today’s consumers do their research online. Whether they’re looking for a product to buy, a restaurant to eat at, or a business that provides the services they need, they know that they can find exactly what they’re looking for on the Internet.

As a real estate agent, you may think that you’re meeting these digital consumers’ needs with your website. Since most home buyers use a mobile device to research properties, it’s important to have a website that is not only accessible to desktop computers, but a wide range of devices.

In order to be sure of this, your real estate site needs responsive web design.

What is responsive design?

Responsive web design is an approach to creating a site that appears the same on every device, whether it’s a phone, desktop, or tablet. The user experience should be the same regardless of how a visitor accesses your site.

Your real estate website must respond well on any kind of device in order to stay ahead of the competition and meet your clients’ needs. If your website isn’t responsive, you’re missing out on the majority of the market.

What happens if my site isn’t responsive?

If your real estate website isn’t responsive, you could be damaging your marketing efforts. Here’s why:

Users will be turned away

Without a responsive design, potential clients may not be able to access your website from their mobile devices at all.

Design could appear messy

Even if users can access your site, it might look convoluted. For example, the images could appear too large or not appear at all, or the text could be unreadable.

Your company will appear outdated

Not utilizing a responsive web design sends a strong signal that you’re outdated, or that you aren’t putting your clients’ needs first.

Potential clients will turn to your competition

Consumers who do their research online know that they have plenty of options. If a potential client views your site from a mobile device and finds it hard to read or navigate, they will likely just return to the search results and choose another, more accessible site.

Why is real estate responsive web design particularly important?

There’s no denying the importance of responsive web design. And it’s also true that responsive sites are especially relevant to the real estate market.

Realtors have an excellent opportunity to provide a steady stream of information to potential clients, even more so than other industries. Successful real estate agents update property listings every day, and people in the market to buy homes surely check real estate websites and property listings from their mobile devices.

Still not convinced? In addition to providing a better experience for users, responsive design also has benefits for you.

Responsive designs are easier to maintain

Instead of having to maintain a desktop site and a mobile site, a responsive real estate website takes care of both. Your time is valuable, and a responsive website will leave you much more time to do what you do best — sell houses.

You will rank higher in search engines

Google rewards sites with responsive designs. This means you will rank higher in search engine results and more people will find your website if you employ responsive web design.

More people will share your content

Mobile devices and social media go together, like realtors and homeowners. If your website is optimized for mobile, users will be more likely to share your site to social media, which will attract even more traffic.

How can you successfully implement real estate responsive web design?

If you’re convinced of the power of a real estate responsive web design and ready to get started, consider the following tips for choosing the right responsive design.

Plan for mobile first

There are many services out there that create real estate websites, then scale them for smaller devices. But this is not effective for the present day, when most people are on mobile devices.

Instead of making mobile an afterthought, design your site with a variety of screen sizes in mind. Be sure your site looks the way you want it to small screens, and let the responsive site take care of the desktop version.

Consider portrait and landscape

Remember that mobile devices come in all shapes and sizes. This means that potential clients who are looking at your real estate listings, your website, or your blog will likely change the orientation of their devices. A good responsive design will look great regardless of the way the device is turned.

Highlight property detail pages

The lifeblood of your business is the homes you sell. Once you decide to create a responsive website, make sure to give those homes the attention they deserve. Remember, the statistics say that the majority of people are viewing homes on mobile devices. Property detail pages should contain addresses with high-quality images to entice potential clients to take the next step.

Tailor to the user

The best responsive real estate sites allow users to save searches and bookmark favorite properties. Allow them to leave your site and then pick up where they left off as soon as they return. Keep the users’ needs in mind when providing information as well. Your responsive site should give users easy access to blogs and other high-quality you create and share.

If you need help creating a site that is accessible to potential clients on all devices, don’t hesitate to contact us! Our talented team of designers has plenty of experience creating beautiful and functional sites, and is more than happy to assist you.

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