What every estate agency website needs (and what it can skip)

Your website is often the first impression a buyer or seller has of your agency. These are the features that matter most, and the ones you can safely leave out.

Before a buyer phones, a seller asks for a valuation or a tenant books a viewing, they usually visit your website, most often on their phone. A good agency website does three jobs well: it helps people find relevant homes, it builds trust in your team and it turns interest into enquiries.

Search that works the way people think

Visitors arrive with a few simple questions: where, buy or rent, what type, what price and how many bedrooms. Your search should start with exactly those filters, show results quickly and keep the filters in place when someone goes back to the list.

Listing pages that answer the first questions

• Large, fast-loading photos that work well on a phone
• Price, location and key features at the top of the page
• A clear description written for people, not just for search engines
• The listing agent's name and photo
• One obvious way to enquire, by form, phone or WhatsApp

Agent profiles that build trust

People choose agents as much as agencies. A short profile with a professional photo, the areas each agent covers and their current listings helps sellers and buyers feel they know who they'll be dealing with.

Every enquiry in one place

Enquiries get lost when they arrive in different inboxes. Your website should record every enquiry with the listing it relates to and where it came from, so your team can see what's new, who's following up and what still needs a reply.

A dashboard your team will actually use

If updating a price means emailing a developer, your website will fall behind. Agents should be able to add listings, change prices and statuses and update their profiles themselves, from any device, in a few minutes.

What you can skip

• Large sliders and autoplay videos that slow the first screen down
• Pop-ups that appear before a visitor has seen a single listing
• Generic stock photos that could belong to any agency
• Long pages of company history that few people read

A quick checklist

1. 1Open your website on your phone and search for a home as a buyer would.
2. 2Time how long it takes to find a listing and send an enquiry.
3. 3Check that sold and let properties are marked or removed.
4. 4Ask an agent to change a price and see how long it takes.

If any of those steps feel slow or awkward, your visitors feel it too. The good news is that each one can be fixed. Our real estate websites are built around these basics, and our guide to what a property website costs explains the pricing options.