The National Association of Realtors recently disclosed that 77% of all real estate searches begin online. This new statistical insight, combined with the truly awful nature of real estate websites, has driven me to put together this list of the 10 biggest real estate website mistakes. In full disclosure, I have also made a decision to focus my business on real estate websites, because, quite frankly, it’s a mess out there, and it’s time someone did something about it.

1. Flash-based websites

   I say this with love: Real estate brokers are suckers for Flash. I understand why, I really do. After all, back in 1999, when I started designing websites, I did so in Flash. It’s pretty. It moves. It fades. You can make really neat menus with it. And, if I didn’t know any better, I’d probably ask for a Flash website, too. However, I do know better, and you should now know better, too.

   The most consequential issue regarding Flash-based websites is that they are SEO (search engine optimization) unfriendly. In other words, Google doesn’t like sites that are Flash-based and, generally, doesn’t rank them highly.

   So, if you’re looking for a site that is highly searchable (as all real estate brokers should be), stay away from Flash, and stay away from designers who want to sell you a Flash site. This goes for Flash designers who also claim to be SEO experts. They aren’t.

2. iPhone incompatibility

   iPhones are to cell phones what iPods were to mp3 players. They are game changers that people don’t understand until they actually own. And, with 14 million of them sold in 2008, your website better be iPhone (and smart phone) compatible. And it really better be iPhone compatible if your business depends on people driving around and spotting your properties, because those same people are going to try to pull up your information at the moment, on their iPhone. If your site doesn’t work, your potential client is unimpressed and moves on.

   Oh, and Flash sites don’t work on iPhones…another reason to stay away.

3. Homemade websites

   Homemade websites are obvious to the trained eye, and uncomfortable to the untrained one. Either way the customer leaves feeling unimpressed with both the site and the person the site represents. Yes, homemade websites are the most affordable option at onset, but, when you factor in the number of potential clients lost because the broker doesn’t seem to care enough to make a good online impression, one could argue that homemade websites cost much, much more than a solid and professionally designed site.

   When real estate brokers wonder if they should build their own websites, I urge them to think of FSBOs. Sure, anyone can build a website, just as anyone can sell a house, but that doesn’t mean they know what they’re doing, and it almost certainly means the return they’ll get won’t be the return they deserve.

4. No social media integration
   

   Like the iPhone, social media is easy to ignore if you don’t get it. And, like homemade websites, just because you have a Facebook or Twitter account, it doesn’t mean you’re using them correctly.

   Social media is a perfect and free way for brokers to distribute their listings to the masses. What’s more, it allows brokers to portray themselves as experts in the real estate field, communicate with their clients, network, and learn from other brokers who are also using social media to its full potential.One of the best returns on investment a business can get is training in social media. It takes no more than a day (in most cases half a day), it is expected by those younger than 35, and will open the business up to an entirely new world of exposure.

5. Guestbook

   I am blown away by the number of real estate sites that still have guestbooks. Guestbooks? Are you kidding me? They didn’t work in 1998, and they don’t work now.

6. Template Services
   Like homemade websites, template sites can easily leave clients with a bad taste in their mouths. Often template sites produce holes (a “Testimonials” button that directs you to a page with no testimonials can do tremendous damage), have warped images that are pushed or pulled to fit in a pre-existing form, and are full of needless tools (see “Guestbook” above). What’s more, they are usually provided by companies that house thousands of real estate sites that are coded in exactly the same way, making each one nearly invisible to search engines and making each site “cookie cutter” broker.

   If you’re looking to standout online (and all brokers should be), template sites are not the way to go.

7. Bad/Small Photographs
   The National Association of Realtors recently published a survey that revealed photographs to be the web feature buyers find “most useful” (putting them ahead of detailed property information, btw). Translated, this means good photographs are imperative to getting a buyer away from their computer and into the their potential home.

   Obviously this means photos should either be taken by a professional, or by a broker who has some decent photography skills and a good photo editor. Most brokers seem to know this. What they don’t seem to know is how to display these photos (photos they may have even paid for) online. The greatest crimes I tend to see are photos that are too small (people like BIG photos), or photos that are warped to fit into a prefabricated space (see “template services” above).

   Brokers need to learn how to resize photos appropriately and they need to make photos the focus of their websites. Listen to the people. If photos are the thing that gets them through the door, then make sure your photos look good and are the feature of your website. It’s that easy.

8. Registration requirement

   Here is where I will give the broker some leeway, as I do understand the importance of leads in the real estate industry. However, as an internet consultant, I do have to recommend to all of my clients that they get rid of any and all registration requirements. The reason I would really suggest this for brokers is because people can easily go elsewhere to look at listings, so, you should do everything you can to keep them on your site. This means getting rid of registration requirements.

   People really don’t like registering with websites. They don’t like the time it takes to fill out a form, they don’t like providing their e-mail addresses (thank spammers for that), and they don’t like the possibility of an overeager broker contacting them when they are just casually looking online for homes. Instead, your goal should be to provide them with a comfortable place they can count on to view the latest and greatest listings without having to login or fill out a form.

   If your site is good enough, if it provides not only listings, but information, personality, and fun tools, you will be the person they turn to for representation when the time comes.

9. Cluttered and Long Front Pages

   You don’t have to put everything on your front page. In fact, it’s best if you don’t. People still aren’t crazy about scrolling, so they’ll often miss much of what’s below the viewable window. What’s more, search engines, like people, prefer links. Break it up. Your site will be better for it.

   If you have an agency “page” (something like http://www.windermere.com/allisonschubert), don’t use it as your website. Instead, write a nice bio and provide a link to your actual website.

10. SEO unfriendly

    Really, this is a culmination of all of the above, but, it’s so important, it deserves its own ranking. If your site is in Flash, if it is a template, if it is homemade, if you are not naming your photos, if you’re putting too much information on a page, if you are not properly naming your pages, or if you’re hiding content behind registration requirements, you are putting up roadblocks between your site and Google.

    If you want people to find you, you need a clear path. What’s more, you need to put a treat at the end of that path. This is why original content (think blogs) and social media integration are essential to high search engine rankings.

11. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should (Bonus)

    In the late 90s and early 00s, the web was new. Coding was new. Every html tag was fun and exciting. You wanted something to blink? Oh, we made it blink. However, blinking, believe it or not, is incredibly annoying to the typical web surfer. And, as it turns out, that’s the case with much of what we web designers/coders can do. This is why we’ve lived and designed by the mantra, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”.

    Remember, content is king. People are visiting your site because they are looking for information. That information should be presented in an attractive, easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate manner. Navigating your website should not require any form of learning curve. This is another reason we’re anti-Flash (when it comes to real estate websites) and anti- those crazy interactive maps. Even if people can figure these tools out out, once they’ve played around with them for two minutes, they’re over it, and they’re looking for content. If your content is buried, they’ll find it somewhere else. So, give web surfers what they’re looking for, not what you think is “neat”.

There you have it. I’m hoping I didn’t offend any brokers out there, as it was not my intention. My goal, as a real estate enthusiast, is to educate and to change the way brokers think about websites, because, with 77% of all home searches beginning online, brokers need to realize that their website is the place where first impressions are made.