Websites for Estate Agents: The 10 Commandments of Web Design

With web design for estate agents, most designers aim is to be unique and creative making your website stand out from the crowd but nevertheless rules and best practices need to be followed in order not affect the usability which in turn could put the site design to disgrace.

Thinking too far outside of the box can backfire causing you more problems than a flamboyant website is worth...

Here are the 10 commandments of Estate Agency web design that you should follow when designing your new website:

1) Thou shalt not jeopardise usability

Every website has a purpose, whether it is to sell a product or deliver a service. Good web design should enrich the user experience to get across the message without confusing or hiding the message behind overpowering design and crowded content.

Don’t get carried away with the design, always favour usability and put your audience first.

2) Thou shalt not be too flashy

Too much colour is a great way to kill good web design. Colour is used to entice the user as well as establish brand recognition but going overboard can result in a negative effect. Great design is usually built with just three or four colours providing they are sufficiently contrasting.

3) Thou shalt not slow down your website

Not only crucial for SEO but also usability as no one wants to wait around for an estate agency website to load. Google picked up on this and have incorporated it into their algorithm and now quick loading websites are ranked higher.

4) Thou shalt not over complicate things

Overcrowded and cluttered websites can appear too noisy, which affects the user experience by confusing things. Things like strong background patterns, crowded content, dense imagery, numerous navigational elements and multiple font sizes and colours will just make the website look untidy.

Keep your website clean, simple and content rich to attract your audience.

5) Thou shalt not forget Social Media

We all know how popular social networks are and these days it dominates the internet. Sharing information is a great way to bring people and future customers to your website and all these people are on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Be sure to make it easy to share information from your website.

To be continued…

By Luke Stanley
SEO Consultant