Websites for Estate Agents: The 10 Commandments of Web Design Part 2

 

Continued from last week’s article Websites for Estate Agents: 10 commandments, here are the final 5 commandments of Web Design:  

6. Thou shalt build websites for everyone

In other words don’t specifically make sites for Firefox or Chrome on its own. Your website should be accessible to everyone using the site from whatever browser.

This means you will have to find a way to make your site look good and function well with outdated browser such as IE 7 as well as the latest versions of Chrome.

You would be surprised about the amount of people that use outdated browsers so be sure to cross browser check so your website works for everyone!

7. Thou shalt embrace all media platforms

This goes hand in hand with the commandment above. Your users should be able to find and use you on every type of platform in order to keep up with your audiences needs.

These days’ people aren’t just using PC’s to search the web or just using Search Engines to find your website. 

Today mobile devices and social networks are taking over. If your Estate Agency website can be seen clearly via an iPhone or found within Twitter you may lose out on a huge amount of traffic and potential clients.

8. Thou shalt not forget to incorporate SEO

Google and Bing are the UK’s two biggest sources of free, targeted traffic. If your website hasn’t been built to the requirements of the search engines your online presence is as good as dead.

When designing and building your website, be sure to include the fundamental elements that help websites rank well within Google and other search engines.

9. Thou shalt not write content for the search engines

Although your website has to be built with the search engines in mind, don’t go overboard and build your website for the search engine alone.

The content has to be naturally written so it appeals to users. Stuffing the content full of keywords and phrases will only harm your website.

10. Thou shalt not leave users in the dark

A website should be clear, easy to use and simple to find everything you are looking for. There is nothing more annoying than landing on a website and having hundreds of things flashing up at you and not one of them the thing you are looking for.

Think to yourself, why are these people coming to my site? And then incorporate their needs into your website. For every Estate Agent the main reason people are coming to your site is to search for properties. Knowing this the property search function should be the most prominent thing on the page to avoid confusion.  

 

And that’s it, when building websites you must follow certain rules. These Ten Commandments will help you create a beautiful, functional and most importantly profitable website that will be sure to entice your clients.

By Luke Stanley
SEO Consultant