Content is king! Are you tired of hearing that phrase? It seems like every blogger, poster and marketer, of any merit, has weighed-in by now on the importance of content. Well, today, you’re going to hear it once more in regard to commercial real estate website design. If you’re asking “why” or thinking “not again”, the reason for doing this is simple, content is hugely important! I’m not prone to using exclamation points, in fact I don’t like to use them at all, but content really is a big deal! 

While it’s easy to dismiss content as the latest catchy idea to attach to all things marketing, it does play a very important role in contemporary commercial real estate website design. But, there’s a secret about content that not many people seem to speak about. One simple, key concept seems to get overshadowed whenever content is discussed. So, here it is; content is king only if it’s good content.

Good content takes work
There are lots of companies that make really interesting content. There’s no shortage of high quality graphics, insightful articles and informative ebooks. There are armies of writers and designers that make sure their clients have all of those things and that they are well designed and produced. But, good content is more than just cleverly written copy and slick graphics. Good content takes work because not only must it look good, it must be valued, relevant and consistent.

Content that is valued will have real usefulness and importance to your commercial real estate clients. Valued content helps the viewer solve a problem or advance her business. While you may freely distribute content (in exchange, of course, for a name and an email address), the content you produce should hold a true worth for your audience. Suppose for instance that your company is going to produce an offering memorandum and publish that piece of content on your website for download, the information contained in that memorandum should be vital in helping your target audience’s decision-making process. It should contain not just an overview of the property but, it should include drive times, demographics of the area, links to aerial views and video floor plans and other critical data.

Relevance is the long pole in the content tent. It means anticipating the needs of your prospective customer at a given moment in time. That means understanding business cycles, tracking behavior of your commercial real estate website visitors and understanding what’s most important to them and when. When you understand these things you can feature content and make recommendations that will be relevant to your clients. The content you produce should reflect the cyclical and seasonal nature of the commercial real estate business.

Consistency is all about creating an anticipation with your target audience. By making sure you’re updating content on a regular schedule and alerting them of these changes, your clients will begin to look for the next bit of information from you. There are countless contact management or CRMoptions including ACT!, REA, RE Applications, SalesForce, ClientLook or REThink that can help keep you on schedule with the appropriate follow-ups. Many of these have the option of integrating directly into your commercial real estate website design.

Finally, be true to your brand.
When designing your commercial real estate website, it is crucial to incorporate high-quality original content that is reflective of your brand. Don’t be tempted to just create content for content’s sake or for search engine appeal. While important, remember where we started content is king, only if it’s good, for you and your clients.