In today’s world, a commercial real estate website is no longer a luxury but a crucial marketing tool. A website gives clients a way to view properties or review a prospectus 24/7. Unlike the “old days” when the best advertising was a picture or a listing in the newspaper classifieds, a website is your ever present representation to your target audiences.

Some website providers tout “build your own website” and offer plans that include a monthly fee, but little more. These plans may sound good and inexpensive, but they can actually cost you. Building a great website is about more than a domain name and a templated web design. You need a comprehensive search engine optimization (SEO) strategy so that customers can find you online. To stand out from your competitors, your website must have high-quality graphics, photographs and content. Statistics show that you have just ten seconds to capture the attention of your website visitors or they will leave and go elsewhere. Security is another important factor. You don’t want your website hijacked by a cyberhacker. Thinking about each of these elements requires a firm that understands what drives visitors to your site and then can keep them there. Honestly, the best commercial real estate websites on the internet are probably not of the “do it yourself” variety.

You don’t want to lose potential business by having a sub-par website. Outsourcing your commercial real estate website to an experienced marketing firm will benefit your business and save you time by incorporating some essential elements.

Search Engine Optimization

Let’s say you are great with graphics and you manage to design a great looking website on your own. How are you going to make sure anyone sees it? Search engine optimization techniques drive visitors to your commercial real estate website. Your website should have ways to measure the number of visitors, the length of time they stay on your site (known as the bounce rate) and deep links.

Content

Content is not just the written words on your site. It includes pictures, video, and info graphics. You can also have links to whitepapers and eBooks. All of these elements should be professional and should match your other commercial real estate marketing materials.

A blog will also help drive visitors to your website. Business people today are more sophisticated than ever. A blog will establish you as a thought leader while providing vital information to potential clients about the commercial real estate industry. If you have no time or feel that you don’t have the experience to write a blog, this can be handled by your commercial real estate marketing firm.

Mobile conversion

Think about the last time you searched for information online. Were you in front of a computer or did you use your phone? About half of all organic searches are done on a mobile phone now, according to 2018 third quarter statistics. It is crucial that your website looks as great on a phone as it does on a computer. For example, a potential client drives by a property and is interested. He or she may use their mobile phone not to call you, but to search online for more details about the property. Professional web designers create sites that look great and are easy to navigate on any device using responsive web design, which provides a great user experience and is search engine friendly.

Maintaining your website

Things change, especially for commercial real estate firms. Properties get leased. Investment opportunities changes and so on. You don’t want 2018 information on your website in 2020.

Outsourcing to a commercial real estate marketing firm will assure you that all of these changes are updated on your website regularly. They’ll work with you to schedule regular updates and annual audits to ensure that you’re putting your best foot forward.

Finally, you may have a website now, but you are not sure if it is performing as well as it should. It may take too long to load, or the design may look outdated. Contact a commercial real estate marketing firm about upgrading or redesigning your site so that you are getting the results (and revenue) you want.