In a world where human contact is certainly more limited, putting your best foot forward now, more than ever, means having a great commercial real estate website. Here’s why and how the right real estate marketing agency can help.

Make the right first impression
According to Intergrowth, 85% of people perform some type of online research before making a purchase online. Your website is most often the first contact with a potential customer. Your CRE website should be professional in appearance that demonstrates your corporate personality, such as color schemes, real estate logo, and content.

The website should have information valuable to potential and current customers, generate real estate leads, and work smoothly. Real estate website design and content should inspire trust in you and your company. Your brand is unique, and your website should be too.

Attract more visitors
Since customers are largely using internet searches to find businesses, including local businesses, having a website that is optimized to increase conversion rates and win more business is essential. According to an article by Laurie Sullivan, “‘ Near Me’ Searches Don’t Need Keywords To Find Local Goods, Services, “over 50% of ‘near me’ searches result in a physical store visit.”

Your CRE website should have a strong landing page and original content to attract visitors to stay on your website and learn more about the company and your real estate offerings.

CRE Lead generation
New leads should be generated by attraction rather than promotion. Having quality photos and real estate maps providing context about the area where a property is located can increase a potential customer’s interest in a specific property. Your website should also be optimized for mobile viewing. According to Backlink, 40 percent of people only search on a smartphone.

Leads from search engines have a 14.6 percent close rate, while outbound leads (ex. cold-calling, direct mail, etc.) have a 1.7% close rate. Your CRE website should have a contact form that is clearly visible and easy to use to encourage potential customers to contact you to turn visitors into sales.

The website should also incorporate means to capture visitor data, such as signing up for an e-mail newsletter or asking for social media follows. By capturing this type of information, your company can stay connected with potential clients who may not be ready just yet but will be in the future—staying connected increases the chance that potential clients will contact your company when they are ready.

Providing quality content in the form of articles, blog posts, and social media posts will also generate leads from your website by expanding your reach on search engines. Keeping listings up to date and highlighting the services provided can also help generate leads.

Beat competitors
By having all of the essential elements and a professional presentation, your website will attract more leads than brokers still using traditional methods of lead generation. Having support to keep the website up to date with content and updates in available technology will ensure that you can spend your valuable time following up with leads and providing world-class customer service instead of on website maintenance. The website will work for you 24/7 and is an essential foundation for any successful CRE marketing effort.