The needs of a real estate website go beyond that of a standard website. Where your standard website can suffice with just the ability to edit- your real estate website asks that you also update regularly with reliable information, manage visibility to key strategic locations, manage new leads and contacts, as well as managing agents and team members to respond to those new leads as fast as possible while building out essential notes for what they’re seeking. These four items are not just nice benefits, they are essential for staying competitive in a digital-first market but how many of those needs are easily integrated or managed? The first step is the most prominent, the website itself.

1. Manage Website Edits

All websites have more or less customization but not all meet the needs of a real estate website. Search engines favor websites that are active and continuously updated so ensure your website is easy and intuitive to update. You should be able to update navigation, custom content pages, and create content that targets specific long-tail keywords to help with visibility. Additionally, it is important to have ongoing content signals to these search engines such as blog posts, local area news, and anything that showcases you as a local area expert. These are things that should be possible on any website but as we begin to address those other prominent needs of real estate websites it can become complicated if not under one roof. 

2. Managing Ad Campaigns

Organic search engine optimization is invaluable for long-term growth, but building organic authority takes time. A modern real estate platform must allow you to launch and manage paid advertising campaigns when desired- and ideally make it easy to do so directly from your website otherwise you’re now juggling two platforms. Google Ads is the de facto choice but isn’t inherently real estate specific as it can be used for anything which may add undesired complexity. Having a built-in Google Ads integration provides immediate visibility, putting your site at the top of search results the moment a campaign goes live. Just as making targeted long-tail website content should be easy, so should your ad management. But now that there is traffic and leads coming to the website, how do they get managed? 

3. Manage Contacts and Leads

Many websites will have a contact form but few will have an integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to keep, track, and contact those reaching out or registering. There are many CRM options but similar to the ads campaign, if it isn't integrated you are now juggling another platform. In an integrated CRM like Turboleads for those using an iHouse website, you can manage contacts, monitor favorited listings from the website directly, and keep track of notes and when they were last contacted. Capturing traffic is only half the battle; the real magic happens in the follow-up. 

4. Managing assigned leads and agent profiles

You follow up on your own leads instantly but what happens as you grow? For real estate brokerages and team leaders, scaling requires a platform that grows with you. Your website should be able to create and manage individual agent profiles, organize agents into rosters, and assign leads. For those teams with more independent agents that want their own website this again can add a layer of complexity if not directly integrated. Those with iHouse will have the ability to create individual agent sub-websites managed under the primary office account directly from the same integrated platform. This ensures brand consistency across your entire team while giving individual agents the freedom to build their personal brands and capture their own leads. Again, if it isn’t under one roof this can become cumbersome and another (if not several) platforms to manage. 

All Under One Roof

A real estate website is more than just a website. A real estate website is your most valuable digital asset. Relying on disconnected tools for website edits, ads, contacts, and team management rather than unified integration leads to disjointed workflows and missed opportunities so make sure your website has you covered. By choosing a comprehensive platform like iHouse that centralizes all four under one roof you can streamline your operations, scale dynamically as needed, and maximize your digital footprint.