The home page of your real estate website will be the second most viewed page, after the about page.
Most realtors are not interested in putting in the effort to create a friendly and inviting homepage – that’s a big mistake because if visitors don’t truly love your homepage, they won’t be interested in viewing other pages either.
You need to hook your visitors from the first seconds of opening the page; otherwise, they will bounce off to a competitors website.
Making your real estate homepage inviting is also the key to lead generation and more business through your website. Below is a short guide on how to make your homepage more appealing to customers and partners alike.
Writing Your Real Estate Homepage
Writing your homepage from scratch seems like a huge task.
That’s maybe because some realtors are not very familiar with writing content for their website – and that’s understandable, they already have plenty of tasks to juggle with.
But the thing is, if a realtor devotes some time and effort to spice up their home page, it will be gratifying in many different ways.
Just about anything is better than generic content or even worse, copy content. Remember to take it easy and take as much time as you need with it – slow and steady wins the race.
Here’s how to write inviting text for your real estate home page:
The Headline
Write a headline that will interest your viewers. You need to grab their attention for a few seconds to keep them reading.
You can start off with a problem they may be facing or a desire you know they have. Keep it personal and relevant to your audience.
Reassure Your Audience
Reassure your visitors that you’re there for them, talking directly to them and that their problem can be fixed or that their desire is well within reach. Always write in the first person.
The Introduction
Now that you’ve got their attention, it’s time for the introduction. Introduce yourself as someone that can fix their problem, help them attain their goal and most importantly as someone who will listen.
Just one or two sentences should be enough to get people interested in your service.
The Invitation
Tell your visitors where to go on next and what they need to do to fulfill their desire.
Tips on writing content for your real estate home page:
- Always write the way you speak
- Don’t be too formal
- Be conversational
- Read your texts out loud and make appropriate changes
If you’re getting stuck, take out a sheet of paper and try to answer the questions below:
- Who is your ideal customer? What is he or she searching for on your website?
- Who is the audience of your website?
- What’s the most exciting part of being a realtor?
- What do you say when someone asks you your profession?
- How do clients react when you manage to sell their property for more than they thought you would?
- How do clients react when they found their perfect home?
Here is just one example of the many homepage options you can choose with Wp Residence demos available.
Don’t focus on SEO, but don’t neglect it either
Some realtors may be tempted to over-optimize their homepage for SEO.
This can have a negative effect on user experience, making your page less inviting and less interesting for viewers and potential clients.
Don’t just stuff keywords on the home page, keep your text exciting and follow the tips above for a natural and persuasive real estate home page.
That being said, you should optimize the Meta Title and Meta Description of your home page.
You can use the headline-reassurance-introduction-invitation format above, with 1-2 keywords for good measure in the meta description.
You can ask for help
If you’re having a hard time writing content for your real estate home page, you ask for help from a freelancer.
If you do outsource the text part of your home page, remember that you can change or adjust the text received to fit your personality and tone – make sure it’s not generic, and it can draw attention from viewers.
What else you can add
Live property maps
Live property maps can bring life to your home page, making it more dynamic and appealing to visitors since they will be able to find exciting properties with ease.
Check here a live example from Wp Residence real estate theme
Header Image or video
A large panoramic view of a city or neighborhood looks excellent on any real estate home page.
Feel free to try different images before picking the right one.
Videos work great too, make sure the video file doesn’t slow down your page load speed.
Revolution Slider
Revolution sliders are the norm for plenty of websites, not just real estate websites.
You can add featured properties leading to specific listings or keep the banners focused on your business (the contact page and about page for example).
Contact forms & lead form
Adding a lead form next to or close to your headline will make it much easier for viewers to get in touch with you and ask you any questions they may have.
Keep the lead form short and simple. If you have an e-book, it can be a great addition to your form.
Neighborhoods
You can have a list of popular neighborhoods in your city/region. By clicking on these images, viewers are sent to a detailed neighborhood page.
Check here a live example from Wp Residence theme
Testimonials
Testimonials are the bread and butter of any real estate marketing effort. Consider adding testimonials from real people on your real estate home page – it will help you gain trust & create a connection with your readers.
Check here all the shortcode types WP Residence offers for Testimonials which you can use on the homepage.
