As a business, your contribution and effort is a requirement for a successful digital marketing plan. If you’re considering a website rebuild, I’ve put together the top 10 questions we explore when we work with new clients.
A big thanks to Marinela Wilimor Madayag for her input on this. She managed to put my thoughts on paper, which I’ve always struggled to do!
1. Your contact information
Gathering contact information is the starting point of any web development project.
This seems obvious, but far too many times I’ve seen websites push past the staging phase, and launch with the incorrect contact information.
As a rule of thumb, we always make sure we have:
-> Business / Trading names -> Contact information; ALL of it -> Staff positions/roles -> Profile photos -> Team bios
💡 Tip: Don’t start until you’ve got this, or at least have an ETA for when it will be ready.
2. Business and Audience Understanding
To create a real estate website that resonates with your audience, we need need to fully understand your demographic.
By understanding your offering and what separates you from your competition, we can identify key selling points to highlight on the website.
Additionally, defining the target audience and their demographics, such as age, gender, location, and interests, helps us tailor the design and content to cater to their specific needs and preferences.
3. Competitor Analysis
Analysing the main competitors in the real estate market is crucial for creating a website that stands out from the crowd.
List at least 3-5 of your local competitors. The goal is always to outperform them where possible!
By evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of these competitors’ websites, we can gain valuable insights into design trends, user expectations, and industry best practices.
💡 Tip: This analysis allows us to incorporate features and functionality while avoiding pitfalls that may hinder the user experience.
-> Who are your main competitors? -> What do you like or dislike about their websites?
4. User Behaviour and Journey
Understanding how users interact with the website is one of our top priorities when designing a seamless user experience.
Envisioning the user’s journey on the website helps us identify potential pain points and optimise the flow of information.
By mapping out a typical user’s journey, we can strategically place important calls to action, guide users towards desired actions such as making a purchase or filling out a contact form, and ultimately enhance conversion rates.
Tools like Microsoft Clarity allow us to make informed decisions based on real world feedback. If we ever build you a website, and our designer says something along the lines of…
I appreciate your ideas, and I love your input on this, however….
It’s probably because they know better. Not always, but don’t be too stubborn. Best to be open to feedback on your own ideas.
Questions we ask include:
-> How do you envision users interacting with your website? -> Can you describe a typical user's journey on your website? -> Are there specific actions you want users to take on the website? (e.g., make a purchase, fill out a form, contact you)
5. Content and Features
Defining the type of content that will be featured on the website, whether it’s text, images, or videos, allows us to plan and structure the website’s information architecture accordingly.
Identifying specific features or functionalities desired, such as contact forms, e-commerce capabilities, or search functionality, ensures that the website is equipped to meet the user’s needs efficiently.
Things to consider are:
-> Images for your pages -> Content/body copy -> Are there any specific features or functionalities you want on the website? (e.g., contact forms, e-commerce, search functionality)
We have an entire list of website content requirements, which I’ll cover in another article (with the help of Marinela Wilimor Madayag, as always!)
In terms of functionality, we always recommend considering what your end goal is, what your competitors are doing well, and what isn’t working.
6. Design Preferences
Design plays a crucial role in creating an aesthetically pleasing and memorable real estate website.
Gathering existing brand guidelines or preferences helps us align the website’s visual elements with our client’s brand identity.
Understanding the brand’s associated colours and visual elements allows us to create a cohesive and recognisable online presence.
Admiring and incorporating aspects of other well-designed websites can inspire creativity and elevate the overall user experience.
Questions we ask include:
-> Do you have any existing brand guidelines or preferences for the website design? -> What colors and visual elements do you associate with your brand? -> Are there websites whose design you admire? What aspects do you like about them? -> What do you dislike about them?
7. Technical Considerations
Considering the technical aspects of the website is vital for its successful implementation.
Here at STAFFLINK, we use WordPress for 99% of our websites.
WordPress has an enormous ecosystem and (I’m sure you’ve probably heard by now) powers over 40% of websites.
Identifying a preferred platform or content management system (CMS), such as WordPress sets the stage for efficient development and future updates.
Addressing specific technical requirements or integrations needed for the website ensures seamless functionality and a smooth user experience.
Here at STAFFLINK, we’ve built WordPress specific integrations to handle lead flows, property listings, conditional form and appraisal requests, finance calculators, pay calculators, data processing, API integrations, etc.
“There’s no API we can’t integrate with…as long as you or we have API access, of course…*”
– Me, to a client one time.
💡 Tip: Consider the costs involved in API access, and the time it takes to develop the integration!
8. Measurement and Success Metrics
Defining success metrics is crucial for evaluating the website’s performance and effectiveness.
Without goals, it’s impossible to gauge whether your website or marketing plan are successful.
“I’m not sure how many leads our website generates, and I don’t know what happens to form entries when a user submits them.
– Most of our new clients.
Whether it’s increased traffic, higher conversion rates, or improved engagement metrics, establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) allows us to measure the website’s impact and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.
💡 Tip: Figure out how much traffic your website generates, how many leads per month on average you receive, and how many of those you convert to deals before you start development.
Questions to ask:
-> How will you measure the success of the website? (e.g., increased traffic, conversion rates, engagement metrics) -> Do you have any specific key performance indicators (KPIs) in mind? -> How many sessions per month does your website serve? -> How many form submissions have you received? -> How many of those converted into deals?
9. Budget and Timeline
Understanding the client’s budget range and preferred timeline is essential for designing a realistic project scope and ensuring timely delivery.
This information allows us to allocate resources efficiently, prioritise tasks, and manage expectations effectively.
🚨 Warning: If you’re not sticking to the timeline we all agree on, your project will most likely run overtime!
Be expected to be asked spicy questions like:
-> What is your budget for the website project? -> Do you have a preferred timeline for the completion of the website? -> When do you expect to hit your KPI's?
10. Expectations
Addressing any specific requirements, preferences, or unique considerations, we ensure that the website caters to the your vision and objectives.
🚨 Warning: Ask questions, all the time. If you aren’t sure about something, send an email, pick up the phone, and make sure your thoughts align with reality. Websites can be tricky.
Conclusion
A comprehensive discovery session acts as the foundation for building a successful real estate website.
Gathering information, understanding the business and audience, conducting competitor analysis, analysing user behaviour, defining content and features, considering design preferences and technical aspects, establishing measurement metrics, and managing budget and timeline all contribute to creating a website that effectively engages users and drives business success.
By paying attention to these crucial components, we can lay the foundation for a seamless user experience and a visually captivating real estate website.
But wait, there’s more! Don’t forget to talk to your real estate marketing expert to ensure your website actually appears on Google 🙂
