Real Estate Websites - The Usability Factor

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by Brandon Cornett

First question: What does a difficult car wash have to do with real estate websites or real estate marketing?

Second question: Why should you care?

First answer:
A few years ago, I used to park my car at “Remote Office 1” during my lunch break from work so I could work on personal projects. Remote Office 1 was an unused parking lot with a view of a gas station and self-serve car wash.

Each day, people would drive up to the car wash. They would roll their windows down, push some numbers on the keypad, look around, scratch their heads, look around some more, punch the numbers again ... etc.

Apparently, this was the most complicated car wash on the planet. Nobody could figure out how to use it on the first try. The determined ones would go into the gas station and ask the attendant for help. Everyone else simply backed his or her car up and left.

Lacking Usability, Losing Money
I estimated the car wash had about a 50% failure rate, due to its lack of usability. Even worse, the owners of the car wash probably had no idea how much money they were losing!

That car wash is a lot like a real estate website. You see, if your website lacks usability ... if it's overly complicated ... if it challenges the reader not with engaging content but with troublesome navigation ... then your visitors will back up and drive away. Few leads will come from that!

Second answer:
So why should you care about website usability? If you own a real estate website (i.e. a personal marketing website), I'm willing to bet you spent money and time to bring it to life. Right? I would also venture a guess that your website factors into your overall marketing plan. In other words, your website is a critical asset and should be treated as such.

Website usability goes hand in hand with web marketing. Before people can respond to something on your website, they have to be able to use your website.

Tips for website usability:

Usability Tip #1 - Make a list of easy-to-use websites you've encountered. Examine them closely. What makes them easy to use? How do they organize their content and navigation? How do they format the copy on the page?

Usability Tip #2 - Have a friend or colleague visit your website — ideally, someone who has never seen it. Write down a task for them to perform (find listings, find and request the free report, find the buyer's section, etc.).

Set the loose on your website, and sit silently and watch. Ask them to “think out loud” as they try to complete their assigned tasks. You'll learn a lot about your website's usability this way. I promise!

Usability Tip #3 - Read up on the subject. If your real estate website is a critical piece of your marketing program, then it's a critical part of your business and your life. Treat it accordingly.

Don't count on a web designer to maximize the clarity, usability and effectiveness of your website. Handle it yourself. Read books and articles on web usability. Put what you learn to work on your own website.

Right about now, somebody is backing out of a car wash in frustration ... and looking for another car wash to give their money to.

Right about now, thousands of web surfers are backing out of websites in frustration ... and looking for other companies to give their business to.

Need help updating your website? We now offer website maintenance services through our Internet marketing website.

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