7 Critical Questions To Ask Before Hiring a Real Estate Website Designer

In today’s digital age, having a top-quality website is essential for real estate agents and Realtors to be successful. With the rise of Zillow, competition in the real estate industry has become increasingly fierce. To stand out from the crowd and build their brand, agents must invest in marketing and create an online presence that will attract every potential client.

For most real estate agents and realtors, this could mean spending money on creating a professional website or upgrading their existing one. A great website can help these professionals connect with customers and boost their business opportunities – so it’s worth investing time and effort into getting it right. That’s why we compiled a list of seven questions to ask a web designer. Keep reading to know all the answers.

The Importance of Website Design & Why it Matters for Your Real Estate Business

The importance of website design for real estate businesses cannot be overstated. A poorly-designed website is unlikely to draw in potential customers. As the first point of contact with potential clients, it’s essential that your website design looks attractive and provides plenty of relevant information about you and the services you offer.

Here are some reasons why website design matters for your real estate business.

Attracting New Clients

Investing in an effective website design showcasing your industry expertise and skills is a great way to attract new clients. With an engaging, professional design, potential customers will be drawn to your portfolio of services and be convinced to reach out for assistance.

Additionally, good website design can help build trust and provide valuable information about the real estate market, rates, location insights, expert tips, and current trends updates. Finally, a well-designed website can be your calling card as it serves as a 24/7 online representative of your business.

Generating Leads

With a well-thought-out, easy-to-use website that details your properties on sale, buyers no longer have to leave their homes to look through endless listings. Instead, they can use categories and lists specifically tailored to their interests, view pictures of properties, and contact you directly with inquiries about those properties.

This encourages customers to keep returning for more information, creating an ongoing stream of leads for your business.

Increasing Sales

Investing in a stunning, professional website design for your real estate business can make all the difference in increasing sales. Not only will it give customers an immediate positive impression of your business and brand, but a great website design provides easy navigation, making it easy for visitors to view your listings and services.

With the right design, you’ll be able to reach more prospective clients and create a seamless customer experience that allows users to access your offers quickly and easily. With the wealth of creative website design options available, you can find something perfect for your real estate business – boosting sales and customer satisfaction.

Improving Search Rankings

Ensuring your website is up-to-date with the latest Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies is vital in bringing potential customers to your real estate business. Website design can play a significant role in search rankings; loading speed, meta tags, and title/header elements are critical in optimizing your website for a higher ranking.

Even something as small as a well-written URL address can make all the difference in how you rank on different search engines and if your website is search engine friendly. Quality content matters, too: creating a blog with timely, relevant posts on topics related to the real estate industry will help boost SEO efforts, drive traffic to your page, and increase the visibility of your business.

Creating Brand Awareness

An attractive website builds a solid foundation for your company’s brand awareness. The colors, fonts, and imagery you choose should be consistent with the voice of your real estate business and express the message you wish to portray.

Everything from the content creation and design to the layout should create a cohesive experience for site visitors. An effective website design also helps customers recognize what makes your business unique, influencing how they perceive your brand and leading to higher transaction success.

Building Trust

A well-designed website creates a professional, dependable image that allows potential customers to trust your services and know they are being taken care of. Therefore, everything from content to visuals (image optimization) should be carefully crafted to convey a message of assurance.

By putting effort into the generally overlooked facets of web development, like effective navigation, easy access to contact information, and an aesthetically pleasing color palette, you can create a website experience that radiates reliability.

Establishing Authority

A well-designed website is vital to establishing authority in the real estate business. The professional, interactive design speaks volumes and conveys trustworthiness. An attractive, professional layout makes a great impression on customers, encouraging them to take another look at your services.

Additionally, if you include exciting content related to real estate – such as market insights or tips on home renovations – it will show potential customers that you’re knowledgeable and up-to-date on industry trends.

7 Critical Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Real Estate Website Designer

Here are seven questions to ask a web designer when looking to hire one for your real estate business.

What Do You Offer?

When hiring a real estate website designer or a design team, it’s essential to make sure you know exactly what they offer. An experienced designer (no matter if it’s a freelance designer or an employee at a design company or design firm) should be able to provide comprehensive services that range from creating logos, graphics, and icons, to coding HTML for the structure of the website and developing a WordPress platform to manage your content.

Before embarking on the design project, ask your potential web designer what designs they specialize in, such as modern or minimalist, full page, or mobile-responsive design sites, and if they have any experience designing websites within the real estate sector. Additionally, inquire about their testing methods to ensure all features work correctly before launch.

Be sure to ask them any additional design questions you may have, like the maintenance services they offer after the site has been launched so that they can keep your website up to date with the latest technologies and trends.

Finally, make sure you check out their portfolio of design services and previous work to get an idea of the kind of custom web design projects they have completed in the past. You can also ask if they have a design package as part of their services.

How Much Does Your Service Cost and What Does it Include?

When hiring a potential designer for your real estate website, it’s essential to know the preliminary cost and what services are included in the quotation. Ask for a breakdown of additional costs so that you get an understanding of what is included and why.

A good designer should provide a clear scope of work, detailing how long the project will take, what platforms and tools they are using, and the number of additional design revisions included in the cost.

Don’t sign contracts until you know precisely what you’re getting for your money. Ensure that the designer can provide evidence of their experience, such as testimonials from previous clients.

Some additional questions you could ask include the following:

  • What does the quote cover?
  • Do they provide logo designs?
  • Will they create custom fonts?
  • Are custom images and graphics included?
  • Is custom photography included?
  • Does domain registration cost extra?
  • What happens if you decide to change your mind after the project starts?
  • Can you cancel at any point during the entire process?

Finally, ask whether the quote includes building community pages or if that would be included in a monthly maintenance fee.

What Is Your Design Process?

When hiring a real estate website designer, it is vital to ask them about their design process to ensure that they understand the project objectives, has a comprehensive understanding of your target audience and market, adhere to best practices in compelling web design, and can provide continual feedback along the way.

A good process should start by having the designer research your target demographic, create wireframes for the site’s content structure & flow, mock-up visuals for each page, develop a cohesive user interface & experience, and test the overall functionality of the website.

Finally, it is essential to have a timeline in place so that all parties involved understand when specific tasks need to be accomplished and when milestones will be met.

Can I See Your Portfolio Or Examples of Your Work?

Asking to see a professional web designer’s portfolio or examples of their work is an essential question to ask before hiring them. Their portfolio should be able to give you an insight into their style, ability, and experience. Make sure that the portfolio covers the type of design work that you are looking for and contains sites that have been built recently.

Also, check out how they handled different projects and brought each site’s vision to life. Look for evidence of consistency across the portfolio, as well as variety in terms of design styles and website types. Finally, pay attention to the overall look and feel of the websites and any special features they might have included.

A good portfolio should show that a designer can understand both brand identity and user experience when creating websites. This needs to include examples of them building real estate websites with a modern IDX, NOT outdated IDXs that use subdomains or iframes.

What assets do you need from me to start building the website?

Before hiring a real estate website designer, it is important to understand the assets needed to start building the website. You must provide them with all the necessary materials, such as images, logos, fonts, etc. It is also important for you to know what type of content and features are required for the site.

This could include creating custom navigation menus, creating content pages, incorporating various search functions, registration forms, and any other special features you may want to be included on the site.

It will also be helpful to provide examples or client references of similar sites you would like your website to emulate. Finally, a detailed brief outlining what you would like your website to achieve will ensure that your website design team has everything they need to meet your expectations.

Will you make my site custom or use a “customized” theme?

When considering hiring a real estate website designer to create or optimize your website, asking whether they will make a fully custom website or use a “customized” theme is essential.

A custom website means that all aspects of the design and layout have been uniquely created for you, while a “customized” theme utilizes pre-made templates that have been adjusted to fit your individual needs.

The benefit of having a full custom website is that it ensures your site looks unique and stands out from the competition while still being able to reflect the essence of your brand. It also eliminates potential compatibility issues if you opt for a pre-made template. However, this customization often comes with a hefty price tag and hefty maintenance costs.

On the other hand, opting for a pre-built theme still has its advantages. For starters, it is much more cost-effective than building something from scratch. Furthermore, many themes come ready with features installed and integrated into the code, such as SEO optimization tools and contact forms.

Additionally, experienced developers can make these templates look unique by adjusting color schemes and design elements. With this in mind, it is clear why many top-performing real estate agents choose this option over full customization.

How long will it take to build my real estate website?

When looking to hire a web designer for a real estate website, it is essential to understand how long the project will take. Depending on the scope and complexity of the website, as well as the availability of both the client and design partner to hit deadlines, there can be considerable variability in timelines.

As such, it is best to ask for an estimate of how long a type of project like yours typically takes and for their suggested timeline. Additionally, ask about potential factors that could affect this timeline or areas where issues may arise during development.

It is also essential to ask what kind of features and bells and whistles will be included in the website; this can help you better gauge how much work will go into creating your site and whether or not it is in line with your expectations.

This understanding can help ensure that your chosen designer has enough time to deliver a product that meets your needs. Finally, ask about their approach to updates and maintenance once the project has been completed.

FAQs Questions To Ask A Web Designer

Here are some additional questions you should ask when hiring a web designer for your real estate website.

What should I ask a web designer?

This question depends greatly on your specific needs and the project’s scope. Generally, asking about their expertise in building real estate websites, portfolio of past work, the timeline for the project, and any assets you need to provide is essential.

What are the five elements of a good website design?

The five essential elements of a good website design include usability, aesthetics, content, navigation, and branding. A website should be easy to navigate and pleasing to look at while providing valuable and relevant content that reflects your brand. In order to achieve your content goals your website may be equipped with a content management system that makes the content writing process smooth.

What do I need to know before hiring a web designer?

Before hiring a web designer for your real estate website, you should know what platform or technology you need to use, the scope of the project, any assets you need to provide, and the timeline for completion. Additionally, it is essential to ask the designer questions about their experience building real estate websites, as well as for a portfolio of past work.

How do you interview a web developer?

When interviewing a web developer, it is essential to ask questions about their experience and qualifications and the specific project you are hiring them for. Be sure to ask questions about the development process, timeline, and any assets you need to provide.

How do you evaluate a website design?

When evaluating a website design, it is essential to consider how well it meets its purpose and how user-friendly it is. Additionally, you should assess the website’s aesthetics, content, navigation, and branding to determine if it is up to your standards. You should also consider how well the design works across different platforms and devices.

Where can I find a website developer or SEO to help me with my website?

You can search online or look for referrals from other local real estate agents. Additionally, you can attend networking events or join professional organizations such as the National Association of Realtors to find web developers or SEOs in your area.

You can also check out our certified agencies or service providers. They are also an excellent resource for finding developers and SEOs specializing in real estate websites.

Where can I find examples of great real estate websites?

There are many great examples of real estate websites just a few clicks away. You can search for popular real estate websites and browse the different design elements they use. Additionally, make sure to pass by our examples of well-designed and successful real estate websites.

Conclusion

As a real estate agent, it’s important to remember that a website is no longer just a place to post your contact information and hope that someone stumbles across it. In order for your website to be an effective marketing tool, you need to put in some effort and make it the hub of your real estate brand. But for that to happen you need a competent web designer. We hope that this list of questions to ask a web designer will help you in that endeavor.

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Author Details
Entrepreneurial marketing leader that’s built and run organizations from start-up to over $500M annual revenue. He brings a unique combination of storytelling and innovation to the team, having led marketing for many brands. Kurt’s a regular conference speaker and workshop leader around modern marketing tactics that actually drive sales. In addition, he has been asked to coach and advise thousands of leaders, from startup founders to the President of the United States.

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