With technology at the point where it is today, there are many optional features agents can include on their website, many of which are pushed by web designers, and their advice taken as we all automatically assume they know what they're doing in terms of what works for online marketing. Unfortunately, often this advice is that of a designer who does not understand the negative impact certain features may have on a potential client's experience on your website. Users have a very short fuse when browsing the internet, and if they are annoyed by your website or cannot find the information they want, they will head to another, as it is only one click away. This post will cover a few of these things you should avoid when creating a website, and why it is wise to do so.
Flash Introductions
We've all seen them, undoubtedly. The fancy, smooth animation of a flash introduction to a website, with high quality features and effects one would expect to see in the introduction to a new TV show. Unfortunately, the impact this has on viewers is extremely negative. The"skip intro" button is the most widely clicked on the internet. Users are looking for information, not a fancy video showing a few houses. If users are annoyed, they will click the back button immediately and look elsewhere, which is the opposite reaction you want.
Furthermore, many people have computers which are not entirely up to date, and some people even still use dial-up. For these people, loading a flash introduction can slow down their computer to the point where they cannot actually visit your website. As such, they are less likely to contact you. A flash introduction slows down many computers and annoys most people who can access it. I would not recommend a flash introduction for around 99% of sites, no matter how much visual appeal you may feel it has.
Music, Animated Cursors and most JavaScript
Your website is supposed to be a professional, accurate representation of your work. Having music, while normally being an unpleasant surprise to users, is also very unprofessional. Given as most music on websites is around 30 seconds long before it begins to repeat itself, consider yourself as the browser: if you wanted to view an agent's website while prospecting for a house, how often would you listen to that same tune before it annoyed you to the point that you left for a different website? Four times? That would give you approximately two minutes of browsing time, along with the mental note to avoid that website in the future.
The same reasoning applies to other JavaScript elements which are, luckily, decreasing in popularity but still do exist. Cursors with rainbow coloured balls that follow the mouse around are annoying, out of date, and quite frankly give your viewers that your website, which should be modern and professional, was designed in 2001. I would personally recommend against any sort of music or JavaScript that may detract from the viewer's desire for accurate information in a short period of time.
A Difficult to Find Listings Page
When viewing an agent's website, people are most often looking for listings first. As such, making the listings link visible as soon as possible, making it easy to find is one of the most often overlooked and yet simple things an agent can do to make their website more user-friendly.
A Longer than Life Main Page
I do believe I need a disclaimer on this page, as this is one very, very disputed opinion which I am quite certain many people will disagree with. However, it is my opinion, as well as my reasoning, and feel free to do as you please.
I personally recommend that an agent's main page not be so long that it requires readers to scroll down. Research has shown that users read 25% more slowly on a computer screen than in print, and hate needing to scroll down in order to read an entire page. For this reason, I recommend keeping the homepage down to a maximum of one page, so that users do not need to scroll down for extra information. Other pages can be longer than one page, as when they click your links, viewers are looking for as much relevant info as they can find. However, just to keep things simple, I would leave the home page as being one page maximum length.
The argument against this is that with more words, some people believe that there is a better chance at getting a higher Google ranking. I choose not to go by this theory for two reasons:
a) You should always build your website primarily for people, not for Google. You can get 1 000 000 Google hits and not a single client if they do not like your website.
and
b) As long as there is a good proportion of keywords (2-5%) and enough links to your site, a few paragraphs of text will not make a significant enough difference to warrant the extra length.
While in the end the decision is all yours, I do encourage you to take heed of these words. Ask your friends, family, coworkers, etc, what they think and then make your decision. The main thing to keep in mind is that clients want a quick and easy way to find the information they want online. Please feel free to leave any comments you may have.
Thanks,
Hannah
Hannah McIntyre is the founder of CanadianaProperty.ca, a modernized and feature-rich real estate listing website designed to give prospective home owners a comprehensive and easy to use home searching tool.
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