As a Real Estate Virtual Assistant team that has executed and completed countless website projects for our clients, one of the key elements that many seem to miss is implementing functionality into their new website design. Of course, the aesthetics and design are typically the "fun" part - Choosing how you want your website laid out, what colors, fonts, logos and branding you'd like to represent your business, what tidbits of information to include and more! However, having a website that is as functional as it is beautiful is imperative for this tool to do its job in bringing you leads, encouraging prospects to contact you and directing them to your blog, listings, social media and other online resources. Our Real Estate Virtual Assistant team is equally well-versed in the development and build of a successful website as we are in the design and aesthetics. Here are a few tips to ensure that your website is functioning properly so YOU can continue to seamlessly showcase your professionalism and expertise:
- Contact forms. Are your contact forms up-to-date and working properly? Are all fields easily visible so prospects can quickly fill them out? After they submit the form, do they get a Thank You message or an error message on their screen? Ensuring that your contact forms are built properly and sending your leads to the correct place is crucial!
- Working links. Are all of your links working and pointing to the right destinations? Adding backlinks throughout your website content to other pages on your site, to your blog and to your social media profiles will help your search engine optimization skyrocket. Taking care to ensure that there are no misspellings in the links and that they're all directing the user to the correct place will give them an easy experience while helping your SEO rankings.
- No issues with images. Are all of your images showing up, or are they broken? If you use stock photography, do you hold the rights and licenses to those pictures or did you simply do a Google search and pluck them from the results? (Sidenote: That is a HUGE no, as you run the risk of being hit with a pricy fine!) Do the images fit in with the website layout and are they sized properly? One improperly sized photo can ruin an entire page, so contact your Real Estate Virtual Assistant team for any help you may need!
- Social media is correctly linked. Many professionals use small social media icons in the header or footer of each page to easily point users to their Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and/or Twitter accounts. Make sure that these are going to the correct, up-to-date pages and that everything is linked properly so that your prospects can easily connect with you on a multitude of platforms.
As you can see, there is a lot to take into consideration when building a new website! However, with a bit of research, dedication and a professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant team by your side, you won't have to worry about becoming an expert developer or an online marketing pro. We look forward to answering any questions you may have.
Megan Quinn
Copywriting Specialist
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