What a real estate agent website needs: pages, words and photos

A real estate agent's website needs to show buyers and sellers who you are, where you work, how you help, and how to reach you in a tap. The core pages are a home page about you and your area, an about page, a page for sellers, a page for buyers, listings, reviews and contact. Your brokerage's site already handles much of the search; your own site's job is to make people want to work with you.

What people check before they call an agent

Most people have an agent's name before they visit the site: a sign in a yard, a referral from a friend, a listing they saw online. They visit to decide whether to call. In a minute or two they look for:

• Do you work in my area? Towns, neighborhoods, school districts.
• Do you work with people like me? First-time buyers, downsizers, investors, relocations, luxury, rural land.
• Are you active and experienced? Recent sales, current listings, years in the business.
• Do clients like working with you? Reviews from real people.
• What are you like? A photo, your voice, a sense of how you work.
• How do I reach you? Phone, text, email.

The first screen of your home page should cover the first and last: your name, your brokerage, your area, a photo, and a tappable phone number and a "Text me" button.

The pages a real estate agent site needs

Home

Your name and photo, your brokerage, a sentence on who you help and where ("Helping buyers and sellers in Boise, Meridian and Eagle since 2012"), and clear buttons to call, text or request a home valuation. Then a short welcome, a few current listings if your feed allows, and two or three reviews.

About

Agents often write an about page that is a résumé. Make it more personal: why you got into real estate, how long you have lived in the area, what you love about it, and how you work with clients. Add your license details, designations (such as ABR for buyer representation, SRES for seniors, or CRS), and your team if you have one. A recent, natural photo matters; clients want to recognize you at the first meeting.

Sellers

What you do to sell a home: how you price, how you prepare a home, photography and marketing, showings, negotiation and closing. Offer a home valuation request here. The companion guide on real estate agent websites that do more than listings covers the seller and buyer pages and area guides in depth.

Buyers

How you help buyers: from pre-approval to closing, how showings work, how you write offers, and what buyers can expect at each step. A short buyer request form.

Listings

Your current listings and recent sales. Most agents show listings through the IDX feed their brokerage or MLS provides, so they update on their own. If yours do not, keep only current listings on the site and mark sold ones clearly. Nothing undercuts an agent faster than a "new listing" that sold eight months ago.

Reviews

Reviews from real clients, with their permission, and links to where they appear on Google or Zillow if you collect them there. Short reviews with a detail ("She found us a house with a yard in a month when we thought it was impossible") beat long generic ones. Never write or edit reviews for clients.

Contact

Phone, text, email, office address, and a short form. More below.

Required details: brokerage, license and fair housing

Real estate advertising has rules, and your website counts as advertising. Many states require your brokerage's name to appear clearly wherever you advertise, and some require your license number or the brokerage's address. Many agents also show the Equal Housing Opportunity logo or statement. The rules differ by state, so check with your managing broker before you publish. They usually have a checklist for agent websites.

Photos that work

• A professional, recent headshot that looks like you on a normal day.
• You in the area you serve: on Main Street, at the lake, in front of a recognizable landmark.
• Professional photos of your listings, from your listing photographer.
• Photos from closings or key handovers, with clients' permission.

Avoid stock photos of houses that are not yours or neighborhoods you do not serve, and do not use other agents' listing photos without permission. Photo copyright is a common source of trouble for agents.

What to leave off

• Market predictions. "Prices will rise next year" ages fast and can mislead.
• Old listings shown as active.
• Long blog posts copied from a content service. Many agents buy the same articles. Better to write a few short pieces about your own area.
• Automatic pop-ups demanding an email address before visitors can look around.
• Language about who lives in a neighborhood. Describe homes, amenities and places. Fair housing rules prohibit language that suggests a preference for, or against, buyers by race, religion, family status or other protected traits. Your broker can help you check wording.

Making contact easy

Agents live on their phones, and so do their clients. Give people the way they prefer:

• Call: a tappable number at the top of every page.
• Text: a "Text me" link that opens their messages app. Many buyers, especially younger ones, prefer it.
• Email: a short form for buyers and a separate one for sellers. Ask for name, contact details, the area or property address, and timing. Nothing more.
• Home valuation: an address field and a promise of a personal reply, not an instant automated number.

Say how fast you reply: "I answer calls and texts the same day, usually within an hour." Make sure every form reaches your phone, and test them. Click-to-call buttons explains how to set up phone and text links.

What to do this week

• Put your name, brokerage, area, photo and a call and text button on the first screen of your home page.
• Rewrite your about page in your own voice, with how long you have lived in the area.
• Check that listings are current or marked sold.
• Ask your managing broker for their website advertising checklist.
• Test your contact forms and your text link on your own phone.

If your current site is a template that looks like every other agent's, you can see it rebuilt first and decide with the result in front of you.