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In the digital age, having an online presence is no longer optional, a real estate business has warned.
PhilipWebb Real Estate’s CEO, Anthony Webb, has said agencies cannot rest on their laurels in 2020, considering it as “no longer enough to be a fantastic agency” in 2020: “First impressions matter, and websites are often the first point of contact for potential buyers and clients.”
Calling it “inconceivable” for agents to not have a website by now, he added that “if this year has taught us anything, it is that online and digital communication is more important than ever in real estate”.
The man behind the recently awarded Best Website Award for 2020 by Real Estate Institute of Victoria, Anthony Webb has conceded that while websites cannot replace face-to-face interaction, “they are transforming the way that our clients can access our properties online and communicate with our team”.
“It’s interesting to think that only two decades ago, people believed that ‘this internet thing’ wouldn’t work out,” he commented.
“Sales agents didn’t have computers on their desk, and our agency had less than 10 computers in an office of 100.”
According to Anthony Webb, the digital landscape of 2020 couldn’t be any more different.
He’s flagged PhilipWebb’s website as “a powerful sales tool which is open for business 24/7, and plays an important role in lead generation and building brand awareness”.
“What we understand about our target audience is that they are highly computer literate and about 90 per cent use the web as their primary tool when searching for property,” Mr Webb said.
It’s why he sees having a good website as “absolutely crucial” to the running of their business.
So, what makes a website ‘good’?
From the CEO’s perspective, a “good” website should deliver on the needs and demands of its target audience first and foremost.
“When designing and further improving our website, we always put ourselves in our user’s shoes,” he noted.
The reason? “What we find ineffective is something we know our users more than likely will find ineffective themselves.”
“A website should be highly responsive, easy to navigate and searchable,” Mr Webb advised, stating that visitors will leave websites for any number of reasons.
“If our site fails to meet the user’s expectations in any way, they will not hesitate to click the back button.”
PhilipWebb knows the users of its site own smartphones and tablets, which they use to access the web.
According to Mr Webb, they are also time-poor — needing to be able to save searches, documents and properties to review at a later date.
“Given all of the above, our site’s overall design addresses the need to deliver optimised performance in a mobile environment,” he said.
This means that navigation and menu structures must be simple by design, while “use of white space and uncomplicated pages together with limited text are ideal for both PC and mobile interfaces”.
The CEO also emphasised to REB that the site is highly visual, with large images, video and mapping used extensively throughout.
He’s an advocate for tools such as Google Console Search and Google Analytics “that shed key insights we use to optimise the usability of our site”.
“Understanding how visitors are navigating our site assists us in the development of future enhancements,” he explained.
“Through our website, we are able to deliver users an enhanced and personalised web-based solution for ALL their property needs, whether buyers, sellers, tenants or landlords.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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