I was just reading Z57's Marketing Insider post on How To Lose A Real Estate Website Visitor in 10 Easy Ways and it got me thinking about the elements of good website design, especially from a marketing point of view. This is a subject that I am constantly discussing with my clients, as there are some pretty horrible Real Estate websites out there.
I have previously written and posted articles (my own and from other marketing sites) about having an effective website, but here are some more things to think about as you work on improving your Real Estate site...
How to Drive Traffic Away From Your Website...
1. Give Web-visitors Too Many Options and Choices
Studies have concluded that the more choice that you give people, the less likely they are to make a decision. Some choice is good, but too much choice creates confusion.
A well designed website explains, directs, guides, and focuses visitor attention on the things that are of real benefit to your visitors and to your company.
Every business provides a variety of products, services, and information to their customers, but these things are not all of equal importance. Your website is a place to focus attention on your core marketing message, not a place to provide a shopping list of everything you are able to do and every product or service you may be able to offer.
2. Give Web Visitors Too Much Information & Text To Process
Good website design is about more than technology and aesthetics; it's about deciding what information needs to be presented and what information needs to be left out. If you are truly an expert in your field, you should know what information is important to your customers in order for them to make a decision. Too much information or text that is too wordy, is like too much choice--it confuses rather than clarifies. Focus on delivering meaningful content in an easy-to-scan format, or risk having your visitors hit the exit button.
3. Give Web Visitors Too Much Non-relevant Content
The only thing worse than overloading your website with more information than visitors can absorb is confusing them with useless and non-relevant content.
Non-relevant content is content that doesn't advance your major purpose: to deliver your marketing message in an informative, engaging, entertaining, and memorable manner. If it isn't relevant, dump it.
4. Give Web Visitors Too Many Irritating Distractions:
You cannot sell someone a product or service they do not want. A real prospect is one that needs the same information you want to provide; the art of sales is directing potential clients to relevant information, and presenting it in a way that visitors see your product or service as fulfilling their needs.
5. Give Web Visitors Too Many Red Flags
Website visitors are constantly looking for red flags that tell them that the site they are visiting should be skipped as soon as possible.
If you want to make sure visitors WON'T deal with you, make sure you don't provide any contact information. Not providing contact names, phone numbers, or a mailing address is a sure sign that you won't look after any problems that arise from a transaction.
Your website must be designed to build trust and foster a relationship, not scare people away.
6. Give Web Visitors Incomprehensible Page Layouts & Make Your Pages Stretch Into Infinity
Good design, proper page layout, easy and consistent navigation, and well organized information, helps visitors find what they're looking for and provides a pleasant, efficient and rewarding experience for the website visitor.
Website designs that rely on technology and gimmicks, rather than focused content, coherent organization, and articulate presentation, are designs designed to chase traffic away.
7. Drop the third-party ads.
On the surface, third-party advertisements and banners may seem like a good way to make some extra cash from your traffic, but these ads become so distracting, visitors either get fed-up or click on one of the links that takes them away from your site. Whatever few bucks you earn from these ads, you are loosing by chasing real customers away.
8. Give Web Visitors Too Many Reason To Click-out
If you really are determined to fail, make sure you provide website visitors with as many reasons as possible to leave your site: irrelevant links to your favorite sites, links to your broker because you're too cheap to put IDX on your own site, or any combination of the reasons mentioned above, all contribute to driving traffic away from your site.
Based on Jerry Bader's article 11 Ways To Drive Traffic Away From Your Website
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