Writing a Home Page for a Real Estate Site

[Gerry]

We have a formula that works well. I'll tell you what it is, if you'll help us develop it and brainstorm.

We start with a main heading (h1) with a major keyword in it, if we can get away with it.

Then we start the copy with an introduction to the website. We explain how to use the site and its features, if that's helpful.

Nothing wrong with a little bit of self-promotion here, either, but one must be careful - most users are ready to skip the sort of fluff they've seen on other real estate sites.

(Many web writers will encourage you to keep your home page copy to a minimum, but in the case of the real estate website I would disagree, because a little more text seems to be easier to rank with. At the very least, it's "more hooks in the water" for targeting keywords.)

If our client is a competitive realtor based in Maryville, then his/her most important keyword is "Maryville real estate", and that's our subject for the rest of the home page. We add a secondary heading (h2) like "Beautiful Homes in Maryville", followed by a paragraph promoting Maryville homes or informing about them - their styles, price ranges, qualities, etc. Of course, you could always write about yourself here, talking about how you're the greatest real estate agent in Maryville.

[Graeme]

In terms of usability/ conversion ratios I focus my users on the task I want them to complete. I have tested a variety of landing pages & copy and I find it best to have different entry pages for each task.

The root of the site lays out each task the user can take. I find it best not to focus all your SEO efforts on the root but instead on your key tasks pages.

-Lead gen
-news letter sign up
-Join forum

[RESteve]

I think on the home page it's important to link to the number one reason why consumers start they search online - looking at home. My MLS link is in big and bright and get's the most clicks on my home page.

I'm also with adding additional copy for keyword rankings. Unfortunately, I have not tested this to see if it changes anything, but I would obviously be looking at time spent on home page and bounce rates before the test (additional copy) version.

[REW Christian]

looking at home. My MLS link is in big and bright and get's the most clicks on my home page.

Ok here's the silly thing...can you imagine the click through ratio you would get if you had a huge shiny flashing button on the site that said "no matter what you do don't click this button."

[RESteve]

Curiosity killed the cat, eh? Haha. -or- "Click to Self Destruct"

[Ryan Ward]

Ha - I want to see someone else test that button, not me. Although I would like to see the people that click it.

My opinion on this is still evolving as I am relatively new to writing online line, but, I'll have a go at it. If nothing else, it will help me get my thoughts down a little better.

so here goes:

From a real estate website perspective, what I want to try and do is talk about "city real estate" as my main KW as that is the main topic So that's my h1.

The user's number one desire is "city real estate" and/or "city homes for sale" so that is what I want them to be able to do if that's all they want; first, fast and easy. this seems to be, for at the very least, the majority of visitors.

Now, how I try to order everything else (or someone else), is dependant on a number of things. If you have good rankings you can get buyers because they just want to search. so city real estate and city homes for sale could in theory be enough.

But, I think it is important to pivot off of this and market yourself (through search engine placement) as the best reason for sellers to list homes fos sale with you. So, right under real estate and search homes for sale, I have chosen to place Sell "city real state" and utilize rankings to draw sellers. In the end, only 10 people can claim to have that internet presence to target market for sellers like you can.

Everything else on my page is sort of a blurb about the internal city real estate pages with a single text link to the internal page for that submarket - additional hooks in the water, one paragraph per internal page. It also helps as visitors are different. Some scan nav bars for what they are looking for, some scan text. Others are too lazy to read but they see the words and think you are an authority and others still actually read it so it better make sense!

So my homepage would probably be considered on the long side, but, fro me it is the table of contents and summary all on one page.

[DavidBrown]

I think genuine testimonials are great for a home page, especially if they have keywords in them. It is a double benefit to the search engines and the readers.

I have two that are on my site - one at the top that relates to relocations since most of my traffic is from out of state. I use the title with the keywords plus Home tours.......The other is also a strong buyer testimonial next to my picture. I enlarged and made bold the starting words "Thank you" to draw attention to the text block.

I "co-brand" my image with my dog. He's sharp looking so I figure that if they don't like my mug, maybe they will like his. I had a referral from an out-of-state broker whose email subject was "You got me with your dog" ! That confirmed that using him in my marketing was working. He will get a big bone when escrow closes !

I would like to think of my home page as having a main focus or goal - as mentioned above - of linking the site visitor to the MLS search engine program that we (a Prudential franchise)call Property Watch. The secondary goal of my home page is to create a good visual impression and serve as a directory - a resource of information - to more content pages. I listed all of the smaller cities around Salem and created separate pages for each one. These pages have gotten some good rankings on their their own.

I hope that this was helpful.

David Brown
www.RealEstateSalem.com

[Gerry]

I like your ideas and input, David. The dog thing is a proven winner, because animal lovers always seem to feel an affinity with other animal lovers.

The testimonials might also be a good idea. Looks like your strategy is to try to "get" your visitors as soon as they find your home page.

I'd lean towards a much less crowded organization for your home page content, but that'll be hard to rectify without updating your design.

[Morristown]

Interesting,

My site is still under construction but I will describe the main page. Title across the top, Very large MLS/IDX Link, saying see all the listed homes here, and another large CMA link, saying get your homes value here.

then under those links will be the page links, to my other links. and my contact info my picture and such.

then you can scroll down and I am thinking of putting a short bio of each of the towns I service with the town name Morristown bio
Madison bio
Chatham bio
Summit bio
Short Hills bio
being a link to the page on my site with the main info on it.

I realize that 90% of the people who come to the site will not scroll down and read the short bios that are on the main page, but my thoughts were that it was a clean way of getting those kw's on the main landing page without making it look cluttered.

What are the thoughts on that approach?

Jim

[Gerry]

Hey James,
I don't see any problem with that approach. However, quick note: You might want to change "(area) bio" to something more keyword-ey, like "(area) real estate information".