It’s pretty common knowledge these days that you MUST have a business website. As a real estate business owner, it’s not just enough to have a sign above your office door; you really should invest in your virtual real estate to advance your business.
The traditional yellow pages are becoming obsolete and you can only hand out so many business cards in a day. Securing your place on the internet will help you attract more customers and you can share more information with your audience, thereby becoming a market leader or expert.
But there are some web design mistakes that will make visitors frustrated with your site and chase them away instead of bringing them in. Be sure to stay involved in every aspect of your web design and stay away from these common design mistakes:
1. Making your site “pretty” rather than “user friendly.” The purpose of your website is to share information, right? So make sure your site navigation is user-friendly first, then add the spectacular design elements to it. If a client gets lost or can’t find the right information, they’ll find another site to visit.
2. Using a “welcome screen” or too much Flash. If someone types in your URL, they have already declared that they want to visit your site. If they are brought to a “welcome” screen with music and a nice photo or quote, what incentive do they have to click YET AGAIN to get to your actual site? Remember that visitors are impatient and if you can’t deliver what they want quickly, they’ll find another site that WILL deliver.
3. The cluttered homepage. Yes, website visitors tend to have short attention spans but this does NOT mean you should fill every nook and cranny of your homepage with information. Quite the opposite, in fact. Browsing visitors want to know who you are and what you do. So make that information prominent and spread out the rest of the “filler” stuff on to other pages.
For more design tips, read the whole story here.
While your designer works on creating your site, check out these website content ideas.
