5 Things a Real Estate Website Developer Should Know
Developing a real estate website is a long but exciting process. There are so many themes and platforms to create a website, especially for real estate, but only creative ones convert.
With the rise of IDX and the need to connect to it to receive MLS data, developing a real estate website turned a new page.
In this article, we will have a look at 5 important things a developer should keep in mind before building their websites.
These tips will look at an IDX website from a technical perspective. If you need a guide on how to create an IDX website for your real estate business, please check out the following articles:
How to Build a Brokerage Website with WordPress
13 Steps to Build an IDX website with WordPress
#1 Right Stack
Programmers often stick to their favorite language for developing. It is usually very difficult to convince them otherwise.
But a real estate website with IDX features requires a specific set of programming tools.
Most popular programming languages for real estate websites are PHP, Python and Java.
It is very important to choose tools which you are comfortable with and through which your desired features can run smoothly.
#2 Security
Security is the word of the day. In the age of data protection and privacy, a real estate website is prone to so many maleficent attacks.
As part of marketing and lead generation, a real estate website receives a lot of contacts and personal information.
Local or shared, your server should be protected with the highest levels of security.
Another important feature of a modern real estate website is Integrated Data Exchange (IDX). The data feed is provided by your MLS and you will be punished by the agent’s MLS if IDX information is tampered with or shared with a third party.
#3 Schema
Schema is a term which refers to the mark up of your website data structure. It should be defined by developers and web masters.
How this markup is set will depend on functions of your website. A good schema configuration can draw quite rich snippets on Google and add to your SEO values.
A real estate website can follow three different schema markups:
- Person
If your website seeks to promote agents and brokers, this will be the best choice.
- Reviews
Reviews can build reputation and draw more leads. A schema markup based on them will focus on reviews.
- Local business
Let’s say your website is aimed at a local office. In this case, you can integrate your contact information into the markup. It will give viewers a quick access to your contact details on Google.
#4 Theme
Themes may sound like a matter of design and aesthetics. In contrast, choosing a well programmed and stable theme can save you from lots of debugging headaches.
A good theme uses solid development languages and is highly compatible.
Themes like Realtypack and Sesame are two themes designed specifically for an IDX website and are featured with high flexibility and development.
#5 Responsive Website /User Experience
Traditionally, front end developers are obsessed with responsiveness. While it’s very important for a website to be fully responsive, developers sacrifice design and experience on the way.
Nowadays, 77% of leads come from mobile and developers should be laser focused on mobile programming. User experience on mobile devices should be a priority before considering any coding strategy.
Bottom Line
Developing a converting real estate website is a long and costly challenge. As a result, developers should do their best.
Rather than focusing on responsiveness and quantity, redirect your strategies toward user experience (especially for mobile) and quality.
Make sure you choose the right programming tools which suit your proficiency and meet your requirement.
At Realtyna, we have a team of top developers with hands-on experience working with the latest platforms and frameworks.
Our products have mastered the test of time and are guaranteed by a clientele of over 180,000 downloads.
So, want to have a better design on your real estate website?
Then check out How to Improve Your Website Design
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.