How should real estate professionals build a website? Define business goals before choosing a platform and planning content

Real estate professionals building a website should first identify the business goals it needs to serve: showcasing listings, establishing a personal identity, or making it easier for local buyers and sellers to find them through search. Those goals should then guide content, platform selection, and maintenance requirements. The supplied material supports these planning considerations, but the platform descriptions come from a 2024 article and should not be used directly as the basis for purchasing a current plan.

Decide what the website needs to do for your business

Semrush’s 2024 article notes that a website can showcase listings and serve as a digital marketing hub. Even if a brokerage already has a website, an independent personal website can help an agent stand out. It therefore makes sense to write down the site’s primary purpose before choosing a template.

• For showcasing listings: Start by organizing the property details, photos, and videos you want to display.
• For personal branding: Consider how the site’s design and content can reflect your brand.
• For local search: Plan content relevant to your service area, rather than including only property listings.

Compare platforms based on customization needs and technical skills

The same 2024 article describes Wix as a no-code, drag-and-drop website builder that offers real estate templates and integrates hosting, domain registration, design, and built-in SEO tools. Integrated tools of this kind are worth comparing if you want to simplify the website-building process, but you still need to check which features current plans actually include.

The article also presents WordPress as an alternative for those who need more customization and control, while noting that making full use of its plugins and themes requires greater technical skills. When choosing, ask: Are ready-made templates sufficient? Will more extensive customization be needed? Who can handle ongoing operation? Do not compare platforms on appearance alone.

Include media storage, analytics, and redesign needs on your checklist

Property listings often involve high-resolution photos and videos, so evaluating a platform means considering content management, not just whether it can produce the pages you want. The 2024 article listed several Wix limitations: no visitor analytics on the free and Combo plans, storage limits on all plans, and the need to rebuild a website to change its template after launch. These are historical descriptions and may no longer apply.

Turn those limitations into questions to check before purchasing: Is there enough storage for the photos and videos you expect to use? Can you access the visitor analytics you need? How much work would a future design change require? Clarify your requirements first, then check the current terms.

Plan for search from the website-building stage

Semrush’s 2023 article divides real estate SEO into four categories: on-page, off-page, technical, and local. When building a website, you can begin by organizing page titles, URLs, and images while also planning for loading speed and mobile browsing. Off-site promotion is a separate component that a website template alone cannot address.

For businesses with a physical presence that sell properties locally, the article places particular emphasis on local search, including creating locally relevant content. SEO aims to improve search visibility so potential buyers and sellers can find a business more easily; it does not guarantee rankings, traffic, or completed transactions once the site goes live.