7 Signs that Your Real Estate Website Needs a Redesign

The beginning of a new year is a great time to audit your online presence. Take a moment to check your marketing materials, social media and search portal profiles to make sure your contact info is correct and all links work.

It's also an opportune time to take a critical eye to your website, your most important piece of "online real estate," to be sure it's not stale or outdated--and that it's not driving customers away! Not sure how to tell if your site needs an overhaul? These seven signs are a dead giveaway that your site needs a redesign:

1. Lackluster IDX search options. Does your website's IDX search only offer limited search criteria like price, beds, baths, and square footage? It may be time to upgrade to a more modern solution. Basic search parameters won't cut it for today's consumer. They want a search with detailed local information that's lifestyle oriented--like what schools are nearby, or what restaurants and other amenities are in the neighborhood? There are plenty of IDX options available today that offer consumers the granular search options they're looking for. You can research IDX solutions in our Product Directory.

2. Your layout isn't mobile friendly. Have you heard the term responsive web design? It's a method of designing a website layout so that it detects the device that it's being viewed on and automatically scales to fit that's device's screen. This approach eliminated the old way of having to build two separate versions of a site--one for desktop and one for mobile. With responsive design, one version is all any website needs. Responsive design isn't just to appease mobile users, however. Google is now punishing websites that aren't mobile friendly. If your site is difficult to view on phone and tablets, it's time for an overhaul--before your site totally disappears into the abyss of Google search results.