Updating your website can offer significant ROI!

It can be difficult to know when to upgrade your website. Do you do it after so many years, or are there other tell-tale signs that you need a new website? We answer these questions with a specific focus on the estate agency industry below.

Read on or get in touch with WEBPRO Estate if you already know you need a new website and want to uncover your options.

When do you need to upgrade your website?

On average, a business should be upgrading its website every three to five years. It’s anticipated that over this time, your website will need updating to keep up with new technologies and trends to stay competitive in your industry.

But sometimes it’s worth deviating from this rule of thumb to get your site renewed slightly earlier or even a bit later. There are several questions you should ask yourself to determine whether your estate agency website needs to hit the website refresh button.

Do you rank well on SERPs?

A Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is the page that loads when an internet user searches for something on an internet search engine like Google. For example, if you’re a Croydon-based estate agency and someone was to search “estate agent Croydon”, the page that loads with the different results is the SERP specifically for “estate agent Croydon” and possibly some variations of that phrase.

So, the big question is – how well do you rank on SERPs relevant to your estate agency business? When someone searches for listings or help to sell a property in the areas you service, does your website come up in one of the top search results? If not, there could be different areas to improve your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). But if you have an older website, this could be one of the first things to change to generate more website traffic.

Is it integrating with the latest estate agency software?

There is a growing catalogue of website software that makes running an estate agency website efficient and effective in real-time. For example, there is new software and bespoke solutions to automatically update your website when properties come to the market or get rented and sold.

Older websites might not be able to accommodate the very best website software and plugins in the estate agency industry. You might not be aware of these bespoke solutions just by looking at your competitors’ websites. You should instead speak to a web developer to ask if there are new innovations you’re missing out on.

It could be the case that you’re missing out, and you need a new website to harness the full potential of trailblazing software.

Is your site fast and compatible across devices?

The best websites will work across devices by adjusting certain layouts and images to fit the screen size of a mobile phone, tablet or desktop computer. As increasing numbers of people only search the internet using their smartphones, the need to have a mobile-optimised site has never been so important. Google has even started indexing websites on their SERPs on whether the site will work on a mobile as effectively or not!

But it’s not just essential to have a website that accommodates different devices. When a user visits your website on any device, the site needs to be just as fast and responsive. Older websites can become slower over time, especially if some of the components of the website don’t function well with new additions, such as new plugins or software. A user will leave your site within three seconds. So, test your site yourself to see if your site is as fast as you think!

Stellar estate agency web design services

WEBPRO Estate is a website design agency working exclusively for estate agents. We understand what estate agents need and benefit from the most in a website. If it’s time to upgrade your website, don’t hesitate to reach out to a WEBPRO Estate web developer soon to discuss the details. We can provide both semi-bespoke template and fully bespoke estate agency websites.

Recap: The average website will need upgrading between every three and five years. But there are a number of questions you can ask yourself to see if your time has come for a new site. It may be that you need a site sooner, or you could wait even longer before levelling up your website. Consider how well your site ranks on relevant SERPs, whether it can accommodate the latest estate agency website technologies (you’ll probably need to ask a developer!), and check how fast it works across devices.

P.S. You might not need a completely new website. You may be able to benefit from some simpler website upgrades.