If you want to grow your property management business and get property owner leads, you’ll need to invest in a fancy-looking premium website with all the bells and whistles…right?
Not so fast.
Did you know an expensive property management website could actually be hurting your business, rather than helping it?
A property management website full of bells and whistles:
- Usually costs between $5,000 and $20,000. Especially when you’re first starting out, this will quickly drain your pockets.
- Doesn’t leave you with much money for actual marketing. An unfortunate result of shelling out too much money on your website is having none left over to invest in driving high-quality leads to your site and converting them.
- Just doesn’t impress people anymore. 10 years ago, a website was very important and still pretty novel. Now, we’ve all seen millions of websites, logos, and fancy graphics. These days, your prospective clients are only wondering one thing: “Can this person or company solve the problem I have?” Answering that all-important question is about your messaging, not a fancy website.
- Loads far too slowly. Our attention spans are shorter than ever, and very few people have the patience to wait around while your website’s many photos load. Even worse: Google and other search engines will penalize your website for loading too slowly, making you difficult to find at all.
So, what should your property management website include?
After 10+ years in the marketing game, I’ve drilled it down to these website must-haves.
Your website MUST:
Have a steady stream of traffic coming to your site.
Okay, so this one might not be about your actual website — but I’m including it here because any website is pointless without the right people visiting regularly.
An effective strategy for driving traffic is essential for your website’s success.
Include a landing page with powerful messaging.
It must instantly let your website visitors know what’s in it for them.
How are you going to solve the problem they have?
They’ll need to know the answer within seconds of landing on your website.
Make the most of mobile.
You really should be designing your property management website with mobile in mind. After all, most visits to your website will be people visiting from their phones or other mobile devices.
This renders all those fancy graphics on your website irrelevant. They could even be negatively affecting the mobile user’s experience — it’s not worth the risk.
The Property Management Website Essentials in Action: A Case Study
When Mike, owner of California’s Blue Line Property Management, first saw the simple one-page website I’d created for his big launch, he was skeptical.
“Don’t we need more?” he asked me. “Don’t we need a full-blown website with nice, fancy logos, colors, pictures, and things like that?”
“Nope, we don’t,” I assured him. “We just need this landing page here. Believe me, it’s going to work. It’s designed to convert. Right?”
He agreed, and we launched the campaign on a Saturday. Exactly two hours and five minutes later, he had his first lead — a property owner who wanted to set up a time to meet with him right away.
Now more than ever, a simple, clear, and concise website with powerful messaging and a steady stream of traffic will serve your business far better than an expensive website that doesn’t convert. When you’re planning your next launch, I’d suggest going back to the basics.
And I’m here to help you every step of the way. Here’s how we can work together.
