Too often overlooked when we think of property listings is the actual text content. Here we will have a look at what works and how you can improve the quality of your listings!
The important thing to remember is that text content should be used to compliment other information such as photography, bedrooms, bathrooms, land and building sizes and property features.
The title should capture the property in as few a words as possible.
Title Example 1: Quality appointments throughout!
What this means: One would assume that this property has quality fixtures and fittings.
Title Example 2: Impressive Harbour Views:
One would assume that this property has water views and that you do not have to stand on the roof of the property to see them.
Titles capture the overall feel of a property and should highlight its single best asset. Don’t be too long winded.
Description: Have 2 bedrooms? Describe them, your description should talk about location, bedrooms, bathrooms, garaging, views, land topography and other features …………… if possible keep it to less than 4 paragraphs.
Remember: People do not read on the computer screen, they scan information from left to right.
Other Information:
Property information that should be collected for every single property listing! (Residential)
Property Type
Bedrooms
Bathrooms
Carports
Garages
Off Street Parking
Land Size
Building Size
Some agents think that by providing less information will make a consumer make a phone call or email for more information, giving them a chance to talk them into buying the property or something similar, this is the wrong attitude and frustrating for users of websites. We live in an age where consumers demand information, the good old days are gone. It is also important to understand that this person may one day be a potential vendor.
Photography
Photography should compliment the text information and is one of the major things that set a quality agent apart from the rest.
My suggestion is to take at least 6 photos of each room or feature of a property and then choose the best one for each room/feature.
Each image should be 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels high. You should not need more than 12 images for an average size property.
Get Picasa to manage your images on your computer.
Summing Up:
If I were an Agent, I would be highlighting the strengths of what I do. Show your vendors that you leave nothing to chance and that you care about how you present vendor property information online! If you want a great example go to www.sarahlorden.com.au in Sydney, the property information is consistent across all listings and the photography is limited but extremely professional.
3 Comments
Simon Baker - CEO realestate.com.au
Peter
I would like to relay a true story of how photos and headlines can make a large difference.
A customer of http://www.realestate.com.au in Queensland approached our State Manager, Mike Andrew, and said that “the site doesnt work”. Mike asked to look at the property advertisement online. He then spent some time questioning the agent as to who the property was targeted at and asked to look at some of the other photos that agent had.
Through the conversation, Mike determined that the property was more suited to a female buyer. He changed the headline to make it more female friendly and he changed the major photo to focus on the kitchen and its views of the backyard and swimming pool.
The result was that the agent went from almost no interest to significant turnup at the next open for inspection and the house was sold 2 weeks later.
The bottom line is that you should think about who the target buyer is, and then make sure that the headlines and photos are targeted to them. Also it is important to experiment. The great thing about online is that you can change the ad 1000 times at no extra cost.
peter
I think this is an excellent suggestion and I am pleased that Simon takes the time to contribute to this forum – not only correcting some errors but also to helping agents get the most out of their listings.
carports victoria
Less is more. Labels or titles should sound interesting in order to capture the attention of your target market. The choice of words and photos are those which your target market can relate to. Photos and words are media of communication..and the very goal of communication to get the message..any message..conveyed to its target audience.
I like looking at photos than reading a very long description. I think a lot of people prefer this. Brief labels for each photo.