Showit isn’t a new kid on the block for most creatives, but it is for realtors!
This stand-out website platform has been gaining momentum with realtors because of its creative freedom and flexible platform.
Long gone are the days of building websites that feel like a dime a dozen. With Showit, you don’t have to resort to a cookie-cutter solution that makes your realty website look like every other agent in your area.
As the housing market continues to surge (I mean, hello commissions!), you need a website that communicates the high-end value of the service you provide. And it’s hard to do that with a website that blends in. Let’s make sure your website stands out!
Throughout this article, I’m going to walk you through a real website project with my realtor client Lindsey Drewes so you can see exactly why Showit is a top-tier choice for your own business.
So, let’s dive in!
Why realtors love Showit
Showit is a great website platform for realtors because of its flexible designs, streamlined functionalities, and customizable features. No matter if you start with a beautifully designed template or a fully custom design, you’ll be able to create a website you’re proud to show potential home buyers and sellers.
This is what happened when Lindsey Drewes and I worked together on her Santa Barbara real estate website. Years ago, we collaborated on a Showit website for her wedding and architecture photography business. After recently becoming a realtor, she wanted to continue her photography career while creating a separate site for her realty business.
Because she loves Showit, we were focused on creating solutions that allowed her to stay on the platform with her new realtor website. The final product from our collaboration is something we’re both proud of because it has the best of both worlds: the creative flexibility of Showit with the power of searchable MLS listings.
Like you, it was important for Lindsey to create a website with:
- A high-end visual aesthetic that appealed to her ideal client’s high-end tastes
- An easy way to search for listings within her own website
- A tailored list of communities she wanted to serve in the local community
I’ll break down how we accomplished each goal when launching her Showit website.
Customizable designs with a high-end look
According to Zillow, the average home price in Santa Barbara, California is around $1.3 million. When you compare this with the average home price of $295,300 in the United States, it’s easy to see why aesthetics really mattered for Lindsey. Her clientele have higher end tastes because that’s what they value and appreciate.
With an emphasis on design, we got to work on creating a website that appealed to her ideal clients. Everything from her stunning visual branding to the typography to the neutral color palette makes her website feel sophisticated yet approachable.
We were able to customize her brand colors so it fit within her brokerage’s requirements. This is a great thing to keep in mind when you begin the branding process for your own real estate business.
We also included beautifully captured video footage that highlighted the Santa Barbara coast scenery. In the planning process, we decided to swap the typical photo banner for a video banner so her website would immediately feel more engaging and eye-catching.
Based on the feedback from her audience, the video has become a major crowd pleaser! 🙂
If you decide to use video backgrounds on your own website, be sure to test your site speed before you launch. Large video files can slow down your website’s speed considerably, so make sure to compress your files and keep your video’s length around 10-15 seconds at the very most. Also, PLEASE set your video to mute so it doesn’t auto-play!
Another thing that really adds to the high-end look and feel of Lindsey’s website are the light and bright photographs she uses. She has a leg up on most agents since she’s a photographer, but many real estate agents invest in professional photography.
Not only do homes sell 32 times faster with professional imagery, but the photos will make your realtor website look more appealing to potential home buyers and sellers. If they can see an interior style that represents them within the photos, that’s even better!
Depending on where your real estate business is located, you may not be selling the same kind of luxury properties Lindsey is. However, it never hurts to have a website that looks clean, streamlined, and modern.
It’s a good rule of thumb for your website to look more aspirational than the typical home in the area. I mean, we’re all obsessed with the beautiful interiors we see on HGTV! If you can show some of the designs that appeal most to your ideal clients, it will help your website shine.
All of these goals are easy to achieve inside Showit with their drag-and-drop tool and back-end options that allow you to customize every aspect of your design. You’ll also have the ability to edit the desktop and mobile version of your website which is a unique feature of Showit.
If you’re hyper-focused on perfecting the design of your website, trust me and go with Showit!
Home search functionality with iHomefinder IDX plugin
Have you been looking for a way to auto-populate MLS listings on your website instead of sending people links to external sources? The iHomefinder IDX plugin could be your answer. It was for Lindsey as we designed her website with the plugin in mind.
When you embed this plugin into your website, you’ll be able to give interested visitors an opportunity to search for homes in the area based on a set amount of criteria. We wanted this functionality to be front and center on Lindsey’s website, so we included the home search right underneath her main video background on the homepage.
You can do something similar with your own realtor website. That way, when a visitor fills out the form fields and clicks the “Search” button, they’ll be taken to a separate page where the plugin automatically generates the details of each property that fits within the criteria. It’s so cool and convenient!
This also saves you time by allowing people to browse on their own before contacting you. If they’re interested in a property they find on your website, they’ll be more likely to reach out to you because they found it on your site. The value of this is immeasurable!
As a Showit designer, I must say that this process was actually quite simple. All I needed to do was design around the areas that needed to be populated by the plugin and convert some pages to WordPress, another website platform that integrates with Showit. If this sounds confusing, don’t worry. That’s why it helps to hire a Showit designer (like me!) who can help with all of the technical integrations of your site.
All you need to know for now is that this is possible! I really recommend using this plugin as a realtor because it allows people to stay on your site for their entire home search. This gives you the chance to increase your lead generation by making sure their attention stays on your site.
There are other things the plugin can do which I’m about to share next.
Create custom community pages
As a realtor, there may be specific neighborhoods you’re really interested in targeting. If so, you’re going to love the strategy we implemented on Lindsey’s website. Thanks to the iHomefinder IDX plugin, we were able to create target community pages for every neighborhood in Santa Barbara Lindsey loves to serve.
Since these pages are great for home buyers who are searching in particular neighborhoods, it not only increases traffic to her website but it also improves her SEO performance. Search engine optimization is incredibly important for realtors, so if you want to learn more, feel free to check out my course on Simple Showit SEO.
Back to the plugin. With these community pages, we are able to track how many people are interested in each neighborhood while giving them specific listings in their desired area. All of this is done automatically so it doesn’t add any work to Lindsey’s plate.
Does this sound like a heavenly solution? I bet it does!
Here’s how it works:
If a visitor lands on Lindsey’s site and is interested in moving to the Summerland neighborhood, they can click the corresponding link in this list on the Communities page.
Then, the visitor will be taken to a separate page (like this) with an auto-generated list of statistics about home pricing trends and listings in the area. This was quite simple for us to incorporate in the back-end of her Showit website, and it’s already paying off for her ideal clients.
We couldn’t be happier with this plugin and how it seamlessly integrates with Showit.
It’s time to build your realtor website on Showit
Ready to step up the look of your website while using plugins that capture (and keep) your audience’s attention? You’ll have this opportunity when you design your website in Showit.
Lindsey is happy to say that she loves using Showit for her realtor website just as much (if not more!) as her photography website. I’m equally happy with the final product and excited to see more realtors migrate their websites to Showit!
If you’re not sure if Showit is the right fit for you, I have some additional resources for you:
- Why I Design Client Websites on Showit
- Which Website Platform is Best For You? Quiz
- The DGD Showit Website Design Process
If you want to talk more about how a Showit website could fit into your vision, let’s schedule a free discovery call to discuss your project in more detail. I’m looking forward to it! 🙂
