My Simple Website Formula for Real Estate Agents

Most real estate websites aren’t built for clients—they’re built for other agents, brokers, or the agent’s own ego.

In this episode, I’m sharing how I actually think about real estate websites after nearly 30 years of designing them, and why simpler, more intentional sites convert better than flashy, overbuilt ones. Your website doesn’t need to be a funnel, a content library, or a personal brand scrapbook. It needs to pass the vibe check and make it easy for the right people to contact you.

We’ll talk about what your website is really for, the biggest mistakes I see agents make, and a minimal framework you can use whether you’re starting from scratch or reworking what you already have.

What You’ll Learn

• What a real estate website is actually supposed to do (and what it’s not)
• Why most agents build sites for other agents instead of clients
• How fewer pages can increase trust and conversion
• What people are really asking when they land on your website
• Why clarity beats clever copy every time
• The “vibe check” role your website plays in referral-based business
• How to design a site that makes contacting you an easy yes
• The Minimal Website Framework I Recommend

Your website doesn’t need to explain everything—it just needs to make starting a conversation feel natural.

Minimal sites work because they create less friction, fewer decisions, and more trust.

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Chapters

• 1:08 Welcome And Why Reviews Matter
• 1:45 The Case For Minimalist Real Estate Sites
• 4:30 What A Website Is Really For
• 6:20 Reduce Pages To Reduce Drop-Off
• 8:17 The Five-Page Framework Overview
• 9:20 Nail The Hero Section
• 11:30 Build Trust With A Human About Page
• 13:08 Make Scheduling The Obvious Next Step
• 14:37 Testimonials That Reassure
• 16:01 Show Your Track Record Simply

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:34

Hello, real estate friends. Welcome to the podcast. I am Lindsay Dreyer, your host, mom of three, Berkridge owner, and real estate coach to top producing agents across the country. If this is your first time, hi, welcome. I hope you binge all the episodes. If you are a return listener, welcome back. You are the best. If you haven't left a review for the show, I would so appreciate it, whether it's on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps me get this message out to more real estate agents who really need it. I'm telling you, there's a lot of bad advice out there, and I'm hoping that we can get some good advice out there to them. Today, this topic has been near and dear to my heart since my teenage years. We are going to talk about website design and websites. So I want to be up front because context matters, but I have been designing websites since I was 14, which is insane. That is almost 30 years. Is that nuts? Like I remember being in my basement as a teenager, coding HTML, like creating images in Adobe Photoshop. Like, how crazy is that? So I know how to build complex sites. I know how to program. I know how to add integrations, like I know all that stuff. And because I can do all of that, I have actually learned something really important. What converts isn't necessarily more or fancy. It's actually restraint and intentionality. So what I found is that most real estate websites aren't actually built for clients. They're built for other agents, or they're built for brokers, or they're built honestly for the agent themselves. And they become almost like your brand personal brand scrapbook. And I made a very intentional decision not to do that. So what is a website actually for? And here is kind of how I think about things. And I hope that you start thinking about it like that as well. Your website is a vibe check. It is a place where people can go to kind of like do a vibe check. It is also your digital business card and a place where you can confidently send someone to turn them into a client, or your clients, or your sphere can send someone to confidently turn them into a client. And that is literally it. It does not have to be a complicated funnel. It does not have to be a content library. Um, it does not have to have like pages and pages and pages of content. Like most people who are landing on your site have probably been referred to you, or they saw your content on Instagram, or they saw your yard sign, or they received a postcard or an email. And again, there are there are exceptions to this rule. There are people that invest heavily in lead generation, um, like Boomtown or KV Core or whatever. But this is not most real estate agents in my experience. Most real estate agents need a website that is like their digital business card, that is a vibe check, that is a place for people to contact them because they have been referred, because they saw a sign, or because they got a postcard or email. So, what are they doing when they land on your website? They're asking, can I trust this person? Do I like how they're showing up? And can I imagine working with them? And your website's job is just to confirm that you can answer these questions, that you are that right person. It's not necessarily to sell, it's not necessary to convince them, but it is to confirm that you are the right real estate agent. One of the mistakes I see real estate agents make is that they just add so many pages to their website. And one of the things I want you to know is that every single extra page you add is a decision. And it is a decision point for that person to leave your page. It is a chance for them to leave. Um, I know that's counterintuitive to what a lot of people say, but if you are getting people sent to your website by Sphere, your database, postcards, emails, whatever, I really truly believe that keeping your website minimal actually increases conversion as long as you are being strategic and intentional about what stays. And I have proven this through our brokerage website. We used to have a very complex, very intricate, very detailed website. And we did not get nearly as many inquiries as we do now. And we went minimal. And here's the thing a lot of people hear minimal and they mean like there's nothing there. It doesn't mean that it's vague. It doesn't like, it doesn't mean that it's not good. Like minimal can be really great. So I'm gonna give you my minimal framework, take it or leave it. But this is me over two decades of having real estate websites on what I have found works very well. So let's dive into the website framework I recommend. The first is you need a great homepage. And this honestly will do most of the work. I don't, I feel like most people don't even go beyond the homepage. So your homepage, especially the hero section, and the hero section, if you don't know, is basically the first thing you see. So it's like that first snapshot when people land on your page. And that hero section should immediately answer who do you help? Where do you work? What kind of experience do you provide? And what should they do next? So this is like one clear headline, one positioning sentence, and one primary call to action, which could be like schedule a consultation. There's not five buttons, it's not clever copy, like that only makes sense if you scroll down. Um the Donald Miller as Story Brand, I went through their training. And if someone can't figure out what you do in a matter of seconds, that is bad. They call it the caveman test. So it's or the grunt test. So it's like if you if you land on someone's website and you can't tell who they help, what they do, where they work in particular, like how many times have you landed on a website and you have no clue what geography they work in? Um, if they can't figure it out, you're losing them. So that hero section is so crucial. Take a look around, like outside of the real estate industry. Like look at hero sections, see if there's one that really resonates with you. Um, I think that it's really important, but that hero section is so key. The second page that I think you need is your about page. And it is an about page that builds trust. It's not just like your resume or your ego builder, but your about page is about how you think about real estate, how you think about clients. It's also about how you work. It's like what it's like to be guided by you. And yes, you can throw in some of your credentials, you can throw in some of your like relatable stuff about like where you've lived, maybe where you've worked previously, where you went to school, personal details, like I love soup and yoga. I mean, it can be whatever you want, but this is where your, this is like your vibe page. This is where your tone really matters more than your credentials. And if your about page is mostly about you, it is honestly not doing its job. Your about page should really be this bridge between about you and why that matters to your client, about you and how you think about working with clients, um, or like how your experience in life or like what about you like shaped the way that you deal with your clients. So it really is kind of about like storytelling. A lot of good marketing comes back to storytelling. Um, and so this is a really good opportunity to not make it like I was a top producer in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025. Like, okay. But it's like as a top producer from 2021 to 2025, I learned that the way that you create a beautiful client experience is dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. So it's like taking those things and then humanizing them. And then it's like the whiff em. What's in it for me for the client? So your about page is so great and it can be so powerful when you use it to build trust and not use it as a resume. All right, the next one is your schedule a consultation page. And yes, everyone should have a schedule a consultation page. Do not make people hunt for it. So I usually have this as the button in the top right corner. Um, it can be a contact form, it can be a calendarly link, either is totally fine. But there's just one clear next step on how people can work with you. That is it. You just need one clear step on like schedule consultation, get in touch, email me, whatever you want to call it. But you're basically telling them and making it super obvious and super easy. Here is the next step on how we work together. And usually it is a quick 15-minute call consultation. Could be coffee date. Sometimes I think people don't want to commit to that. So I've found over the years a 15-minute consultation, call, Zoom, whatever, is the best next obvious step. And honestly, it like really helps people like get clear. And the key is no pressure. Don't make it weird. We don't have to make it weird. All right. So we have our scheduled consultation. The next is testimonials. And testimonials, I think, are so helpful if you can provide some context. So I know some agents do case studies, which I think are great. So that could also fall under this category, but they're basically short, they're specific, and they're really human. And if you can include real names and a picture of the house that maybe you helped them buy or sell, that's very cool. Could be a picture of the humans that you helped as well. And people aren't really reading testimonials to like, you know, admire you and think you're the best, but they're just looking for reassurance that they're making a good decision, that you have helped people like them before. So that is really the purpose of testimonials. They're like the gut check to be like, oh, she's done this before. Um, oh, she's helped people like me before. So, anyway, you can make your testimonial page really human and kind of reassuring that they are making a good decision, that is a wonderful thing to do. Also, really great to put those on your homepage as well. Okay, last page is kind of your track record. And this is your sold homes. This can be your listings and buyers, it can be clean and simple. This really isn't about bragging, but it is about answering the unspoken question that people ask is like, does she work with people like me? Can she actually do this job? So providing your like sheet of homes that you have sold. And if you don't have any, you can skip this. But like if you have a track record, you should show it. And it shows that you actually do business. It shows the neighborhoods you do business in, the price points you do business in. So this can be really important if you have a niche, if you have a type of home you sell, um, if you have a certain geographic area. So, this again, I think this is optional if it doesn't play into your broader marketing strategy. But I think that this can be really powerful because in combination with testimonials, you actually have homes you've sold, which shows, yeah, I actually do this job. So those are the five things I recommend for your website framework. We have a great home page, a really good human about us page, schedule consultation, testimonials, and sold homes if you have them. Now, a bonus, which I do think works, is one lead magnet for your client. So this is where you have something, like I like to call it an item of value that buyers or sellers would find helpful. And you only need one. I mean, you could have two, one for buyers, one for sellers if you wanted, but the key is it's just useful information. It's not gimmicky. Here's some examples that you can maybe pull from. Um, for buyers, one that we used was the 90-day homeowner challenge, and that sent a weekly email for 90 days, and that was pretty successful. It could be what to expect when you start touring homes, or the first-time buyer mistakes I see all the time, or what you need to do before you start looking for a home. Um, for sellers, it could be what your home is worth and what actually impacts that number. It could be getting your home ready to sell, um, my top tips for staging, the real timeline of selling your home in your area. So it really isn't about like trapping people, but it's about helping them kind of raise their hand in a low pressure way. So maybe they aren't ready to book a consultation right away, but they are kind of curious about like some information, what your vibe is and how helpful you are. So you're a lead magnet, it is optional, but it is a way to provide value and show people how you work and how you think about real estate. Um, and the added bonus is you can like send this out, use it at open houses to gather email addresses. You can put it on social media if that's your thing. So this becomes something that you can repurpose and use across all your view marketing, which is great. I want to end with just a final plug that minimal websites convert better. And that's what I found. And we can argue about it. Love to debate. But I think it's because it involves fewer decisions, which means there's less friction, less chance that they're gonna be exiting. I also think that being clear builds trust. Um, and your website doesn't have to tell them everything, it just needs to make contacting you an easy yes. Like that is the goal, is like we your website is a tool to get conversations that point blank. If we don't have conversations, we don't have clients. So that's why I think minimal websites convert best. So whether you have a website now or you do not, I hope this episode helped give you maybe a little bit of a tweak you could make or some inspiration to create a website of your own. It does not have to be complicated. Again, it just has to be a landing page where people can find you, get a vibe check, and then contact you. Until next time, I hope you stay happy.