What Do Your Visitors Expect from Your Property Management Website?

When someone visits your property management website for the first time, it’s like meeting a new person for the first time. This stranger is a potential new tenant! While you might not know what to expect from them yet, you want to give them the best possible first impression so that they pick you over the competition.

Creating a website for your property management business is essential. It enables you to showcase everything your potential tenants want to know about you. The problem is that most property management websites are rather basic and fail to give potential tenants all the information they require in order to make an informed decision on whether or not to rent from that company.

A website needs to be more than just another online brochure with pretty pictures, a logo, and contact information. Instead, it should serve as a window into who you are as a company and what makes you different from other property management businesses. If a property management website isn’t designed in such a way that potential tenants can find the information they need quickly, they’re less likely to rent from you. Here are some things your visitors expect from your property management website:

Property Management Websites Need a User-Friendly Interface

One of the first things people will notice about your property management website is its design. A poor design, with too many colours and graphics will distract visitors from the content you want to share. A user-friendly design, on the other hand, will help visitors easily navigate your website and find the information they’re looking for. 

It should have easy-to-use menus, not too much text and an obvious call-to-action. Show images of your typical properties so that there can be no mistake about what kind of visitors you are trying to attract. Your target audience should be the visitors you want, so pander to them. Your website’s design should also support the overall marketing strategy of your company. If your brand is modern and sleek, you might want to select a design that reflects that. If your company has a more traditional appeal, you might consider a design with a more classic feel.

We have a full blog on user friendly property management websites that you should read if you want to find out more. 

Responsiveness

A responsive design means that your website will automatically adjust to fit the screen size of the device being used to view it. This is essential for today’s market as people browse the internet on an endless variety of devices. Some of these devices have a very small screen, such as a smartphone, whereas others are much larger, like a desktop computer monitor. If your website is not responsive, viewers will have to manually adjust the font size and the viewable area to see the content. This can be extremely frustrating, especially if you have a lot of content on your website. Your visitors will appreciate a responsive design that automatically adjusts to their device.

You might be wondering why this is such a big deal. After all, you can easily adjust the font size on your computer, right? While this is certainly true, a responsive design will allow all of your visitors to view your website without needing to manually adjust the size of the font. Some visitors may not even know how to do this, or if they do, it’s likely that they don’t want to go through the hassle, I wouldn’t. A responsive website means that more people will be able to see your property management website, which is a good thing!

Clear & Concise Information

Today’s internet users have the attention span of a goldfish. They don’t have time to read long paragraphs of information or click through several pages of your website to find the information they need. Visitors to your property management website expect to find all of the information they need in a few clicks, or they will go to another company that is more efficient in sharing the same details.

This means that you’ll have to make some tough decisions about what information to include on your property management website and what to leave out. You’ll want to include information that is essential to your business, such as property locations, rental prices, application information, and payment methods. If you have a blog, you might want to link to your most recent posts. You can also link to your social media accounts, although you might not want to include all of your social media information on your website.

A Showcase of Your Property Management Company’s Culture

Your property management website gives you the opportunity to showcase the culture of your company. You can do this in a variety of ways, but you should definitely include pictures of your team members. Visitors want to know who they’re dealing with and seeing pictures of your employees is one of the easiest ways to build trust.

You can also showcase your company culture by linking to articles that show what type of company you are and what you value. If you participate in a charity, make sure to link to information about the cause and something that your company is doing to help with that cause.

Testimonials from current tenants is also a good way for visitors to see if you are a good fit for them. Visitors to your property management website expect some input from tenants. You wouldn’t buy a product from a random buyer on Amazon without checking out some reviews first would you?

Offer a Virtual Tour of Your Properties & Use High Quality Photography

While you don’t want to overload your visitors with too much information, you do want to give them an idea of what your properties look like. Offering a virtual tour of your properties on your website is another great way to showcase your properties and help visitors decide whether or not your properties are a good fit for them. There are several different ways you can do this. You can add a few pictures of each property or video a full virtual tour. Some property managers use CGIs for their properties, especially if they are managing a new build.

If I’m a tenant and I don’t have a good idea on what the property looks like early on, I lose trust in the property manager. What are they hiding? Why can’t I see the property in full? Why waste my time and money travelling to a house tour if I only have a few blurry images to go off? In the modern market, especially for younger demographics, potential tenants expect high quality virtual tours and photographs.

Virtual tours especially have become more valuable and needed since the COVID-19 pandemic too! Read our guest blog post on Property Hive on this topic by clicking the link.

Clearly Showcase the Amenities and Services You Offer

People who are searching for a new place to live want to know what amenities and services your company offers. If you have a pet-friendly policy, make sure that visitors know that up front. If you have amenities like a common area with a pool, a fitness centre, or access to internet, make sure that visitors know about those things as well. If you offer any other services, like cleaning services, make sure to include that information as well. Visitors want to know what they’re getting into before they decide to rent from you. This information will help them make an informed decision.

Conclusion

Prospective tenants have every right to expect a lot of your property management website. You are trying to win them round, not the other way round.

You need to think about your target audience, what they want, and what will engage them. You also need to consider your company culture and brand, and make sure that everything you include on your website reflects your company. If you’re serious about growing your property management business, then you need to have an online presence and exceed your property management website’s visitor’s expectations rather than fall short.

If you need a new website or to update your current property management website, get in touch.