We recently discussed 5 must-haves for a virtual leasing office. Today we want to start taking a deeper dive into each of those must-haves, beginning with your website, where the typical leasing experience kicks off.
If you want to increase your pipeline, drive brand awareness and communicate effectively with your residents, then your #1 focus should be on having high-converting apartment website design. This is especially true with COVID concerns still high.
Websites that convert simply means they work; they turn prospects into residents. They do this with appealing, well-formatted and optimized content that streamlines a path from a prospect’s first visit to the next step and the next, until finally they become residents. It takes the guesswork out of the process for visitors. It provides the information they need and guides them along intuitively.
To be high converting, your website will need to be:
For your website to show up in someone’s search results, your site will have to be optimized with the terms people are using in their searches, called keywords. There are many tools that can help you discover the best ones for your property, but it can be complicated.
The competition for keyword ranking is fierce because 93% of searchers only look at the first page of results (Source). That’s why most organizations today hire a marketer with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experience or contract with an agency to manage this for them...it’s that important.
Do some mystery shopping on your own online real estate...have someone search for it on an outside computer without using the property name (for example, best apartments in Charlotte or Deep Ellum, Dallas). Where do you land on their search results? If you’re not on page 1 for your keywords, it’s time to enlist some experienced SEO assistance.
Once a visitor lands on your site, what do they see? Your apartment website design should be attractive, clean and simple. But how it looks isn’t all that matters. When they click through, do they find up to date listings? Do your images showcase your property as an experience prospects immediately imagine themselves in?
Can they take a virtual tour? Can they see themselves living in and loving your place? If your listings offer the barest of details without providing some color, they probably can’t.
Gather feedback from your mystery shopper and get your most creative copywriter to punch up the content on your site with every feature detail you can imagine, individualized to showcase a sunrise view or the quiet atmosphere and shaded parking of particular units. Take a page from the playbook of successful brands: Showcase smiling people enjoying staged apartments and sparkling amenities.
Do you know the impression your website is leaving with prospects? Even if it’s beautiful, it can still be structured poorly. Visitors should be able to locate at a glance the specific information they’re seeking, even if they’re browsing on their phone.
Make sure that your apartment website hosting includes mobile responsiveness. This is important because 70% of web traffic happens on a mobile device (Source) and 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site. And your site is unlikely to show up in top Google ratings if it isn’t mobile-friendly.
If a prospect finds on your website a place they want to call home, it should be just an obvious click from there to locate and complete an online application, screening, leasing agreement and make a payment. It should include an intuitive resident portal that allows residents to manage everything online, even from a mobile device.
Glitchy tools that don’t work on their phones or a partially virtual process that still requires a few manual steps just won’t cut it.
ResMan leasing software for apartments makes it easy to bring your virtual leasing office completely online for prospects. We also provide the essentials your staff needs to improve and populate your web content:
Remember, visitors equate your website with your properties. They’re looking for convenience. As they interact with your website and virtual leasing office, many believe that however enjoyable or frustrating the process is, it’s a sign of what future dealings will be like with your staff and portal for maintenance requests, monthly payments and more, if they decide to lease from you.
If you’re interested in ResMan as a software provider for your daily operations, book a demo to see the product up close.
