Simple, elegant, and effective, Sprinkman’s real estate website features homes from Madison, WI with an emphasis on fluid design. Nearly all facets of the theme are matching and coherent, which creates a pleasant and memorable experience for the user. This cohesiveness extends to mobile devices, as the theme is fully responsive and themed throughout. This design doesn’t go overboard, it’s beautiful without any unnecessary fluff. From the homepage to IDX results pages, this site was themed with care and thoroughness which led to an excellent final product that not only looks great, but does its job efficiently and effectively.
A general guide to designing a simple yet effective realty website
Sprinkmanrealestate.com gets a face-lift
Recently, I had the absolute pleasure of working with Ash-Dee to polish and create a simple yet elegant and effective realty website. She had a vision in mind that, combined with our expertise, led to an incredible final product that surpassed her expectations. The result is a cohesive and user-friendly website that draws immediate attention and creates a pleasant and memorable experience. Check this out!
So how do you do it? How can a site look so aesthetically pleasing, yet be so effective while maintaining its simplicity? Easy – get down to the nitty gritty, and follow through!
It may seem complicated or even daunting when creating or refining your current site, but believe me, it’s doable. So where do you begin? Vision.
Envision the final product, and don’t skimp on those dreams!
Ask yourself a few questions: What type of demographic are you trying to draw to your properties? Do you like your current layout or theme? Do you really need all that jazz that’s going on the site? How can you fit your target location into your design? Start with a mock-up of your current site that answers your questions, and make it thick with ambition. You want to set a bar for yourself, your developers, and your team in this mock-up. This should set a standard that you’ll later exceed when implementing your ideas.
As a bonus for us, Ash-Dee — the visionary behind the scenes — had crafted a wonderful and detailed mock-up which set the bar for us. She and her team had an idea in mind that she put to paper, and didn’t worry about the specifics. She knew what she wanted and she put that out there for everyone involved to see. This set a standard for the project and led to an effective work flow, which in turn led to the exceeding of those standards when all was said and done.
The goal here is to create something that you want, and not just something that will work. You want to plan for something that might not even be possible! Go out there and think of something that’s unique, something that eloquently screams your goals, your city, and your properties, something that you want.
So, now you have your mock-up, what comes next?
Modular implementation of customizations on your site
Making all the customizations and alterations at once may seem timely and cost effective, but you’ll miss out on many design aspects that are specific to certain site locations. Try to begin with a single portion of the site, and move through your goals one by one. Start top to bottom if you want – header, then body, then footer, then back-end, etc. You’ll notice that as you begin to implement your customizations, your ideas and vision will change. You’ll begin to adapt your vision to your site and in turn think of improvements that you originally overlooked.
Implementing your changes one by one will help you reach and exceed the bar you set for yourself and your team by allowing you to calmly go through each portion of your site, and adapt your goals as you go. Be patient, and continue to let your creative juices flow as you go. You’ll be surprised at how great everything turns out in the end.
Now you have your site the way you want it. You’ve worked through your goals and you have something that you’re proud of… but don’t stop there!
Gather advice and recommendations, and continue to build
Ask your clients, colleagues, developers, fellow realtors, grandmother, and anyone else that you can think of if they like the site. Ask them to pretend they are purchasing a property from your realty group, and ask them to be critical of your site’s effectiveness. Your website can only take you so far, but in this day and age, it will generate leads and show off your properties more than ever before! It’s a first stop shop to grab a client’s attention and really showcase your properties in a pleasantly effective manner.
Remember to constantly be thinking of improvements, alterations, and additions that you can implement to your site. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or seek advice from the professionals. Now go ahead, start generating leads and gathering clients with a polished website for your realty group. Here’s a head start: